For those disappointed by Stranger Things‘ lackluster fifth and final season, a masterful science fiction antidote awaits on Prime Video. While Stranger Things mashes sci-fi with several other genres in the service of a nostalgic blast from the past, the 8-episode 2020 series based on a series of Swedish art books takes a much more compelling look at the fragility of life. While both are viewed through the perspectives of child characters, Stranger Things lacks the profound existential questions of its Prime Video counterpart.
Based on Simon Stålenhag’s retro sci-fi artwork, Prime Video’s Tales From the Loop is a remarkable TV achievement that makes Stranger Things feel like a silly cartoon by comparison. With eight seemingly unrelated episodes that brilliantly tie together with satisfying results in the end, Tales From the Loop ponders large, universal themes that Stranger Things rarely, if ever, had the nerve to broach.
How ‘Tales From the Loop’ Compares To ‘Stranger Things’
Just as Stranger Things is set in the 1980s and takes place in boring, small-town Hawkins, Indiana, “where nothing ever happens,” Tales From the Loop also takes place in a small Midwestern town in an alternate version of the 1980s. The story is set in Mercer, Ohio, where the most notable part of town is the Mercer Center for Experimental Physics. The Center consists of a subterranean facility known as The Loop, where professional scientists use a mysterious machine to defy the laws of physics and make big, Earth-shattering breakthroughs.
Also, similar to Stranger Things, Tales From the Loop is seen through the eyes of adolescent children at an impressionable age. The latter’s story follows George (Paul Schneider as an adult and Emjay Anthony as a child) and Loretta (Rebecca Hall as an adult and Abby Ryder Fortson as a child). Both adults working for The Loop encounter younger versions of themselves displaced in time and work to understand what is happening to them and their sons, Cole (Shane Carruth as an adult and Duncan Joiner as a child) and Jakob (Daniel Zolghadri).
However, unlike Stranger Things, which ultimately devolves into a cartoonish monster movie for kids not worth the production wait, Prime’s must-watch series Tales From the Loop poses profound existential queries that will capture the hearts and minds of children and adults alike. With just eight bingeable episodes that drew an 87% Rotten Tomatoes rating, the series marries art and science to tell much more emotionally resonant human stories than Stranger Things could ever imagine.
Where ‘Tales From the Loop’ Leaves ‘Stranger Things’ Behind
Beyond the gripping concept, Tales From the Loop fuses art and science to raise lofty questions about the universe that Stranger Things could never imagine. As Cole and Loretta try to piece together how and why they interact with themselves in a different timeline, the show plumbs rich themes about the nonlinear fluidity of time, the ephemeral nature of human existence, the fleeting nature of memories, the risk-reward of technological integration, and other weighty topics that Stranger Things didn’t have the gall to raise.
Although Nathaniel Halpern wrote all eight episodes, each is directed by a different filmmaker. However, whether it’s experienced sci-fi directors like Mark Romanek (Never Let Me Go), Andrew Stanton (WALL-E), Ti West (Wayward Pines), or Jodie Foster (Black Mirror), the brilliance of Tales From the Loop lies in how the seemingly fragmented episodes tie together with uplifting beauty and narrative coherence in the end. Despite the show’s nonlinear structure, the way that Cole’s life comes full circle in the end is truly inspired and shows what the best of science fiction can achieve.
As forgettable as Stranger Things Season 5 remains, Tales From the Loop is sure to restore confidence in the thought-provoking rewards of sci-fi television. The series looks at the future to see what humanity can become rather than recapturing the memories of the past.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
