‘Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85’ Gets Lost in the Past With Reheated Adventures [Review]

Stranger Things is one of the biggest and most expensive series Netflix has ever produced, and so you better believe that they’re going to get as much mileage out of this franchise as possible. Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 is the first of presumably many spin-offs and expansions that give the supernatural series an animated makeover. There’s nothing inherently wrong with an expanded Stranger Things universe. What’s important is whether this feels like a hollow, soulless extension of IP or whether it’s actually a story worth telling beyond the novelty of “More Stranger Things.”

Unfortunately, Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 doesn’t rise above these low standards, and it’s hardly essential viewing. It’s a shameless attempt to recapture the magic of Stranger Things’ past at a point when it feels like they should have already left the party.

The most frustrating thing is that this spin-off teases so many other ideas and angles that would have been a great concept for this show. Instead, these appealing premises are ignored as Tales From ‘85 veers into a more derivative and generic direction that comes across as discarded B-sides instead of anything new. The prospect of a new paranormal mystery in Hawkins that’s experienced by the core cast is the least interesting vantage point. Tales From ‘85, as its title suggests, is also set between Stranger Things’ second and third seasons, even if this spin-off breaks some of its predecessor’s established canon. 

It’s easy to picture Tales From ‘85 working as a spin-off expansion had it been released during the middle of Stranger Things’ run, rather than after the series’ conclusion, when there’s been considerable burnout. Tales From ‘85 tries to inject some rejuvenating energy into the formula with Nikki, a new kid who enters the gang’s orbit, even if her presence doesn’t make any sense. It’s not difficult to suspend one’s disbelief on this front, but it’s just so awkward that this pivotal character came and went, without ever being referenced again afterwards. She can conveniently be slotted into this series and removed without consequence.

Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 would actually be greatly improved and feel more natural if the whole show were from Nikki’s perspective, rather than making her just one of the gang. It’d be valuable to watch core characters from a fresh vantage point and to explore past events through a parallel and complementary perspective. Instead, it tries to shoehorn a new story onto existing characters. This angle could have better justified a lot of what Tales From ‘85 explores, yet it lacks the confidence to fully rid itself of the security blanket of existing characters. Ironically, it’s these characters that become its greatest weakness.

Tales From ‘85 is at its best when it captures that classic Saturday morning cartoon vibe, and it feels reminiscent of Tales from the Cryptkeeper or Goosebumps. It floats the idea of the Hawkins crew becoming the equivalent of Upside Down Ghostbusters, which is actually kind of perfect and would be great fodder for a spin-off. Unfortunately, the animated series doesn’t give itself the freedom to be more episodic in nature and go all out with this idea, which is really what’s necessary. It tries to saddle this premise to a greater timeline and gets lost in serialization.

The prospect of Stranger Things in winter shouldn’t be such an exciting development, but it’s appreciated to see how much mileage Tales From ‘85 gets out of the presence of snow. It’s a fun change of pace that provides some fleeting moments of entertainment. It also facilitates a winter mitt moment between Lucas and Max that’s actually quite sweet. However, it’s still something that would have been better suited for the main series, and here it comes across as a deleted scene afterthought.

This spin-off also features plenty of Stranger Things’ signature “science experiment exposition” sessions where crunchy lo-fi high school science provides the key to defeating some Upside Down demon. It’s well executed in Tales From ‘85, but it’s another example of this spin-off playing it far too safe. It’s more proof that Tales From ‘85 runs to the comfort of what’s previously worked, rather than using this spin-off as a chance to subvert expectations and discover something different. It’s so worried about being palatable that it fails to be interesting. Without these ambitious detours, it’s doomed to repeat the past’s mistakes and conjure increasingly diminishing returns. It’s the last thing that anybody needs from this.

Where Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 does shine is with many of its presentation elements. There’s a great, moody score that’s amplified by a pretty impressive soundtrack that’s full of era-appropriate needle drops that give off the energy of a major blockbuster. The visuals are sure to be a more polarizing point of controversy. The animation actually looks great when it’s depicting stylized sci-fi creatures and chaos. The monster designs and the neon-splattered color palette are Tales From ‘85’s most distinct features. That being said, people are another story. 

Humans don’t look great here, and they come across as some uncanny valley version of the cast that doesn’t do the actors any favors. The visuals have the aesthetic of a Telltale Games title, which works just fine in a video game, but it’s jarring to watch in motion across a full season of television. It’s such a miscalculation that reiterates why this show should have probably just told interconnected stories within the established universe with new characters. 

Honestly, it wouldn’t come as a huge surprise if Tales From ’85 was just a way to salvage the cancelled Telltale Games title and retrofit it into a season of television in order to do something with it. The Telltale Games release was announced during Stranger Things’ second season, which would also lend credence to why Tales From ’85 is haphazardly set between seasons two and three, a decision that seems random now but would have been logical during the game’s development. None of this would even matter if Tales from ‘85 still punched above its weight and was doing something original, but it’s not.

Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 builds to some decent action spectacles in the finale that even hit a little harder than the final fight from Stranger Things’ final season. It’s quite kid-coded and feels more like a Metroid boss battle than a Stranger Things setpiece, but it works. It’s the type of ending that Stranger Things fans have come to expect from a season of this franchise, for better and for worse. These paint-by-numbers climaxes aren’t going to hit as hard in a second season.

There are plenty of issues with Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85, and it’s not the restorative vehicle that the franchise needs most right now. This doesn’t seem like it’s going to appeal to many people other than the most devoted Stranger Things fans who have already seen The First Shadow enough times to have memorized its script. It’s a fun sci-fi adventure for those who lower their expectations and expect something frivolous that skews younger, like how Camp Cretaceous connects with Jurassic World.

Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 is branded content that’s passable for second screen viewing, that’s just familiar enough to drag the audience along. Hopefully, a hypothetical second season truly takes advantage of the full potential of a Stranger Things spin-off and peels back Hawkins’ layers like never before.

All ten episodes of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 begins streaming on Netflix on April 23.