The sixth episode of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 starts on November 12, 1984, and looks back at what happened after the vines. Scientists at a secret lab gather pieces of the strange growth and test them with a liquid that is not known. This moment goes back to the first episode of the series, when one of the creatures releases spores into the air, which means that the outbreak is far from over.
Hawkins Goes Ahead to 1985
The story moves ahead to January 15, 1985. Mrs. Baxter is testing a new serum at Hawkins Middle School that is supposed to bring plants back to life and help them grow better. Nikki, on the other hand, is having a hard time emotionally after what happened with the group and starts to think about leaving Hawkins for good.
The main group feels better for a short time when they open their tip box, but it’s empty. The earlier mysteries seem to have been solved, but there is still tension about Nikki’s place in the group.
Tensions in the Group
Will wants to include Nikki in his new Dungeons & Dragons game because he is going to be the Dungeon Master. Mike isn’t sure if he can trust her again, so he’s not sure what to do. Things get worse when Will loses it and pulls the fire alarm, which gets him, Mike, and Nikki into trouble. Charlie also gets in trouble, which makes things even worse.
Lucas and Max help a younger kid get a ball out of a sewer outside of school. This leads to another scary situation. Dustin and Rosario spend time together at the same time and start to bond, finding things they have in common that they didn’t expect.
Rosario also starts to have scary visions, like flashes of a blurry “X” shape with a red light floating above it. She and Dustin are interested in finding out what these visions mean.
The mystery grows.
The mystery deepens when it comes out that Charlie is also drawing the same symbol while he is in detention. This means that Hawkins and the other people involved are all connected to the same force.
At the same time, Nikki shocks everyone by taking on Charlie in an arm-wrestling match and easily winning. In the end, she agrees to help the group again, partly because of what happened to El. Mike apologizes for the mean things he said not long after, which is a small step toward making up.
A New Danger in the Sewers
Max and Lucas come across another mutated creature in the sewers. They are able to fight it off and bring Jeff into the mix, but the threat is still there. Another creature attacks Hawkins Middle School and eats the coach, which makes the situation much more dangerous.
The episode ends with the mutant creature stalking the school grounds, putting the group in danger right away and setting up a tense next episode.
Review of the Episode
Episode 6 brings Nikki back into the group, which changes the way things were before and adds new tensions. But the emotional fights, especially between Mike and Nikki, seem familiar and a little bit like they’ve happened before.
The episode has a hard time keeping a strong narrative identity, even though the introduction of new creatures and the growing mystery around the “X” symbol make it more interesting. A lot of the story is based on old conflict patterns instead of new character development.
Even so, the last scenes raise the stakes well, with a new creature coming after Hawkins Middle School and the danger becoming more real.
In general, this episode moves the plot along and sets up events to come, but the pacing and impact are still uneven. There are still a few episodes left, so the story could still get better and pick up speed as it goes along.
