Season Review: Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 Season One
Overview (Spoilers Below):
Set between the second and third seasons of “Stranger Things”, Eleven, Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin, and Max confront new monsters of the Upside Down and unravel a paranormal mystery terrorizing the town.
Our Take:
Netflix’s cultural phenomenon, “Stranger Things”, had just reached its conclusion last year with season five, albeit with less fanfare than when it started. However, thanks to the power of animation, Mike and his friends’ supernatural adventures still live on via the franchise’s first animated spin-off. Rather than continue where the show’s final season left off, “Tales from ’85” takes audiences back to its early days, where Mike, Eleven, and the others deal with more creatures from the Upside Down due to the mysterious arrival of the vines. You know, before it got swamped by divisive narrative choices and the kid actors growing up throughout its run. But, in all seriousness, I thought the final season was fine when I don’t have a lot of negative ninnies yelling in my ear, even though it didn’t live up to the earlier seasons.
Fortunately, that didn’t hinder the journey I had from watching “Stranger Things”. Regarding its tribute to 1980s science fiction, likable characters, and strong blend of horror and drama, “Stranger Things” is indeed strange, and that’s what makes it so great. So, of course, I was interested in “Tales from ’85”, especially with it taking place between the second and third seasons, where the series showed its narrative prime before its downfall in season five. Another element that piqued my interest is that it aims to replicate a trend from the 80s and 90s, in which an IP made for adults offered toys and cartoons to reach a broader audience, particularly children. While “Stranger Things” may not be as mature as “Terminator” or “Rambo”, it certainly has many elements that younger audiences may find unsettling, including the creatures from the Upside Down. That’s why an animated take on the series is the way to go, since most people know that animation means “it’s for kids”.
But, even with its somewhat lighter tone and different presentation, “Tales from ’85” is still the “Stranger Things” we know and love, at least in the earlier seasons. You have the characters’ humorous chemistry, eerie music, sci-fi horror vibes, and, of course, the 80s soundtrack. The only difference is that its plot involving the vines from the Upside Down resembled a Saturday morning cartoon, with the violence and language being toned down. Thankfully, the runtimes are shorter, and the seemingly hinted “monster-of-the-week” scenarios are ditched in favor of the narrative structure seen in “Stranger Things”. It may not match the storytelling and depth of some of the main series’s best moments. However, “Tales from ’85” is still a fun, suitably animated addition to the Netflix phenomenon that understands what made the first two seasons great. More importantly, I see it as a solid introduction to “Stranger Things” for those who aren’t ready to dive into the main series.
The primary reason is that you don’t need to watch “Stranger Things” to understand “Tales from ’85”, as its second episode recaps the main show’s first two seasons. It may not be the most reliable source regarding character development, but the spin-off does more than enough to get casual viewers invested in the Hawkins kids. The voice cast doesn’t have the original actors reprising their roles from the main series, such as Finn Wolfhard and Millie Bobby Brown, since they’re all grown up and moved on to different projects. Fortunately, the new actors voicing our favorite characters did a good enough job conveying the usual characteristics we’ve come to expect, even if some of their line deliveries were a tad forced. The only cast member I thought was perfect was Braxton Quinney, who effectively conveyed Dustin’s personality as Gaten Matarazzo did in the main series. I would also credit Odessa A’zion for making the show’s new character, Nikki Baxter, a decent addition to the Hawkins Investigators Club.
This is also the latest series to be animated by Flying Bark Productions, known for such projects as “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur”, and the upcoming “Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender”, which unfairly got the streaming treatment. It may not be 2D animated like the productions I mentioned, but that doesn’t mean the studio can’t have an effective presentation with CGI. Regarding the character designs, slow-motion segments, and action, the style seemed inspired by the Spider-Verse movies and, most notably, “Arcane”. While not particularly groundbreaking, the animation still did a good job of capturing the tone and vibe of “Stranger Things”.
“Stranger Things: Tales from ’85” extends the “Stranger Things” universe in a direction none of us has high hopes for. However, it proves me wrong by retaining the strangeness and entertainment of the main series while delivering a fun yet low-stakes mystery worthy of its return to the Upside Down. Does it match the narrative heights of “Stranger Things”? Not really. Was it a solid introduction to the franchise for a broader audience? Yes, it was. Regarding the serviceable voice cast and animation style, the spin-off felt like a reunion with the characters we know and love, mainly from the earlier seasons, and a pretty entertaining one at that. I could definitely see it having multiple seasons if it’s successful, not just because of the animation format, but also because of some other possible ideas they could use for Hawkins’ confrontations with the Upside Down without the fear of breaking canon. We’ll have to wait and see if audiences are really interested in returning to this universe.
