by Conan Simmons – June 19, 2021 – 8:33 pm
Settling into his new role as a Time Variance Authority consultant, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) assists TVA agent Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson) in the investigation into what appears to be an alternative Loki hopping around the timeline causing time to split into unauthorized multiple paths.
Learning the basics of the job from the animated Miss Minutes, a cartoon character that was first seen in episode 1 as the narrator of an old school style animated industrial video, Loki is enlisted to examine a time-crime scene in 1985 Oshkosh, Wisconsin at a Renaissance fair. He soon develops a theory as to why the TVA has been unable to find the nefarious variant.
To test his theory, Loki destroys Mobius’ lunch in effort to persuade him to test the theory. Agreeing to the test, Mobius escorts Loki to 79 A.D. just as Mount Vesuvius is about to destroy Pompeii. As the volcano erupts Loki convinces Mobius that the villainous variant is hiding out at apocalyptic events that would not register any time variants due to that particular timeline coming to an end.
Following up on the theory the duo re-examines evidence gathered from instances of the time variant disrupting things. Joining with a TVA task force led by Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku), they pop into a major retail outlet, Roxxcart, in 2050 Alabama just as a disastrous hurricane is about to wipe out everything.
It is there that Loki comes face to face with the dangerous variant.
It appears that there is a Lady Loki running about causing all the trouble and, though her reason is kept a mystery in this episode, she is definitely up to something more than just mere mischief.
But is this Lady Loki really a variant of Loki?
She hates being called Loki and the power she exhibits to first toy with Loki doesn’t seem to be a power Loki has ever had, at least not in all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and tv shows in which Loki has appeared. Although, he doesn’t seem too perplexed at witnessing the power.
All in all, episode 2 is a pretty good episode. It doesn’t rely so heavily on knowledge of previous MCU installments the way the pilot episode did making it easier to engage with this latest installment.
Most of the plot here focuses squarely on developing the mystery that is the central focus of this series. There are a couple of subplots as Mobius expresses a flirtatious and possible romantic interest in Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) in a scene that stands out and may include hints at what’s to come in the developing mystery.
Another main highlight is the back-and-forth between Loki and Hunter B-15 who insists on doing everything by the book. The witty banter of all the characters is what best makes this series work.
If you like the stars and witty banter ‘Loki’ is worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of the Marvel comic book adaptations.
‘Loki’ streams on Disney+ with new episodes every Wednesday.