Stranger Things Returning to Netflix in Three Weeks With New Episodes

When Stranger Things premiered in 2016, the main attraction was the kids and that specific 1980s Spielberg and King atmosphere. Although the main series concluded with its series finale, the characters and tone return soon in 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 fighting sentient killer plants grown from Upside Down spores. The first season received mixed reactions, but it honored the original characters with matching voice actors and captured a retro animated adventure style.

Season 2 of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 arrives on Netflix on September 17 with ten episodes. The official logline states: “With Valentine’s Day on the way, the gang must uncover the truth behind ghostly apparitions and a swarm of strange creatures causing chaos around town.” A recap of the first season is detailed below.

Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 season 1 plot recap

Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 begins when a scientist in a hazmat suit incinerates a small creature from the Upside Down. The dead creature releases spores into the ground, which grow into plant-like monsters.

When a new Hawkins resident named Nikki (Odessa A’zion) is attacked by the creatures, Eleven (Brooklyn Davey Norstedt) uses her powers to save her. Nikki joins the group as an outcast and bonds closely with Will (Ben Plessala).

Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and Lucas (EJ Williams) investigate the pumpkin patch from season 2 and discover mutated pumpkin monsters. Some pumpkins are brought to a local festival where Eleven destroys a giant monster, though the destruction releases more spores.

Suspicion falls on Nikki’s mother, Anna (Janeane Garofalo), a plant-obsessed substitute science teacher at Hawkins Middle School. However, Anna’s boyfriend Daniel (Lou Diamond Phillips) is revealed to be the rogue scientist behind the experiments. Daniel was a low-level scientist at Hawkins Lab who experimented on a dead plant from the Upside Down and created a hive mind controlling the plant monsters.

When confronted by the kids, Daniel explains that the situation is a failed experiment. During the final battle, Daniel refuses to surrender his spore samples and gets eaten by the large monster. Eleven crushes the monster in a doorway to the Upside Down to destroy it. The kids celebrate by playing a game of Dungeons & Dragons, but a final scene shows new spores giving birth to another strange plant.

Season 1 took place during winter break, and season 2 occurs around Valentine’s Day roughly two months later. Because the spin-off takes place entirely between seasons 2 and 3 of the original series, the timeline is limited. That constraint, alongside mixed reviews, leaves the future of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 uncertain until the premiere on September 17.

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

Source: Polygon