Stranger Things: Tales From ’85

Available on: Netflix
Episodes viewed: 10 of 10

In the world of film and TV, the release calendar is everything, and it’s undeniable that the timing of Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is peculiar, arriving so soon after the finale divided the internet. It’s set just after Season 2: pre-Vecna, Robin and Bob (RIP), when the gang is feeling cautiously optimistic that their battle with the Upside Down has concluded. From our point of view, the battle has concluded, and despite the record-setting finale figures, we have barely had time to miss these characters. Dramatic licence aside, it is hard to watch this animated tale of “snow sharks”, many-tentacled beasts and a dear new friend without raising an eyebrow that none of the events depicted here were ever mentioned in the seasons that followed.

If anything, the show comes across as exemplary fan fiction, the sharp-angled animation lending itself to pacy, vibrant and dynamic action sequences and wittier back-and-forth than much of the live-action final season provided. It also tonally embraces the colourful, zippy chaos that showrunner Eric Robles brought to the poptastic world of his previous animated show, Glitch Techs. There is a playful looseness and energy here in contrast to what was an increasing self-seriousness in the live-action series.

There is a lighter, sillier quality to the humour that suits the animated format.

Best of all is the addition of new character Nikki (Odessa A’zion), a purple-haired, punk-rock, gender-non-conforming new pal with a knack for kicking arse and inventing the perfect gadget on the fly. Her fast friendship with Will (voiced here by Ben Plessala) effectively reinforces the queer storylines that went from subtext to text in the most recent live-action episodes. Also ever-present is the narrative that Eleven (Brooklyn Davey Norstedt) longs for the freedom to make her own choices, and risk her life if she feels it fulfils her destiny.

Hearing the new voice cast takes some adjustment at first, but the replacement performers prove a positive, adding a youthfulness to the dialogue that the now 20-something original cast could no longer provide. As the show zips along, they become increasingly more charming, and there is a lighter, sillier quality to the humour that suits the animated format particularly well. If your favourite moments of Netflix’s behemoth were the scares and the depictions of trauma, then this will likely leave you cold. If anything, conceptually this feels akin to Emerald Fennell’s recent Wuthering Heights adaptation: Tales From ’85 is not so much Stranger Things as “Stranger Things”. There is much to be puzzled by, but thankfully the scales tip in favour of finding a return to Hawkins delightful.