This is a brief review of Loki Season 2, without spoilers.
I watched Season 1 not long after it came out, and was both impressed and confused. (The original review is in Dutch, sorry. My blog was 100% Dutch back then.)
Season 2 actually continues that trend almost perfectly.
The show has some amazing ideas, visuals, storylines and music (one of the rare occasions when I consciously notice and appreciate the sound design!).
It’s also completely unclear what they’re aiming for or where we’re going most of the time.
But we can universally agree that this is probably the best thing Marvel put out in recent years. Not because of the special effects or some clever time-bending story. (It’s not that clever, not that complex, and not that original.)
Because it’s grounded. It uses the whole TVA and He Who Remains stuff as a backdrop to talk about a bunch of people who just want to go back to living a regular life, where they belong. To talk about the importance of freedom, choice, or just … letting things happen.
How does the time traveling work exactly? What does the Temporal Loom do? What exactly are Loki’s powers as a “god”, or the powers of He Who Remains? Unclear!
Yet the series remains interesting to watch. The episodes all feel fresh because they all tell their story in a different way. We might go back in time, or to an alternate universe, or meet a previously unseen part of the TVA. It’s not just six episodes of mostly being stuck in the same rooms with scenes told in chronological order. Each one feels different and memorable.
Although the build-up wasn’t ideal, I do agree and like the ending. If the season more clearly worked towards that ending from the very start, I would’ve liked it even more. But it’s fine as it is.
So what to make of this show? It tells human stories of human feelings, which is unfortunately rare these days, especially in the Marvel universe. It uses some wacky ideas about the TVA, timelines, how magic does or doesn’t work, and pseudo-science—all of which are vague to the point of being buzzwords. Who comes up with a ridiculous bureaucracy controlling a Sacred Timeline that looks like it comes straight from the 1970’s!? For a show about a side character god superhero villain sort of?
But it’s certainly different and memorable, and beautifully shot and orchestrated to boot.
Its plot is serviceable, its ideas ambitious but flawed, but its characters are mostly why you stay. The relationship between Loki and Mobius is gold. Also comedy gold, especially the first episodes.
Ourobouros (Orobouros? Oeroburos? O.B.) is a great addition too and Renslayer/Miss Minutes actually feels like they matter and could do damage. Sylvie, the female Loki variant, is still “meh” for me, but I can’t pinpoint why.
I thought Jonathan Majors did a phenomenal job playing several different characters. I haven’t followed any news or controversy around him; I only know he was fired. And I don’t care. He was great in Loki S2, and now I’m mostly interested how Marvel will solve that mess.
I guess the highest honor I can give it, is that I watched the entire season in a span of two weeks. Me! The person who takes 6 month breaks before watching three more episodes of a show! The person who is proud when he finds time to watch one or two seasons in a year!
