Netflix renews Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 for Season 2 despite franchise’s worst ratings
If you’ve finished Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 and immediately want more, Netflix has you covered. The animated series has officially been renewed for season 2, and is returning to Netflix this fall.
In context, Tales From ’85 is a spin-off of the original Stranger Things franchise, set in the winter of 1985 in Hawkins, Indiana. It follows the Hawkins Investigators Club as they face unusual threats in a separate animated format and live-action series.
What happened at the end of Tales From ’85 season 1?
[Spoiler warning: please skip this section if you have not finished season 1 yet.]Season 1 threw the Hawkins Investigators Club face-to-face with a snow shark and a group of evil pumpkin monsters called the Gourd Horde.
The real threat, however, was the Horde Queen, a creature that appeared on the Upside Down vine after Hawkins Food Mart clerk Daniel Fischer conducted secret research using Mrs. Baxter.
His green serum combined years of botanical science and the Upside Down of the vine extracted DNA, creating something more than he intended. The gang managed to stop Queen from opening a new gate to the Upside Down, which Eleven closed using the creature’s body.
But the ending left one bad image burning in the minds of the viewers. In the Upside Down, a stem burst from the Queen’s corpse and opened into a glowing flower with the jaws of a Demogorgon.
What can you expect from Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 season 2?
Season 1 ended with the Hawkins Investigators Club uncovering a truly terrifying mystery, and season 2 picks up that series with a new threat.
Runner Eric Robles confirmed that the glowing flower is the beginning of a new mystery. The threat of season 2 apparently comes from the abandoned silver mines of Hawkins. The mysterious blue flower seen blooming in the Upside Down at the end of season 1 will also play an important role going forward.
Robles also made it clear that the seasons of the Stranger Things spinoff series are not independent stories. They are directly connected, meaning that every detail from season 1 will be important to the next chapter. Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Nikki will all return.
Why did Netflix renew Stranger Things: Legends from ’85 despite mixed reviews?
Season 1 just dropped a few days ago, and Netflix wasted no time in announcing the renewal. However, the spinoff received a mixed reception, to put it mildly. It currently has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of any entry in the Stranger Things franchise, sitting at 63% for critics and 54% for audiences. Meanwhile, on IMDB, the show only got 5.7/10.
Common complaints point to unlikable characters, especially newcomer Nikki, and uneven plot building. Despite all that, Netflix went ahead with the renewal, and did so four days after season 1 was released. The deciding factor seems to have been the views.
The series attracted 2.8 million views in its opening weekend and reached the 7th place in the Top 10 of Netflix worldwide, and earned a place in the top 15 series of animated debuts of all time. That kind of traction, regardless of critical reception, is enough to spark a second season.
