Just when we thought “Stranger Things,” was over, we received a nice treat from the Duffer Brothers. “Stranger Things: Tales from ’85,” released April 23 on Netflix. It is a 10 episode season and it gives the fans of the series, a look at what happened when the characters were quite younger. The story focuses mostly around the original party, however the female characters are still involved, just not a lot. In the live show the story is mainly centered around Eleven’s character. Now she’s more like a minor character that conveniently saves the day. Reason being, Mike (Lucas Diaz) still wants to obey Hopper, (Brett Gipson) and keep Eleven (Brooklyn Davey) safe and he asks her to stay at home while they find out what’s going on around town. She’s still a badass though, she saves the day again later.
Speaking of badasses there is a new character named Nikki, (Odessa A’zion) She’s a new student who’s into punk rock and has a hard time making friends. But all that disappears when she meets the party. After stumbling onto a monster with them she swears to secrecy about it and soon becomes one of the party, her homemade weapons included.
The plot of this film revolved around sightings of many plant like Demagorgans all over town, wreaking havoc. The party, who call themselves the “Hawkin’s Investigators Club,” are Will (Benjamin Plessala), Mike (Lucas Diaz), Dustin (Braxton Quinney, Lucas (Elisha Williams), and Max (Jolie Hoang), Eleven and Nikki. They are trying to find not only the source of where these creatures came from, but also how they were created. Oddly, the upside down is rarely mentioned in this story. All of the creatures dwell mostly in the sewers and around the woods. This new series is full of creative story choices that have been present since the original live action series.
The theme of Stranger Things has always been about friendship and family. Every character in it may be relatable, and seeing these characters has always touched my heart. I’m happy having this new show to watch, because it was produced well and beautifully animated. This cartoon may be for kids, but I think it brings the kid out in me.