Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Tales From The Loop Episode One "Loop"

tales-from-the-loop-poster

"Not everything in life makes sense"

This might be the best description I can come up with for episode one of Tales From the Loop on Amazon Prime. As you may know this is a series based on the paintings of Simon StÃ¥lenhag and early impressions are good. This first episode sets the stage for  an anthology series that explores the lives of ordinary people in an extraordinary town. The paintings depict a Sweden from the 1980's with a twist- a particle accelerator underground has changed things, so alongside 80's aesthetics you have robots and abandoned futuristic machinery littering the landscape. It's an amazingly fresh juxtaposition and it works somehow. Amazon has moved the setting to rural America but I am glad to see they have captured the look and feel of the paintings very well. 

This episode gives us the premise of a small town in Ohio where impossible things can happen. This is more of a show about ordinary people who encounter extraordinary things, and how it affects them. The emphasis though is strictly on the people, and I like that. At the same time, however, this is clearly Tales From the Loop- the visual references are everywhere.

I saw some of my favorite paintings in the first few minutes of the show brought to life. It was so gratifying to see that done so well.

Where was Tales from the Loop filmed? Amazon takes its sci-fi ...

Loretta is a young girl whose mom is a little strange. Their relationship is a little off, too- she calls her mom Alma rather than "mom"- for reasons we don't really find out, but Alma has a secret. She works underground at the Loop- the particle accelerator that dominates the town- and when she disappears Loretta is all alone. She soon meets a boy named Cole and together they try to discover what happened to Alma. If you're thinking the Loop has something to do with it- well, you're not wrong.

This episode hit some real emotional beats for me- it's powerful but understated, with a message that is both bleak and hopeful. I can tell already that not every episode may have a happy ending, perhaps bittersweet is the best to hope for, and yet at the same time I was satisfied and it felt right. Being young can be a bitch, frankly, and this is just eerie enough to satisfy the Stranger Things vibe without becoming mired in the science fiction elements.

Things I liked:

The robots and whatnot in the background. One of the elements of the paintings is that this stuff just exists seamlessly along with the other visual elements of 80's Sweden.

As I mentioned, some of my favorite images were brought to life. It's never explained what they are- they're just there.

tales-from-the-loop-showrunner-interview

It's never stated when this is set but I'm guessing this episode anyway as 70's or 80's. The old phones and just the aesthetic- everything has that quaint older feel to it.

I highly recommend this show for some enjoyable binging and a nice break from reality.

"Not everything in life makes sense"

Pretty appropriate for the times, right? 


SPOILERS

Young Loretta staring at the cooling towers to start the show off- so perfect. 

Loretta being Cole's mom (!) freaked me out!

No easy answers- Loretta tells younger Loretta that they spend years trying to find out what happened with Alma, but they never find out why.

19 comments:

  1. Hold up, this whole show is based on PAINTINGS!? That is quite interesting. Have you watched beyond the first episode? I still need to watch Impulse. And TWD. And maybe Fear, I genuinely can't remember. It's fine, I am on 3x15, Perverse Instantiation Part 1. For the 328th time. Ontari is going to get bludgeoned any second now, and Clarke will be willing to let her mom die for Bellamy. Good times! Let me know if this is worth it when you're done with a few more episodes and I shall add it to my ever-growing queue.

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  2. Judging by the coat that the boy is wearing I would def agree on late 70s/early 80s. The premise also sounds AMAZING and you are going to cut into my reading time by hooking me on this show!

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  3. Oh, wow!! This sounds really cool, Greg! I love the entire concept and it sounds like something that I can find myself getting hooked on. Definitely adding to my watchlist! :)

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  4. We just start using Amazon Prime, thanks to jacking my mom's log-in, so this may be something we start watching!

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  5. I enjoyed Stranger Things (though I didn't love it), so if this one comes to our free TV one day, I will give it a try!

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  6. sounds interesting. and i do love the paintings that you shared.
    sherry @ fundinmental

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  7. I've seen the art before and didn't clue in that the show was based on them. Now, I'll have to watch. Great summary, Greg!

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  8. I’ve seen a lot of people mention this show and it sounds weird. Definitely weird but I am totally intrigued.

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  9. This sounds completely bizarre but I love that it's based on paintings. This probably isn't for me as I'm more of a British people murdering other British people TV kind of person but I think my husband would love it. I'll have to recommend it to him.

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  10. Glad to hear you enjoyed the first episode. It's pretty neat they've made a series based on these paintings. I'm going to check this out. :)

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  11. I really want to give this series a try. Hope I enjoy it!

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  12. I've heard of this but really had no idea what it is about. It sounds really cool! I'll have to check it out :D Thanks!

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  13. "Not everything in life makes sense" You could not be any more right about that.

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  14. We started watching this the other night (I'm not aware of what it's based on so I guess I'll have to investigate) and I wasn't immediately hooked but I liked the twist and was by the end so we're going to continue.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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  15. Oh, this series is definitely me and now I have to check it out! Thanks for sharing more information about it!

    Angie @ Cottage by the Sea Books
    htpps://cottagebytheseablog.com

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  16. I really want to watch this! We don't have Prime, though. I wonder if it will be released on DVD like other shows? 📺

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