Stranger Things: Tales From '85 Season 2 Review – Exciting New Monsters Can't Fix Glaring Issues

Stranger Things: Tales from '85 returns with new monsters and many of the same issues that plagued season 1. The animated spinoff series is set in the winter of 1985, between the events of Stranger Things seasons 2 and 3. This allows the story to return to a time when the younger characters are still kids and the full group is still in Hawkins, Indiana.

The spinoff's second season takes place around Valentine's Day, as the romantic couples prepare for the holiday, and Dustin Henderson gets disappointed by there being no supernatural phenomenon for the Hawkins Investigators Club (H.I.C.) to investigate. This status quo is quickly upended when the glowing blue flowers teased in the season 1 finale begin appearing all over Hawkins, along with a ghost and bug-like creatures referred to as hate sprites.

Much like Tales from '85 season 1, there are fun moments and plenty of action, but there's still a lack of character development, noticeable pacing issues, and the inescapable feeling that this is a lesser version of a story that's already been told numerous times. There are also the distractions that come with the show being, as creator and showrunner Eric Robles has put it, "frozen in time," and convoluting the existing canon.

Tales From '85 Is More Interested In Monsters Than Its Human Characters

While the monsters were always compelling in the original Stranger Things, especially when it came to Vecna, the human characters were the heart of the series. When season 1 came out in 2016, I remember quickly getting invested in Dustin, Eleven, Nancy Wheeler, and Jim Hopper. It was because of this investment in them, and those like Max Mayfield that came in subsequent seasons, that I continually returned to the show.

Tales from '85 is much less interested in developing its characters or their relationships. Other than a secret fear Mike Wheeler has, powerful advice he gets from Nancy, and a little more about the effect that Max's parents' divorce is having on her, the spinoff doesn't reveal or explore anything too new with the characters. Any growth that they do have feels infinitesimal given everything we already know about them and what lies ahead, but this is somewhat inevitable due to the story being sandwiched between seasons 2 and 3.

Stranger Things' Nikki Baxter, an original character introduced in season 1 of the spinoff, continues to be one of the more intriguing parts of the show, partly because we don't know her story beyond this. She is present for most of the new season and is wrestling with a dilemma, but she gets less overall development this time, as does her relationship with Will Byers, which was one of the highlights of season 1.

With not much emphasis on character, the show instead prioritizes its monsters. The good news is that the monsters are more interesting than they were in season 1. A ghost is a kind of supernatural threat that the Stranger Things' characters have not faced before, and this paranormal phenomenon even reveals important secrets about the history of Hawkins, providing fascinating lore that is brand-new to the franchise. The ghost and hate sprites also just scratch the surface of an even more formidable and unique threat.

No matter how refreshing these monsters feel at first, though, they gradually lose their impact when most of the show is the characters running away from or fighting them over and over again. The action and chase sequences begin to feel monotonous and blur together, and the characters need more time for themselves and their relationships to breathe. This creates pacing problems, leading to a story that feels overstretched and an ending that feels abrupt.

Amid these issues, it's difficult not to think about what the story means for the Stranger Things spinoff being "soft canon." The show references and relies on events and dynamics from seasons 1 and 2 of the live-action series. At the same time, much of what happens, including Eleven's more consistent and powerful abilities at this juncture, doesn't work with what will happen in the later live-action seasons. This is only made worse by a head-scratching decision in the Tales from '85 season 2 finale as well.

It's Time For The Stranger Things Franchise To Take A Break

Tales from '85 season 1 ended with the cliffhanger involving the blue flower, clearly setting up another season that was announced only days after all the episodes came to Netflix. From a narrative standpoint, this is not the case with season 2, as there is no cliffhanger this time, although there's always potential for the H.I.C. to tackle new cases in the future. Since season 2 takes place around Valentine's Day, the winter of 1985 time period is also close to ending, and season 3 of the main show is in the summer of 1985.

Regardless of how well Tales from '85 season 2 performs on Netflix, it would be wise for the franchise to take a break now. After waiting three and a half years between Stranger Things seasons 4 and 5, within the past year, the live-action show's final season and two seasons of the animated spinoff have been released.

New seasons of the original show felt like an event, but now there's an overabundance of content, with too much being released in too little time. It doesn't help that the Stranger Things series finale was incredibly divisive, as were other elements of season 5, and Tales from '85 season 1 had a lackluster reception.

The franchise needs to take a break, not only to build up an appetite for it to return, but to find a fresh new direction. One of the biggest struggles in Tales from '85 is how it clings to the original characters without expanding on them in ways that feel meaningful or exciting. Such an approach prevents the spinoff from evolving into something more, even with the inclusion of new characters like Nikki and Charlie Dandridge.

The Duffer Brothers have mentioned a live-action spinoff in early development and teased that it features new characters, a new story, and a new setting. This feels like the best path forward for the franchise in order to avoid the pitfalls of Stranger Things: Tales from '85, as the universe needs to grow beyond Hawkins and the characters who inhabit it.

All eight episodes of Stranger Things: Tales from '85 season 2 release Thursday, September 17 on Netflix.

Release Date

September 17, 2026

Network

Netflix

Episodes

8

Pros & Cons

• Exciting new monsters expands the lore

• Lack of character development
• Action sequences become monotonous and hurt overall pacing
• Canon status continues to be distracting