Summary: Loki puts in every effort to prevent the Temporal Loom from exploding but he fails at every turn and it is simply not possible. Loki goes back to stop Sylvie from killing He Who Remains, but is also unsuccessful. He realizes he may have to kill Sylvie to save everyone but doesn’t want to do it. After talking in the past with Mobius and Sylvie, Loki decides to destroy the Temporal Loom and keeps the timelines in balance with his own power, choosing to remain at the End of Time himself to govern the multiverse.
The Good: So many MCU shows have had awful season finales, opting for a basic and predictable action climax with zero twists, turns, or emotional character moments. “Loki” stunned me by refusing to adhere to conventions, crafting a terrific finale that celebrates the character of Loki and all he achieved throughout the show. I was invested in this show and the characters, and that paid off beautifully by the end. As Loki climbed to the throne with a far more honourable motive than anything we’ve ever seen from him before, I felt genuine catharsis, evidence that this show succeeded with the story that it was telling. The episode earned this ending by having Loki do everything in his power to fix the Temporal Loom without resorting to this. The early parts of the episode are terrific, editing Loki’s attempts to save the world in increasingly comedic ways as the character grows more and more frustrated by his failures. Even after studying time for literal centuries, he was unable to save the world, a fantastic reveal and a terrific twist in this finale. I appreciated that the story went back to the season 1 finale with He Who Remains, and forcing Loki to negotiate with someone who is basically another god was highly compelling stuff. But the show did not get lost in plot. The final act of this show is determined by two emotional conversations with Loki and his two closest companions, Mobius and Sylvie. Loki knew he would have to kill Sylvie to save the world, and couldn’t bear to do it. But he knew he had to make the hard choice to save the world after a great talk with Mobius. But after speaking with Sylvie, Loki understands that he needs to preserve free will, and so he makes the ultimate sacrifice; instead of sacrificing Sylvie, Loki sacrifices himself, using magic to create an ideal universe for everyone to live the lives that they want. It’s a beautiful bit of character development with Loki opening his mind to accept the truths that others have told him throughout the show, finally achieving the glorious purpose he was hunting in the series premiere, albeit in a way he never would have imagined. The storytelling is brilliant, and it leads to a beautiful and satisfying conclusion that thematically fits the show, and achieves everything that the show set out to achieve involving its main character. I was very pleased by this ending. The Bad: Nothing. The Unknown: Will Loki ever be able to leave the End of Time, or is this his fate forever? Will his new TVA be able to stop the Kang variants from starting a multiversal war? Best Moment: Loki stepping up to his new throne and finally achieving his glorious purpose. Character of the Episode: Loki. Conclusion: This was an immensely satisfying finale, closing out Loki’s character arc in a beautiful and dramatic way, while making every event in this show feel like it had weight. Now this is how you do a finale episode. Score: 73
0 Comments
Summary: Loki starts time-slipping again as the TVA is destroyed. He keeps teleporting to alternate variants of his friends in various universes. After talking with OB, he realizes he needs to reunite them to save the TVA. While OB builds a TemPad, Loki recruits everyone else, but he fails to get Sylvie. Sylvie changes her mind and joins him when her timeline is destroyed. Everyone is assembled, but the TemPad disappears and the universe is destroyed. Loki manages to control his time-slipping and moves to before the Temporal Loom’s destruction.
The Good: I enjoyed this. It felt like an old-fashioned sci-fi movie with Loki jumping around through time with OB playing the role of an intelligent scientist who can help the protagonist deal with a situation that’s almost impossible to navigate. This was simple entertainment, and it felt different from anything else we’ve seen on the show. It was also enjoyable to see Loki going from friend to friend, recruiting them for his mission to save the TVA. It was great to finally see Mobius’ alternate life, and his role as a salesman fits the character perfectly. B-15 being a doctor is also fitting with her sharp desire to start saving lives in the TVA, Casey being an escaping inmate is pretty funny, and OB’s alternate life as a fiction writer is pretty entertaining too. I enjoyed getting the chance to see all of these alternate lives. The centerpiece scene of the episode is Loki speaking with Sylvie, and it works to an extent (see: The Bad). I like that this scene was used to ignite the Loki/Sylvie conflict one more time, and the exploration of how Loki has become attached to his new friends was nice. The end of the episode provides a fun cliffhanger as Loki’s extreme frustration seems to lead to him mastering time-slipping. The Bad: Loki’s scene with Sylvie has one huge flaw: why does he not bring up that all timelines will be destroyed if she doesn’t help him? He practically couldn’t shut up about this earlier, so why didn’t he mention it here? Especially since Sylvie does change her mind when her timeline is destroyed. Clearly this was only omitted because the show wanted Loki’s hidden motivation reveal to be more dramatic, but it’s always unsatisfying when the writer’s fingerprints are so plain to see without much thought. The Unknown: Did Loki control his time-slipping at the end? Can he use the time-slipping to go back in time and save the Temporal Loom? What can he do to save it? Best Moment: Loki’s frustration when things fall apart for him once again at the end of the episode. Character of the Episode: Loki. Conclusion: This was an atypical, but fun episode paying homage to older sci-fi films. I enjoyed it for its simplicity and found it to be an engrossing set-up for the finale. Score: 66 Summary: Ravonna learns that she commanded He Who Remains’ army but he erased her memories. Ravonna kills Dox and her people, recruiting Brad in the process. Timely works to help solve OB’s problem but he is captured by Brad while taking a break. Sylvie uses Brad to prune Ravonna, while OB reboots the system to deactivate Miss Minutes. Timely decides to help fix the Temporal Loom by using the Throughput Multiplier, but he is immediately killed by the temporal radiation. The temporal loom explodes.
The Good: The fourth episode was a climactic and surprising episode in the first season, and the same rings true for the second season. This episode had a lot going on, and it was interesting to see where the story went next. It was challenging to predict, and there was plenty of tension with Ravonna’s impending presence, the failing Temporal Loom, and Timely being captured. I especially enjoyed the scenes with the Temporal Loom. There was still a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo, but it’s grounded in the amusing mutual respect between Timely and OB. Timely has another great episode with his entertaining interactions and fascination over the TVA. The importance of saving the Temporal Loom is communicated well, so I was invested in seeing if OB and Timely could save it, even if I did not fully understand why. The twist at the end is terrific as Timely is immediately disintegrated against all odds and the Temporal Loom seems to collapse at the end. It’s difficult to see what comes next, and I’m excited to see what twists “Loki” has in store for the final two episodes. The Bad: The Dox storyline is over, and it all feels completely pointless. They didn’t end up doing anything for the plot, and the resolution with all of them being killed by Ravonna was underwhelming. I was also disappointed with how things were resolved for the Ravonna/Miss Minutes storyline. I expected them to play a bigger role and have a more climactic finale. Instead, the story fizzled out after a very simple enchantment by Sylvie, and one technical adjustment from OB. The reveal that Loki pruned himself in “Ouroboros” fell flat because it didn’t really add anything interesting to the story. The Unknown: Is this the end for Ravonna and Miss Minutes? What will become of Brad? Is the TVA going to be destroyed now that the Temporal Loom has exploded? Can Loki do anything to stop this? What will come next? Best Moment: Everything going up in smoke at the end. Character of the Episode: Timely. Conclusion: This is a fun and climactic episode, but some disappointing aspects of the story prevent it from reaching the highs I expected. Score: 62 Summary: Loki and Mobius hunt for Miss Minutes to try to help OB. Miss Minutes is with Ravonna and they are meeting Victor Timely, a Kang variant. Loki and Mobius arrive and the two parties fight over Timely, each trying to use him for their own ends. Ravonna and Miss Minutes betray each other, Sylvie arrives, and Timely ends up being taken to the TVA successfully by Loki and Mobius. Sylvie sends Ravonna to the End of Time, and Ravonna allies with Miss Minutes again to fight against He Who Remains.
The Good: I thoroughly enjoyed this episode’s mad scramble to get to Victor Timely. There were almost countless different groups all hunting him down, and this led to a momentous and thrilling chase episode. Timely is the star of the whole process. He’s much more than just a smart man as he exhibits a feigned innocence to sell his act of being a con-man that profits off of the stupidity of rich white men. On top of that he’s incredibly prideful and arrogant, so it’s fun to not only see him try to grasp what is happening around him, but to pick an choose who he wants to support because of how they treat him. It’s amusing to see him betray Ravonna for the crime of viewing herself as an equal, just as fun as any other exciting chase sequence in the episode. The Bad: I’m disappointed that there was virtually no follow-up on the end of the previous episode. It’s quite convenient how quickly Loki and Mobius find Ravonna and Timely in an enormous fair. Motives are once more a problem. I’m not sure what Ravonna and Miss Minutes are after with Timely. Are they trying to make another He Who Remains? How will they do that, and why do they care to do that? These are important questions, but they aren’t addressed throughout the episode. After, we get a twist that their motives changed and they no longer need Timely, which just confuses me more. Sylvie’s motives are even worse. She’s a wild card, but I fail to understand why she wants to kill the HWR variants when she is the reason for their existence. I don’t understand why she cares so much. That’s the issue with this episode, it’s fun on the surface but the muddled motivations make this harder to enjoy. The Unknown: What will Timely do now that he’s in the TVA? Will he comply with Loki and Mobius or does he have other aspirations? What is Ravonna’s secret? Best Moment: Timely’s introduction on the stage is a brilliant moment, and Johnathan Majors’ performance is electric. Character of the Episode: Timely. Conclusion: The mad chase for Timely was fun to watch and it gives this episode a unique premise. Unfortunately the muddled motives get in the way and damage the episode’s quality. Outside of that, this was a good episode. Score: 59 Summary: Loki and Mobius track down X-5 to find Sylvie. They find him living normally as Brad and they capture him. Together they wear him down and convince him to reveal where Sylvie is. Loki meets with Sylvie but she doesn’t want to help him save the TVA. OB works to repair the Temporal Loom, but is stumped when he needs a scan of He Who Remains, who is now dead. Brad reveals that Dox plans to prune all branching timelines, which she does, causing mass casualties.
The Good: I’m thankful that this season is giving us plenty of scenes with Loki and Mobius together as they were one of the highlights of the first season. The whole section where they had to get the truth out of Brad was very well done and made good use of the characters. Loki got to show his development by using his mischievous nature with some restraint, Mobius got some much-needed direction as we explore how his character has handled learning about the real life he has, and Brad was entertaining as a sleazy villain that they needed to break down. This was fun stuff, and the heart to heart over pie between Loki and Mobius was especially compelling. The Bad: Unfortunately things start falling apart when we look at the bigger picture. Loki and Mobius spend the episode hunting for Sylvie, and I can’t quite figure out what they want to accomplish with her. When Loki and Sylvie finally meet, all he wants is answers but surely he knows that she won’t have any for him! It’s Brad who knows what Dox is up to, which should be a more urgent issue for Loki and Mobius right now. I was also very confused why Brad didn’t reveal anything to Loki and Mobius, surely giving up Sylvie’s location won’t interfere with Dox’s plan. I was also confused why Dox seemingly didn’t make any contact with Sylvie after the last episode established that she was going after her. The end of the episode completely falls flat. The TVA being able to prune entire timelines came out of nowhere, and everyone’s horrified reaction at what happened did not have any impact. I’m not sure how this will affect the story at all (what’s stopping more timelines from popping up), and I struggle to believe that the TVA will be so horrified about all this death when they have been killing variants for centuries, which is surely a bigger tragedy to process than this. It also felt redundant to have Sylvie return to the TVA, only to leave again immediately after what happened. I also found the episode’s pacing to be inconsistent. We sped through the opening and ending scenes without giving any context to what was happening, yet we spent an eternity on the Loki/Mobius/Brad storyline. It felt wrong. The Unknown: What will be the consequences of the timeline destruction at the end? Why isn’t OB allowed into the Temporal Loom? Did Miss Minutes change this? Where has Ravonna been found? Best Moment: Mobius and Loki having a heart to heart over pie. It was nice to see Loki diving into Mobius’ psyche to help him process his meltdown against Brad, a nice inversion of season 1. Character of the Episode: Mobius. Conclusion: Loki and Mobius do their best to make this enjoyable, but the episode is weighed down by strange pacing, murky character motivations, and a confusing ending. Score: 55 Summary: Loki is time slipping, constantly jumping uncontrollably between timelines. Mobius and B-15 meet with the TVA judges and convince them to stop killing branched timelines with help from a manic Loki. General Dox doesn’t agree and sends out X-5 to find Sylvie. Mobius takes Loki to Ouroboros (OB) to get help. Mobius and Loki learn that Loki has to prune himself while Mobius uses a Temporal Aura Extractor on the Temporal Loom with risk of death if they fail. Mobius uses the TEA properly but Loki is unable to prune himself in another timeline. However, he is somehow pruned anyways and survives. Meanwhile, Sylvie starts a new life in 1982.
The Good: The time-slipping concept is a lot of fun, and it’s executed well in this episode. It’s simultaneously dramatic and terrifying, while having an amusing comedic timing that works very well. Loki being stuck with this condition immediately gives this season momentum as there is a rush to get him back to normal, and healing him also puts the lives of Mobius and Loki in danger. This makes the premiere episode unexpectedly climactic and intense, and this works to make season 2 immediately exciting and interesting. I really enjoyed the presence of OB, played by the talented Ke Huy Quan. OB is instantly charismatic, and his way of talking is quite funny. He seems like a good addition to the cast while also offering some important information about how the TVA functions with the Temporal Loom. The Bad: This episode missed the mark a few times. There is a lot of scientific mumbo-jumbo thrown into the exposition scenes, which has the unintended side effect of making it hard to engage with the plot since it does not make sense. I’m also quite certain that OB’s explanations will not hold up to scrutiny if you think about it, making the convoluted exposition feel like a plot device whenever I hear it. I enjoy this show’s mix of comedy and drama, but sometimes it was too much. For example, a joke about a random TVA lady overhearing Loki’s crazy explanations breaks my immersion because this is information that Loki and Mobius should be keeping to themselves to prevent a panic; we should not be laughing at the fact that someone else is learning this stuff. The Unknown: Will Mobius talking to OB 400 years ago be an important plot point? How did Loki get pruned? Why was Sylvie there? When did this happen? Loki heard Kang and Ravonna talking? When did this happen? Where is Ravonna? What is Sylvie doing in this new universe? Will Dox find Sylvie? Best Moment: I’ll go with the charm of OB’s introduction. The character is so fun and full of energy, and he plays the role of all-knowing helper very well. Character of the Episode: OB. Conclusion: This was a fine way to start a new season. Things were immediately dramatic and there’s plenty to enjoy here. Score: 66 Summary: Loki is time-slipping uncontrollably and he and Mobius get help from OB, who gives them a task to do to fix him. It works, so Loki and Mobius move on to finding Sylvie, and they interrogate Brad, a TVA hunter who was hunting down Sylvie. They find her and realize that General Dox intends to destroy all the branching timelines, which she does, horrifying everyone. Sylvie agrees to work with them again after this happens. Ravonna and Miss Minutes meet with Victor Timely, a variant of Kang. They are tracked by Loki and Mobius who need Timely's help to fix the Temporal Loom to stop the TVA from being destroyed. The groups all try to get Timely, but Loki and Mobius end up succeeding and bring him back. Ravonna and Miss Minutes return and get Brad on their side after murdering Dox and all of her soldiers. They intercept Timely, but are ultimately defeated. OB explains that Timely needs to correct the Temporal Loom, but they are too late and he dies. The TVA is destroyed and Loki is stuck time-slipping again as he desperately tries to correct the past> Eventually he realizes that he can't save the TVA since this is all predetermined since Sylvie killed He Who Remains. Loki realizes he has to kill her, but he finds a new solution and ends up taking the place of He Who Remains, keeping all the timelines intact while the TVA manage the Kang variants.
The Good: It's clear as day that the second season of "Loki" was the second half of a single story instead of a cash-grab sequel, and I thoroughly appreciate that. The cohesion between seasons 1 and 2 means that the show feels focused, important, and thematically relevant at every turn. When I watched the finale, it felt like the story had been building up to this episode from the very start, developing Loki and destroying the balance of time specifically so that Loki could finally make the benevolent decision to save the world and finally claim the throne he long sought after, even if it was not the throne he had imagined. The storytelling here was exceptional, and it's a big reason why "Loki" is a step above every other MCU TV show. The show develops Loki organically and gives him a wholly unique arc, letting the emotional aspects of the character sink in and hit hard. Season 2 has numerous terrific Loki moments. The highlights have to be his admission that he values his friends and his final conversations with Mobius and Sylvie, leading to his fateful decision. Great character moments that the whole show had been building towards from the beginning. Compared to most Marvel projects, this show has excellent side characters. I'm pleased to say that season 2 does not change that. Mobius was a highlight in season 1, and I'm glad that season 2 did not diminish or simplify the character in any way. Mobius was very well-written in this season as he maintained his usual aloof style while his over-arching story of being scared to find out what his real life was served as an interesting way to explore the character further. The final scene where he looks at his reality is surprisingly beautiful and impactful. I wasn't the biggest fan of Sylvie in season 1, but she is used superbly in this season. I'm thankful that the writers put the romantic aspect of the story away and mostly utilized Sylvie as a wild card, a character who finally achieved her dream but is now willing to do anything to preserve that dream. I'm also pleased that Loki and Sylvie's great debates about the importance of freedom continued into this season, as freedom is a very important theme of the show that is explored in a fairly compelling way. I'm less positive on the Ravonna and Miss Minutes storyline (see: The Bad), but I still appreciate that the show found a good use for the characters, giving them a mostly satisfying conclusion albeit one that felt a bit rushed. Lastly, there's B-15 and Casey, who I enjoyed more this season. B-15 played far too big of a role in season 1 considering how flat of a character she was, but I enjoyed her role in this season. The character has inexplicably had the biggest change of heart since the end of season 1, but the new role suits her better, and I'm glad that she spent most of this season in the background. Casey didn't do much in season 1, but he was pretty fun in this season as somebody who isn't important to the plot and it pretty much just there. He adds a more human element to the wildly sci-fi plot which I appreciate. While the old characters were utilized well, the new ones were the highlight for me. Ouroboros, or OB, was a ton of fun in ever scene he's in. The character is written brilliantly, and his quirky style makes him play the typical role of all-knowing scientist wonderfully well. Ke Huy Quan's performance is what sells the character to me as he brings the role to life with his amusingly straightforward line delivery. Victor Timely was a thoroughly entertaining Kang variant. I was expecting to see a more ruthless and terrifying version of the character in this season, so I was caught off guard by the nervous, stuttering Timely. But I really enjoyed the character and I thought that he added a lot to the show. It was amusing how Timely was such a brilliant mind that was sought out by everyone, but he had next to no physical skills and was left at the mercy of those around him. Yet the character was still a proud, conniving con man who took advantage of situations using his sly nature, which consistently entertained me. I wish there was more of him in the show, but what little we got was entertaining. As for the plot of the show, I had more problems with it this time around (see: The Bad). But that doesn't mean that there aren't aspects that I greatly enjoyed. Season 1 had some brilliant twists and creative episode premises that made the plot so engaging to follow. While season 2 doesn't hit that same level, it still has some truly great aspects. For twists, season 2 has some great highlights like the destruction of the TVA in season As for creativity, the fifth episode, "Science/Fiction" is a very fun episode that turns Loki into a typical 1900s sci-fi flick, which was a lot more entertaining to watch than it should have been. The Bad: This season was not without its flaws, and I took more issues with this one than with season 1. The biggest deterrent for this show is how much sci-fi expositional mumbo jumbo we get. I'm okay with expository dialogue, but when the exposition is just meaningless words that go in one ear and out the other, then it's disengaging me from the story. That's what happens in "Loki" season 2 because the content is so needlessly complex and confusing that exposition is difficult to grasp. Plus, I'm sure that actually thinking about what is being said will only make the story feel more flimsy and half-baked. It's a shame that this type of exposition is all over "Loki" season 2 because the first season was notable in its ability to keep the story grounded. Season 1 handled the concept of the TVA and time travel brilliantly and I was never confused or overwhelmed by the story. I can't say the same about this season, where the main plot is centered around the complex and confusing concept of the Temporal Loom, which is never adequately explained or visualized to us at any point. This season also very clearly did not have as much story as season 1, and some secondary storylines highlight this a lot. The most damning storyline is the one involving Dox, who shows up out of nowhere as a character in this season and offers damn near nothing to the story. Her entire subplot doesn't amount to much more than a convoluted way to have the TVA destroy the branching timelines, a plot point that was ultimately unnecessary in the grander scheme of the show. Furthermore, we spend a ton of time with her and Brad, two characters who did not captivate me. Dox was always half-baked in her morals, and then she has a half-baked character turn before being killed off in an underwhelming matter. Brad is another character who disappointed me. The concept behind the character is great (a disillusioned hunter who went to live his real life), but the show doesn't do enough interesting things with him, and he's not given a proper resolution. While I enjoyed Ravonna's storyline to an extent, I thought that it was resolved far too flippantly and did not have the importance that I thought it would. I was also disappointed by how the TVA reacted to Ravonna, as they never treated her like the major criminal she is supposed to be after season 1. I never found Ravonna to be the most interesting character either, and I was hoping that season 2 would change my mind on her role overall. It did not. The final issue I took with this season concerns character motivations. I enjoy the characters and their personalities a lot, but a lot of their goals left me scratching my head throughout the season. It was never clear what exactly the major characters were after, and this made several dramatic moments fall flat because it was hard to understand why the characters did what they did. A few examples stand out in particular. Loki was hard to connect with until the final two episodes because it was difficult to understand what he hoped to accomplish by saving the TVA and what his overall goal was. Sylvie was similarly difficult to understand because she seemingly only wanted to live in her own timeline, but kept getting involved with the TVA for increasingly unclear reasons. Ravonna and Miss Minutes were especially perplexing because I never knew what they wanted to achieve. Did they want to save the TVA? Destroy the world? Simply create a new Kang? Rule the world on their own? None of this ever became clear, and it affected how I viewed them and their stories. Best Episodes: E01 Ouroboros: The first episode of the season was one of the easiest to wrap my head around: Loki was stuck time-slipping and he and Mobius had to get help from OB, the expert to save him. A simple concept can sometimes lead to very entertaining drama, and that's what happened here. E06 Glorious Purpose: The season finale was a beautiful piece of work, concluding Loki's story and bringing the character full circle in a wildly entertaining and compelling hour of television. Worst Episodes: E02 Breaking Brad: Barring the amusing episode title, this episode doesn't do much for me. Character motivations and plot points are quite confusing, and the show doesn't help itself by moving through the Brad storyline at such a slow pace. E03 1893: This is a fun episode, but it's still hurt by the confusing character motivations. This is especially problematic since the episode is focused on how almost every character wants to find Victor Timely, but without knowing exactly what they have to accomplish it is not as engaging. Character of the Season: Loki. This was his story through and through. Conclusion: In the end, I'm very glad that I watched the second season of "Loki". I've been disillusioned with the MCU for a while now and have grown weary of the constant influx of mediocre TV shows. But amidst all the garbage, "Loki" shines brightly. This show remained creative and unpredictable throughout its run, it had excellent characters and storylines, brilliant visual presentations, and an impactful story with themes I have never seen explored in the MCU before. Sure, season 2 had its fair share flaws and wasn't as well-written or compelling as season 1, but I enjoyed the season overall and I found it to be a great way to conclude "Loki". I hope we see more creative TV shows like this going forwards. Summary: Loki and Sylvie meet Kang who won the multiverse war that was waged between different variants of himself. He reveals that he made the TVA in an attempt to prevent more Kangs from rising up. Kang gives Loki and Sylvie the choice to kill him or rule in his place. Sylvie wants to kill him, Loki doesn’t. They fight, they kiss, and Sylvie teleports Loki away before killing Kang.
The Good: This was really strong stuff. Jonathan Majors stole the show in this episode, and his performance as He Who Remains/Kang was terrific. He was threatening, charismatic, and engaging in a way that made it impossible to take your eyes off of him. Introducing Kang in such a passive way before we presumably see much more ruthless variants in future MCU projects was a brilliant idea, and it does an excellent job of building up this character as a major villain. I thought this episode tackled a lot of really excellent themes regarding free will and destiny. This show has explored these questions many times before, but this episode took it to a new level, with Kang openly revealing that free will ends in death and tragedy every time. The only way to have peace is to take away free will. Loki and Sylvie are left to grapple with this idea, and their opposition is intense to watch. The episode ramps up the tension towards the end when they pass the threshold, and it feels like anything can happen. The fight between Loki and Sylvie, resulting in Sylvie killing Kang was terrific television that had me at the edge of my seat. The end of the episode promises that Sylvie’s decision will have dire consequences, further elevating the moment. The Bad: Loki and Sylvie’s relationship doesn’t quite work. The kiss is hard to get into, and I still find it tough to care about the relationship between these two characters. The scenes in the TVA felt out of place in this episode. Mobius and Ravonna’s conversation wasn’t very interesting, and it was ridiculous how easily Mobius was outclassed by her. It made him needlessly look pathetic. The Unknown: Where did Ravonna go? Will she meet a variant of Kang? What timeline was Loki teleported to? How is he going to get back to the TVA he is familiar with? What about Sylvie? What’s next for her? It looks like Kang has already risen to power. How long will it be until he attacks the universe that we’ve been watching the MCU in? Best Moment: Sylvie killing Kang. Character of the Episode: Kang. Conclusion: Having the finale essentially be an expositional dump was a bold move, but it was one that really worked, and led to an excellent climax. It wasn’t perfect, but it tackled interesting themes, had some powerful moments, and gave us a memorable conclusion. Score: 70 Summary: Loki wakes up in The Void and sticks with another group of Lokis to survive being killed by Alioth. Sylvie tries to get information from Ravonna but Ravonna is able to call for help. Sylvie realizes the person in control must be at the end of the timeline, after The Void, so she prunes herself to get there. After a fight involving several Lokis, Loki escapes and finds Sylvie who was saved by Mobius. Together they decide to enchant Alioth to get to the end of the timeline. Mobius returns to the TVA. With some help from Classic Loki, they are successful.
The Good: This episode is based on a very interesting concept, with Loki trying to escape The Void by taking on the mythical beast Alioth. It’s a totally insane idea, and yet the wackiness somehow works and turns this into a more engaging experience, akin to the mesmerizing unpredictability of “International Assassin” in “The Leftovers”. While this one isn’t as good (see: The Bad), it still does excellently in numerous ways. The zany concept is just one success of the episode. The dialogue is terrific here and I thoroughly enjoyed the interactions between all of the Lokis. It’s impressive how well the writers understand this character. To successfully create so many varied versions of a single character and still have it feel like the same person requires a thorough understanding of Loki and his story; and this episode nails it. The story told here about Loki overcoming his personal weaknesses is superb. It’s sad to think that any time Loki becomes better, he is whisked away to The Void to be killed off. Having Loki and Sylvie fighting against this idea in their effort to escape creates a really strong emotional core to the story and keeps us engaged on a more personal level. We want to see Loki change and overcome his weaknesses to become a better person. It’s what Mobius wanted and it’s what we want. Along the way we get some lovely moments like Loki and Mobius’ hug and the lovely conversation between Loki and Sylvie, which established their relationship far more effectively than “Lamentis”. The Bad: The story of the other Lokis helping the main Loki didn’t entirely work. It felt too rushed, and it’s hard to believe that a single Loki battle royale would cause such a sudden change in heart within Young Loki and Classic Loki. These Lokis have lived for centuries, they can’t change that easily. This episode was missing the emotional heart that it needed to be a next-level episode. It felt too plot-heavy, without the complex character work needed to make this work as the amazing character-piece it could have been. The Unknown: What was the one good memory that Sylvie mentioned? Who is in control of everything that’s going on? What will Mobius do now that he’s back in the TVA? What’s Ravonna’s plan? Best Moment: The climactic confrontation between Loki/Sylvie and Alioth. The music was outstanding, the effects even better, and it felt like a cathartic climax of the episode. It’s like a successful version of the action scene at the end of “Lamentis”. Character of the Episode: Every Loki. It’s so much fun seeing so many different versions of the same character. Conclusion: Where “Lamentis” failed to create a compelling experience, “Journey Into Mystery” succeeded. This was a wacky, creative, and tense episode that accomplished a lot for the story. While it does have flaws, the episode was written well with solid dramatic beats to make you enjoy the spectacle. Score: 69 Summary: Loki and Sylvie fall for each other and cause a nexus event. The TVA finds them and imprisons them. Loki suggests to Mobius that he’s being lied to, and after some investigation Mobius realizes it’s true. He breaks Loki out but is caught and pruned by Ravonna. Sylvie gets through to B-15 as well. Ravonna takes Loki and Sylvie to the timekeepers but B-15 helps free them and they fight everyone. Sylvie kills the timekeepers but realizes they aren’t real. Loki gets pruned by Ravonna and Sylvie tells her to explain everything. Elsewhere, Loki wakes up surrounded by other Lokis.
The Good: I really enjoyed this episode’s dim view of the TVA. After the first two episodes positioned the TVA as the good guys, that gets completely turned on its head here as the show tackles the idea of how the TVA steals people’s lives away and how unjustified it is. And all for a cause that may very well be entirely false since the timekeepers aren’t even real. These ideas are explored well and they enrich the show. I really liked Mobius’ story in this episode. The character confronts the idea of his reality being a lie, and it is gripping to see him finally realize the truth only to tragically be pruned once he decides to fight the system. Mobius’ death is a huge shock and it massively raises the stakes for the rest of the episode. The climactic confrontation with the timekeepers was well done and it had a lot of dramatic twists with B-15’s arrival, Loki benign pruned and the timekeepers being exposed as fakes. This episode also does well to explore Loki’s inherent struggles with loneliness through his imprisonment with Sif. It’s a good bit of character growth for him and gives us more clarity as to why he would have fallen in love with Sylvie. The Bad: I’m not completely on board with the Loki/Sylvie relationship. It feels very icky since they are essentially the same person. While that’s certainly the point, it makes it difficult to buy into this relationship actually happening. And since “Lamentis” did a poor job of constructing a real connection between these two, their relationship feels underdeveloped. I was disappointed in B-15’s arc in this episode. Unlike Mobius, her story happened offscreen so it had very little impact on me when she joined forces with Sylvie. Lastly, I thought it was really poor to have no follow-up to the large amount of branches that popped up at the end of “The Variant”. It seemed like a massive moment back then, but the TVA apparently handled it easily off-screen. It’s not even mentioned in this episode. The Unknown: What did Sylvie do that got her noticed by the TVA? Who created the TVA and the timekeepers? What does Ravonna know about it? What happened to Loki after he was pruned? How will he come back? If Loki can come back, can Mobius come back too? Best Moment: Ravonna not even remembering what Sylvie did that made the TVA notice her. It’s a terrific moment that hammers in how horrible the idea of the TVA really is. Character of the Episode: Loki. Conclusion: This was a packed episode that moved the series along in a big way. Though it’s still flawed, I enjoyed this a lot. Score: 66 Summary: Loki and Sylvie teleport to Lamentis, the worst apocalypse, and the tempad runs out of power. They fight and argue but eventually decide to work together to survive, and they bond. They go to escape on the ark but are unsuccessful and the tempad is destroyed.
The Good: Visually, this was very impressive. The purple colour grading of the episode was gorgeous and the visual effects were movie quality. I was impressed by the ending sequence, which was a stylish long take filled with effects. The Bad: Unfortunately this was all style and no substance. The pacing of this episode was really slow and there was no tension. It’s obvious that Loki and Sylvie aren’t going to die here, so the episode feels like it’s killing time until they escape. We get some scenes for them to bond but unfortunately the dialogue doesn’t feel natural and I never got a good sense of their relationship to each other. We get some contrast between both characters, but for a 40 minute episode with not much else going on, it’s not enough. Part of the issue comes from how we don’t learn much about Sylvie, and the need to keep her mysterious destroys any chance of emotionally investing in her story in this episode. I thought that the lengthy conversation about love was awkward. It didn’t feel organic and I don’t think that the dialogue was strong enough to really make this work. The action was really poor overall. The choreography was fine, but there wasn’t a single drop of suspense or drama and I never got into what was happening on screen. That impressive long take at the end of the episode feels wasted because I didn’t get invested. It’s just an impressive piece of visual effects, it had no emotional impact on me at all. The ending is disappointing. The episode feels incomplete since we are still on Lamentis by the episode’s end. The Unknown: What is Sylvie’s past? How different is her life from Loki’s? How has she been able to stay away from the TVA this whole time? We learn that the TVA soldiers are all variants. How is this important? Will Loki reveal this to the TVA soldiers? How will they take this reveal? What does this mean about the existence of the timekeepers? Best Moment: The opening scene was the highlight of the episode. It was great to see Sylvie’s enchanting ability in action, and the scene cleverly sets up the reveal of the TVA soldiers being variants. Character of the Episode: Loki. It’s probably going to be him every episode. Conclusion: You can’t ground an episode of television in visuals alone. There needs to be a good story underneath for it to mean something. In the end, this episode was well produced and stylistic, but severely lacking in substance and suspense. For that reason, it was a flat and uninspired watch. Score: 48 Summary: After another group of Minutemen are killed by The Variant, Mobius brings Loki into the field with no real success. Afterwards, Mobius and Loki work together and develop a theory that The Variant is hiding in apocalyptic events. The TVA pinpoints the apocalypse to be in Alabama and they head there. Loki and B-15 partner up and find The Variant. B-15 is knocked out and Loki tries to strike a deal with The Variant unsuccessfully. The Variant uses reset charges to make multiple branches to the sacred timeline and then leaves with Loki giving chase.
The Good: This is a funny show and most of the jokes are great. Unlike “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”, this show nails the dynamic between Loki and Mobius and every scene with them is a blast with some excellent comedy. Watching their detective work was a lot of fun and it does well to make us care about the relationship that they are forming. The climax of the episode was really intense, and the meeting between the two Lokis was a ton of fun. Loki continues to be used superbly in this show. He’s not a good person and he’s motivated by selfish goals. I love that he has decided to try to overthrow the timekeepers. It’s also fascinating to watch such an unpredictable character that you can never trust. Loki’s attempted con in the tent was almost enough to fool me, and it was executed tremendously well. The Bad: Not every joke lands. Some of the humour felt very forced. This episode had a bit too much heavy-handed exposition for my liking. It was handled much better in “Glorious Purpose”. The Unknown: Even Mobius hasn’t seen the timekeepers. Who are they? Do they even exist? Who is The Variant? Is she really a female version of Loki? What is her motivation? How is she aware of the TVA? What’s her plan? Best Moment: Loki and Mobius in Pompeii. Their dynamic is really funny, and it was coupled with an important plot reveal. Character of the Episode: Loki. Conclusion: This was a step back from the pilot, and it was always going to be. Still, this was another fun episode with several good twists and turns. Score: 65 Summary: Loki is teleported to Mongolia but is picked up by the TVA that hunts down variants from the set timeline established by the timekeepers. Loki is amused at first but is subdued and is sent to die. However he is saved by Mobius who intercepts him to question him. Mobius is interrupted with a problem and Loki manages to escape. He learns of his fate and is horrified by how irrelevant he will be. He accepts who he is and complies with Mobius. Mobius reveals he needs Loki’s help to take care of another rogue variant: a different Loki.
The Good: This episode was an in-depth character study of Loki and I loved it for that. In a TV pilot it is essential to make the audience care about what is happening and the best way to do that is by making us care about the characters. So many TV shows fail to do this in the first episode, but “Loki” totally nails it. We learn so much about Loki as a person in this episode, and we get a thorough introspection of who he is, what motivates him, and what he thinks of himself and the things that he has done. It’s a fantastic journey of introspection for Loki, and by forcing him to confront himself, the show expertly takes a villainous character and makes us understand him and sympathize with him so that he can function as a protagonist. It is brilliant. The writers also show that they have a perfect grasp on the character, evidenced in the opening minutes when we see Loki instinctively look for an elevated rock to speak to the TVA members, attempting to establish some form of dominance to make up for his inner weakness. The clear understanding of who Loki is allows the writers to tell this story with all of the perfect dramatic beats. Mobius’ conversations with Loki are superbly written and reveal a lot about both characters while also being packed full of suspense and mystery. The episode does brilliantly to tell this character story while also engagingly introducing us to a dystopian reality with the TVA. This world is beautifully explored in the first half of the episode, giving us exposition in really creative ways at a pace that never feels overwhelming. The comedy in this episode is very well done. Loki is an inherently funny character and watching him in this unfamiliar environment provides some good laughs. I loved the brief story of Loki being DB Cooper all along. The Bad: Nothing big. It’s convenient that Loki only sees the most important parts of his future and nothing else. The Unknown: What was the multiverse war? Who started it? What was the result? Who are the timekeepers? Who is the rogue Loki? What time period is he from? What is he hoping to accomplish? Why is he attacking the TVA? Best Moment: Loki seeing his fate was impressively moving. Loki’s journey in this episode was written so well that the episode earned this final moment, and it was powerful. Character of the Episode: Loki of course. Conclusion: I’m disappointed that I’m not doing full-length reviews because this is one of those episodes that I could easily talk about for ages. Everything here was executed tremendously well and it made for a compelling pilot episode that immediately got me invested into the show and the characters. This is going to be difficult to top. Score: 74 Summary: After escaping with the tesseract, Loki is immediately apprehended by the TVA for breaking the sacred timeline devised by the timekeepers. After learning about his eventual fate, Loki helps Mobius, a TVA agent, track down another variant: Sylvie, a female Loki. Loki tracks down Sylvie and they end up escaping together to Lamentis where they get trapped but form a bond. Their relationship attracts the TVA who bring them back and arrest them. They are taken to the timekeepers, but they break free and Sylvie kills the timekeepers, discovering they are fake. Ravonna, Mobius' boss, attacks them and eventually Mobius, Loki, and Sylvie are "pruned". This teleports them to a distant location where they have to survive being consumed by Alioth, a being that eats matter. To survive, Sylvie enchants Alioth and discovers that the person in charge is living on the other end, at the end of time. Loki and Sylvie go forwards and discover Kang, who controls everything. Kang explains that he made the sacred timeline to prevent variants of himself from existing, causing a multiverse war. He gives the Lokis a choice: take over the TVA for themselves or kill him. Sylvie chooses to kill him and teleports Loki away after he disagrees. Sylvie kills Kang, and multiple branches form on the timeline.
The Good: "Loki" ended up being a perfect title for this show because this was all about him. Whether it's Tom Hiddleston's Loki, Sylvie, or some other variant, the show does a fantastic job of thoroughly dissecting and exploring this character across its six episodes. From the first moments, it's clear that the writers understand this character deeply, and Loki is given a unique personal conflict in every single episode, forcing him to face his own personal shortcomings and weaknesses. The excellent character writing elevates this show so much, and it ensures that Loki always feels like a proper protagonist instead of a villain. It's so much easier to relate to a character with flaws and shortcomings instead of a supervillain bent on ruling the world. Fleshing Loki out to this degree was a masterful decision, and it gave this show a lot of its emotional weight. Mobius is an excellent addition to the MCU. Usually the side characters in MCU films are my least favourite parts. The characters are often one-dimensional, or annoying, or poorly acted, or all of the above. However, Mobius is a surprisingly well-rounded character and I came to love his relationship with Loki. Owen Wilson puts in a good performance, and it's nice to see how complex Mobius' feelings for Loki are. It allows them to create a really strong bond. Mobius isn't defined solely by his relationship to Loki either. He's a fully fleshed out character with ideals, goals, motives, and personality. There are many things that make him who he is, and that's part of the reason that it's so much fun to watch this character on-screen. The TVA was an integral part of the show, and also a big reason for its success. Early in the show's run, the TVA was so mysterious, and it was fascinating to learn more about how it all worked and what its purpose was. The setting made this show feel almost dystopian, which was a really refreshing take on the MCU. Setting the show in such a unique setting with such an empty atmosphere was a stroke of genius, and it gave "Loki" something to stand out from other shows. The TVA story brings us to the introduction of Kang, who was such a brilliant element of the final episode that he deserves an entire section of this review. The slow build of the TVA mystery leads us to the big reveal of who is running the whole thing. And this character, played terrifically by Jonathan Majors, lives up to the hype. Kang is not at all what we would expect. He seems almost jovial, in a very sociopathic way, but is also surprisingly normal. It's a great set-up for later when we inevitably encounter a much more ruthless and villainous version of the same character. Kang has all of the charisma, motivation, and threat that you want to see from a villain, and I think he has potential to be even more effective than Thanos. I love that all six episodes of this show feel wildly different and function as their own standalone stories within the greater plot. This led to some fantastic experiences throughout the seasons, the best of which being the outstanding pilot "Glorious Purpose". I'll have more details in my review of that episode of course, but it was a really terrific piece of television. As mentioned above, this episode single-handedly made Loki a suitable protagonist for the show by putting him through an intense emotional experience that fundamentally changed who he was. And on top of doing that, it had some masterful mystery storytelling with the introduction of the TVA, including some terrific exposition that was given to us at a perfect pacing so it was never overwhelming, and we were never left feeling confused. No other episode felt similar to this, but that is a good thing. The show didn't get hung up on elements of the story and constantly tried new things, which made for a fresher overall experience. One thing that complimented every aspect of the show was its presentation. This looks even better than most movies because everything here is high budget with tremendous execution. The soundtrack was incredible, and it elevated every single scene when it played. The show wasn't just a bunch of high quality visuals either, the direction, editing and cinematography was superb and it made the most out of the heightened budget. I think this is the best looking TV show I've ever seen, and that does give it some bonus points. Lastly, I will say that this show knows how to use surprises and twists to its advantage. There were plenty of twists and turns throughout the season, and they elevated the story quite a bit. After each episode I never knew what to expect in the next episode, and the very premise of the episodes were surprising to me. I didn't know what was going to happen, and I didn't know what direction the story was going. The unpredictability coupled with the creativity of the episode premises made for a thrilling and surprising story that you don't often see on television. This entire show felt like a rollercoaster ride with how creative and unpredictable it was. Every twist landed, and every turn changed the direction of the show in an important way. The Bad: "Lamentis" was a weak episode with a lot of flaws. I'll be going more in-depth in my review of the episode, but it was the one weak episode of this show. I was underwhelmed by the character work in this episode and I thought that the dialogue and writing was quite clunky. I typically enjoy character-centric episodes like this, but there wasn't enough substance to make this episode work. In the end it just feels like a waste of time, and it's an episode I'd almost be comfortable with skipping. One of the core problems of "Lamentis" spread to the rest of the show. That was the romance between Loki and Sylvie, a relationship that felt rushed, clunky and unsatisfying for almost the entire run of the series. It was difficult to invest in this relationship because we didn't get a good sense of why they were into each other and what it was that got them to form a strong bond to begin with. This is where "Lamentis" comes in, because that episode failed to build a proper foundation for their relationship. They simply started talking about love and personal things because the story demanded it, and it never felt natural. This unnatural feeling persisted for the rest of the show, and it became especially tedious when just about every side character started to talk about their relationship in an effort to make us buy into it. It didn't work and ended up being pretty annoying. They started to work a little bit better towards the end of the series, but I still didn't quite buy into the idea of them getting together, and that made it difficult for me to emotionally engage in this aspect of the show. It was also especially difficult to get past the icky feeling of Loki falling in love with himself since I didn't buy into Loki and Sylvie's relationship. Outside of Mobius and Kang, the side characters were disappointing. Ravonna and B-15 are really weak characters and nothing they did interested me throughout the series. The lack of resolution for these characters by the end of the season only makes me question their existence even more. While watching the final two episodes, I found myself waiting for the story to get back to the more interesting stuff whenever it cut to what was going on in the TVA. Best Episodes: E01 Glorious Purpose: This was an excellent character study for Loki to transform him from the despicable villain in The Avengers to the morally grey protagonist that this show needs him to be. Add in the mystery elements as we are introduced to the TVA and the tremendous writing, and this was a superb pilot. E06 For All Time. Always.: The finale of this season delivered, which is even more impressive when you consider how poorly "WandaVision" and "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" ended. Kang was portrayed tremendously, and the climax of the episode with this massive decision for Loki and Sylvie felt like a monumental moment that was perfect to end the season on. Worst Episodes: E03 Lamentis: The only disappointment of the show was "Lamentis". This episode felt like filler and it didn't do enough to explore the characters of Loki or Sylvie or their relationship to justify its existence. I feel like this episode should have been far more impactful than it was. Character of the Season: Loki. Conclusion: The MCU TV shows have been either decent or weak so far, so I didn't expect much from this show. But this was actually a really good show. It was well-produced, well-written, well-acted, and emotionally engaging. Plus every episode told its own unique story while also fitting together to tell one cohesive story. This didn't feel like a stretched out movie, and it avoided all of the trappings that MCU content typically falls into. There certainly were flaws and problems with the storytelling, but overall it was a blast to watch these six episodes, even if it wasn't top-quality television. This exceeded my expectations for an MCU TV show and I can't wait to see what happens in the second season. |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|