Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, Season 2 Feature Scores
Explore all 67 feature scores for Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, Season 2, organized into pros and cons.
Scores by Feature
Summary
67 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.019 (28%)
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Positive 3.5-4.412 (18%)
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Neutral 2.5-3.411 (16%)
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Negative 1.5-2.419 (28%)
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Very negative below 1.56 (9%)
Pros
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Animation is the clearest point of agreement: the creature work, expressive movement, lighting, and polished finish are repeatedly praised. Even strongly negative takes on the story often still single out the animation as a strength.
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Voice performances are a consistent bright spot, with the cast often praised for capturing the familiar characters’ energy without relying on exact imitation. A few viewers still notice the distance from the live-action voices, but the overall performance consensus is positive.
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The kids’ friendships and group dynamics are frequently cited as the heart of the season. New combinations—especially the girls’ friendship and the core party working together—give the show some of its warmest moments.
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Bold color, neon lighting, clean creature design, and cinematic framing make the season visually distinctive. Even when the underlying story is criticized, the presentation is often admired.
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The kid-adventure, sci-fi, and supernatural-horror blend remains appealing, and the ghost-story angle gives the animated series a slightly different flavor from the main show.
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Max’s response to her parents’ divorce receives specific praise for showing how family instability can shape a child’s emotions and relationships.
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Creature design is frequently praised, especially the ghostly and plant-based threats, but the villain material is not universally successful. Some viewers find the antagonists fresh and striking, while one reaction strongly dislikes the final design.
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The animated format allows for bigger, more varied chases and fights, and several viewers find that freedom fun. Others feel the repeated action starts to blur together and crowds out quieter character moments.
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Enjoyment varies sharply from charming, quick fun to outright boredom. Viewers most receptive to a lighter animated Hawkins adventure tend to have a much better time than those seeking the intensity of the original.
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The familiar core group remains easy to like, and their personalities and relationships continue to be a major reason to spend time in Hawkins.
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The half-hour format is praised as a natural fit for this smaller-scale animated adventure, letting episodes move briskly without the sprawl of the live-action seasons.
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The half-hour episodes can move quickly without feeling rushed, especially when a clue turns into a mission and then a new complication.
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The core animated performances are praised for staying energetic and recognizable, with standout vocal work helping carry weaker stretches of the story.
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Making Eleven less able to solve every confrontation with her powers is praised for creating more interesting action and forcing the wider group to contribute.
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The premiere’s supernatural effects are praised as visually beautiful and consistent with the show’s established animated presentation.
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Hawkins history and the season’s paranormal ideas give fans some new material to explore. Monster mythology is less convincing for some, however, especially when origins and rules feel thin.
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The Valentine’s Day relationships divide opinion. Some find the young romance sweet and believable, while others see Max and Lucas’s conflict as forced by the timeline.
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The half-hour mystery structure keeps clues arriving quickly enough that continuing into another episode can feel effortless.
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Slow-motion and freeze-frame choices help showcase the expressive animation and give the action a more composed visual rhythm.
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The opening episode’s late supernatural escalation is seen as an effective hook that creates a classic Stranger Things-style cliffhanger.
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The animated visual direction gives Hawkins a distinct identity while preserving the atmosphere associated with Stranger Things.
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Familiar franchise talent appearing in new voice roles adds a welcome extra touch without overwhelming the younger cast.
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Snowy Hawkins, arcades, bikes, school corridors, and an old-school cartoon texture create an appealing 1980s atmosphere even when the show favors stylization over strict realism.
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The eventual explanation connecting the haunting back to Daniel is praised as an earned and effective reveal.
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Loud screeches and audio-driven scare beats help sell the season’s jump scares and cliffhanger tension.
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Exploring Hawkins history adds texture to the setting and gives the spinoff a worthwhile bit of franchise expansion without requiring a massive mythology reset.
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The season is described as broadly accessible and less graphic than the live-action show, but younger children may still find the monsters and intensity unsettling.
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The first episode is viewed as a solid, enjoyable start that establishes a new paranormal mystery and enough tension to keep going.
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Veteran supporting voices fit comfortably into the animated world without stealing focus from the younger ensemble.
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The season’s kid-focused lessons about fear, responsibility, friendship, and family are seen as well-intentioned, though the didactic approach may feel slight to older viewers.
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The action can become intense, but it is described as neither especially gory nor overwhelmingly scary, keeping the violence relatively restrained for the franchise.
Cons
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Continuity is a major weakness for many viewers: new friends, major dangers, and altered character behavior can feel hard to reconcile with later live-action seasons. A few accept the animated story on its own terms, but canon questions persist.
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Reported aggregate scores place the season at or near the bottom of the franchise critically. The reception is not unanimous, but the overall critical picture is notably weak.
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Storytelling is the largest weakness in the overall consensus. Positive takes enjoy the mystery and Hawkins history, but negative reactions repeatedly call the plot thin, conventional, derivative, or unable to sustain eight episodes.
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A recurring objection is that another adventure wedged between Seasons 2 and 3 has limited room to matter. Even some viewers who enjoy the ride question whether this particular spinoff needed to exist.
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Early viewing performance is portrayed as weak, with the season failing to match the attention generated by earlier Stranger Things releases. That muted response feeds concerns about the spinoff’s broader appeal.
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The eight-episode length satisfies some viewers but frustrates others in opposite ways: the mystery can feel too thin for eight installments, while character-focused viewers wish the season had more room to breathe.
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The rapid turnaround after both Season 1 and the live-action finale bothers several viewers, who feel more distance could have prevented franchise fatigue and built anticipation.
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Even viewers who find the season passably entertaining often show little desire to revisit it, with multiple reactions explicitly saying a rewatch is unlikely.
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Writing is criticized when thin scripts, repetitive plotting, or limited character movement leave the season below the franchise’s usual standard.
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The show can recapture bikes, friendship, Hawkins lore, and early-series adventure, yet several viewers feel the tone and mythology sit awkwardly beside the live-action series. Franchise connection is therefore one of the season’s defining tradeoffs.
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Pacing is deeply contested. Some like the steady flow of discoveries, but many find the mystery stretched, repetitive, or rushed once the shortened season accelerates toward the end.
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The kid-forward, family-friendly tone gives the spinoff its own identity but can also make it feel disconnected from the grittier live-action show.
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One harsh critique argues that familiar characters sometimes behave unlike their established live-action selves, particularly around the supernatural mystery.
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At least one strongly negative take considers the spinoff unfaithful to what made Stranger Things work, especially in tone, lore, and character behavior.
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One viewer feels the show was promoted as much closer in spirit to the main series than the finished season actually feels.
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The cartoon logic stretches credibility for at least one viewer, especially when children survive extreme action set pieces with little consequence.
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The ghostly premise, jump scares, and mystery can create real tension, especially early on. The biggest limitation is that established characters are known to survive, which drains consequence from many fights and chases.
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The heavy focus on the younger group leaves several established teen and adult characters underused, making the ensemble feel narrower than the live-action series.
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The younger-skewing dialogue is criticized for sanding down the way the established characters normally speak, making some exchanges feel less authentic.
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A faith-based review objects to the casual treatment of ghosts, occult ideas, and supernatural investigation, viewing that worldview as undermining otherwise positive themes.
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The cleaner, younger-targeted language is criticized by one viewer for making the established characters sound less like themselves.
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Emotional response is uneven. Warm sibling, friendship, and family moments land for some viewers, while others feel the spinoff lacks the heart and emotional weight of the live-action series.
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Replacing the live-action stars remains a hurdle for some fans, who report difficulty connecting to the animated cast even when the performances themselves are often praised.
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The ending resolves the central threat but leaves some character questions open, producing an unsatisfying sense of incompleteness for viewers hoping for closure.
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A generic synth-heavy score is criticized as a poor substitute for the more distinctive musical identity expected from Stranger Things.
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The script’s focus on monsters and action is criticized for leaving too little room for character relationships to breathe.
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The finale is faulted for arriving abruptly after an overstretched middle, limiting the payoff of the season-long mystery.
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Friendship and courage remain present, but one critique finds the season’s themes too shallow compared with the family and relationship material that anchored the original series.
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This is one of the biggest divides. Some viewers appreciate added material for Max, Mike, Eleven, and Nikki, while many others feel the timeline permits only tiny, repetitive, or inconsequential growth.
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The episodic-cartoon rhythm works for some viewers, but others find the repeated cycle of strange event, investigation, chase, and supernatural discovery too formulaic.
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Interest in another season is split: some viewers want more time to close unresolved character threads, while others feel little urgency to return. Weak audience traction also clouds the prospect of continuation.
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Music receives mixed reactions: one review finds the pounding soundtrack exciting, while others miss the live-action show’s stronger needle drops and consider the synth work generic.
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The new paranormal threat is praised as a fresher direction by some, while others think the season still lacks the daring originality associated with peak Stranger Things.
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The central mystery can be followed, but one late connection involving the returning threat feels overly convenient and insufficiently established.
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The spinoff has a distinct animated identity and can be an enjoyable side adventure, but many reactions call it unnecessary, merely passable, or far below the franchise’s best. Its value depends heavily on accepting a lighter, lower-stakes version of Hawkins.
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The softer, family-friendly approach is both a selling point and a source of friction. It opens Hawkins to younger viewers, but supernatural and occult material may still trouble some families and can feel too gentle for longtime adult fans.
Cast & Creators
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ShowrunnerRobles and his team are credited with keeping the animation vivid and visually confident even when the larger story draws criticism.
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Nikki BaxterA’zion brings personality to Nikki and helps make the newcomer easy to invest in despite wider continuity concerns around the character.
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CosmoEnglund’s addition to the voice cast is greeted warmly, adding a familiar genre presence in a new animated role.