Loki episode 2 review: Concepts and Lokis galore in this mind-bending chapter

3.5/5

The first episode of Loki ended with Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) seeking help from Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to capture fugitive time variants of the latter, who have been wreaking havoc across the sacred timeline. Will the redeemed Loki accept the offer or devise new ways to escape from the Time Variance Authority (TVA)? The second episode, which is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, delves into these.

What’s it about?

Loki, who has now learnt the ways of the TVA and has somehow made sense of the occurrence and implications of nexus-level events, joins Mobius and TVA personnel as they track another anomaly in the timeline. The trickster, who is offered a meeting with the Timekeepers if he manages to help apprehend the variant(s), however, blows the opportunity. Mobius convinces the team to give the God of Mischief one last chance – will Loki botch it or rise as a hero?

What’s hot?

The episode almost works as a police procedural, with Loki and Mobius teaming up as buddy cops to track down a time-travelling, apocalypse-hopping fugitive. It’s a masterstroke from the writers to have Loki give his unique Loki perspective to track down Loki. Too many Lokis? Well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The episode is filled with mind-bending concepts about the TVA and the consequences of each aberrant timeline. The makers don’t spoon-feed you. In fact, a scene where Loki tries to simplify the whole idea by explaining it to Mobius is hilarious, all the more because his method of breaking it down doesn’t quite match the dumbed-down standards of mere mortals. But as Mobius says, that’s the best you can expect from someone who comes from a land that doesn’t have candy.

For the second week running, Loki and Mobius once again take the cake for the best scene, this time for their deep discussion on existence, chaos, beliefs and purpose. How the duo tries to manipulate each other but to no avail keeps the audience engaged. Loki’s conversations with his other variant too derives a sense of self-referential fun, which fans who have been following the story of Thor’s brother would enjoy.

The supporting characters – Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ravonna Renslayer and Wunmi Mosaku’s Hunter B-15 – get their due in this episode, which doesn’t solely rely on Loki’s smarms and Mobius’ smarts to tell the story.

What’s not?

While the pace of the narrative is brisk with every scene loaded with information, this is not your typical web series episode. It warrants repeat viewing and considering it’s a six-episode series, the makers have tried to squeeze in all they can to tell a riveting story. A repeat watch isn’t quite a bummer here because it does have a few Easter Eggs, none more evident than Loki’s final act at Pompeii being a throwback to Tony Stark’s weapons demo in the first Marvel film, Iron Man.

At times, the episode does slow down, just like a video game where your character is fed with basic information as a reminder. But this doesn’t quite make for a seamless watch. On a sidenote, Bonnie Tyler’s I Need A Hero gets a shout-out for the third time this week, following its use in Netflix’s Masters of the Universe: Revelations and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy videogame trailers.

Verdict

The second episode is brisk and packed with information about multiple Lokis unleashing chaos. So much that even the self-obsessed Loki might find it a bit difficult to wrap his head around in just a single viewing. Wilson and Hiddleston try to break this down and make it enjoyable while doing so.