There comes a point in many long-running television shows and franchises when viewers ask themselves, “What’s the point?” It’s a question no producer or writer wants to hear because their creation should speak for itself.
But it usually comes from a place of genuine concern: Why is one of the biggest shows in modern television history, once so highly praised, now a pipeline for streaming sloppy seconds?
If it feels like Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 only just appeared on your Netflix homepage for the first time, that’s because it did. Taking the opposite approach from its flagship series and its frequent years-long gaps between seasons, the animated children’s spinoff is releasing its second batch of episodes just five months after it premiered in April.
On paper, it’s a smart move to capture that Saturday-morning cartoon spirit for the younger audience it’s hoping to attract. For those looking for more than just a vibe (say, an enriching story that’ll keep pearls clutched), what follows will be profoundly conventional.
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Adds Nothing New to the Franchise
One short-sighted choice in Tales from ’85‘s climb to cartoon supremacy is pretty basic, but it reflects a resounding problem in the TV industry these days. The show’s eight-episode, half-hour format for Season 2 follows the current pattern that dramas are clinging to for various reasons, whether to cut budgets or keep audiences latched on before their attention is drawn elsewhere. But this shortened season structure has rarely worked for comedies and animation.
An optimist could argue that having so few bite-sized episodes could benefit Tales From ’85 given its thin narrative. The sophomore season follows the same beats as its predecessor and relies heavily on the foundation Stranger Things itself was built on. The difference is that where Stranger Things took that rather simple outline and added vibrant depth — ’80s nostalgia, multifaceted relationships, and suspenseful sci-fi — Tales From ’85 refuses to expand beyond the basics.
Season 2 takes place during yet another holiday (a Stranger Things shtick that will surely mean the franchise is going to run out of seasonal storylines soon), this time on Valentine’s Day. Naturally, this opens the door for the theme of love to enter the equation, which it does, to an extent.
The personal stories of Season 2 mainly revolve around Nikki (voiced by Odessa A’zion) coming to terms with the possibility that she might have to leave her new friends. Meanwhile, Mike (Luca Diaz) struggles to ask Eleven (Brooklyn Davey Norstedt) to be his girlfriend, and Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) gets the Valentine’s Day ick because of hidden resentment.
Tales From ’85 Goes Supernatural in Season 2
Apart from Nikki’s journey, the rest of the character arcs cover ground Stranger Things viewers have been over before. Everyone’s seen Eleven and Mike awkwardly stumble their way to the next level, Max and Lucas go through their own ups and downs, and Will and Dustin do their own thing on the side.
It’s even harder to get invested when the outcomes of their stories have already been told on-screen. At one pivotal point in the season, a main character’s life is gravely threatened. Everyone is devastated by the possibility of their death. But anyone who’s even gotten past Season 2 of Stranger Things knows they’ll be fine.
Perhaps this is where the target audience deliberately shifts. Is this show just for kids who aren’t allowed to watch Stranger Things because of the gory imagery, difficult subject matter, and hilarious adolescent swearing? It’s difficult to imagine even die-hard fans watching for completionist purposes getting emotionally invested in Season 2.
But it’s not just the character development that suffers in Tales from ’85. The season’s monster component is a mixed bag, too. This time around, it’s a “ghost” haunting Hawkins, which the kids think connects to the town’s history.
The majority of the season plays with the idea that the ghost isn’t part of the Upside Down and is just some weird supernatural phenomenon. Of course, this isn’t the case, and it’s fairly obvious because everything in the IP’s lore has to connect to the Upside Dow. Knowing that shatters the suspense Tales From ’85 tries to create.
The show probably wouldn’t win even if the ghost were a purely separate creation. By that logic, Hawkins would be a pretty cursed town where absolutely nothing is off the table, taking away from the shock whenever something new terrorizes it. Then again, it gets pretty tiresome when new Upside Down mythology is created just to wring every dollar of value out of the franchise. Tales From ’85 is basically in a lose-lose situation.
Tales From ’85 Is Destined to Be Forgotten
It’s clear the show is going through a bit of an identity crisis. It wants to be a kid-forward series to appeal to a younger generation, but that’s the wrong lesson to take away from Stranger Things‘ overall success.
Yes, the kids of Stranger Things are a huge part of its appeal. Sadie Sink and Millie Bobby Brown are two of the most recognizable stars of their generation, with the former now playing Jean Grey in Marvel’s new X-Men film. But focusing only on the impact of the adolescent characters discredits how much the older characters hold the show’s architecture together.
Every episode of Tales From ’85 has a hole that could be filled by the teenage and adult characters who are instead pushed aside. This is the second time the show finds an excuse to leave Jim Hopper out of the action, and Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan appear once in a blue moon. More egregiously, Joyce Byers is basically nonexistent, as if she’s not the engine of Stranger Things Season 1.
For what it’s worth, the voice cast for the kids continues to do a fabulous job, not just at resembling the original actors’ voices but at making these characters feel alive and human. The animation is still delightful and colorful, though a more classic animation style would’ve fit the show’s tone better.
There’s still a lot of confusion over how the show fits into the canon of Stranger Things, since it takes place between Seasons 2 and 3. The more Nikki becomes the best character of Tales From ’85, the harder it is to ignore just how unimportant she is in the grand scheme of the lore.
This is all a consequence of showrunner Eric Robles being incredibly limited by the preexisting laws of the Stranger Things universe. Characters can’t grow beyond where Season 3 already established them. The monsters can’t actually threaten an established character. Big relationship milestones can’t be met.
If there’s one word to describe Tales From ’85 Season 2, it’s passable. It’s not insultingly terrible, but it’s far removed from the formula-breaking standard set by the earlier seasons of Stranger Things. The spinoff is certainly what you make of it, and for fans of the universe, it may be a sign that Netflix doesn’t know what to do with it anymore.
Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
- Release Date
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April 23, 2026
- Network
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Netflix
- Showrunner
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Eric Robles
- Directors
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Phil Allora, JJ Conway, Ben Choi
- Writers
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ChatGPT, Dan Milano, Ray Utarnachitt, Jennifer Muro, Chad Quandt, Chris Wyatt, Kevin Burke, Jen Bardekoff, Joshua Pruett
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Brooklyn Davey Norstedt
Eleven (voice)
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Jolie Hoang-Rappaport
Max (voice)
- Digs deep into Hawkins’ history, adding something new to the Stranger Things lore
- Limited by Stranger Things’ preexisting canon
- Repeats the same story beats as the last season
- Ignores the fascinating older characters
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