Episode 3 of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 picks up right where the last one left off in the woods. There, the group is surprised by a strange pumpkin-like monster that seems to have eaten Rosario. El uses her powers to push the creature back, and Nikki also helps the group hold their ground.
The creature beats the group and pulls them apart, leaving Will alone in the middle of a full battle. Will takes the mallet that Nikki brought from the carnival game in the last episode and hits the creature in the mouth at a very important time. This gives El a chance to take back control and use her powers to kill the monster.
Nikki praises Will’s bravery after the fight, and Rosario is shown to be safe. But it becomes clear that this is just a small part of a much bigger threat that has to do with the Upside Down. El is worried that things could get worse, but the group is trying to get back to normal life for now.
Dustin shows up at the arcade with a reference book and says the creature might be an Aboleth. Nikki doesn’t agree with the comparison and takes the group to see her mother, Mrs. Baxter.
Mrs. Baxter talks about evolution and how living things change when they are under a lot of stress from a scientific point of view. She talks about how threats to survival can speed up adaptation and how some species release spores to stay alive. This has a direct connection to what the group is seeing with the Upside Down spores.
The group breaks up to look into things more. Max and Lucas go to a pumpkin patch and find vines and dried spores there. At the same time, the others take pictures of similar vine growth in the woods where they found the pumpkin creature. Nikki’s makeshift weapon stops Dustin from being attacked in another encounter.
Later, the group meets up again at the sawmill. There, the spores start to infect people and turn them into more dangerous creatures. Another fight breaks out, and it ends with a big explosion. El gets hurt when logs fall on him in the middle of the chaos.
Review of the Episode
In Episode 3, the story goes back to being an investigation, and the group slowly learns more about the creatures and how they are connected to the Upside Down. The pacing is good because it mixes action scenes with explanations, like when Mrs. Baxter talks about how plants adapt to their environment and spores.
But the episode does bring up some problems with consistency in Hawkins itself. Even though monsters keep attacking and there is clear damage, law enforcement and local officials don’t seem to be doing anything, which makes the setting feel less real. It’s also clear that the government isn’t getting involved, especially since they’ve shown interest in Upside Down activity in the past.
The focus on characters is not consistent, with Nikki getting a lot of screen time and being able to change the group’s direction. Mrs. Baxter is a helpful way to explain the science behind the spores, but Nikki’s main role doesn’t fit with how the story goes later, when her effect seems to fade without a clear ending.
There are still enough unanswered questions at the end of the episode to keep the tension high, but it also shows problems with how the characters are balanced and how the world reacts. It’s still not clear if the season can fix this direction.