Like Blade Runner before it, 2099 takes place in a dystopian version of Los Angeles, but don’t expect a return to Scott’s dark and rainy neon cityscape. Instead, Luisa describes the visual style as “sunshine noir,” which she says reflects the themes of the show.

Few science fiction films have cast as long a shadow as Blade Runner. Ridley Scott’s 1982 original—and its 2017 sequel, Blade Runner 2049—didn’t just tell stories about the future; they helped define what that future looks like. Rain-soaked cities ...