'Loki', Episode 2: "The Variant" Recap and Review
The stakes are high for Loki and the TVA as we learn a little bit about whom exactly they are hunting
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
Loki’s worst enemy will always be Loki. Whether it be his self-destructive ambition, a maddening combination of insecurity and arrogance, or even another Loki; this will always be true. Luckily “The Variant”, the series’ second episode, is highly entertaining. Creator Michael Waldron has placed the impish Loki in a Rubik’s Cube of droll bureaucracy where his devilish mischief is seen as no more than a mild annoyance. Being in a world where even the greatest powers in the universe are rendered utterly useless is a sensory overload for Loki. He is terrified of TVA’s power, anxious t gain control of it, giddy at the thought of using it and overwhelmed by its scope. The combination of all that gives Loki a childlike sense of wonder and desire similar to Charlie in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory with the only real difference between the two being that Loki wants to be Wonka with every fiber of his being.
Our episode begins in 1985 at a Renaissance Fair where a squad of TVA agents are on the hunt for the dangerous Loki Variant. Things take a turn for the worse when an agent gets enchanted, helps kill the rest of the squad, then is kidnapped by the Variant. Cut to Loki as he skims a Jet-Ski magazine out of boredom while Ms. Minutes (Tara Strong) quizzes him on the facts of time. Suddenly, Agent Mobius whisks Loki off to a briefing about the squad of Agents who were attacked. The briefing is led by Hunter B-15 (Wummi Mosaku) and Mobius and together the group heads to the Renaissance Fair. As they investigate ,Loki warns the group that his Variant has set a trap. It takes a moment, but Mobius sees through Loki’s stall tactics. Now out of time, the Agents reset the timeline and leave.
Back at the TVA, Mobius meets with his Boss, Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) about the blown investigation at the Renaissance Fair and what to do with Loki. Their discussion shifts to the Time Keepers and their interest in the case. Ravonna quickly wraps up their discussion and has Mobuis sign the TVA Event Report. Mobius notices the pen is from Franklin D. Roosevelt High School and comments that it must be from Ravonna’s other analyst. The second Mobius sets foot outside of Ravonna’s office, Loki begins to explain why he ruined the investigation. To Loki’s surprise, Mobius knows exactly what Loki was up to. Mobius, willing to give Loki one more chance, gives him a task, to look through all the other Variants and see if anything sticks out to him. Loki of course does nothing of the sort, he takes the opportunity to see what materials he can get his hands on. Nothing much, most documents are classified to him, what he does have access to are his own. while looking through them he suddenly learns about the destruction of Asgard and Ragnarok. The news hits Loki hard, but he something hits else hits him. He goes to Mobius with the theory that his Variant is hiding in an Apocalypse because they can do anything there and go undetected due to the fact that everything gets destroyed anyway.
To test the theory, they head to Pompeii just as the Volcano that eventually destroyed their entire civilization begins to erupt. With some minor pestering of the locals and freed group of goats, they conclude that his theory was in fact correct. With this new theory, Mobius and Loki search the files for disasters, but take a break when the tedium kicks in. They chat in the break room about Mobius’ fondness for Jet-Skis and his jaded yet admirable view of time. Mobius has a sudden epiphany; the gum that left with the witness at his last investigation which gives them a time frame for then when that the Loki Variant could be hiding. This leads them to Alabama, 2050, the site of a major flood. After some convincing of Ravonna, he is given permission to investigate. They assemble a group led by Hunter B-15 and head to 2050. The group splits up; Mobius and a group of agents the shelter and B-15 goes with Loki to search for the Variant, who is well aware of their presence and sets a timer for 20 minuets. Loki and B-15 find a suspicious person in the isles when suddenly they grab B-15 and transfer an enchantment. B-15 is now being spoken through by the Variant.
Mobius investigates the shelter when they come across the kidnapped TVA agent, who is bound and talking to herself. Loki and the Variant chat, the latter transferring out of B-15 and into another random person. Loki taunts the Variant to reveal themselves, and he tells the Variant about his real plan to overthrow the Time Keepers. The Variant is repulsed by being called Loki, and rejects his offer. Mobius talks to the kidnapped agent and learns that she told the Variant how to find the Time Keepers. The Variant transfers into someone else, a large man who proceeds to kick Loki around. Loki gets fed up and demands answers. Suddenly the Variant reveals themselves to be a female version of him (Sophia Di Martino), the lights go out, and dozens of time resetting bombs activate and teleport to different times and locations. This creates a mass amount of nexus events endangering the sacred timeline. The TVA scrambles into action, and Ravonna even grabs her baton and heads out for action. The Lady Loki waves to Loki and disappears into a time portal, but the portal doesn’t close. Mobius and B-15 call out to him and Loki follows her into the portal.
We have a face for the Variant— the face of Sophia Di Martino. We only get her briefly but the reveal is handled brilliantly, having her talk through mostly men with the help of her enchantments and finally revealing her true, silent form. Her goals add heavy stakes to the mix. Loki tries to reason with the Variant, even offering her a part in his own plan, but it quickly becomes obvious that she wants no part in his plan but has her own plans for both of them. Using Lady Loki as the villain of the series continues the streaming series trend of female villains along side Agatha Harkness and Karli Morgenthau which is commendable given very few female villains in the existing Marvel rogues gallery. It also gives Sophia Di Martino a chance to elevate her career by giving her the spotlight to provide a memorable take on an already popular character.
Tom Hiddleston continues to shine alongside Owen Wilson, both given opportunities to flex their skills in this episode with Loki learning of the destruction of Asgard and Mobius explaining his love for the Jet-Ski. The other characters, especially Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ravonna Renslayer, begin to round out in this episode. Her character has a lot surrounding her like her contact with the Time Keepers and her having an interesting secret analyst working for her. Mobius mentions that he has never met the Time Keepers which is interesting to think about, how many people have actually met these 3 mysterious Time Keepers. These 3 god-like figures are presented as an all knowing and all powerful authority of time and nobody questions their validity, except Loki. The other interesting moment is when Ravonna had Mobius sign a document and Mobius takes great interest in the pen and her secret analyst. The pen had Franklin D Roosevelt High School printed on it, and a quick google search places that school in Brooklyn, NY. Now, who do we know in the MCU who is from Brooklyn and has experience repairing timelines? I dare not evoke his name out of fear that it may jinx it from actually happening.
Loki is on track to be another hit for Marvel. The unpredictability of the character leaves a very open ended journey for the series. Much like time itself, the possibilities are endless which gives a massive amount of creative freedom to the writers. As seen with WandaVision, that amount of freedom can produce things that even after 13 years of MCU we have yet to see. Aside from the incredible character work from the series’ leads and the intriguing emerging story, the look of the series is fresh as well. Heavy use of shadow and darkness to offset harsh fluorescent lighting adds to the uncomfortable brutalist feeling of the series crafted by Michael Waldron. Loki sticks out like a sore thumb in this world, and the heavy contrast is a well executed tactic, beginning to mold into something special.