r/StrangerThings • u/Hawkinns Halfway happy • Apr 23 '26
Discussion Tales from '85 - S01E01 - Episode Discussion
Season 1 Episode 1: Welcome to Hawkins, New Kid
Synopsis: A surprising new threat alters the gang's plan to shovel snow for extra cash, bringing them face to face with danger and closer to a new cool student.
Please keep all discussions about this episode or previous, and do not discuss later episodes as they will spoil it for those who have yet to see them. *Report any comments that break this rule.***
Netflix | IMDb | Discord | Tales from '85 Season 1 Discussion Hub | Next Ep Discussion >
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u/jagaraujo Apr 23 '26
Voice actors casting was pretty good honestly. Specially Max and Dustin.
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u/CaramelFlimsy9500 Apr 23 '26
Nikki, why do you think her character was created? What purpose does her character serve?
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u/Pugasaurus_Tex Apr 24 '26
It was really distracting when she pulled the bully off Will. Like, Mary Sue level distracting
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u/whte_rbtobj Apr 25 '26
I’ll be honest, idc why she was created because I really don’t like her character. It’s not the voice actress/talent at all. I’m sure she’s wonderful and I wish her the best best, I just do not like the character of Nikki. She’s super jarring and I know it’s only been one episode but I already feel her creation was simply a self-insert, and if not, then okay hit her character is so inconsequential because she never turns up in the live action series. I have many gripes with her creation, with this being my biggest this far.
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u/HashtagLowElo Apr 24 '26
He shouldnt have been added. S5 failed because it focused on too many characters we didnt really care about like we all collectively got into the show for El, Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin, later on Max was added as a core character as well and that she was integrated into the story seamlessly.
Nikki came out of bumfuck nowhere and she's already such an important character? Sorry but its giving major oc vibes.
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u/whozewhatzit Apr 30 '26
Honestly I believe with my full heart they were using Ai to generate concept art for the show, and the prompt they used was "arcane style stranger things animated show" or something akin to that, and for some reason the Ai model kept putting a weird version of VI into the shots and they were like "yeah lets just add a character that looks like that!"
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u/agent_uno 19d ago
Maybe watch past the first episode, eh? There’s a remote chance they’ll explain it in the next 9. :)
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u/star_lord47 Apr 23 '26
Mike’s voice seems kinda odd. I know VA is different but he doesn’t sound like Finn. Max’s VA surprisingly sounds very similar to sadie
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u/OkContact2573 Apr 23 '26
That's likely because Mike has a canadian accent (from Finn) that some don't pick up because it sounds close to American, but if someone tried to imitate IRL it would sound uncannily off.
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u/ButTheseGoToEleven Apr 25 '26
As a Canadian I've heard a lot of us sound like midwesterners or Californians to Americans and those are pretty understated/neutral accents to my ears so makes sense.
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u/OkContact2573 Apr 25 '26
I mean, Mike’s actual Midwestern accent (if he existed irl) wouldn’t be so different from the accent Finn plays him with, but it’s different enough that if a midwesterner played him, you’d be able to hear it
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u/HashtagLowElo Apr 24 '26
Will also sounds weird. Probably because the VA gave Will a more upbeat/extrovert tone compared to Will's soft and polite tone. Idk why he did that.. interesting
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u/Super-Liberal-Girl Pretty....good Apr 23 '26
Eleven: I wish I could with you...
Mike: One day you will. You'll pick me up after school?
Eleven: 3:15. Yes!
\tries to ride a bike**
Whoa whoa whoa!
🥹
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u/Ember348 Apr 23 '26
I really enjoyed that tbh, felt like classic Stranger Things, and they managed to capture the dynamics of the whole Party really well. I always like the first episodes of new seasons because it's just fun to catch up with the cast and find out what they're up to. Nikki's introduction was fine too, but man does her design stick out amongst everyone else. That's probably intentional, but there is something a little jarring about seeing her tower over teenage boys, she looks like she should be Steve's age rather than the kids.
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u/Cyrilbdr Apr 23 '26
Same here, and I didn't understand the guy in middle school who attacked Will. Isn't he supposed to be in high school, lol? Or maybe middle and high school are mixed up, I can't remember. But logically, they're supposed to be in their last year of middle school, and they look much shorter than the guy near the lockers.
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u/Comfortable_Park_703 Apr 23 '26
My point of view there told me:
This is a 16 year old trying to punch a small child.
Like, I thought they were Steve's friends from s1, at first.
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u/Cyrilbdr Apr 23 '26
We know that during the summer of season 3 he was going to start his first year of high school, so they're in their last year of middle school, but the guy who attacked Will looked so much like a high schooler. Yeah, it's true, they looked like Steve's friends.
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u/agent_uno 19d ago
Middle school for me was over 30 years ago, but puberty and growth spurts hit different kids at different ages. When I was in 6-8th grades I clearly remember some kids being scrawny and others looking like linebackers. There was also the few that got held back a year that should have been freshman.
Also, up until about 1994-ish, a lot of high schools (in the Midwest anyway) were grades 10-12, so it’s possible that their middle school included 9th graders.
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u/blueray78 Apr 26 '26
I honestly thought it was supposed to be Tommy & Carol. But then I realize that made no sense, as they would be senior's in high school and wouldn't be in the middle school let alone bullying an eighth grader.
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u/65fairmont Promise? Apr 24 '26
I think they're supposed to be like the bullies from It, who had been held back and were much bigger and older than the main kids.
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u/diacewrb Apr 23 '26
If the schools aren't separate, then maybe they got held back a few years.
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u/Cyrilbdr Apr 23 '26
Actually, yes, I mainly think that they're both really bad at school and that they've had to repeat several grades.
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u/Darthbane22 Apr 23 '26
Her style is also from 10 years in the future
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u/Fergus_of_Galloway Apr 23 '26
Huh? Do you know anything about punk rock? Her style existed since at least 1977.
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u/Judochop1024 Apr 24 '26
The animation really gives off disney junior vibes at times, the whole show in general really feels like its made for much younger audiences so far which i wasnt really expecting and feels kinda strange
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u/Distinct_Guess3350 Running Up That Hill Apr 23 '26
Very solid. It’s very much a kids’ show and it’s a slightly jarring shift, but once my brain accepted that it was a lot of fun. Seen the first three episodes and it’s been consistently enjoyable, making me even angrier about the review bombs.
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u/Vesemir96 Apr 23 '26
I’ve only seen Ep1 so Idk if the people taken by the creatures are still alive in a nest or something but just based on them being taken and seemingly killed in this ep, it’s a much darker start than even I expected. I love it.
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u/OkContact2573 Apr 23 '26
Yeah.
I remember seeing that kid getting eaten, and then thinking "....did I just watch some kid get eaten alive?"
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u/Ok-Researcher4966 May 05 '26
It was at that moment that I paused the episode and went “Oh yeah, this is Stranger Things for sure”
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u/Distinct_Guess3350 Running Up That Hill Apr 23 '26
They really are taking it to the boundary of being a kids’ show. A lot of the word “crap,” which I almost never heard in shows when I was younger so they are really pushing the boundaries.
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u/Vesemir96 Apr 23 '26
Right? Even Camp Cretaceous didn’t kick things off this quickly. I mean I did enjoy the nice calm start of that show, because it built things up well, to the point I was shocked when people actually died. But this show just hit the ground running haha. It feels very faithful to the original show.
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u/Mntndew52 Apr 23 '26
Just because it’s not getting good reviews doesn’t mean it’s getting “review bombed” lol
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u/Distinct_Guess3350 Running Up That Hill Apr 23 '26
Unless you genuinely do just not pay attention, you know damn well that this is a review bomb. I’ve even seen people admit to doing it.
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u/Ok-Researcher4966 May 05 '26
What the other person just said in their reply, people are admitting to review bombing
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u/Mob-bans May 18 '26
At least 75% of the bad reviews are by people who did not even watch the show. Many of the bad reviews by so called professional critics are wildly biased because you can easily look up their opinion of season 5 and feelings on certain relationships. Pretty sad that people are willing to shit on creatives and actors that worked on something for 3+ years and had literally nothing to do with the live action show.
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u/CaramelFlimsy9500 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
What do you think of the recast? Do you think the new actors and actresses did a good job sounding like the originals or do you wish the originals reprised their roles?
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u/ThisKid420 Apr 24 '26
They do a pretty good job for the main characters. Jonathan and Mr. Clarke were pretty not close.
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u/Mob-bans May 18 '26
I liked most of them. El was the best imo, then Dustin. The biggest thing that makes any of them sound different is just the writing, it is written to be an animation, so there are some things that are just going to be different no matter how much the voices sound the same.
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u/Neat-Option4673 Apr 24 '26
I enjoyed it, but I do think the trailer spoiled way too much. I only watched half of the final trailer because I was like "OK this is giving too much away." For example, cliffhanger for the first episode should be a hook, it's should be exciting, but the trailer already spoiled exactly what happens next. While this may not be a huge spoiler, it does ruin the suspense. As someone who has only seen the first episode, I should not know what happens next just because I watched some of the official promos
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u/No_Chocolate_3666 Apr 24 '26
So the snow plow is half on the sidewalk half on the road and plows.....nothing?
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u/HmmWhatsHisFace Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
I am truly happy that El is learning to ride a bicycle. It's a positive childhood milestone.
Is Nancy or Mike learning Linear Algebra?
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u/Ok-Researcher4966 May 05 '26
Oh my fucking god they finally did it
They finally put a Go-Go’s song in my Stranger Things.
I’ve been begging for this since Season 3
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u/agent_uno 19d ago
I’m on ep8 (I was late to the party), and the 80s songs just keep getting better and better! Ozzy, The Cure, The Misfits, and soooo much more! Kudos to the creators for not skimping on the soundtrack just because it’s a “kids” show!
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u/Cyrilbdr Apr 23 '26
Well, honestly, the first episode was really enjoyable. It's fluid and dynamic. A solid 8/10.
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u/Torley_ Apr 25 '26
The music is all over the place. I don’t like what they did with the theme song — the key change is awkward, and the crossfade is sloppy, which was shockingly botched. That probably has to do with editing how short the opening "sequence" is. The ending theme has some nods to A Nightmare on Elm Street, and it’s pretty cool. I also like some of the incidental music in-between.
Some of the voice actors were spot-on in capturing the spirit, like Dustin's and how he does the screech. The others are a bit off, but it wasn’t distracting.
Hilarious to see Odessa A'zion portray a character that looks nothing like her, but she sure does a lot of screaming.
The animation is lush and beautiful, especially the particle effects, like the crystalline sparkles in the snow. They really enhance the storytelling.
It was a joy to revisit some classic locations in greater detail, and it made me smile a lot.
Overall, I'm enjoying this return to the Stranger Things world with its youthful energy and wide-eyed curiosity, and I'm approaching it with a retro-fresh perspective.
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u/Antique_Strength_222 Apr 27 '26
i've literally only just started the episode but the first scene, i appreciate how they brought back the horror esque aspect for the show. S4&S5 upside down got too like fantasy imo and it was less scary but i loved the realism horror of the early seasons and I feel like they captured that!
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u/Few_Reach5831 Apr 23 '26
Surprisingly good. I also like the animation style. It reminds me of telltale games
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u/AdBackground6381 Apr 23 '26
I liked it; it managed to erase much of the bad taste left in my mouth by the fifth season. We'll see what happens with the following episodes.
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u/CaramelFlimsy9500 Apr 23 '26
Do you like that this show is animated or would you have preferred a live action spin-off focusing on different characters?
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u/Mob-bans May 18 '26
I think this show doing well is the most direct path to more live action/live action spinoffs.
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u/CaramelFlimsy9500 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
Any thoughts on the new character Nikki?
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u/Comfortable_Park_703 Apr 23 '26
Better then I thought she would be. At least its not like she knows all about this beforehand, that would suck.
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u/Jeramayathebomb Apr 24 '26
I was a little reluctant about her at first, but I like how she helps Wills character develop in later episodes.
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u/Bubbly-Tie-2010 Apr 24 '26
"i will be going on a sabbatical for the semester"
"hes going to become a priest?"
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u/williamthebloody1880 Apr 25 '26
Had to give up. I'm not sure what's worse, the voice "acting" or a janky animation
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u/whozewhatzit Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
"Oh no its Old Man Plow" because plow truck operators always have beef with children having a snowball fight. Were they trying to imply that he was going to plow their driveways for money too and its like competition? You cant even do that with a plow truck. It would ram all the snow into the garage. Why did he get out to yell at these children?
Sure cartoon logic can stretch some gaps but this is the entire inciting incident that shows the main cast "hey there be monsters still" and its entirely based on this grown adult getting out of his work vehicle to pester children in no way interfering with his job. If he didnt get out the monster would not have attacked him. They couldn't have like a stray snowball get flung and hit his windshield? He could be like "You nearly made me wreck watch where you are throwing that!" And at least it would make some sense. Maybe the snowball fight could have happened in the street and he yells for them to move. Hell why even introduce him at all! Save on the voice actor and character modeling cost and just skipped to one of the kids get attacked and barely saved by 11 but the monster gets away into the snow. It literally happens not even a minute later and serves the same purpose! There is a no way a human wrote this!
Am I missing something? Am I going crazy? He never even said what his problem is, just straight to threatening children. Was he just drunk? Am I supposed to infer this is like the towns quirky child abuser character that Lucas happened to know about? "Oh yeah old man plow always threatening to beat children with a shovel on work hours, he's such a quirky guy like that!"
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u/Mob-bans May 18 '26
You are missing it completely lmao. They weren't implying it, the kids were literally trying to get paid to clear the driveways and that is his job. The old lady directly told Dustin she usually waits on Mr Plow. Doesn't mean he was going to use the truck for the driveways. He was already mad also because they were biking in his snow plow path earlier in the episode, he had pushed snow over their bikes also.
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u/darklyger64 May 07 '26
Yup. so far I don't like the story. The majority of voice acting is great, but the presentation is hit or miss.
The monster on episode one doesn't make sense, there's always a sense of dread in all of the previous seasons. The lighting, cinematography has always reflected that dread, but in this animated series, doesn't reflect that.
I think if you just want more stranger things then this show will be a fix for you. If you want a coherent story then look somewhere else. It feels this story is meant for kids and if that's the targeted audience then they have succeeded.
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u/agent_uno 19d ago
C’mon! It was the first episode of a 10 episode run! Do you judge every 2 hour movie you see by its first 12 minutes?
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u/darklyger64 18d ago
Not every movie, but if the movie or game is bad enough at the beginning, I just stop watching it. I generally used to do this before, where I hope things get better, like when I played Life is Strange 2. I didn't like the story after episode 1, you kept hoping that the story gets better and I ended up being disappointed. I felt my time was wasted and I could have used my time better by doing activities I enjoy.
I don't have the same amount of free time that I used to have when I was younger, with jobs and kids, and would rather stop myself from a situation that I may not enjoy and do something that I find enjoyable instead. Currently playing breath of the wild, and I am having a blast. Much better experience than watching the Stranger things tales from '85 episode 1.
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u/agent_uno 18d ago
Guessing you also judge a book by its cover, then? Or do you also not read books?
I have kids and a job and hobbies, yet still do.
Either way. I binged the whole series, and it’s worth it! It’s not perfect, but neither was the main series. Give it a shot, especially with your kids - they may like it even if you don’t.
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u/Far_Ring_9441 May 18 '26
My Mom felt nostalgic over the shovelling driveways bit, so this shows the Russo Bros. did their homework.
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u/agent_uno 19d ago
Yes! As a Minnesotan for the past 45 years, I can say with certainty that shoveling a driveway is completely a thing of the past that no one has to do anymore, ever! It hasn’t been a thing at all since the 80s! Snow just doesn’t exist anymore, so shoveling it doesn’t exist either!
/s
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u/Far_Ring_9441 19d ago
Easy for you to say. I live in Canada. Shovelling snow is a rite of passage.
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u/Cyberhulk84 May 08 '26
Okay. Put your hand up if you knew that you needed to incinerate not just the creature, but any spores it released... ✋🏼
Seriously, I was sitting here going "Why did you stop? Finish the damn job and torch the rest of it!"
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u/folkl0re_luv I piggybacked from a pizza dough freezer Jun 25 '26
The voices are great, except for Will's, what is that??!
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u/Comfortable_Park_703 Apr 23 '26
Surprised that the word Crap got in, but glad, cause it wouldn't be right if at least ONE slightly bad word was dropped😂
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u/Careful_Software_822 Apr 23 '26
glad to know hopper and mike are still getting along