If a show wants to capitalise on the loyal fanbase it has built over the years, its spin-off must move in a new direction, whatever that may be. Stranger Things: Tales from ’85, the animated series set between seasons 2 and 3 of the now-concluded Stranger Things, does not quite manage that leap. It offers a handful of spirited, engaging adventures and leans into the easy nostalgia of early-morning cartoons many of us grew up with, but never quite expands the world in any meaningful way. The introduction of characters absent in the original—Nikki Baxter and Anna Baxter—only adds to this redundancy, given that the show sits between two already-concluded seasons, leaving little narrative consequence.
We are back in Hawkins. The same band of nerds—Will (voiced by Ben Plessala), Mike (Luca Diaz), Lucas (Elisha Williams), Dustin (Braxton Quinney), Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport), and Eleven (Brooklyn Davey Norstedt)—faces new interdimensional monsters linked to the Upside Down, the shadow world lurking beneath Hawkins. The animated series softens the edges: evil scientists are posing as nice guys, and hardly any adults are part of the narrative, apart from them. There is also, of course, a club—the Hawkins Investigators Club—created by Dustin to investigate the vine-like creatures behind a string of disappearances in the Indiana town. The show leans heavily on action, anchored by jokes, exaggeration, bits of nerdy theorising, and improvised weapons. Yes, Steve’s nail-spiked bat, unsurprisingly, appears with the same enthusiasm.
For those who felt the chemistry between Mike and Eleven was diluted in the original, this series restores some of that dynamic. Mike is ever protective of Eleven, an arc that feels familiar and effective. Nikki Baxter (Odessa A’zion), the punk character with a pink mohawk, seems positioned as a foil for Will—queer-coded and someone who has accepted her individuality. However, their conversations about being “different” feel unusually direct, even awkward, especially when compared to the more subtle exchanges the original series handled so well between Robin and Will.
Animation allows for greater exaggeration, and the vine-like monsters appear more menacing here. Eleven, too, comes across as both powerful and charming. The music dips into iconic 1980s tracks, and the first glimpse of the Upside Down—set to We’ll meet again in Vera Lynn’s haunting voice—sets up a more evocative tone as the show comes to a close.
In essence, the series suffers from redundancy, though future seasons will determine how inventive the creators can get with their storytelling. For now, Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 remains as messy as the original, but without the same sense of novelty.