By Jennifer Ariesta.
Loki season 2’s third episode is aptly titled “1893”. As you can guess, that is the year our time detective duo are heading to next. Finally, after two episodes of convoluted actions inside the TVA, time traveling hijinks are back. And not a moment too soon.
In order to fix the overheated temporal loom, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Morbius (Owen Wilson) journey into the past to find a He Who Remains/Kang (Jonathan Majors) variant who can help them. They do this by tracking down Ravona Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw)’s TemPad. This brings them to 1893 Chicago, the landmark year of the famous Chicago World’s Fair.
Of course, Ravona and Miss Minutes are already there. In fact, in true old school time travel fashion, they’re the ones who trigger the creation of the temporal loom by secretly supplying this timeline’s Kang variant, aspiring scientist Victor Timely (also played by Majors, duh) with a TVA guidebook.
Soon, a three way race to capture Victor breaks out between the TVA duo, Ravona-Miss Minute, and the still-outraged Sylvie (Sophie Di Martino). With all the infighting, can they make it in time before TVA implodes completely?
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As Victor, Majors plays yet another variant with a wildly different personality. He is a timid, stuttering nerd genius who scam people with hack devices to get by. This character and its performance are the highlights of the episode. Within a couple of minutes, Victor’s naive idealism immediately puts you on his side. The show does a great job painting him as a wide-eyed underdog with supernatural beings suddenly on his tails. The Sarah Connor setup almost makes you forget he’s meant to be the next Thanos. On his part, Majors, who we’ve seen as the ruthless and warmongering variants, comes through with his three dimensional portrayal of Victor: his nervous tics, his curious eyes, his confusion – it’s such a deliciously layered performance.
Long story short, Victor Timely suddenly makes the future supervillain more interesting. It is a shame, therefore, that it has been overshadowed by Majors’ domestic assault case. With the actor’s future in the MCU in limbo, one couldn’t help but pity what could’ve been a star-making potential. (Side note: Given the ongoing SAG strike, this must be the only instance where the studio might be relieved that an actor wouldn’t be available for promotions)
On the other end, Sylvie continues to baffle the mind. The character refused any reasoning, and her actions – which the show seems to want viewers to root for – only serves to undermine the progress that the other characters are trying to make. Her boneheaded determination to eliminate all variants of Kang may have been rooted in real trauma, but Sylvie’s drive never truly feels palpable and her method so reckless.
To get a better idea why the character doesn’t work, we have to take a look at another better done female character in Loki: Ravona. Despite clearly being positioned as a villain, Ravona’s reasons for going bad actually hold some water. It is misguided, but she wasn’t wrong when she listed all her misgivings about her time at the TVA. She also wasn’t wrong when she said things completely went awry the minute she walked away. She is ferocious but calculated, angry but patient – the hallmark of a good villain.
Overall, this season is missing that crucial verve, especially in our heroes. When the antagonists are that much more compelling, it’s all the more glaring when the protagonists are weak sauce in comparison.
The uneven writing is why this season of Loki hasn’t exactly impressed like its first. It undermines what has been such a lavish production. The 19th century scenes have scope and are shot beautifully. The sets and costumes are well conceived. The worldbuilding brims with limitless potential. But without a gripping story, what’s there to expect at the end of time?
