‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’ review: This confusing title won’t cure Season 5 hate

Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 it may be a very strange step Stranger Things he would have taken.

Take the release date, first. Legends From ’85 broadcast just four months after Stranger Things series finale. That gives fans a chance to breathe between the end of the flagship series and the start of this animated sequel, a testament to Netflix’s ambitious, relentless plans to turn one of its original shows into a major franchise. (It already has a stage play, books, and plays to its name.)

There’s just one big caveat to that plan: Stranger Things‘ last season was very controversial, leaving frustrated fans wondering about a surprise secret episode and accusing the Duffer Brothers of writing Season 5 with ChatGPT. The outrage is still fresh with another TV trip to Hawkins, Indiana, going the way Netflix had hoped.

That trip back to Hawkins doesn’t really take away from the story Stranger Things forward. Instead, Legends From ’85 it’s going back to the past, sandwiching itself between Seasons 2 and 3 and raising tons of questions about the series. That is, why?

Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 it is a confusing journey into the past.

Legends From ’85 is set in the winter of 1985, many months before the Hawkins children set foot in Starcourt Mall. It’s winter break, and Mike (voiced by Luca Diaz), Eleven (voiced by Brooklyn Davey Norstedt), Dustin (voiced by Braxton Quinney), Lucas (voiced by Elisha Williams), Will (voiced by Ben Plessala), and Max (voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) are excited to enjoy the snow, the Hawkin’s Festival, and some winter. Pits & Dragons.

But the Upside Down has other plans, as a strange new wave of creatures descends on Hawkins. The “snow shark” burrows through the icy waters, its endless motions reminiscent of the Graboids from which it appeared Trembling. “Jerk-O-Lanterns” haunts the pumpkin episode that proved pivotal in Season 2.

Encountering these animals goes from scary to downright fun, thanks to the dynamic, vivid animation from Flying Bark Productions. The artist’s style is reminiscent of the Netflix smash hit Arcaneand while that series isn’t the first to pioneer the look, there’s a sense that Netflix is ​​trying to recreate that magic in what could be a new blockbuster animated series.

However, as each creature or battle begins to be established, there is a big problem hanging Legends From ’85. None of this has an impact on future seasons of Stranger Things itself. In season 3 and beyond, no one brings up the dangerous winter of ’85, or discusses how the techniques they used while solving the mystery might help them in their current investigation. Dustin even made a full push to start the Hawkins Investigators’ Club, something he could do definitely appeared in later seasons Legends From ’85 beyond imagination.

Moreover, it should not be again there’s a lot that sticks to canon, but Eleven pushes her psychic abilities here to almost Season 5 levels of superhero-dom, without breaking a sweat. (Nosebleeds are still included, of course.) That comes down to the magic of animation, which allows you to Legends From ’85 fooling around with the power of Eleven. Since it’s epic, it’s also detached from the reality of the main series. For what it’s meant to be Stranger Things, Legends From ’85 he ends up feeling sadly separated. Nowhere is that more clear than when it introduces a new important character that we know has to disappear from Hawkins before Season 3.

Nikki the heart of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85… and its biggest problem.

Credit: Netflix

That new character is Nikki Baxter (voiced by Odessa A’zion). An intrepid punk who often moves cities with her scientist mother Anna (Janeane Garofalo), Nikki doesn’t tend to put down roots. But when he gets caught up in an ice shark attack and experiences Eleven’s power firsthand, he is welcomed into the Hawkins’ party and soon becomes fast friends with them.

Despite her intimidating appearance, Nikki proves to have a heart of gold (and a keen knack for tickling that makes her invaluable to the team’s investigation). Although she often acts as a therapist for the group of friends, she easily mediates conflicts, and bonds with Will over their outward appearance, encouraging him to embrace what makes him different. Legends From ’85 She apparently ties Will’s “difference” to his supernatural problems in Seasons 1 and 2, though given his coming out as gay in Season 5, Nikki’s advice takes on new meaning here. Is it Legends From ’85 act further on that subtext, or do anything in its power to beneficially show the next seasons of the show? No.

Taking us back to the time between Seasons 2 and 3, Legends From ’85 it traps its characters in a strangely trapped way. We know where their arcs lead them, but here, we take a few moments back on their journey. The fact that none of the original actors lend their voices to the series doesn’t help either. While the voice actors do a solid job, even knocking down a few pegs in the ways of their live-action counterparts, there’s no denying how important the original cast was in establishing these characters. Besides them, i Legends From ’85 versions of Hawkins’s party end up resembling a vague simulacra of the real thing.

That’s why Nikki is so important Legends From ’85. As the first character, he is a breath of fresh air in the group we have spent ten years with. It’s nice to shake up Hawkins’ team with a new face, even if his concerns about moving away or being unfit are just empty words.

Given that Nikki doesn’t show up or find out mentioned in the future Stranger Things Seasons, the audience will know that he is finally leaving the story. He continued Stranger Things‘ a proud tradition of introducing a beloved side character to kill off? (See: Barb, Bob, Alexei, and Eddie.) Does he take off as he’s always feared? Are you erased from everyone’s memories somehow?

I tried to put these questions out of my mind as I watched Legends From ’85hoping to meet the show more widely on its scale. But when its level shoehorns itself into the wider show to keep the franchise moving, how can I not wonder how it will eventually connect, and why this exists in the first place?

Yes, we already know why it exists: franchising. More than that, however, it is an attempt to revive the simple nostalgia of the past Stranger Things seasons, fans will be more than willing to digest following their reaction to Season 5. But the franchise needs more than anticipation to survive, and it’s clear that Legends From ’85 that Stranger Things you still need to learn that lesson.

Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 now streaming on Netflix.