A new “Stranger Things” spinoff dropped Thursday on Netflix, called “Tales From ’85.” The 10-episode release takes place in between seasons 2 and 3, after the Snow Ball dance scene.
The animated series, executive produced by the Duffer Brothers, was one of the first ideas the brothers had while discussing different things they could do with the show that hit big on Netflix, according to Ross Duffer in an announcement video.
The new show, which, like the original series, takes place in the ’80s, was designed to “evoke a feeling of an ’80s cartoon,” Matt Duffer said — unlike the original series, where the viewing experience was more like that of a modern film.
So as the Duffer brothers take you through another adventure where Mike, Will, El and company make sure the right creatures stay on the right side of the gate separating Hawkins and the Upside Down, here is a review of new spinoff.
Family friendly?
Another aspect of “Tales From ’85″ that differed from the original is the tamer language. With far fewer curse words and fewer gory scenes, “Tales From ’85″ is a much more family-friendly show.
Netflix gave the show an internal rating of TV-PG, but just because the show does not blast your ears with curse words every few minutes does not mean it is good for everyone’s viewership.
The show does still feature monsters hunting down humans to presumably kill them. They may not be the same live-action monsters featured in the original, but the animated show does depict characters shouting in horror before being dragged away by the menacing creatures.
What are critics saying?
Overall, the reviews did not come close to anything the franchise saw in the original.
Variety’s Alison Herman called it a “depressing, cynical retread.” Part of the show’s success was the nostalgia it provided to its viewers, such as Eggo waffles, Dungeons & Dragons and walkie-talkies. Herman said, “If Stranger Things was already a nostalgia exercise, then Tales from ‘85 caters to nostalgia for nostalgia, a recursive loop with a predictably diminished impact.”
Others say the introduction of Nikki Baxter, the only fresh character that played a major role in the show, was the only bright spot. She is a brash new character who sports a pink mohawk. But even though she adds some freshness, “she’s not quite enough to justify sitting through a series that otherwise just feels like more of the same, only less,” Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter said.
Brian Tallerico called it “an insulting waste of time” in his headline.
“Every chance to do something inventive and interesting in ‘Tales from ‘85′ is ignored for lazy fan-fic writing, slack plotting and inconsistent characters,” he wrote for rogerebert.com.
Tallerico says the show never felt like canon as it was supposed to be, and instead felt like a “half-baked Reddit post about what might have happened during the prime of the show.”
While the show has not been renewed or canceled, Radio Times reports the intent to tie additional seasons right back to the beginning of “Stranger Things” Season 3, showrunner Eric Robles said.
