After the final season of “Stranger Things” fell embarrassingly flat, I naturally moved on to “Stranger Things: Tales from ’85,” assuming it was nothing more than an attempt to profit off of the fandom’s remnants. 

While the series achieves higher than cash-grab status and delivers on its animation style and voice acting, its writing ultimately reads like fanfiction that lacks character consistency.

Set between seasons 2 and 3, the 10-episode animation from Flying Bark Productions follows Mike (Luca Diaz), Eleven (Brooklyn Davey Norstedt), Dustin (Braxton Quinney), Lucas (Elisha Williams), Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport), Will (Benjamin Plessala) and new addition Nikki (Odessa A’zion) as they face a threat from the Upside Down.  

This story introduces vine-like creatures that pull people underground, using them and other life forms as scaffolds to create new monsters. Throughout their investigations, the group discovers a hive-mind system similar to the Mind Flayer connected to a larger creature they eventually call the Horde Queen, or Hordak.

Character dynamics are consistent with the original series — Eleven struggles with finding independence, Dustin hangs out with Steve and Will feels like a “freak.”

Unlike the overly smooth 3D effect in some recent animations, showrunner Eric Robles opts for a vintage game and comic style. A green color scheme contrasts the original series’ red and dusty blue tones. 

This supports the storytelling of the Horde Queen variant — the monsters are green throughout the series and switch over to red hues as the Upside Down portal reopens, signifying their return home. Flickering lights, textured movement and the occasional cartoon-like graphic make the show feel like an extended gaming cutscene.

But good visual effects can’t mask structural issues.

The pilot episode maintains the cadence of each character exceptionally well, with voice performances almost identical to their live-action versions. Dustin’s wit and squeaky voice, Max’s edginess and Will’s timidity all land — initially.

Early on, “Tales from ’85” falls into a pattern: A monster shows up, someone gets taken, and Eleven uses her powers to save everyone. In the original series, these moments are high-stakes and drawn out.

But here, it repeats several times within the 27- to 32-minute episodes, which prevents any suspense from building. 

To the show’s credit, the new threats are inventive. Having monsters use life forms as a scaffold is a fresh twist to the Demogorgon formula. But the world-building often develops these ideas indirectly, leaving the viewer confused when the monsters are suddenly able to stay alive without a human inside, with no explanation or investigation.

Character writing becomes increasingly generic throughout the season, with the dialogue veering into Disney Channel territory. Dustin loses his witty edge to become a stereotypical nerd. Even more off-putting is Nancy Wheeler’s only scene in the series, where she distracts a guard by screaming about UFOs and jumping on a desk — behavior so out of character that it breaks consistency entirely. 

Some characters fare worse than others. Throughout the season, Will bonds with Nikki, who encourages him to embrace being different, or the ’85 version of Robin. As the two get closer, Will starts speaking in overly energetic dialogue that is opposite to his naturally reserved demeanor. 

For example, “No offense, but I’ve had, like, umptillions more experience avoiding killer monsters than you have,” is a line of dialogue that just doesn’t work for Will. 

While he becomes more outgoing with Nikki, his character fundamentally changes. In the original series, his arc with Robin still maintains his quiet nature while giving him a confidence boost. In the new series, his characteristic disposition disappears. By the season finale, he’s almost indistinguishable from Mike, losing his unique qualities from the original series. 

The show serves well for binging or background noise because of its short episodes and brisk pacing that make it easy to watch. And in that sense, it’s successful — just not in a way that anyone really asked for. 

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