Loop

*This is about the premiere episode of* Tales from the Loop*. You may be looking for the Mercer Center for Experimental Physics, also known as "the Loop."*

"**Loop**" is the premiere episode of the Prime Video series *Tales from the Loop*. It premiered on April 3, 2020. It and all other episodes of the series were written by series creator Nathaniel Halpern. This episode is directed by Mark Romanek.

## Plot

A young girl living in a small town becomes curious about the mysterious work her mother conducts beneath ground at a facility known as the Loop.

## Summary

### A strange experiment

A man greets viewers. He introduces himself as Russ Willard, stating that he is the founder of the Mercer Center for Experimental Physics, constructed beneath the town of Mercer, Ohio, referred to locally as "the Loop." He describes that its purpose is to unlock and explore the mysteries of the universe. He continues that as a result of their unique research, viewers will see sights that they'd say were impossible, and yet, there they are. Everyone in town is connected to the Loop in one or the other and viewers will come to know many of their tales in time. He asks where to begin.

The beginning is a group of workers slowly making their way into the Loop's main entrance to begin the day's work. Meanwhile, at school, a group of young children sit and work, though one girl, Loretta, seems to be distracted by some unusual towers outside the window. Her teacher, Sarah, calls her name, directing her to pay attention to her schoolwork instead. She does so, and the answers her test paper are clearly correct. She goes to a frozen pond and skips stones on the ice. She sits down for a rest and the rocks sitting by her rattle. She lays down and listens to a slow, steady thumping.

She walks home, enjoying water dripping from an icicle. She sees a robot in the forest. She gets home and overhears an argument between her mother and the man from before who introduced the series, Russ Willard. He tells her that what she's doing isn't about her theories, it's about limits. "Limits you ignored with your Vagabond project," she counters. He tells her that there's a right and a wrong way to pursue answers and she can't just steal a piece of the Eclipse and think nobody will notice. She replies that she's done nothing. Russ asks about Loretta, saying that she needs a mother, but Alma is putting her in danger. Alma replies that Loretta can take care of herself and she doesn't want to hear anymore. Russ demands that she put it back, but she shouts for him to get out of her house. He leaves and she kicks out, knocking over a lamp. She then sees Loretta there, but Loretta runs out of the house.

That evening, Loretta makes dinner, which they eat over a game of chess. Alma checks Loretta's king and she asks him why Russ was mad at her. Alma replies that he was mad because she took something. Loretta points out that she told him she didn't, and that she had told her she shouldn't steal, that it's wrong. Alma replies that she only "obtained" it and she'll give it back once she uses it for an experiment. Loretta asks if she can help, but Alma says it's too dangerous. Loretta asks her if what she obtained was from underground, and what it is that she does down there. Alma answers that she wouldn't understand. Loretta counters that she would and Alma replies that maybe one day she will. It would be something if they both one day worked together at the Loop. Loretta replies that she'd like that. Alma tells her that she doesn't even know what they'd be doing, but Loretta says that it doesn't matter because they'd be together. "We would, wouldn't we?" agrees Alma.

That night, Loretta dances to a rumba in her room when the music suddenly stops and the lights go out. She tries to start the record again, but can't. She hears a thumping downstairs and heads downstairs, hearing the thumping growing louder. She sees her mother sitting in a room, a strange light glowing in front of her. She hears an echo of a snippet of their conversation from earlier and then the light goes out suddenly. The glass in the windows of the study cracks and Loretta races out of the house. A black object, the piece of the Eclipse, appears to tumble through the air. Loretta wakes up in her bed with the windows cracked, hearing an electric humming outside from the strange towers from before. She goes back to the study and listens at the door, hearing a soft ticking. She sets a thermos outside, then goes outside and takes down a trash can to the curb. Back at school, Sarah hands back the tests. She tells Loretta that her mother would be proud, giving her a test graded with an A, 30/30 marks. Loretta stands outside the entrance to the Loop, holding the test paper. She watches the workers walk by, leaving, but Alma is not among them. She goes home and brings the garbage can back up, but there is nothing there except a snowy field and the piece of the Eclipse lying in the snow.

### A missing mother

She watches as a truck with the MCEP logo rattles by, then races into the snowfield and picks up the piece of the Eclipse, hearing the low, steady thumping from before. She considers the object and then shouts out her mother's name. Hearing a thudding, she runs into the nearby forest, but the thumping sound is actually coming from a young boy throwing snowballs at a robot, the same robot that she saw before. She asks him what he's doing and he tells her that it's good luck if you hit it in the eye. She tells him to stop and he asks why. She asks how he would like to be picked on and starts to walk away. He counters that it's just a robot and she goes back to shouting for her mother. He grabs his sled and follows her and as he does, the robot's head turns to follow his movement. He asks if her she ever wondered where robots come from. She tells him to leave her alone and he tells her that his brother says it's part of what they do underground, that they made them or found them. He asks her what she's doing out there, saying that the woods are his, but she tells him that they're not. He says that they aren't officially, then asks her what it is she's doing. She says she's looking for someone. He asks who and she tells him that she doesn't need his help.

They approach a dilapidated-looking house and he tells her that she doesn't want to go in there, that it's haunted. She steps forward and anyway and he follows. She again shouts out her mother's name. Inside the house, they find a very odd sight - snow on the floor of the house that appears to be falling upwards through a large opening in the ceiling. She reaches out to touch the snow and on the upside, it appears that the house itself is coming apart, piece by piece. Cole comments that he told her it was haunted. He picks up a pine cone, saying that he collects the good ones. He asks again who she's looking for, if it's her friend. She says it's her mom that she's looking for. She has a flashback or her mother singing, then appearing to vanish into the darkness. The boy tells her that she can help her find her. They leave the house and head back to the snowfield. He says that he's never seen her house before and she replies that it's because it's gone now. He asks if her mother works underground and she nods. He tells her that his parents work there too, so they might know where she is.

They head over to his place. The boy tells her that his mother should be in her study, though she doesn't like being bothered. Inside, his mother is having a debate over a proposal with Russ Willard, the same man that Alma was having the argument with. The boy, whom she addresses as "Cole," tries to get her attention, but she gives him the brush-off. Russ is identified as being his grandfather. His mother apologizes to Russ, saying that Cole knows better. He comments that she does too. Cole tells Loretta that he'll show her his room. As they head upstairs, she observes a man with a mechanical arm. They continue and he introduces her to his brother, Jakob. He tells Jakob that she's looking for her mom. He asks if he told their mother and if she got mad. Jakob holds up a book, saying that they might find it neat. The book has a diagram labeled "The Birth of a Black Hole." He explains that when a star dies, it doesn't always go supernova. He explains that the star can instead vanish, just like switching off a light. Loretta's house is shown, appearing to disintegrate like the house from before, everything being sucked upward into the air. Loretta races out of the room. Cole asks her where she's going and she tells him she has to keep looking. She then turns to him and shows him the piece of the Eclipse, saying that Alma took it from underground. She hands it to him and he wonders what material it is. He lets go of it and it just floats in midair. He pokes it with his finger and it rises. Loretta grabs it and he comments that he's coming with her.

### Fateful encounters

They head out again and she asks him about his father's mechanical arm. He says that he knows, that it's weird, that he takes it off at night and plugs it into the wall. She asks about his mother and he replies that she's not really around. "Sounds like Alma," comments Loretta. He asks why she doesn't call her "Mom" and she replies that she doesn't like it. Cole replies that his mom doesn't really like being a mom either. She says it isn't what she said and he tells her not to be mad, that they'll find her. He asks where she would be if she was Alma right now. "Home," she replies. Back at Cole's, the man with the mechanical arm asks Cole's mother what his father said. She just shakes her head, saying "the same thing he always says." He tells her to try not to work too late. Loretta and Cole go to the pier at the frozen lake and she has him lie down and listen just like she did. They hear the thumping from before. He asks what it is and she tells him that she thinks it has something to do with the strange object and Alma and whatever they're doing at the Loop. They go to the Loop entrance, where the security guard at outside station greets Cole by name. They explain that they're looking for Loretta's mom and that she disappeared. The guard replies to give him a second. He makes a phone call saying that he has a girl looking her mom, Alma. He asks the person on the other end of the line if they're sure then tells her he's not sure how to tell her, but it doesn't seem like her mother works there. She tells him he's lying and leaves. Cole apologizes for her and follows. The guard considers something, then makes another call. The phone rings at Cole's house. His mother takes the call, and he tells her that Cole was just there with a little girl. He continues that it's the oddest thing, but she said her mother's name was Alma. Cole's mother stands, looking stunned, and he asks if she's there. "Hello, hello?" he asks, but she just hangs up the phone. She then sits, curled up.

Cole and Loretta visit the Mercer Tavern. They look inside the window and Cole asks if she saw Alma. She starts for the door and Cole asks if she's really going in. She does so and he watches from the window. The bartender asks if she's looking for someone. The door creaks open and seeing the woman who came in, she shouts "Alma!" and runs up to her, giving her a big hug. She then looks and sees that the woman is not Alma. It's Cole's mother. She runs out of the tavern and the bartender asks Cole's mother if she knows whose child Loretta is. Cole's mother just leaves the bar. Cole asks Loretta what happened. She says that if she had just gone in to check on Alma, if she had just stayed home, then they'd still be together. She tosses the piece of the Eclipse away. It just floats and Cole grabs it. She tells him that if she had a kid, she would never do this to them. She'd always be there for them. He pats her shoulder and gives her a little hug. They go back to Cole's place and sit and watch TV. She walks off and Jakob asks Cole what he thinks happened to her mother. Loretta pokes around Cole's mother's study, while his mother wanders around in the woods. Loretta examines a box sitting on a desk in the study. Inside it, she finds an old piece of paper. She opens it. It's an exact match to her fifth grade mathematics test paper, the one with perfect marks. On both papers: "Student's Name: Loretta N." Cole comes in, saying that the paper is his mom's. She asks for his mother's name. In the woods, Cole's father approaches his mother. "Loretta?" he asks. Loretta places her hand in the snow, where her house was. "It really happened," she says. He asks what, and she tells him that she thought it was a dream. "The girl, she's me."

### The beating heart of the Loop

The young Loretta returns to the dilapidated house from before and has a flashback of playing chess with Alma. Adult Loretta returns home and asks Cole about the young Loretta. Cole says that she was in her study, but she ran off. The adult Loretta goes to the study and sees the old test paper. She goes to the dilapidated house and sees the young Loretta singing inside by a fire. She enters the house and the two Lorettas stare at each other. She asks young Loretta if she knows who she is, saying that she knows it's confusing. Young Loretta asks where Alma is, then says that she doesn't come back. Adult Loretta shakes her head. Young Loretta screams in frustration and throws a stone. She asks if she did something to make Alma want to go. Adult Loretta tells her that she didn't do anything, that Alma was conducting an experiment. They spend years figuring out the science, but never learn why she disappeared. It turns out that not everything in life makes sense. "You're me, right?" asks the young Loretta. The adult Loretta just stares and the young Loretta fingers her nose, then fingers the adult Loretta's. They walk through the woods and the adult Loretta tells her that she knows she feels alone, but it won't always be this way. They visit the Loop, adult Loretta telling her that Cole and Jakob are her sons. She has a home, a family and a whole new life waiting for her if she gives it time. Young Loretta asks about Alma and adult Loretta replies that she didn't want to be a mother. Young Loretta tells her that Cole said the same thing about her.

They go down to the basement of the Loop, where they proceed through a tunnel. Young Loretta asks adult Loretta to show her where the piece of the Eclipse comes from and they enter a sealed room. Inside is the slow, steady thumping from before and a large, black spherical object. It's the Eclipse. Adult Loretta describes it as "the beating heart of the Loop." She tells her that everything aboveground and the reason she's there is because of the Eclipse. It is made up of many small pieces, one of which the young Loretta is holding in her hand. Adult Loretta explains that Alma wanted to see where the Eclipse came from. She comments that the young Loretta will wonder if this really happened, or if it was a dream. One day, many years from now, she'll hear that a little girl is looking for a mother and say these same half-forgotten words. The adult Loretta nods and the young Loretta releases the piece of the Eclipse, allowing it to float away and rejoin the whole, sliding neatly into position. Young Loretta reaches out and touches the Eclipse. She asks what happens now, where she goes. "Home," replies the adult Loretta. The young Loretta finds herself in the snow, the piece of the Eclipse gone. Back in the present, the adult Loretta sits in front of the Eclipse. She narrates that the young Loretta will see so much, things she'd say were impossible, and yet there they are. She places her hand on the Eclipse, then is called away by Russ Willard. She asks if they can discuss this tomorrow. He agrees that they can do it whenever they're ready. He looks at the Eclipse, then seals the room. Back at their home, Cole wakes up in the middle of the night. He goes downstairs and finds Loretta sitting at the table, though at first he seems to see the young Loretta. Loretta asks if he can't sleep. He asks if she found her and she replies that she did and everything is okay now. She tells him to come and he asks if he did something wrong. She tells him not at all and gives him a pine cone. She asks if it's a good one. He smiles and nods. She tells him that her mother left her when she was his age. She tells him that she wants him to know she's there for him, and always will be. He nods and they hug.

## Cast

### Starring

* Rebecca Hall as Loretta Willard
* Paul Schneider as George Willard
* Duncan Joiner as Cole
* Daniel Zolghadri as Jakob
* Jonathan Pryce as Russ Willard

### Guest starring

* Ato Essandoh as Gaddis
* Dominic Rains as Lucas
* Elektra Kilbey as Alma
* Abby Ryder Fortson as Young Loretta

### Co-starring

* Adam Hurtig as Young Russ
* Robert Nahum as Logan the Bartender
* Stefanie Estes as Sarah the Teacher
* Teegan Harms as Young Gaddis

## Scene breakdown

*The following are the scenes of this episode, as indicated via Amazon's X-ray feature*:

1. Amazon Original (00:00:00)
2. Title Sequence (00:00:05)
3. Introduction to The Loop (00:00:28)
4. A day at school (00:01:33)
5. Exploring (00:02:35)
6. Relationship with her mother (00:04:16)
7. Strange experiments at night (00:08:40)
8. Starting to get worried (00:11:04)
9. Looking for Alma (00:14:41)
10. Meeting Cole's family (00:18:02)
11. Cole tries to help (00:22:13)
12. George confronts Loretta (00:23:12)
13. Continuing the search (00:23:58)
14. Searching the bar (00:27:20)
15. Dealing with abandonment (00:28:49)
16. Realization hits (00:30:16)
17. Not everything in life makes sense (00:35:59)
18. The beating heart of The Loop (00:43:10)
19. Loretta comforts Cole (00:48:19)
20. End Credits (00:52:04)

## Music

* "Rumba i Engelska Parken" by Owe Thörnqvist
* "Skogen Sover" by Hjördis Schymberg
* "Rumba i Engelska Parken" by The Mad Men Band

## Behind the scenes

Production on this episode began in early 2019 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

The disintegrating house seen in the episode was one of the most complex visual effects created for the series. In order to achieve the look desired, the production crew had to get very surgical about the details, including massaging the light levels and adjusting the contrast and the shadows that were hitting the home.

In "An Experiment in Trust," a behind-the-scenes commentary available through Amazon's "X-ray" feature, it is stated that the Willard family house was deliberately designed to have something of a timeless quality, so that viewers wouldn't necessarily know that it was now the 1980s, instead of the 1950s. Showrunner Nathaniel Halpern stated that the crew wanted the disintegrating house effect to look real, but still dreamlike.

This episode was made available with an exclusive introduction by director Mark Romanek as part of the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection, free from April 27 to May 6, 2020 on Amazon.com. In the introduction, Romanek states that he got a call about a year-and-a-half before from Matt Reeves, who stated that he had a beautiful pilot script based on the science fiction paintings by Simon Stålenhag. Romanek was excited as he was already familiar with these paintings, which reminded him of Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth paintings. He was in upon reading the script. He urges viewers to just settle into the stories of the show, which are told at a deliberately stately pace and which are human stories.

## References

1. ↑ Writer's Guild of America West - *Tales from the Loop*
2. ↑ Nerdist - TALES FROM THE LOOP Trailer Depicts a Surreal New Sci-Fi Series
3. ↑ *Tales from the Loop* on Amazon
4. ↑ *American Cinematographer*, April 2020 edition, Page 60
5. ↑ Failes, Ian (April 9, 2020). We would stop on a single frame and say, ‘Does this look like a painting?’. Before & After. Retrieved on April 11, 2020.