Stranger Things: Tales From 85 review — Netflix heads back to Hawkins for an unnecessary animated spin-off that’ll entertain newcomers, but infuriate long-time fans

Light spoilers follow for Stranger Things: Tales From 85 episodes 1 to 10, which are all out now on Netflix.

Stranger Things is in a, well, strange place right now. One of Netflix’s biggest success stories, it’s been watched by millions of people worldwide and won numerous awards since it debuted in 2016. Yet, thanks to the main show’s incredibly polarizing fifth and final season, there’s a tangible sense that the supernatural sci-fi horror franchise might have run its course.

The arrival of Stranger Things: Tales From 85, an animated show viewed as both a spin-off and canonical interquel starring the main show’s cast, then, is most curious. Netflix is one for one on the well-received offshoot front, with its prequel stage play The First Shadow garnering universal praise since its 2023 West End debut, although the launch event for that project came amid fervent fan anticipation for Stranger Things season 5‘s upcoming launch.

The question now, then, is does Tales From 85 further prove that Stranger Things has staying power in an era where viewers’ attentions quickly turn to the next big thing? Having watched all 10 episodes, I’m inclined to say “just about” — but only if it swiftly moves on from the Hawkins setting and young cast that made it a pop-culture phenomenon in the first place.

Snowed under

Set between the main show’s second and third seasons, Tales From 85 reunites us with Eleven, Mike, and company as they get caught up in a new mystery amid wintry conditions in their home town.

Indeed, despite Eleven closing the rift to the alternate dimension dubbed the Upside Down in its parent show’s season 2 finale, the introduction of mutated flora and fauna in Tales From 85 sees the core six — Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Will, Lucas, and Max — embark on a new quest to find out what’s going on. Cue a hijinks- and mishaps-laced investigation that sees the group uncover more nefarious sci-fi malpractice, and combat a monstrous new threat with ties to the aforementioned parallel realm.

The first positive thing to note about this Netflix offering is that we get to see the kids be, well, kids again. Gone are the world-ending stakes — for the most part, anyway — of the main show’s latter seasons and, in their place, is a return to the enjoyable albeit dangerous adventures of seasons 1 and 2.

Call me nostalgic, but I think many will agree that Stranger Things was at its best in those early installments. However, despite its timeline proximity to them, there was no guarantee that Tales From 85 would recapture the charm and entertainment factor of those seasons. Thankfully, it not only does a great job on that front, but is also able to really lean into the absurdity and slapstick nature of the group’s misadventures in a more exaggerated fashion through the animated medium.

Something that Tales From 85 struggles to replicate, though, is its parent show’s horror and high-stakes peril.

Sure, its animated aesthetic allows it to be far more artistic on the creature-creation front, which gives rise to a fresh Monster of the Week-style narrative that’s disappointingly discarded as the plot progresses. Early episodes also include a couple of instances that, in spite of Tales From 85‘s Saturday-morning cartoon vibe, indicate that it hasn’t fully lost sight of Stranger Things‘ nightmarish tonality.

Armed with a PG rating, though, Tales From 85 is neither as gruesome nor as hair-raisingly effective as the 15 age-classified primary show. Okay, it doesn’t need to be stomach-churning, but it does have to put its characters in serious peril to elicit some sort of reaction from viewers — and that’s where its timeline position becomes a curse rather than a blessing.

Indeed, with the individuals that I named earlier surviving up to the show’s final season, Tales From 85‘s ability to build nail-biting tension and generate credible scares is completely nullified by their already-established plot armor. Save for the three new characters that this spin-off introduces, then, it’s hard to care about anything happening to this series’ key cast.

The kids are alright

If those factors are sources of disappointment, the same can’t be said of the voice cast.

That might sound weird to say, especially in light of Tales From 85 showrunner Eric Robles telling me why the main show’s cast didn’t return to voice their characters. Nevertheless, there’s surprisingly very little in the way of uncanny valley effects here. In fact, some of Tales From 85‘s cast have been so successful in replicating the vocal inflection and tonality of the actors who appeared in the main show, it’s difficult to detect any clear difference between them.

Okay, that’s not always the case — for example, the voice actor behind Jim Hopper sounds nothing like David Harbour, which is an immediate immersion killer — but, by and large, the others do a solid job of impersonating their main-show counterparts. Special mention to Braxton Quinney and Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, whose near-perfect imitations of Gaten Matarazzo’s Dustin and Sadie Sink’s Max will convince you that the latter duo actually reprise their roles in this animated offshoot.

It would be remiss of me not to also highlight how effortlessly this cast recreate the camaraderie within the core group. In some ways, it’s far harder to develop and refine that chemistry from the solitary confinement of a recording booth, so kudos to Tales From 85‘s youthful stars for reproducing the individual and collective bonds forged among the live-action group.

With so much emphasis placed on said gang, however, there’s little room for Stranger Things‘ adults and older teens to be involved.

Some, including Hopper and Nancy, are lightly sprinkled throughout. Meanwhile, Steve has what’s akin to a guest-starring role in episode 4, a chapter that sees one of modern TV era’s best bromances — i.e., the one between him and Dustin — delightfully take center stage once more. However, if you were hoping to sees the likes of Joyce and Jonathan, or expected anyone else have substantial roles to play, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

The demogorgon in the room

All the issues I’ve outlined so far, though, pale in comparison to the retroactive impact that Tales From 85 has on the wider Stranger Things universe.

Take new-kid character Nikki, for example. Best described as a diluted cross between fan favorites Robin and Eddie, she’s a talkative and inventive punk rocker who injects freshness and an unlikely dynamism to the main collective.

The problem is that her addition — and, for that matter, Tales From 85‘s entire story — creates a canonical paradox. It’s a huge criticism that I not only fully understand, but one that I also feel is entirely justified on the part of aggrieved sections of the fanbase.

I recognize the argument made by Robles that Tales From 85‘s events couldn’t be referenced in Stranger Things‘ later seasons because, as an idea, the former didn’t exist until after the latter’s race had nearly been run. However, given the additional lore that Tales From 85 adds to the mix and, far more importantly, the eyebrow-raising implications of its ending, it feels like a major oversight for this show to be set in Hawkins and involve the main show’s core cast.

There are other drawbacks. Relationship issues that arise in Stranger Things 3 are similarly covered here, which makes for trite melodrama and an unimaginative storytelling re-tread. Contrived plot devices also give off the sense that Tales From 85 is trying to force the issue narratively rather than naturally plot out its course. Furthermore, establishing Will as a more self-assured individual at this point on the timeline is a bizarre creative choice at best and, at worst, an egregious retconning of his character arc at this point on the Stranger Things timeline.

It’s for these reasons that, with each passing episode, I couldn’t shake the belief that Tales From 85 would have worked better as a standalone tale. In my view, focusing on an entirely new cast in a completely different location, albeit one still situated in the Stranger Things universe, would have navigated these troubles with ease.

My verdict

Stranger Things: Tales From 85 is a benign and oft-times unnecessary expansion of the franchise’s primary storyline.

If you’re able to look past the canonicity of it all, and are really craving some more Stranger Things content, it’s an occasionally fun addendum that also captures the spirit of the original show’s early seasons, and includes plenty of in-universe and wider 80s references. With episodes lasting between 25 and 30 minutes, it’s a nostalgia-fueled early-morning TV contender that’s ripe to stream while you munch on some sugar-filled cereal.

In the end, though, the key questions I kept returning to throughout Tales From 85, though, were: Does it do enough to justify its existence? And does it wash away the bad aftertaste of its parent show’s divisive final season?

Sadly, the answer to both questions is a resounding no. Continuing with the food theme, it’s a light-afternoon snack not unlike an Eggo. Sure, it’ll satiate you for a while but, ultimately, it’ll leave you feeling unsatisfied.