'Loki' Season 2 Episode 1 Review
Image Source: IGN
It has been two years since fans were last on the clock with Loki, with episode one of the second season turning out to be well worth the wait. This first episode is titled “Ouroboros” which is both the name of a new character, played by Ke Huy Quan as well as a mythological snake that is represented circularly as it appears to swallow its tail. The symbolism indicates infinity. It is too early to tell if the name means anything specific to the series, but this emblem could be hinting at how the season may end (we will discuss this theory more in a minute). The episode starts where we left off in the finale of season one – after Sylvie kicks Loki through the time door.
The pace is chaotic from the jump. The cast does a nice job collectively at keeping viewers grounded in what is happening. Loki falls first into a past TVA, where Hunter B-15 and Mobius don’t know him at all and begin a chase around the building. Loki Time Slips as he is about to be caught and drops into the present TVA where he can connect with the Mobius variant who knows him. Mobius takes Loki to meet the only apparent engineer for the TVA, Ouroboros, or O.B. as he is nicknamed by Mobius of the past or Loki of the past, depending on how you look at it. The trio of Mobius, O.B., and Loki decide that the first step in the process of sorting out the mess is to fix Loki’s Time Slip issue. All the while the TVA is experiencing power glitches due to Sylvie killing He Who Remains at the end of the first season.
RELATED:
Image Source: tvinsider
Loki notices things throughout that let him know as he Time Slips what tense he is in. For instance, at the beginning, he is seen in the past where a timeline monitor crashes to the ground, causing a crack in the floor. When he slips to the future, he notes the crack. This method works for him again later in the temporal loom control room. While discussing with O.B. and Mobius the plan for stabilizing him in the present, Mobius writes SKIN in the dust as he feels understandably anxious about his part of the assignment. When Loki Time Slips, the writing is still there, telling him he went to the future.
Image Source: Game Spot
It would be easy for this show to go off the rails in the chaos, but it never does. The cinematography is nothing short of amazing. The camera keeps seemingly one step ahead of the characters and action in the most exciting way while also allowing the viewer to keep up. The writing is engaging as well. Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, Owen Wilson’s Mobius M. Mobius, and Ke Huy Quan as O.B. have fantastic chemistry on the screen. Quan will be one to watch as the season continues to unfold as he is a delightful scene stealer.
The conclusion of this episode finds Loki standing in the hallway of the golden elevator that leads to where the Timekeepers used to be. His task is to keep time on the watch that is meshed with the temporal loom that O.B. gives him. He knows that Mobius has completed his task when the light on the watch turns green. The scene is complicated as he drops the time stick when he Time Slips only moments before. The scene feels like it could be the ending, which brings us back to Ouroboros. The paradox of the ouroboros is suggestive of the present being devoured by the future (hence the circular imagery of the snake eating its tail). In this moment, Loki hesitates. There is a ringing telephone that the camera zooms in on. The camera then spans to the elevator as it is being pried open from the inside, revealing Sylvie, who pleasantly says, “There you are.” Loki appears content to see her when he is pruned from behind by an unknown entity. This scene gives Harry Potter vibes in that it is reminiscent of Hermione Granger’s Time-Turner, which begs the question: will we see this scene again later with a different outcome?
Image Source: The Mary Sue
The post-credit scene showcases Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie just after killing He Who Remains. She steps out from a time door in a branched timeline in 1982 in Broxton, Oklahoma where she promptly goes to a McDonald’s that likely gives Generation X viewers all the nostalgia. She asks for food that is not a rodent and without a face as she looks around at happy fellow patrons enjoying their meal and hopefully asks to try everything.
Loki drops episode two to Disney+ next Thursday at 9 p.m. (ET) or 8 p.m. (CST).
Rating: 9/10
READ NEXT:
Latest News
Featured
