Over the past several weeks, a number of smart, emotionally resonate, and just plain good sci-fi/magical realism shows have premiered. There’s the dark but compelling tech/sci-fi series Devs on FX on Hulu. There’s the magical and charming Dispatches from Elsewhere on AMC. And now there’s Amazon’s beautiful and layered Tales From the Loop, a linked anthology series that is drawn from the role playing game of the same name.
Now, what is a linked anthology series? Well, it’s something I just coined, but Tales From the Loop is a hybrid of a traditional anthology series (each episode is an unique and self-contained story, focusing on a particular character), but the characters within the series appear across multiple episodes. One might be simply a guard at The Loop in episode one, but in episode six he is the central focus and his arc takes him far away from the other characters in the story. So, each episode is a standalone in terms of the story it tells, but the characters within its confines appear throughout each of the episodes. In fact, the three episodes streamed for critics were a seemingly random sampling: we were given episodes one, four, and six of the season. Each made complete sense on its own and we had spent enough time with the characters within that it was easy to pinpoint who they were in the larger community of The Loop when it was their time to take center stage.
As someone who had never heard of the Tales From the Loop RPG, I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect when I sat down to watch the series. But my hesitation quickly melted away as I was swept into this truly special series. It’s rare that a show is able to genuinely move me, but Tales From the Loop is that kind of series. For those looking for a puzzlebox tale of just what the mysterious Loop is, this isn’t your show. While the strange qualities of the Loop factor into the various tales, it’s not the focus. Instead, the series is far more concerned with exploring relationships and human connection: parental love and abandonment, life and death, romantic love and betrayal are all topics beautifully dealt with by the series.
Each episode begins with a mystical element of The Loop influencing a character’s life, whether it is something small like telling them how long they have left to live (only in this series would that be a “small” thing) or something huge, like time travel or transporting them to a parallel dimension. From there, our character learns a difficult lesson about life. A young boy struggles with the reality that his beloved grandfather will soon die – and is confronted with just how harrowing that process can be, as the man he has revered for his whole life turns into someone he can no longer recognize, and who can no longer recognize him. A young girl learns that her mother wasn’t the woman she thought she was, and must accept that while her life may turn out well, it will be a difficult road to get there. And a man learns that his dream partner isn’t as wonderful as he thought he would be.
The stories are deceptively simple on their face. A child learns about death as he watches his grandfather die? That’s nothing special. But it’s in the treatment of each story, from the writing to the direction (Andrew Stanton handles the directorial duties for the grandfather episode) to the acting, that Tales From the Loop is sensational. Yes, we’re seeing tales we have seen before, but we’re seeing them told with such heart and precision that they seem richer and just plain better. Watching Jonathan Pryce confront his own mortality is a wonder. Seeing Rebecca Hall tell her younger self that things will, eventually, turn out ok, even as she confronts the fact that she may have inadvertently turned into the mother she once despised is hard to watch but mesmerizing.
With so many shows telling us the horrors that technology can bring, Tales From the Loop is far less concerned with beating that (now tired) drum. Instead, it wants us to remember that technology may change the way we interact with the world, but we shouldn’t forget our humanity in the process. We still have the capacity to love, to want, to hope, and to dream. We still owe it to ourselves, our friends, and our families to be present in their lives and not just check out to the wonders of the tech around us. And, especially in a time when technology is so essential to connecting us when we aren’t allowed to meet up in person, it’s crucial not to neglect our own emotional needs. Human connection is still human connection. Kids still need the love, compassion, and support of their parents. Honest communication builds relationships and lies and subterfuge destroy them. Tales From the Loop is a beautiful reflection on what makes us human and connects us to each other against the backdrop of a world infused with technical marvel. And it’s utterly lovely.
Tales From the Loop begins streaming on Amazon on Friday, April 3.
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