REVIEW: ‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’ Season 2 Is An Improvment Over The First

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2, from Netflix and animated by Flying Bark, sees more strange events plague Hawkins’ unwitting residents. When mysterious flowers and monstrous bugs besiege the town, the Hawkins Investigations Club must solve the case. 

This season’s biggest victories come from doubling down on the original’s greatest strengths. The best moments in this story come from the connections between its cast members. Between the normal struggles of pre-teens, the dangers they continue to face, and the special hurdle of the upcoming holiday, Valentine’s Day, there is more than enough emotional turmoil to leave any kid reeling. 

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2 explores and develops these individual arcs with skill. Most will feel familiar; they are still handled excellently, woven in at appropriate moments between deadly encounters.

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2 builds on what it learned from the previous season well.

Of all the interactions, the budding romances are the best. Young love rarely fails to deliver that sweet innocence that makes the well-trodden struggles of finding the courage to take a new step or admit when you messed it up rewarding to play out. The writing and voice work deliver the light romance elements effectively, making them feel believable, without going overboard in the sappiness.

The couples, Mike (Luca Diaz) and El (Brooklyn Davey Nordstedt), and Lucas (Elisha “EJ” Williams) and Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, The Monkey King), get to do a fair amount of growing together. Happily, none of them are reduced to simply being a romantic partner for the other, having their own impacts on the greater story as well.

Another significant secondary plot that works well also significantly reduces the footprint of one of the first season’s biggest problems. Nikki (Odessa A’zion, Marty Supreme) returns in Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2, and her big personal arc revolves around her desire to help her mom make ends meet now that Daniel is out of the picture.

The monsters may be plentiful, but the danger factor is just not elevated enough to resonate.

Her struggle feels real, as she fears having to pull up the roots she’s planted in Hawkins if they can’t get their finances straightened out. Money issues should never be a kid’s problem, and the series does a great job showing how they weigh on a child’s mind, even when the parent does all they can to protect them.

The emotional development for Nikki’s character alone would make the arc worth it, but it also serves the secondary purpose of curtailing the child prodigy’s access to materials to make her tremendous arsenal of improvised weapons. While the familiar core implements from last season do turn up, no new homemade WMDs pop out of Nikki’s garage, which helps curb that bit of disbelief in the proceedings.

While the interpersonal side of Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2 grows from what the first season set up, the dangers of this season remain at about the same level. The children’s imperviousness and the monsters’ frequent ineffectiveness strip the series of any real sense of danger. This is purely a fantastical adventure when you get right down to it; no real suspense is to be found.

The budding romances are a seasonal highlight.

The threat itself is a creative step up, though. While the first season was interesting, this one takes an even more unique path with its monstrous foe. The new mysteries that must be unraveled are excellently crafted, leaving the viewer in the dark until the last couple of episodes.

The mystery is further enhanced by how the secrets are deciphered. Revelations come at moments that make the protagonists feel clever, but never clairvoyant. The pieces come together at a strong pace, giving each of the eight episodes in the season something to discover. 

Even as the core threat grows with skillful pacing and delivery, secondary dangers are introduced that aren’t managed as well. A trio of bullies persists in harassing our heroes, even as the town falls under siege by monsters in the closing episodes. You’d think they would have more self-preservation than to go out in the middle of chaos to get someone back for knocking their bikes over. 

The animation from Flying Bark does the job, but doesn’t push the limit.

The animation side of Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2 is strong, but never exceptional. The frantic chases and the characters’ emotions always come through well. Even the widely exaggerated moments are delivered with all the impact they are clearly meant to.

The one area where the visual presentation absolutely shines is in the color work. This series is one of the most gorgeously colored animated series seen in awhile. And much of that is thanks to a willingness to do something that often feels like a fading concept in visual art.

Even with a story as over-the-top as Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2, many productions would stick to a realistic approach to in-world light sources with established colours and intensities. Flying Bark Productions, however, eschews this to enhance the tremendous color palette that augments much of the show. 

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2 is a solid step up compared to its predecessor. 

Functionally, there is no reason headlights and flashlights should be the deep orange they often are throughout Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2. I even remember the 80s, and I can say with a fair amount of certainty this isn’t a “how it was back then” thing. It would be a problem if not for how gorgeously it pairs with the frequent turquoise and purple backlighting, creating incredibly eye-popping color contrasts. The color work alone is worth watching this series for if you love that side of art. 

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2 is a solid step up from the first season. It addresses some of the first season’s issues while losing none of its strength. Its gorgeous color implementation allows it to deliver visuals that would otherwise feel simply functional. If you enjoyed the first season, there is no reason not to come back for Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2. And if it just fell short for you, this one may improve enough to give it a second chance.

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2 is streaming exclusively on Netflix. 

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