'Loki' Season 2 Episode 3 Review

Marvel

Oct 20

Each episode of Loki leaves the viewer feeling that it will be impossible for the next episode to top the one that came before it, and Episode 3, “1893,” most certainly is in keeping with the current track record. The only thing to be mad about is that we must wait a whole week to find out what happens next. Going into this episode, the pressing issue is that the temporal loom is still in dire straits without He Who Remains, one of his variants, or Miss Minutes.

“1893” picks up with Renslayer coming through a time door to meet Miss Minutes in 1868 Chicago. From the jump of the episode, Miss Minutes gives off major Fatal Attraction vibes and carries that creepy theme to the end. The former TVA Judge and possible romantic partner of He Who Remains, along with the alarmingly self-aware sentient AI cartoon clock, are in 1868 Chicago to fulfill a plan. They leave a TVA handbook in the hands of a Kang variant as a child – Mr. Victor Timely. This suggests that He Who Remains knew his time was ending in the last season and dies with a contingency plan already on the books.

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Meanwhile, Mobius and Loki continue looking for a way to save everyone. The next scene shows the two in the temporal loom control room with O.B. desperate for a plan. They discuss Miss Minutes, where Owen Wilson’s Mobius asks straight-faced, “How are we gonna find a rogue little cartoon clock who doesn’t want to be found?” Ah, rogue cartoon clock, indeed. The next scene sees Mobius and Loki enter through a time door into the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, looking for Renslayer. There is a moment when Loki and Mobius stop to look at wooden statues honoring Odin, Thor, and Balder the Brave. Mobius comments that sometimes he forgets Loki is one of them. Tom Hiddleston’s Loki shows in this scene the hurt of his family dynamic of the past while comedically commenting before walking off, “Thor’s not that tall.”

Timely and Renslayer — Image Source: CINEMABLEND

The fellas find Renslayer in the crowd, who has Miss Creepy Minutes stowed away, and not too long after that, they catch Victor Timely’s show, which demonstrates a miniature temporal loom on stage. Mobius and Loki rush after him as he leaves. Loki inadvertently steps into a fellow patron who suggests they take their issue outside. Not having time for that, Loki uses his magic to move the man out of his way. Sylvie shows up ready to kill the Kang variant while Miss Minutes goes full-on Marshmallow Man-sized Ghost Clock, serving as an appropriate distraction for the crowd.

Sylvie attacks Victor, with Loki deflecting her each time while trying to talk her into seeing the bigger picture. Victor, Renslayer, and Miss Minutes escape to a boat and head to Victor’s lab in Wisconsin. Renslayer and Timely have evident chemistry, which jives with what we know about their past relationship in the MCU and their love affair in the comics. Miss Minutes watches the two chat and makes awkward, arguably catty commentary until the conversation drifts off, with Renslayer commenting that she is excited to see where their partnership takes them. Victor doesn’t take partners, and while Renslayer sleeps, Miss Minutes and Victor cut her loose in a lifeboat and wave her off as they sail away without her.

Victor hurries to gather a few things at the lab and is ready to go, presumably to the TVA. Still, Miss Minutes stalls him and enters into a monologue that ends with her salty circuits whining that he never bothered to give her a body in all the eons since he created her. She goes as far as to say she could have been more than an AI companion; she could have been his girlfriend. Wait…what? Yes, that scene happened.

Cue the reunion. The gang all returns – Mobius, Loki, Renslayer, and Sylvie. Renslayer is ready to prune Victor then and there. After a verbal exchange between Mobius and Renslayer, Sylvie shows up with a blast. She stalks over Victor but decides to let Loki and Mobius take him back to the TVA. The episode ends with Sylvie defining for the audience what Renslayer wants – power. She warns her to be careful what she wishes for and proceeds to shove Renslayer through a time door with Miss Minutes in tow back to Kang’s dead body in his palace at the end of time.

Before fading out, Miss Minutes tells Renslayer that she knows secrets about her…secrets that she knows will make Renslayer angry. Tune in next Thursday at 9 p.m. (ET) or 8 p.m. (CST) on Disney+. Here’s to hoping it starts with Miss Minutes spilling the tea!

Rating: 10/10

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