“Loki” Episode 2 Recap and Review - You’ve Got Some Apocalypse in Your Salad

By Rob LoAlbo

Photos courtesy Marvel Studios

Soccer Loki, Avatar Loki, Hulk Loki, Leprechaun Loki, Viking Loki: the possibilities are endless! Like a book of paper doll cut-outs, you can dress your Loki up and be thrown into branches of the Marvel Universe we didn’t even know existed. And it all comes down to our big bad reveal: Girl Loki. Or is it? We’re not exactly sure, but those end credits hint at something completely different, so let’s get into recap with full spoilers ahead!

Now a part of the TVA, Loki is a police consultant, and the banter between him and Mobius feels more buddy-cop: which one’s the veteran and which the rookie I couldn’t say. They easily slide into the old trope of walking fast down headquarter’s halls while arguing about the case, only solidifying the cop-genre expectations. Argue, walk, argue, wait for elevator, quip, doors open, insult, doors close. It works because it’s a never-failing trope, and the genre mashup seems to be Marvel’s MO ever since Ragnarok hit big. So, who’s complaining?

The episode also plays with a television police procedural structure: the audience is shown a crime from a limited perspective and then the rest of the hour is all about the experts tracking down the killer. It’s a formula that’s worked well for decades, but with a trickster show like Loki, we should already know that expectations are going to be turned on their horned-heads by the time the “killer” is revealed in the final frames.

So they set out to track down a Loki.

Hunter 15 - “Which kind of Loki remains unknown.”

Loki - “They’re the lesser kind, to be clear.”

Hiddleston is all swagger and arrogance, trying his hardest to be the smartest, but with a limited knowledge of what Girl Loki wants and how the TVA functions, he’s grasping at straws and clutching on to the few bits of certainty in that time-limited Loki brain of his.

Ironically, Norse God Loki heads to a Renaissance Fair to see what went wrong with the variant attack on the TVA. He’s still trying to figure out all the rules, as are we, so moments of training and testing of Nexus event knowledge aren’t just for him but are a clever if predictable way of relaying exposition to the audience. Red-lining - something we don’t want to do. Check. Reset charges - they disintegrate variant aspects of the sacred timeline. Gotcha.

When the investigation comes up short, we head back to base and get to see a little of Ravonna Renslayer out from behind that judge’s bench. Looks like she and Mobius have been friends and co-workers for a long time, as evidenced by their soft empathetic banter and drinking glass stains on the table. Where we once thought that Renslayer has all the power, we are seeing that the ever-elusive Timekeepers are the ones holding the cards, while the rest are just cogs in the machine, making the show a sort of workplace adventure-comedy where record keepers are stingy and old and the lunchroom makes salad metaphors.

While going through his file (the only file he has access to, lolz), Loki discovers that his home planet of Asgard was destroyed in an apocalyptic event, and that Lady Loki has been hiding in them. “Which apocalypse?” asks Mobius, a question no one has ever asked anyone ever. (I’m not sure which is more depressing: that the apocalypse happens all the time or that almost all future ones are climate related.) Checking his theory in pre-ash-filled Pompei and causing havoc, Loki and Mobius find that their actions create zero variance energy and no branches, so using some detective work, they formulate a plan to hunt Lady Loki in the great class 10 apocalyptic storm of 2050 Alabama.

We also learn, in prep for the mission, that Lady Loki has been stealing reset charges for some nefarious no-gooknicking, and when she sets them into various time periods at the end, her master plan starts to emerge. Where Loki wants to rule the TVA, Lady Loki seems bent on destroying it, and she KNOWS where the Timekeepers are. Probably as a distraction, she bombs the timeline and creates Nexus events in places not only earthly historical but also on Asgard, Ego, Vormir, Sakar, etc., places that Marvel-ites know by heart. Intrigued by her actions, our Loki ditches the TVA and follows her into a portal.
Given that we are one-third of the way through the series, it’s been a tremendous amount of exposition and setup. The number of scenes with discussion well-outweighs scenes of action, which is a huge change-up from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (whereas TFATWS by now had already shown a mid-air hijacking AND a freeway chase, while here we’ve only seen a fisticuffs with a Roomba.) Not that I’m wishing for the popcorn thrills of TFATWS in lieu of Loki’s character building philosophical discussions: I’m just hoping that all this investment will pay off in the next four episodes.

Wilson and Hiddleston spend many moments in deep discourse over philosophy, fate, jet-skis, etc., and I worry that the show will either pivot too much off its initial axis by delving into poker-bluff territory with these scenes coming to mean almost nothing and the rest is all action, or that these discussions will continue relationship and character building and nothing else. Head writer Michael Waldron and director Kate Herron better have this thing mapped out, unlike WandaVision where Quicksilver turned into nothing more than a Bohner joke. We want to see these characters kick some ass, and with the trailers hinting at a good amount of time-hoppy, world-jumpy action, we might get it or be sold a false bill of goods. It’s asking for a lot of trust on our part, so I just want it all to MEAN something.

If nothing else, what it has going for it is the layered mythology of the TVA and how the aesthetic contributes to the rich atmosphere of the show. Not only is the art direction eye-popping but the music is its own show character. Composed by Natalie Holt, it’s got a thick syncopathic nature and a beat that develops a creepy countdown feel, contributing to the sci-fi time aspects of the show. Being one of the most memorable scores of recent, the musical effectiveness and choices made throughout raise emotional moments (Loki discovering Asgard’s demise) and quicken the pulse (Lady Loki and her reset charges). And I’m pretty sure I heard a theremin while we were in Renslayer’s office. It’s hummable, memorable, and blends in seamlessly with the emotional moments of the characters.

And speaking of characters, just who is Lady Loki? Well, in the Spanish credits, she’s not listed as “Variant” or “Lady” but as “Sylvie,” or Sylvie Lushton, also known as Enchantress, a major magical nemesis to Thor and bearer of powers granted to her by Loki. Could it be THAT Sylvie? Are Disney and Marvel toying with us? Or will they take aspects of Lady Loki and Enchantress and combine them into something new? Tick, tock, tick, tock...

Another theory afloat is that Lady Loki/Sylvie is actually the good guy and the TVA and the Timekeepers are the real bad guys. Then, her acts are not evil trickery but instead liberation, breaking the world free of the clutches of the TVA. Loki’s alliances, like his gender, have always been fluid, so it’s entirely possible that he might end up working for the good guys in his attempt to take control of the TVA (and maybe bring the self-aware Mobius along for the ride).

Once again, given the unclear nature of where this is all going, it’s hard to judge the show based on just these two episodes. Remember all was going swimmingly well in TFATWS until the last episode kinda stunk up the joint a little. We’re still engaged, and my week still revolves around anticipation for the show. And often its treasures aren’t revealed in first viewings, or first go arounds of the show, so I’m still looking forward to what each week’s layers slowly peel back.

Next week: With Loki now gone, maybe Mobius will finally get to enjoy his lunch.

Star City Rating: 3 ½ (but maybe 4 with more episodes watched)