The episode opens on a dizzying view of the TVA, very clever. TVA turned upside-down, get it? Ehrm, moving on. This episode is the most of Miss Minutes we really see this series, and I think the insight is interesting. She very clearly has been programmed to feel emotion and have some sense of free will. In the opening scenes we see her stall for time during Renslayer and Sylvie’s tête-à -tête, and later see her genuinely bothered by the idea of whoever oversees the TVA being in trouble. These interactions leave me wondering what exactly Miss Minutes is, she is clearly not just a mascot. I don’t honestly think we’ll find an answer to that question during this series, much bigger things to fry, but it’s interesting, nonetheless.
I couldn’t help but smile at Sylvie’s ‘just one’ moment before she pruned herself, I don’t want to talk about Loki’s self-love too much in this review, because quite honestly, I think that’s something Loki should be discussing with his therapist, and I with mine. However, after what we have learnt about Sylvie having been stolen away from Asgard at a young age and being on the run ever since; it’s nice that she is finally forming some more positive memories. It would have been all too easy for Marvel to turn her into a one-stop-shop of destruction.
It’s hard to decide who the star of this episode is, Richard E Grant is delightful as classic Loki, and out of all their ‘origin stories’, his hits closest to a genuine response that we can relate to. The idea of being lonely, and always finding ourselves in the same cycles. It’s a very human response to life, not one that we have seen in any iteration of Loki up to this point. On the other hand, however, Alligator Loki. He somehow managed to brighten up every scene he was featured in, even if all you see of him is him waddling in the background. I just want to scoop him up and take him home. Mobius not recognizing him is interesting though. If there is one thing we’ve noticed in this series, it is that there is no such thing as a throwaway comment: so, what’s the deal? The only reason a Loki would need to shapeshift amongst a company of himself is fear of being recognized, so who is Alligator Loki? Is he even a Loki? I do hope this is something that is solved during the final episode, because I think Alligator Loki might be the missing link somehow.
On the subject of the next episode, that shot of the Avengers tower I mentioned? We find out during this episode that this place where the TVA sends variants is in fact Kid Loki’s kingdom, I am assuming that means that what they are walking on is Kid Loki’s version of Midgard with extra variant junk. As they walk past that tower again, you may have noticed it in-fact reads Qeng, not Stark. This is a nod to Tony selling Stark Industries in the comics and might just hint at who it is hiding behind Alioth, it also makes perfect sense that Stark would end up selling the tower in this version of Earth. With Thor dead, the Avengers would not have formed properly, if at all.
A few more easter eggs of note, our Loki team walk past the infamous Thanos Copter from the comics, a beautiful nod to a ridiculous thing. From the cinematic universe, we see The Dark Aster, Ronan the Accuser’s ship from the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. We also see the giant helmet of Yellowjacket from Ant-Man. Last time we saw him was shrunk down to tiny proportions, so I don’t think this is an easter egg so much as a hint. In kid Loki’s lair there is a Polybius Arcade. For those unaware, Polybius is a machine of Urban Legend. An arcade game that caused seizures in the 80’s before the men in black (The FBI?) came and took it away and it was never seen again. Given Kid Loki’s hideout is clearly some kind of bowling alley, I’m loving the idea that the TVA just sent the building the arcade machine was located in into the void rather than doing some heavy lifting. Finally, in the same scene we see kid Loki drinking a Hi-C Juice Box, the promotional juice that was released alongside the Ghostbusters film in 1984 (not sure he should really be drinking that, time irrelevant).
At the end of the episode, we see some of our Loki’s coming together to forge their own future, Loki and Sylvie enchanting Alioth using Classic Loki as a distraction. Classic Loki is unfortunately consumed by Alioth literally moments before Sylvie and Loki forge a connection with the smoke beast. I definitely feel like they could have worked a bit faster here to save his life, and I’m not just saying that because I want more Richard E Grant…Okay, maybe I am. This final scene is by far the most cinematic thing that Disney have tried with their Marvel series, and it completely pays off. The humongous conjured Asgard and the billowy, oppressive smoke of Alioth, I don’t think I relaxed for the whole episode, but I tensed so much during this scene that I might need to visit a chiropractor…
And then, just as we thought the Wizard of Oz references were behind us, the connection is made, and Emerald City is revealed. But who is the Wizard? And how on earth are we going to wrap this series up in one episode? Where’s alligator Loki?
Loki is streaming now on Disney+
Preferring the company of fictional characters to living, breathing people; it should come as no surprise that Hannah is a connoisseur of all things geek. Whilst their body resides in the capital of Wales, their heart resides in Middle-Earth and their mind remains firmly lodged in the memory of that embarrassing thing they did when they were eight.
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