In just a few days, the new Stranger Things animated series will drop on Netflix. Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 follows Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin, Eleven, and Max on new adventures that take place in between seasons 2 and 3 of the original series. While I’ll admit a little bit of skepticism as to whether this show will be any good, I will say that the producers chose the exact right point in the show’s timeline to place this cartoon, as between any other seasons would be logistically difficult and would require the absence of some key characters to the original show’s success.
If you need a refresher, season 2 was the one where Max (Sadie Sink) and her brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery) arrive in Hawkins. Hopper (David Harbour) is secretly caring for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) in the cabin while her friends think she is dead for much of the season. Along with all the “Demodogs,” the Mindflayer is the main villain, as it periodically controls the mind of Will (Noah Schnapp). The season ends with Will seemingly freed from the Mindflayer’s control and Eleven closing the gate to the Upside Down. At the very end, everyone is reunited and seemingly safe at the Snow Ball dance.
The most obvious reason why the new cartoon needed to follow season 2 is the presence of Max in the group. When Sadie Sink joined the cast in season 2, she immediately felt like one of the gang. Dustin and Lucas competing for her affection was a fun way to disrupt the group and when Max and Lucas became a couple, they seemed like a perfect match. Moreover, Max’s sarcastic ball-busting brought something new to the earnest group of nerds that made their dynamic better and funnier. To put it simply, Max makes the party feel whole.
Had they done the animated series after season 1, the show would have missed out on the humor Max brings. On top of that, Eleven is believed to be dead after season 1, so she couldn’t be a part of the group either.
Beyond Max, other characters are also in good places between seasons 2 and 3. The redemption arc for Steve (Joe Keery) has been completed by then, so he can be included in their adventures too. Hopper is in full dad mode with Eleven, which is some of his best stuff, and even Joyce (Winona Ryder) seems settled, even if she is grieving the death of Bob (Sean Astin).
Season 3, in contrast, ends with the seeming death of Hopper (who really got teleported to Russia). If the animated series were set here, maybe it could survive being Hopper-less, but this is also when Joyce moved away with Will, Eleven and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). While I would have been fine without Jonathan, the other three are too integral to the show not to be included.
Finally, if a series were to take place between seasons 4 and 5, that’s when Hopper is hiding Eleven again, so there’s not much time for her to hang with the party, and Max is in a coma, so they’d lose two integral characters.
Most importantly though, in between seasons 2 and 3 is when the Stranger Things kids are still kids and that is incredibly key to the charm of the characters. While I think the final two seasons of Stranger Things were good (though definitely not great) the show never recovered after that three-year gap between seasons 3 and 4, much less another three year gap between seasons 4 and 5. While I understand COVID had a lot to do with some of that, the older these characters got, the less fun they were. And while the verdict is still out on whether Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 will be any good, it needs to be fun to even have a fighting chance.
The first season of Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 debuts on Netflix on April 23.
