Strange Things Season 2 Premieres on Netflix This Week

When Stranger Things premiered in 2016, audiences connected deeply with the core cast of nerdy D&D-playing kids known as The Party. That Stephen King, Stephen Spielberg, and 1980s atmosphere defined the series. Stranger Things concluded late last year, but those characters return with ten new episodes.

Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 is an animated spin-off series set between seasons 2 and 3 of the original show. It follows Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Will, Eleven, and Max as they battle sentient killer plants born from Upside Down spores. The spin-off received mixed reactions during its first season, but it honors the original characters with matching voice actors and a young, adventurous energy.

Season 2 of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 returns to Netflix on September 17 with ten new episodes. The official logline states that with Valentine’s Day approaching, the gang must uncover the truth behind ghostly apparitions and a swarm of strange creatures causing chaos around town.

What happened in Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 season 1?

Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 begins when a scientist in a hazmat suit pursues and incinerates a small creature from the Upside Down. The dead body spreads spores into the ground, growing plant-like monsters. A new kid in Hawkins named Nikki, played by Odessa A’zion, gets attacked by these monsters. Eleven, played by Brooklyn Davey Norstedt, uses her powers to save Nikki. Nikki joins the group and bonds with Will, played by Ben Plessala.

The party investigates the creatures. Max, played by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, and Lucas, played by EJ Williams, check the season 2 pumpkin patch and find pumpkin-monsters. They learn some pumpkins were taken to a local festival. The kids encounter a giant pumpkin monster at the festival, which Eleven destroys, though the destruction spreads more spores.

Suspicions point toward Nikki’s mother Anna, a plant-obsessed substitute science teacher played by Janeane Garofalo. However, Anna’s boyfriend Daniel, played by Lou Diamond Phillips, is revealed as the scientist experimenting behind the scenes. Daniel was a low-level scientist at Hawkins Lab who experimented on a dead plant from the Upside Down, creating a hive mind for the plant monsters.

Daniel confronts the Hawkins kids and explains the situation was an experiment gone wrong. They band together to stop the main monster. Daniel refuses to let go of his spore samples during the final conflict and is eaten by the creature. Eleven crushes the monster in a doorway to the Upside Down, destroying it. The kids celebrate by playing a game of Dungeons & Dragons, but the final scene reveals that remaining spores have birthed another strange plant.

What to expect from Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 season 2

The first season took place during winter break. Season 2 takes place around Valentine’s Day, roughly two months later. Because the show occurs between seasons 2 and 3 of the original series, its lifespan is limited. That constraint, combined with mixed audience responses, may make season 2 the final run for Stranger Things: Tales from ’85.

Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 arrives on Netflix on September 17.

Source: Polygon