The long-awaited second season of Loki has finally returned to Disney Plus, and I could not be more excited.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s foray into television has been hit or miss. While deeply experimental and emotional shows like WandaVision were well-received, others like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and She-Hulk left a lot to be desired, which is a shame as they both had a lot of potential. 

Regardless of your thoughts on the quality of the shows overall, most fans can agree that Loki‘s first season was excellent. It simultaneously continues and fast-tracks Loki’s character arc of redemption and becoming the anti-hero while spectacularly setting up the next phase and threat of the MCU. The endless possibilities of how Season 2 will expand on the story, world-building, and characters are exciting to explore.

Editor’s Note: This review contains spoilers for Loki Season 2, Episode 1.

Synopsis

The first season of Loki ended on a thrilling cliffhanger with the demise of He Who Remains, the branching of the Sacred Timeline, and Loki’s uncertain place in the multiverse when he returns to the Time Variance Authority and finds no one recognizes him. The show immediately picks up where it left off, with Loki on the run. Before the guards can catch him, Loki disappears, or time slips, which becomes a significant focal point of the episode.

Throughout the episode, Mobius and Hunter B-15 are working with new characters within the TVA to determine how the organization should operate going forward after the disappearance of TVA Judge Ravonna Renslayer. Loki eventually reunites with his present-day Mobius and catches him up with what happened at the End of Time with Sylvie and He Who Remains.

Mobius introduces Loki to Ouroboros (AKA O.B.), played by newcomer Ke Huy Quan, to see if he can help. After a cleverly shot exposition scene across time, they embark on a mission to the Temporal Loom to stop Loki’s time slipping. The episode ends with General Dox leading numerous hunters to track down Sylvie. 

In a mid-credit scene, Sylvie travels to Broxton, Oklahoma, in 1982. After observing a happy couple and a group of friends laughing together and finally at peace, Sylvie declares she wants to try everything.

Breakdown

The inevitable worry with a second season of anything is the question: will it be as good as its predecessor? So far, Loki Season 2 is right on track. I’m pleased the quality of the writing and humor has continued from Season 1. There are several great lines, performances, as well as edits and cuts in this episode.

Tom Hiddleston is the definitive version of Loki, doing an excellent job of portraying his understandable confusion, determination, and sarcasm that’s become synonymous with his character. Owen Wilson’s performance as Mobius continues to be great, injecting even more sass and wit into his dialogue (I loved the quick camera cuts as he wrote “skin?” into the clunky, dust-covered computer. It was perfect). 

Ke Huy Quan joining the show as O.B. is fantastic casting. He fits in perfectly. I was excited for him the second we saw him in the trailers, and he does not disappoint. O.B. is delightful and injects energy and heart into what could be considered a dull exposition dump, elevating the scene as a result. Viewers learn so much about O.B. and his character in just a few scenes. He stole the episode, and I hope we get more of him helping Loki and Mobius throughout the season. 

We get to see new areas of the TVA, including the War Room, the Repairs and Advancement Division in the TVA basement, and the Temporal Loom. The lighting and colors range from warm and saturated to washed out and harsh. It all drips with a vintage atmosphere that is so distinct from anything else in the MCU, and it’s great.

The cinematography and backdrops in this episode are fantastic. In particular, I loved the emphasis on the colossal statue of He Who Remains looming ominously in the background as Loki tries to get away. I also appreciated the flickering lights and the suspense and thrill they added to the episode; it was very well done.

I’m admittedly disappointed the time slipping issue has seemingly been resolved already in this first episode. Trailer shots indicated Loki would be appearing in other places throughout time due to time slipping. It’s unclear if those scenes will still happen later or not or if they were shot solely for the trailers. Either way, I expected this to be an issue throughout the season. It would have been interesting to see the consequences of involuntary time slipping and where it would lead.

Another surprising plot point is Loki’s time slipping in the linear sense of past, present, and future, not throughout the multiverse. When I originally watched the finale of Season 1, I interpreted the final shot of the statue of Kang to imply that Loki was on an already branching timeline. It makes sense that the TVA experiences more stability and there wouldn’t be multiverses of it, but I was taken aback all the same.

The introduction of memory wiping the Variants is fascinating, and makes a lot of sense. There’s an audio recording of He Who Remains speaking with Renslayer in the past. I happened to watch the first season again a few days before Season 2 debuted, so I remembered her determination to find who was responsible for everything, and it addresses a question I had from last season: wouldn’t they start to question their purpose and existence?

Fortunately, the revelation of likely frequent memory wipes goes a long way to addressing my question. I’m curious to see their dynamic more (after all, Renslayer is Kang’s love interest in the comics) and where she will ultimately end up this season. It’d be great to see her redeem herself and join Loki and Mobius’ cause, but she could just as quickly side with one of the Kang variants. Renslayer has a lot of potential to have a nuanced character arc this season, and I’m excited to see where the writers take her.

Loki talks to Mobius about being unsure if Sylvie or He Who Remains was right, and that he just wanted more time to think and weigh all the options. Now that he’ll have time to process everything, I’m curious to see what his experiences will be throughout Season 2 and whose side he’ll ultimately fall on. Then again, Loki is a trickster and “mischievous scamp,” so I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes up with a third option altogether.

When Loki goes into the TVA’s future, Sylvie has the cryptic line: “There you are,” implying that she’s been looking for him. With a different haircut from her Season 1 appearance, I’m curious to see how far into the future this ends up being and what motivates Sylvie to look for him.

Speaking of Sylvie, while I’m happy that she will get the chance to experience the life she never had, I wonder how long her peace will last before she has to go back on the run from the TVA again. The scenes between Sylvie and Loki were among the strongest moments in Season 1, so I look forward to their inevitable reunion. I just hope it doesn’t happen too easily; after what happened in Season 1, they have a lot of reconciling to do.

Before the show aired, you may have seen numerous trailers of Loki and other characters ordering food at McDonald’s. I initially brushed it off as the usual corporate collaborations to promote the show, but this first episode does include reverse product placement for McDonald’s in Sylvie’s mid-credit scene. 

I recognize it could distract and bother some viewers, but I’m going to be honest: it didn’t fully register to me as product placement. Maybe I’ve desensitized myself to these corporate marketing ploys, but it didn’t feel like McDonald’s was trying to shove their products down my throat through their inclusion in the episode.

The scene was shot with a focus on Sylvie’s reactions to being free and normal. It’s also worth noting that, according to producer Kevin Wright, this scene was scripted from the start and is considered an important part of the story and Sylvie’s journey and they only reached out to the chain after the fact for the reverse product placement. It’s not much to go off so far, but it’s safe to say they achieved their goal with this mid-credit scene, although we’ll see how they handle it in subsequent episodes.

Lastly, the threat of He Who Remains is large, but I’m glad there’s been no sign of him yet. Letting the tension and knowledge that Kang’s Variants are all coming build is good. I also appreciate this decision because Season 2 occurs immediately after Season 1. Had the writers forced a time skip, I could see how the lack of Kang’s presence could slow down the story and urgency. But here? Everyone is reeling from the death of He Who Remains, so it makes sense that the pieces are still only now falling into place. It’s a smart decision that will improve the pacing for the remainder of the season.

In terms of pacing, this episode flew by. I was shocked it was only 48 minutes, but as a result, the ending felt abrupt. The scene that I felt particularly suffered from the brisk pacing was after Loki is extracted from the timeline by Mobius and his response is: “We have to find Sylvie.” I would have preferred if they both took a moment to acknowledge their success despite the impossible odds!

But for some reason, any chance of celebration is brushed over in favor of driving the plot forward. I appreciate a show that is smart about its writing, ensuring no scenes are wasted or overstay their welcome, but not at the cost of showcasing meaningful character growth and quiet moments. Overall, I think the pacing of this first episode is pretty good, but it needed more breathing room at the end.

Final Score (3.5 out of 5 stars)

Loki‘s return to television is a glorious one. This first episode of season 2 is great. “Ouroboros” addresses some of the burning questions from the end of last season while introducing new, yet compelling ones. It’s a treat to revisit this story and characters, and I can’t wait to see more.

Check out new episodes of Loki Season 2 on Disney Plus every Thursday at 9 pm EDT/6 pm PDT.

Featured Image: Disney

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