Frequently I had to pause and rewind so I could reassemble the first season puzzle with the second's new pieces changing everything. Devouring two more episodes left me no closer to knowing what was happening or where the season would land. Fantastic.
With the multiverse teetering all around it, Loki is one strand of the timeline that is sustaining its originality and intention — and actually thriving. It’s about time.
The new season of “Loki” is a scrappy time-travel caper, a ticking-clock sci-fi thriller and a workplace comedy all rolled together, and a reminder that oddball creativity still goes a long way in the MCU.
If emo Loki is a bit of a drag — “Stop trying to be a hero,” someone tells him, “you’re a villain. You’re good at it. Do that” — Hiddleston gives the whole thing the patina of class. Even so, he’s not given much character motivation.
The four new episodes sent to critics have only a little of the esoteric oddness that so frequently made the first season a blast. The plot is so convoluted that the sense of fun rarely breaks through, but thanks to the sterling cast and some of the best production design on TV, there’s almost always something to hold your attention — if not to trigger any emotional investment.
Those expecting a new multiversally manic season of Loki should temper their expectations; the absence of director Kate Herron has seemingly removed the series’ wily sense of anything-goes possibility, effectively turning Season 2 – and, shockingly, Loki himself – into an obedient, uninteresting cog in the MCU’s increasingly unwieldy mega-structure.
More than anything, Loki has started to resemble what it truly is: an ill-advised spinoff in the old tradition. A too-bright spotlight for a side character who was never best suited to lead.