STRANGER THINGS FANS ARE DYING BY THE DAY…
Stranger Things conformity fans are dying by the day, but every time a new announcement comes along, even we get that little tinge of excitement — maybe this is it. Maybe they’re finally going to announce that hidden ninth episode from Season 5 that will somehow make everything better again.
But alas, it is not.
Instead, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is coming back with more episodes beginning September 17.
The animated series takes us back to Hawkins and the world of Stranger Things during the period between Seasons 2 and 3, essentially giving Netflix a way to continue exploring the original era of the show without trying to physically de-age a cast that has obviously grown up. On paper, that actually makes a lot of sense. Animation opens up Hawkins in ways a live-action production probably couldn’t, and it allows these characters and this particular point in the Stranger Things timeline to continue indefinitely if Netflix wants it to.
And to be fair, a lot of people have taken to the cartoon. It has its fans, and there are certainly people who are happy to have any opportunity to return to Hawkins.
But the excitement surrounding Tales From ’85 certainly isn’t anywhere near the level the original show acquired — and for us, despite actually liking the concept of an animated Stranger Things series, it just isn’t hitting the same.
Maybe part of that is because Stranger Things was never simply about Hawkins, monsters, the Upside Down or even the mythology. It was those actors. It was the chemistry between them. It was watching those kids grow up together while the audience grew older right along with them. You can recreate Hawkins. You can recreate the bikes, the synth music, the Demogorgons and the 1980s atmosphere. Recreating that strange chemistry that made the original series a cultural phenomenon is a much harder thing to do.
And then there’s the question of canon.
For those who accept Tales From ’85 as another legitimate chapter of the Stranger Things story, there is obviously more Hawkins to explore and hopefully plenty to enjoy. But for us, this one feels more like an interesting alternate extension of something we loved rather than something we feel compelled to add to the Stranger Things story in our heads.
Good luck with the program, and sincerely, good luck to the fan base that accepts this as canon.
We just can’t do it.
Now, about that secret ninth episode…