Loki (Season 2)

Time travel is impossible in real life, but it’s also difficult to make believable in fiction, where a neat plot device can easily devolve into a knotted nest of confusing exposition. The first season of “Loki” avoided this problem, making this Disney+ show a shining light in a somewhat quiet era of the MCU. Following a “variant” of the Norse God of Trickery in the depths of the Time Variance Authority, or TVA, the series partnered with flawless production design with a simple emotional narrative – especially once the protagonist Loki (Tom Hiddleston) met his match in his female counterpart Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), a relationship that opened questions of identity, free will and self-determination. Tracking the potential branches of the so-called Sacred Timeline could confuse the viewer. Alison Herman said in her review, “Like a Zen koan, “What makes a Loki a Loki?” is grounding and easy to grasp.”

The final scene of the first season, “Loki” revealed it would be the first Marvel Studios show for Disney+ to have a second season. This realization came as a relief, with the cliffhanger ending. After Loki and Sylvie traveled to the end of time, Sylvie killed He Who Remains, played by Jonathan Majors, the founder of the TVA and the main obstacle keeping the Sacred Timeline from becoming a complete multiverse. Herman said, “When Loki, having tried to stop her, returned alone to the TVA, he found an office transformed, with statues of He Who Remains looming everywhere and employees like Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) having no memory of their quarry-turned-collaborator.”

This past year, “Loki” is back, and at the right time. Because the show started the MCU’s Multiverse Saga strongly, the franchise’s latest installments have caused people to have serious criticisms. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” was a critical and commercial disappointment that failed to build on what started in “Loki,” despite using some of the same concepts and characters. Herman noted, “Meanwhile, Majors is facing trial for charges of assault and aggravated harassment against his former girlfriend, throwing Marvel’s plan to make his character the next Thanos-style archvillain into question. (Not that blockbuster business planning should be anyone’s main concern when it comes to allegations of domestic violence, but with this much money on the line, it is a concern to some.)”

Herman continued, “Such circumstances place a great deal of pressure and scrutiny on “Loki” Season 2, which has also seen some personnel shuffles behind the scenes.” (Eric Martin became the head writer from creator Michael Waldron, while director Kate Herron gave the job to a larger group led by collaborators Justin Benson and Aaron Morehead.) However, even though “Loki” seems to be the best of the MCU shows, second only to “WandaVision,” Season 2 falls into the same traps the original story so cleverly avoided.

Herman said, “While the first episodes of “Loki” used its namesake as an audience surrogate, gradually laying out the purpose, customs and bylaws of the TVA, Season 2 begins in media res. Right away, Loki is tasked with finding Sylvie, figuring out why he’s hopscotching through time and navigating the chaos of a TVA workforce that’s just discovered all memory-wiped variants from “severed” — or less euphemistically, eliminated — timelines. It’s a lot, perhaps too much, for both Loki and the viewer to process, especially since the story feels increasingly unmoored from Loki’s own journey of (literal) self-discovery.”

Instead, the season introduces new MacGuffins like the Temporal Loom and characters like Ourobouros, played by Ke Huy Quan, a type of cosmic IT guy with the job of keeping TVA equipment in shape. Herman said, “There’s frantic motion and momentum, but not as much of a sense of who wants what, and why, when it comes to complicated questions of personal autonomy versus the collective good. In fact, one gets the sense that “Loki” maintains the breakneck speed precisely so it doesn’t have to slow down and root the action in its characters’ wants and needs. Online explainers will surely lay out the logistics in exhaustive detail, but they can’t create the sense of emotional urgency the season palpably lacks.”

At least there are performances, delivered by an ensemble inside the MCU’s giant ensemble that remains one of its best. On a long victory after his Oscar win for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Quan brings an experienced energy to Ourobouros, or OB, that complements the crazy antics he’s asked to perform. Rafael Casal is less well-served as a TVA employee who’s barely introduced before becoming a fugitive, we’re told is important to the story, though through no fault of his own. Herman said, “And when taken on its own terms, Majors’ work as He Who Remains in his various incarnations is an idiosyncratic and strangely magnetic break from Marvel house style — though whether it should be considered separately from his off-set behavior is another question entirely.”

The playful, inventive visuals also continue to give “Loki” an added edge, from the congested gadgetry of OB’s workshop to a quick detour in 1970s London to an entire episode set in 19^th century Chicago. Herman said, “But where everything from the set design of the TVA to its complicated cosmology once felt in service to Loki’s burgeoning ability to feel camaraderie and love, the hierarchy now feels reversed. Even though, via spoiler-y means, Loki and Mobius do get to resume their buddy routine, there’s less space for either their friendship or Loki’s bond with Sylvie when everyone is racing around for unclear reasons.” “Loki” is still a good time, but despite the second season, it may not have been built for a long one.

I still think this was a good season. I did not find any complaints in it and I liked how everything is at stake and that something bad may happen if they do not jump at the chance to stop it. Loki has come a long way from the one villain the MCU did right and changed into a hero that we all love and adore. Then again, I think this is a different variant of Loki compared to the villain we loved to watch, but still, he has changed. You should check this season out and see for yourself, as I think there was a lot to see and get hooked on.

And with that, we have reached the end of “Disney Month 2023.” I hope everyone enjoyed it because, as always, this was a busy month for me. I had to decide what I was going to review and unfortunately had to change the list around a few times because some shows were delayed to next year. Some movies came out that I wanted to check out, so now that I have, I will take some time off and think clearly about what I want to review next.

Have a great end to the year, everyone. I will see you all next year for the next series of exciting reviews. Take care.