Tales From The Loop is a very interesting drama. We watch different sci-fi stories that slightly influence each other in each episode of the series, which can be simply called a retro-futuristic town story. Every story we watch in the eight-episode series that aired its first season is very well written, but what makes the series so different is that every story in the anthology has a common theme. This theme is growth and change that comes with growth. In this respect, the drama is exactly in the genre called “coming of age”. In almost every episode, we watch a different character’s growth story. The reason the series is so good is that it is built on two legs. Tales From The Loop is a very powerful series in terms of both science fiction and drama. In fact, productions where science fiction and drama are used in such a balanced and successful way are rare. The story of each episode is both extremely character-oriented and interesting and quality science fiction.
The origin of the series is also very interesting. For years, Swedish illustrator Simon Stålenhag has been painting pictures that blend the nostalgic science fiction of the eighties with the idyllic vibe of the Swedish countryside. Stålenhag’s style is so good, the things he draws are so interesting that it draws in a whole new world. Stålenhag publishes his first artbook, Tales From The Loop, with explanations detailing the world he created on this. According to this book, the Scandinavian countries came together in the sixties and founded the Loop, a high-tech underground nuclear research facility. Over the past two decades, Loop has become part of the lives of the local townspeople. Robots escaping from the loop and the technologies that spread from there to the town have become commonplace. Isn’t it both nostalgic and cliché, and an innovative and futuristic story, just like Stålenhag’s drawings?
Several changes have been made to the series. The story takes place in the same years as the book, but not in Sweden, but in America. Stålenhag has published two more artbooks after the success of Tales From The Loop. Things From The Flood shows what the town became after the closure of the Loop in the nineties. We will probably watch this book as a second season. Stålenhag’s third artbook, The Electric State, describes the journey of the robot with a little boy in a post-apocalyptic America where the Cold War turned into the Third World War. The book, which is a linear and successful story compared to other books, deserves to be a movie. Already, the rights were sold to the Russo brothers, who are known for their success in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and subsequently made an excellent comic book adaptation like the Deadly Class. Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti, the names behind It, one of the most successful horror movies of recent years, will be the director and producer of the film. Our expectations are high! Tales From The Loop’s adventure was not limited to the book, because the readers wanted to live and feel this world.
On top of that, the book was turned into a desktop role-playing game system by Modiphius Entertainment, who wanted to take advantage of the eighties frenzy that has influenced the last decade and made us reach productions like Stranger Things. Here, the series is mostly adapted from the stories created for this game. Since Things From The Flood is adapted as an expantion to this game, the second season of the series is quite possible. It has already been highly appreciated by the audience. In Tales From The Loop role-playing game, you choose one of the eighties cliché high school characters (nerd, athlete, etc.) you can remember from The Breakfast Club and explore the incredible things that fill your town with your team. In keeping with the eighties movies, adults are often useless in these stories. That’s why Tales From The Loop is well suited to be adapted as an anthology of growth stories.
We are living in the golden age of serialization. At a time when the nostalgia of the eighties was selling so much, it was unlikely that Tales From The Loop would not attract attention in America. Right after the book and game system was translated into English, the rights were bought by Amazon. Amazon has been making very, very successful TV series ever since a few years ago when everyone decided to enter the drama market where everyone earned such money. It can be said that the Internet has become the HBO. Besides excellent series such as The Boys and Good Omens, there is a series such as Carnival Row that fascinates with its visuality and world creation. Tales From The Loop, on the other hand, is a complete Amazon series with its story, visuality and world creation.
Amazon is a publisher who likes to take risks. For example, it released the 4th season of Expanse, which was canceled by SyFy. In addition, Lore was a very original and successful production that was both a Twilight Zone-style horror anthology and documentary, even using interesting techniques such as animation. Tales From The Loop is a series that has not been done. We are excited about Amazon’s sci-fi comic book adaptations such as Invincible, Lazarus, Paper Girls, Fear Agent, East of West and book adaptations such as The Wheel of Time, Conan The Barbarian, Lord Of The Rings, Ringworld.
The series was developed by Nathaniel Halpern. We can list Daniel Zolghadri as Jakob, Rebecca Hall as Loretta, Paul Schneider as George, Jonathan Pryce as Russ, and of course Duncan Joiner as Cole. First of all, let’s point out that all acting is very successful. This allows us to connect with the characters easily. For a series like Tales From The Loop that deals with character relationships and character development, this is a huge plus. Especially Cole is such a cute boy, he is happy with him, we feel sad with him. The stories of Loretta, George and Russ are also very impressive, and the actors have successfully reflected how the characters in that situation will look, look and speak. Having the right actors for each character has a big impact on this. The cinematography and music of the series keep us living that technological provincial to the fullest. The directors did a really good job too.
Finally, let’s come to the visual aesthetics, which is the most attractive aspect of the show for all of us. First of all, the design of the robots is amazing, you can watch as you watch. Also, despite all the technology leaking from the Loop, we feel like we are in a town outside of the city. The sky is blue, the trees are green… The balance between the past and the future in terms of visuality is very well established. Neither of them outweighed, and they fit together as if it was natural for the two to be together.
We can say that Tales Of The Loop derives its strength from being a finely woven production that is very balanced in every way. Do not miss this series that can make you forget your troubles, especially on these quarantine days …
