Loki, Season 1 (2021) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED SERIES. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Avengers: Endgame set up future plot points that would be explored through multiple shows, which I didn’t think would live up to the hype. Thankfully, I was proven wrong with each series, including the first season of Disney+'s Loki. 


PLOT


The pilot ‘Glorious Purpose’ follows the infamous God of Mischief escape from the Avengers after stealing the Tesseract again during the Time Heist. He doesn’t go too far when being now apprehended by an organization he’s never heard of until now: The TVA (Time Variance Authority) who give him the codename ‘L1130’. They are located between space and time to preserve the ‘Sacred Timeline’ and prevent branching timelines from being created. Because of Loki stealing the cube before returning to Asgard, this can create another branch. Although Judge Ravonna Renslayer suggests him to be pruned to prevent any more branches from him, Agent Mobius M. Mobius believes he can be a useful agent. As he interrogated the demigod, he shows him a part of his future, whereas he will be inadvertently be responsible for the death of his adoptive mother Frigga. This puts him in disbelief that he tries to escape until seeing the rest of his future, where he does make amends with Thor before dying in the hands of Thanos. This makes him decide to stay and help find another version of him or a ‘variant’ that is killing TVA Minutemen.


‘The Variant’ shows Loki prove his worth as a TVA agent by sharing his theory with Mobius that his alternate self is hiding near apocalyptic events that don’t affect the Sacred Timeline. He is proven right because when they investigate a disaster in 2050 Alabama, they find the variant who quickly enchants Minutemen. When Loki corners his variant, she reveals her name to be Sylvie Laufeydottir before retreating.


‘Lamentis’ shows Loki follow her as she claims to look for the Time Keepers that created the TVA. He would use a TemPad to transport themselves to 2077’s Lamentis-1, a moon doomed to collide with a planet. But with the device low on power, both are stuck and must figure out how to escape. When they fail to board a ship to escape, Sylvie does share that she’s been enchanting TVA agents and each one is a variant from Earth.


‘The Nexus Event’ shows both mischievous demigods get picked up by the TVA after their escape to Lamentis-1 created another timeline branch. 
The two get separated among incarceration and are placed in Time Cells where they must relive moments in their lives. Within this period, Loki shares with Mobius his revelation that every member of thr TVA is a variant, meaning they've been all been lied to by their leaders, the Time Keepers. When the agent reaches to Judge Renslayer, he suggests to interrogate Sylvie, but the superior refuses. This only leads to him talking to Loki again who clarifies they were ordinary people from the scared timeline before being taken by the Time Keepers. Hunter B-15 would also question her own reality was she starts recalling suppressed memories thanks to allowing Sylvie to probe her mind. Mobius would also revelate Renslayer has lied to him about Hunter C-20 (Sasha Lane), saying she died from a mental breakdown when she was in fact pruned for revealing the same conspiracy the Lokis have. With this knowledge, he chooses to free L1130 from the Time Cell, but gets pruned for it. Renslayer would then take him and Sylvie to the Time Keepers themselves who order them both to be deleted from history. As the demigods defend themselves, Sylvie would behead one of the three, only to reveal the trio were androids. Just upon this, Loki would be pruned and presumed dead.

'Journey into Mystery' confirms Loki to not have died, but is placed in a place at the end of time, a personal prison for pruned variants dubbed 'The Void'. There, he meets other variants who haven't aged in the Void due to it being found at the end of time. He first encounters four of himself that include: an alligator, a man who boastfully claims to have been pruned for stealing the infinity stones and killing Captain America & Iron Man, a teenager who was pruned for actually killing Thor and an older version of him, credited as Classic Loki, who was pruned for wanting to reunite with Thor after Thanos' attack. As the group take shelter in an underground bunker to avoid being destroyed by a trans-temporal entity dubbed 'Alioth', Sylvie demands Renslayer to explain the TVA's true origin, but the latter remains clueless of the truth. When she reveals that Loki is still alive in the Void, she prunes herself to go find him. She first finds Mobius and they look for L1130 together. The five Loki variants would encounter another group of Lokis, led by a President variant of him who plans to keep his self proclaimed void throne for himself. It leads to a falling out between most of the variants in the bunker. L1130 would escape with the assist of Kid Loki & Classic Loki, who agree on confronting Alioth, belieiving it can cause a Nexus Event that'll help them escape the Void. Just upon this agreement, Sylvie & Mobius find them all. And upon this reunion, Sylvie would give Mobius a TemPad that would allow him return to the TVA while she and Loki figure out how to enchant it in order to spark a new branching timeline. Classic Loki gives the ultimate distraction by generating an illusion of Asgard, sacrificing his life in the process while the survival of Kid Loki and his alligator variant remain unknown. As this happens, Sylvie enchants Alioth from behind, and she and Loki are able to find a citadel beyond the Void.

The season finale 'For All Time. Always' would show Mobius confront Renslayer an confirm what Loki and C-20 uncovered. She would accept the truth of being a variant when B-15 direct other Minutemen to a point in time of 2018 Ohio, where she sees another version of her that is a vice principal. The revelation leads to her leaving to the TVA to search for free will, despite being aware the creator is the only one to posses it. As this happens, L1130 and Sylvie enter the Citadel at the End of Time and have a sudden encounter with the TVA's AI mascot, Miss Minutes (Tara Strong), who reveals that He Who Remains, the true creator of the TVA, willing to offer placing them in timelines to their liking, which they turn down. When they meet the man himself, he welcomes them and reveals he can know their every move thanks to a TemPad of his own. He explains that he created the TVA after several of his variants contacted each other in the 31st century and some trying conquering other universes, thus sparking a multiversal war. He Who Remains was able to harness Alioth which ended the war and isolated the timeline, giving him the power to create the TVA in order to prevent further branches. He then gives them a choice to either kill him and start another war or be his successor to manage the timeline. When the Sacred Timeline starts diverging, he can no longer foresee the future. This inspires Sylvie to send Loki back to the TVA, knowing he believes the claims, and kill He Who Remains. This would result in the Sacred Timeline splintering outward into countless branches. Just when Loki returns to the TVA, he finds Mobius and B-15 who don't recognize him. The season would end in a cliffhanger as the demigod would statue identical of He Who Remains instead of the Time Keepers

THOUGHTS

I knew this show had to happen considering the first batch of MCU shows would revolve around the aftermath of Endgame. After already enjoying the likes of Wandavision, as well as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier at this point, it felt like a spiritual promise this one would also hold up in quality, which it does and then some. Producer Kevin Feige and Director Kate Herron deliver in making far from different from the rest to pull off a whole new exciting atmosphere. This is the show that officially sets up the Multiverse Saga and helps us accept anything is possible with every decision we do and don’t make. I’m used to the combo of visual effects and production design making the setting so lifelike, but it doesn’t mean it’ll never be amazing. Whether you’re in one room or the other of TVA HQ, spotting all the easter eggs in the Void or digesting the dreaded atmosphere that was the Citadel at the End of Time, it all made every second matter. I was also in awe with the score composed by Natalie Holt as it reminded us the unordinary will always happen whether or not you know it. With such a complex perspective that learns how to become grounded as it progresses, this season and its season followup work as a whole for telling us you can defy people’s expectations of you when you create your own identity that doesn’t get defined off of your mistakes. And if you can pull that off, it is possible to be forgiven. This theme is executed to perfection with Tom Hiddleston’s return as the iconic demigod. Reminder, this is not the same Loki that was given a permanent death in the hands of Thanos but the one that got away in the 2012 sequence of the Time Heist. This Loki is able to break from the arrogance and deceitfulness that defined him as a villain during the first two phases of the Infinity Saga, only after getting the chance to see the consequences of his mistakes. Once he got the long awaited wakeup call, he found a new purpose that would be more glorious than dictatorship. The more of the truth he would learn, the more the selfishness of him disappeared as he knew focusing on himself doesn’t benefit himself or anyone. Like the rest of the world, we were all stunned to see the purpose of He Who Remains, yet he was able to see an unlikely greater good behind it before Sylvie committed an unholy deed. With the stakes higher than ever by the finale, he now has a grander journey in Season 2 to undo such tremendous damage. Since this is about the multiverse anyway, I’m glad this season played with the possibilities of seeing various versions of the God of Mischief. If this didn’t pay off, we would’ve had the right to worry on how it would work for the films. Thankfully, the likes of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness delivered as well. While it was great to see Hiddleston deliver on fan service when playing President Loki as well, the one variant that made an equal impact as him was Sylvie. Sophia Di Martino gives a standout performance for portraying her as someone who wants to live life her own way, hence defying the TVA as long as she could. She claims to be hedonistic but as it implies, she’s fighting for her life with nothing but anger and heartbreak. Since she knew at a young age she was adopted, it seemed that she got pulled from her timeline just for having a good conscience instead of the conflicted one you would expect from a Loki. It’s definitely an odd scenario to see L1130 fall in love with a version of himself, but we always tell ourselves self love is enough to achieve these days so I don’t think it’s a big deal at this point. I think he fell for her because he respected her for being herself and she fell for him as he only saw the good in her unlike the TVA, hence their kiss by the finale. She felt like she had to kill He Who Remains because she wanted someone to blame for her past troubles and wanted to feel complete with an act of vengeance. But once she digests what she does, it’s clear she realized it didn’t make it better. Thankfully, she gets the chance to feel complete by the time we see her again in Season 2. Apart from Sylvie, it was a big treat seeing more than two Lokis, which is why the ones we see stood out for being different from each other. Deobia Oparei was a treat for simply living up to the name of Boastful Loki in hilarious fashion. Jack Veal surprised me by making Kid Loki someone filled with simultaneous arrogance and pride. The real kicker was seeing Richard E Grant be a fancast come true, portraying him as someone who had unexpected compassion for those he cares about. Not only did he get pruned for wanting to reunite with his brother, but also sacrificed himself to help L1130 achieve his goal at the time. The TVA had him think his purpose was to be a coward, but it was to be a hero and it was great to see him do so. Moving on, it was nice a whole other batch of new characters that helped stir up the pot oh so well. Not once in my life would I ever imagine the iconic Owen Wilson would ever join such an iconic franchise. And when it was announced he would, I’m sure I was part of a universal ‘Wow’ said around the world because I again would have not guessed it. It goes without saying he fits right into the mold because not only did he have great chemistry with Hiddleston, but he has us invested with Mobius for playing him as a mild mannered and nonchalant individual, which helps him being capable of working as long as he has. He gives Loki a chance throughout because he believes people deserve a chance to be better. It’s definitely a surprise to see him give such to a character like Loki who at that point killed many people in his conflict against the Avengers, but that comes to show how bold he had that belief in him. Had he not shown him his future, he would’ve not convinced him otherwise. It is a shame he didn’t remember him by the finale because that would slow down the progress of stopping the Council of Kangs, but at least that gets fixed sooner than later. Another character I didn’t think I liked was B-15. Wunmi Mosaku had me hooked with this character because she breaks from the mold of a no-nonsense demeanor kind of soldier to someone who re-understood free will after realizing her own predicament. After realizing where she was thanks to Sylvie, she knew she had to take the stand that would allow her to change to her liking. You root for her when she helps the Lokis midway because she understands they’re not in the wrong compared to past variants. Since she and Mobius were on the same page by the end, it’s great Loki will have her by his side as well in Season 2. Considering that there were so many people that were focused on doing the right thing, there had to be at least one figure who was deeply confused on what that meant. Gugu Mbatha-Raw succeeds in bringing that to the table as Renslayer. This character struck a big nerve for being quite the hypocrite: She knew she was a variant the whole time and doesn’t have empathy for her past actions, especially when she was the one who brought Sylvie in. She went along with it for so long because she felt free will is a journey not worth achieving. By the time she finally left, you can say she’s somewhat trying to make a difference for the better. But by the time we see her again in Season 2, there could be a debate otherwise. With Thanos defeated, it can be hard to imagine who would top his impact. Slowly, Jonathan Majors does so in minimal effort as He Who Remains is the first variant of another infamous comic book figure, Kang the Conqueror. Majors makes this version so pulverizing to watch because he’s such an unhinged individual with the power he’s capable of. He’s someone who loved the power, but also respected the order he brought with the control he had. He was willing to let someone take his place because he wanted someone to feel the misery he was feeling being alone for so long. He didn’t mind dying either because he knew it’s a lose-lose situation for whoever would find him, giving an excuse for more mayhem to ensue. If you don’t think he’s smart enough to be ahead of those who are against him, you’ll change your mind by the time you reach Season 2.This show was hella fun, but I can’t help admitting there’s still a handful of things that didn’t make sense to me. For starters, I just realized how weird it is for no one but Loki to have noticed Ant-Man kick the case away before he takes it. I mean I know everyone was surprised of Tony Stark going into cardiac, but at least one SHIELD/HYDRA agent had to multitask. And how come there are no safety features on the TVA’s equipment? This is important because Loki can’t be the only one to try running away before being pruned. Also, even if the Infinity Stones are useless in TVA HQ, how come no one has tried taking them to leave the Sacred Timeline? I mean that would be a wild adventure for characters that aren’t even Loki. And I disagree with Renslayer on the case of botching the first mission with Loki when Mobius did exactly what he was told, which was assessing the situation by resetting the timeline. I even gotta be honest the Time Keepers look nothing like lizards Miss Minutes’ expositional video of the TVA, as Loki claims. He’s lucky they look closer to it when he sees them up close and personal. It even got weird to notice Loki doesn’t even use magic when he’s outside TVA grounds. I can see it would be a way for him to hold back, but he doesn’t have to if he was an unofficial agent by the time he meets Sylvie. And isn’t it a little odd for the civilians of Lamentis-1 to be so calm before it’s inevitable apocalypse. I know it sounds weird to wonder how come people aren’t panicking, but I just prefer a realistic reaction of an apocalypse like 2012. And isn’t it a little odd Renslayer didn’t reset the rest of Sylvie’s timeline like her family or friends that knew her? It would raise the stakes to see a story arc in which Odin and Thor are looking for her. I then get distraught with how neither Loki nor Sylvie heard Renslayer get up before pruning the former. I know they’re in a moment of shock because the Time Keepers were androids the whole time, but they should’ve kept their guard up since they didn’t kill her nor the Minutemen. I like Loki being generous enough to share a blanket with Sylvie, but why the hell did he summon one anyway? He’s a frost giant, so he should be used to that temperature. Other than that, you’l still enjoy the show for what it is. Overall, the first season of Loki delivers as one of the MCU’s best shows by giving a deeper dive into the unknown and having us invested from the start for what to come next. If you have Disney+ and are still a fan at this point, see this now.