Commentary: ‘Krapopolis’ Puts A Fun Spin On An Old Idea

There are certain kinds of stories that have existed for so long across different forms of media that the structure itself becomes a genre. This is especially true in speculative fiction, when the possibility of exploring a certain type of story relies heavily on the execution rather than the plot itself. There are a couple of thin examples — such as heist stories and tales like The Terminator — where one character is being hunted by another. But it’s harder to find an example that’s been done more times than the time loop. So many shows that have devoted an episode to a time loop, but a recent episode of Krapopolis proves the format will never become tired as long as the trope is pulled off in a new and unique way.

The episode starts with Tyrannis (Richard Ayoade) already stuck in a time loop as he’s killed over and over again by an exploding volcano. He’s stuck in this loop by Chronos (James Adomian), the Titan in charge of time, who is trying to teach Tyrannis a lesson about the futility of fate. Tyrannis decided to build his civilization on the side of a volcano, unconcerned about when it would erupt. When it finally did and the time loop began, Chronos suggested he would only consider breaking the loop if Tyrannis was successful in evacuating the entire city. With the help of his dysfunctional family, he succeeded after centuries of trial and error.

The big time loop story that dominates the discussion is always Harlod Ramis‘s Groundhog Day, but it is far from the only one. Science fiction shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dark Matter, and Rick and Morty have also used time loops. The genre has even been used as the setting for a slasher film in Happy Death Day. But even though the format has been used frequently, Krapopolis still has something new to offer. The reasoning behind the time loop is usually derived from a science fiction background. Krapopolis uses mythology, which is especially interesting as Chronos is the god of time and therefore has a different perspective on the subject than anyone else. It’s fun and entertaining. Even though the premise follows a pretty standard format, watching Tyrannis succeed after failing so many times didn’t feel boring or tired. It just goes to show that an idea can always be fresh with new execution.

Krapopolis is now streaming on Hulu.