Tales from the Loop

Amazon Prime's 'Tales From the Loop' is a gripping, visually compelling drama. I had seen its promotional video when it was released a few months ago but what prompted me to watch it was Twinkle Khanna's tweet about it being 'sublime'. The period depicted is indeterminate and there is tremendous attention to detail in terms of attire, visual appeal, furniture and fixtures, vehicles etc. Jonathan Pryce plays the head of the Loop and is in top form (we saw him earlier as the High Sparrow in Game of Thrones). He is ably supported by a bevy of hugely talented actors across various age groups. It is important that the episodes are watched in serial order as the story is somewhat linear. The presentation is unconventional as in spite of the story being linear, each episode has a different arc. The director has been able to stitch together all the angles and arcs in the finale. Various themes are handled in this drama. Pretty deep subjects are tackled with minimum dialogues and a haunting background score. Now a little about the episodes.

1. Episode 1: Story of a young, intelligent girl called Loretta. Through a s series of events she encounters her own older self! Junior Loretta gets to meet her 'sons'from the future, Jakob and Cole. This is a very eerie. What would this feel like? Don't we all imagine how we would shape up in life or reminisce how we were when we were younger?
2. Episode 2: Two friends Jakob and Danny, vastly different from each other but inseparable, get their consciousness interchanged. So Jakob becomes Danny and Danny Jakob. Danny then likes his life as Jakob and refuses to turn back. We often like to imagine ourselves in somebody else's situation and often comment how life would be for him/her. Can such a thing really happen? Later in the episode, somehow, Jakob exchanges his consciousness with a robot!
3. Episode 3: A girl called May (Jakob's girl friend) is shown lamenting about how good things invariably come to an end. While fishing she comes across a strange object albeit broken. She manages to fix it and to her amazement finds that the device is able to freeze everything other than herself when turned on. She has to a wear a bangle to protect herself. She becomes friends with a boy of a similar ethnic background and the two of them fall in love. May is shown to be a confident girl yet hankers for company all the time. She is a bit irresolute. The boy is a cripple but very intelligent and quiet. The two of them put on their bangles and poof, the entire world freezes. For almost a month the two cavort around, lift clothes, go on rides, have sex in the middle of the road and get hopelessly lost in love. At a crucial juncture the girl becomes restless and is not sure whether the boy will give her company till the end and in an emotional outburst insults him. The boy walks away as he is hurt. May switches off the device and things come back to normal. But the fact is, things are anything but normal for May and the boy.
4. Episode 4: Cole, Jakob's younger brother, is emotionally attached to his grandfather (Jonathan Pryce). He realises that his grandpa is about to die. At the end it is indicated that Cole is in fact the younger version of grandpa. There is a very deep bond between the grandparents. They have this peculiar habit of whistling in their house. One partner whistles and the other responds with his own whistle! The grandfather realises that he hasn't been a good father as he used to be constantly occupied with work and advises his daughter in law Loretta to be careful about losing precious moments because of work. Both the grandparents are kind and loving. If Russ Willard (grandfather) has any ulterior or sinister motive by way of being the head of the Loop, it is not revealed. He just says cryptically that his job is to make the impossible possible.
5. Episode 5: To what extent would a person go to protect his family? This episode revolves around Danny's family. His deaf and dumb sister, father and mother are somehow trying to come to grips with Danny's condition. No one is aware that Danny is Jakob. The town people are worried as a few break ins get reported. Danny's father, Ed, goes and buys a remote controlled robot to guard his family. This does not really endear him with his relatives. He however does not relent and continues to guard his family every night, forgoing sleep and rest. Tensions rise between husband and wife and one day there is a short circuit. This cannot get repaired as they don't have any money. One night Ed nearly mutilates or even kills his daughter as he suspects some miscreants to be hiding in their garage. As an aside, Danny (in Jakob's body) comes around at night to communicate with his sister. Ed hears some noise and attacks his garage suspecting danger.
6. Episode 6: The black security guard at the Loop leads a loveless life. An avid birder, he wants company, that too of the same sex, more than anything else. He carries a photograph of a young, attractive Caucasian male in his pocket. He finds this photograph in an abandoned tractor. After getting the tractor repaired he finds himself in a strange new dimension wherein he finds himself cohabiting a house with the man of his dreams. This is perhaps the weakest story of this season but it does have many layers and it makes us brood.
7. Episode 7: We understand the reason why George lost his hand. He has been forbidden years ago by his father (Russ, the head of the Loop) about not not disclosing what he saw on the island all those years ago. A mischief goes horribly wrong and George loses a limb. Years later George fights his demons and visits the island where he encounters the 'demon' who happens to be the first ever robot created by his father. The robot had to be sent away as the community was opposed to he being among them. 
8. Episode 8: Danny (in Jakob's body) confides in Cole about what happened. Cole is able to locate the robot in which Jakob is trapped. However through a series of heart breaking moments, Jakob (the robot) dies, Cole gets lost by way of some time warp, another dimension and lands up at the Loop's gates still as a boy but about 20-30 years in the future. His father, grandmother have passed away and Loretta, his mother is old now. Very beautiful visuals. throughout. Jodie Foster, the director has tried to tie all loose ends in the finale. We also get to see Danny coming to terms with his guilt complex and later a much older Cole showing his old house to his family. It is also revealed that a school teacher is in fact a robot and she has taught several generations.

This eight episode long series makes us think of our lives, our relationships, our surroundings, about being nice to people. Surreal subjects are tackled in a very innovative way. It scores very high in the visual department. All actors have done a fine job. The special effects are of a high order, seldom seen this good in Indian shows or movies.