New Stranger Things Spinoff Continues Unfortunate Rotten Tomatoes Trend

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The popular series Stranger Things is growing, but a recent rating decision might be a major problem for the show.

Stranger Things quickly became a huge hit for Netflix, ranking among its most popular and impactful shows. Over five seasons, the sci-fi series garnered over 1.2 billion views worldwide, making it the most-watched English-language show on the platform. Despite its success, the final season received mixed reactions from fans, and some were disappointed with how the story concluded after ten seasons.

As a big fan of Stranger Things, I was definitely curious about the new animated spinoff, Tales from ’85 when it dropped on Netflix. It felt a little strange going in knowing it had a completely new cast and story, set between seasons 2 and 3 of the show we all love. Unfortunately, the first season’s reception hasn’t been great. The critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes is only 61%, but honestly, the audience score of 55% is what really surprised me – it’s the lowest rating anything in the Stranger Things universe has gotten so far.

Series/Season Critics Score Audience Score
Stranger Things — Season 1 97% 96%
Stranger Things — Season 2 94% 90%
Stranger Things — Season 3 89% 86%
Stranger Things — Season 4 89% 88%
Stranger Things — Season 5 82% 52%
Tales from ’85 — Season 1 61% 55%

Season 5 of Stranger Things received the lowest audience scores of any installment in the series on Rotten Tomatoes. Its spin-off, Tales from ’85, also performed poorly with viewers. This contrasts sharply with the first season of Stranger Things, which boasts a 97% approval rating – the highest for the franchise. Reviews for Season 5 described it as disappointing and a failure to stick the landing, while audiences called Tales from ’85 “absolutely terrible” and overly awkward.

Despite the initial criticism, many viewers didn’t actually dislike the first season of the animated series, and some even argued it wasn’t as poor as its reputation suggested. This positive response led showrunner Eric Robles to announce a second season would be released later this year. When asked about the potential for future seasons of Tales from ’85, Robles shared that:

I have a specific number of seasons in mind for the show, and I think telling this story will be a lot of fun. However, I don’t want to drag it out unnecessarily. I’m being intentionally vague, but I have a clear creative vision for how to introduce and address Nikki Baxter’s absence – what it means for the characters and how it fits into the overall narrative. From a timeline perspective, bringing her back doesn’t really work, as this direction was decided during post-production of season four. I do feel a strong sense of responsibility to conclude this story properly, showing how the characters deal with the aftermath and how it all connects back to season three, including why they’ve never discussed Nikki before.

Honestly, I’m not sure if what we’re working on will be flawless, but my team and I are giving it everything we’ve got. I know we won’t be able to please everyone – that’s just impossible, really. It’s a tough spot to be in, trying to make something great when you know you can’t make everyone happy.

A new character, Nikki Baxter (voiced by Odessa A’zion), was introduced, though she didn’t appear in the main Stranger Things series. It’s currently unknown how the Tales from ’85 animated spinoff and the original series will connect, but it seems the spinoff’s story is considered official canon. According to creator Robles, more details about Baxter’s story will be revealed, and we’ll have to wait and see how it all unfolds.

Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 is available to stream on Netflix.

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2026-05-02 22:09