While Simon Stalenhag’s original Tales from the Loop took place primarily in Sweden, the TV show moves the action to fictional Mercer, Ohio. That makes sense in an English-speaking production. Of course, as a bit of an in-joke the producers made sure Mercer looked and felt a lot like 1980’s Sweden. Even the police drive around in European cars, Swedish songs play in the background, and lots of people have a fondness for Volvos and Saabs.
The change in location and the very different story do not detract from the book’s allure, they simply change it. The show has the same power of attraction as the graphic novel, only through slightly altered means. It’s also a clear message that humans are the same wherever we may be. A future robot in the woods in Ohio is just as amazing to us as a future robot in a Swedish forest.
It sure helps that the cast of characters is portrayed so brilliantly by a troupe of excellent actors, especially the kids. But everyone does a great job in staying true to the original book’s metaphors about acceptance and reality, even when we don’t fully understand what’s going on.