Gaddis

* Main
* Parallel
* Youth

**Gaddis** is a character who appears in the Prime Video series *Tales from the Loop*. He lives by himself in Mercer, Ohio and his hobbies include listening to blues music, playing pool and bird-watching. He works as a security guard with the Mercer Center for Experimental Physics, also known as "the Loop." He is friends with Loretta and George Willard and sometimes has dinner with them.

In a parallel universe, he still lives in Mercer, Ohio, but does not work for the Loop, the facility having been shut down years before. He is instead living together with a life partner named Alex.

He is portrayed by Ato Essandoh, by Kevin Harris as his parallel reality self, and also by Teegan Harms as a young boy.

## History

### A guard in Mercer

He was working at the guard station at the Loop when he was approached by a young boy named Cole, who was with a young girl named Loretta. The girl told him that she was looking for her mother Alma, one of the employees at the Loop. He made a phone call and told her that he was sorry, but there was nobody working there by that name. She ran off calling him a liar, leaving Cole to apologize for her. He then made another call to Cole's mother, telling her that a girl had come looking for her mother, who was named Alma. Cole's mother seemed stunned by this news and hung up the phone without saying goodbye to him.

He was hanging out in the Mercer Tavern one day when a girl named May activated a mysterious stasis device which caused her and her boyfriend to be the only people still able to move within a world of suspended time. The two of them visited the tavern, where May asked Ethan to make up a crazy story about him, a favorite pastime of his. Ethan whispered that Gaddis had been sent there from another dimension to see what made them tick, cracking May up. Sometime not long after this, he attended a wake held at the tavern for Russ Willard, the founder of the Loop who passed away in his old age.

He was playing pool at the town tavern one day when he was approached by a man named Kent, who was new in town. Kent struck up a conversation with him, but it ultimately did not go off well at all. It started off well enough, as Gaddis recognized Kent as a new guy in town who regularly rode around on his bike. Kent explained that it was to do his part for the environment and Gaddis complimented him on this. However, Kent then criticized the song that was playing in the bar, "You Missed a Good Man," only for Gaddis to reveal that he was the one who had chosen the song. Kent explained that he wasn't a big fan of music, which surprised Gaddis, who couldn't imagine a life without music. Kent then thoughtlessly moved one of the pool balls. He apologized and chatted with Gaddis a bit more before leaving awkwardly.

He had a dinner over at Loretta and George Willard's place. During the dinner conversation, George asked him if he was still living where he was before, if he didn't have any interest in moving closer to town. Loretta explained that Gaddis was a birder. Gaddis talked about his hobby, saying that he liked birds because they were perfect. He spoke of how the golden plover would travel all the way to the Arctic to mate. Loretta thought it a long way to go for love, but George found the notion romantic. They then discussed Gaddis's relationship status, Gaddis still being alone. Loretta commented that Gaddis was picky, but he said that he just had "discerning tastes." After dinner, Loretta walked with Gaddis to his car. Gaddis commented that it must be nice to come home and have the lights on because someone was there, but she told him that nothing was perfect.

Gaddis sought to explain the mystery of an unusual tractor he had found in a field, containing a picture of a man he did not recognize. He sought the help of the girl May, who was good with machines, to repair it. She succeeded in fixing it. When she switched it on, the air around it seemed to waver, but nothing else happened. Confused, Gaddis exited it and returned home.

To Gaddis's surprise, the interior of his home looked completely different. He then discovered living there another man who looked exactly like him, along with a very good-looking man named Alex, the man from the photo. Completely freaked out, he ran away, but the other Gaddis chased him and eventually caught up to him. They both were shocked at how they looked like each other and quickly figured out the truth that due to the strange experiments of the Loop, Gaddis had somehow ended up in a parallel reality.

The two Gaddises quickly discovered that they were a lot alike, sharing the same hobbies and interests. When Gaddis was unable to use the tractor to go home again, they agreed that they would live together. The arrangement seemed to suit them well and, over time, Gaddis got to know Alex as well. They all ate dinner together and together the two Gaddises shared their hobbies like listening to music and watching birds.

One evening, Gaddis overheard Alex and the other Gaddis arguing. He asked him about the next morning and the other Gaddis told him that it was no big deal, that they had them from time-to-time. He told him that when one is in a relationship, nothing is ever perfect. One evening, Gaddis presented Alex with a journal in which he poured out his deepest feelings for him. In the journal, he urged Alex to run away with him. He told him that he would wait for him, but later, it was instead the other Gaddis that came to him with the journal to confront him. They argued, Gaddis telling the other Gaddis that he took Alex for granted. The other Gaddis explained, however, that Alex had a habit of seeing other men. He couldn't help but get swept up in the excitement of meeting someone new, even it was another version of Gaddis, but he always came back. Gaddis told the other Gaddis that was real, but the other Gaddis told him that Alex was sorry if he thought it was something more than what it was. Gaddis then left, unable to bear it anymore.

He then visited the parallel universe's version of the tavern from before, where to his surprise he found himself sitting across from that universe's Kent. Kent asked him if he was from around there, but he replied "No, not really." Seeing that Kent had binoculars, he asked him about them. It turned out that Kent, like him, was a birder, and he was looking for a rare woodpecker that he had heard was spotted in the area, one believed to be extinct. Gaddis noted that he had heard a bird that he didn't recognize and the two decided to go out together to search for it.

## References

1. ↑ "Loop"
2. ↑ "Stasis"
3. ↑ "Echo Sphere"
4. ↑ "Parallel"