Loki - Season 2 Episode 3 - Review

When we last left Loki and crew they just managed to stave off the complete destruction of the timelines, captured an army of dissenters and finally got a lead I'm where Judge Ravonna Renslayer had disappeared too. There's a lot of information in the second episode so clearly the third had to deliver answers and push the story forward, instead we went back in time.

Having the show start off with Renslayer and Miss Minutes was an interesting choice, mostly because we hadn't seen anything from the characters yet this season, but the main reason it was interesting is because it sort of disconnects them from everything else. When I say disconnects them, time does not pass normally within the TVA, so we don't know how long they've been outside of it, doing whatever they've been doing; however, given their apparent sass to each other you might think it's been quite a while. The big mission that they've arrived in Chicago for, is apparently to drop off a book to a young boy and many years later we catch up to that young boy and find out that he is Victor Timely, who anyone who's seen the post credit sequence in Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania we'll recognise.

Having Loki and Mobius appear after the second time jump that Renslayer undertook makes sense, and eventually it does lead to that same sequence from Ant-Man. It still doesn't sell me on the man being this massive threat, even Mobius mocks Loki's ability to sell the man as a true threat and I feel it's justified. Eventually we see Timely present on stage his vision of an energy loom, which if you've been paying attention to the previous episode is very similar to the time loom. Of course, the presentation isn't without its flaws but it seems to be something that many, many people want to get their hands on. This bidding war eventually reveals that Victor Timely is nothing more than a charlatan and a con man. While he does create things, most of that work is based off the book he was handed when he was a child so he's not completely creating from scratch, but he's selling things off as completely his own and his lack of true understanding, comes through when everything breaks.

This unfortunately leads to a very stupid chase, Renslayer and Miss Minutes want him, Loki and Mobius want him and all the people he swindled out of money in Chicago want him. Eventually confrontation ensures on a very large ferris wheel and with Loki about to save his life, Sylvie pops up and aims to complete her mission of killing all variants of Kang The Conqueror. This too proves to be an infuriating moment, if she's decided that this is her purpose, to kill any that cross her way, you would think she would just be venturing to all the different timelines and killing them when they're younger. However, that's not the case as she seems content to live out her life in an 80s McDonald's and is more than happy to ignore the rest of them except for the one that Loki needs in order to stop the TVA from destroying everything.

I have to give credit to Jonathan Majors, this is the 6th iteration of a character we've seen him play, first it was He Who Remains, then Kang The Conqueror and then the three versions of Kang at the end of Ant-Man. Obviously the look helps sell this is a different version of the character, but Major 's ability to stutter and stumble through scenes only to then change on a dime and become a more cynical and closed off being, is honestly fantastic. Don't get me wrong Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson have fantastic moments in this episode, they seem to have had a lot of fun in these sequences because you can see it in their actions, but Majors is the anchor for the episode and it works because of that. The MCU has still not sold me on Kang the Conqueror being a threat and while Victor Timely is definitely dangerous, given his willingness to literally throw somebody overboard rather than work with them, if Major’s is given the right material I think he could be a real villain.

Obviously a lot of this episode is set in Chicago during the 1893 World's Fair and with that comes certain colours, so I do have to give special credit for the costumes and the sets. Everything had this muted brown look to it, not because of any one specific reason but it helps set the stage of things being more historical. I know that probably doesn't make a lot of sense reading it, it's like when you watch an old film that has been processed in that sepia tone, it feels like it's a dated film and the same is being done here. It's not just they threw a brown filter on everything and said that's enough, the set design especially the giant ferris wheel along with the boats and all that is fantastic, just every single element coming together made the episode visually pleasing.

The third episode of Loki has done a complete pace change from what we've seen so far, the first episode was about recovering Loki out of his time slipping state and the second was about stopping the destruction of timelines. Having a show take place in one specific time period felt more like what I was hoping the show was going to be about initially, Loki being a time cop. With the inclusion of Victor Timely, Renslayer and Miss Minutes still working together, there is clearly a lot more going on than we know, while this may not have been a story progressing episode it's still told a great story on its own.

The Score

8.5

Review access provided by Disney

The Pros

Jonathon Majors showed more danger in some scenes here than in Ant-Man

The set design and costumes were fantastic and really helped sell the setting

The Cons

Renslayer seems confused as to her purpose at times, which makes it hard to support her

Focusing more on a single point in time, while the TVA casually ticks closer to destruction feels weird