“I Have No Memory of Having My Memory Wiped.”
I was less than impressed with the first season of Loki, mainly because of where the show left us. Since this was the first (and so far only) of the MCU shows to earn a second season, I didn’t know to expect that they would be coming back to tell more of the story. That’s why I decided to give the second season a try, and I’m glad I did, since I enjoyed it much more than the first.
This season picks up where the first season left off. He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) has been killed. While Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) is happy with the results, it’s Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who faces the consequences as he keeps popping in and out of various timelines. Once he is able to stabilize himself, thanks to help from Mobius (Owen Wilson), they both learn that their problems are just beginning. By allowing other timelines to grow, the machine at the heart of the TVA is now unstable. Somehow, Loki has to convince Sylvie to join him in a hunt of a variant of He Who Remains to stop what they’ve started. Will they save the universe as we know it?
If half of what I just posted makes no sense to you, that means you aren’t ready for season 2. As much as I struggled with season 1, there is no way to enjoy season 2 without that part of the story. Very little of what happens here has been brought up in the MCU elsewhere (at least so far), so you can’t possibly understand what is going on.
The good news is that, once you struggle through season 1, you’ll be rewarded here. Yes, the show still has the pacing issues it did in season 1, although it’s not nearly as bad as it was then. I can really only think of one episode that needed some editing, in my mind. The rest keep the story moving forward.
Now, this isn’t to say that I always saw how the story was moving forward. I was scratching my head with some of what they were doing, especially early in the season. But it does all build somewhere if you are patient.
And what does it build to? I’m not going to spoil anything, but I will say that I was very satisfied with how this season ended. If the show ends here (and I kind of feel like it will), this is a great end to things.
The acting is always on point. I especially enjoyed the interactions between Owen Wilson and Tom Hiddleston, and they shared a lot more screen time this season than the first season, which was a bonus. Ke Huy Quan joined the cast this season (he’s everywhere now, isn’t he?), and I enjoyed his character, too.
The show looked great visually as well. The special effects worked, and the practical sets were great to look at. The sets are not usually something that stands out to me, but it did here, in a good way.
If, like me, you struggled with the first season of Loki, you’ll be much happier with season 2. If you enjoyed the first, you’ll be very happy to see what happens next in this season.
So funny how I loved season 1, but struggled through most of season 2. The finale made it all worth it, though. :)
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