Stranger Things spin-off drops first 6 minutes: Mike and Eleven’s ‘lost’ love story, timeline explained

If you’re still nursing a broken heart after the emotional gauntlet of the live-action finale of Stranger Things, Netflix just offered a much-needed hug in animated form. The first six minutes of Stranger Things: Tales From '85 have officially dropped, and oh, what comfort food for the soul that watched Millie Bobby Brown's Eleven vanish into the Upside Down in Season 5 Finale.

In a sequence that feels like a 'lost' memory, we see Hopper as the protective dad, watching Eleven as she wakes up a little late, for Mike's school timings. Yes, it's a Mileven feast for sure, as the two do whatever it takes, to spend time with each other. For fans reeling from the heavy ending of Season 5, this snapshot of domestic Hawkins bliss is the perfect way to soften the blow, with the help of a few monsters.

We're only a couple of days away from the full release of this new spin-off that will reunite us with our favourite Hawkins heroes. If you've seen the trailers, you'll have already realised that the show isn't a direct follow-up to the live-action series, the world isn't ending (yet), Eleven's still around, and Will's back rocking his signature bowl cut.

Showrunner Eric Robles has described it as a "lost season', so we wouldn't blame you if you were a little confused as to when exactly it takes place in relation to the flagship show.

The timeline

Due to the franchise's love of explicit timestamps, the Stranger Things timeline isn't as complicated as you might think once you see it laid out. The history of Hawkins officially begins in 1959 with the stage play The First Shadow, followed decades later by the events of Season 1 in 1983 and Season 2 in 1984.

Stranger Things: Tales From '85 is snugly wedged in the chronology starting in January 1985, filling the gap before the summer chaos of Season 3 later that same year. The story then marches forward into the final stretch of the flagship series, with Season 4 set in 1986 and the climactic Season 5 taking place in 1987.

To be absolutely precise about the animated series, Season 2 wrapped up with the kids at the Hawkins Middle School winter formal in mid-December 1984. Stranger Things: Tales From '85 picks up less than four weeks later, on January 10, 1985, as the kids settle back into school following their Christmas break. This places it months before the Starcourt Mall chaos of Season 3.

All 10 episodes of Stranger Things: Tales From '85 will drop on April 23. Get ready to return to a time when the biggest worry in Hawkins was making it to class on time and maybe the occasional Demogorgon.