This review contains spoilers for Loki Episode 5- this is your spoiler warning! Look back if you aren’t ready!
WOW folks, if the first 3 episodes of Loki bored you and you dropped out- you are missing it ALL with these past two episodes, especially with episode 5!
I’ve seen people talking about this episode ALOT on social media, saying things like “this is the best episode of Loki yet” and I could not agree more. It’s EASILY the best episode yet. But what makes this the best episode of Loki so far and what did this episode do to finally put Loki the TV Series in a similar realm as WandaVision?
Progression of Plot
Finally, finally, FINALLY the plot is progressing, and it’s moving full speed ahead! The first three episodes of Loki serve to set up the tone and atmosphere of the Time Variance Authority (TVA) and lay the groundwork for Loki’s character development, but past that, there isn’t much plot movement. If you got bored and dropped off in one of these episodes, I totally understand- but I urge you to get back on and try again because d*mn! The TVA and its existence are finally being PROPERLY explored and other characters like Ravonna are becoming far more three-dimensional than they were before. This is huge as I was concerned before that we were going to be stuck with the TVA running “normally” for this entire 6-episode season and it wouldn’t be till the last episode where we see the TVA fully challenged. I mean, the last episode we saw that the Time-Keepers aren’t even real- so who runs the TVA? Who built all this? EVERYONE is on the hunt to find out, including Ravonna herself, but everyone’s motivations are different. The race is ON and it’s incredibly enthralling to watch! And, you guessed it, this leads to the fan theories! What if Kang The Conqueror is behind the TVA? What if it’s MEPHISTO!? (Heh, couldn’t resist). Is it Miss Minutes? Either way, the progression of the plot is finally helping give Loki one thing that was missing from Falcon and Winter Soldier and one thing that helped WandaVision become successful- the feeling of a television EVENT that you can’t miss.
Larger-Than-Life Creativity/Effects
What makes a Marvel television event WORK then, especially if it has the possibility to continue beyond one season? For WandaVision, it seemed to work making it an event because it was only one season- that was the entire purpose, whereas Loki could go multiple seasons. So, great, we’ve upgraded Loki to a television event we HAVE to watch, but will this be sustainable in the long run? My answer: YES! I absolutely believe this will be able to go the distance. We only have one more episode left in Loki’s first season and there is no way we will have all our questions answered. I mean, do we really think we will properly see the main person behind all of the TVA and such at the beginning of the next episode? I highly doubt it, especially after all the spectacle they went through to get here- from Loki and Sylvie joining together to enchant the beast, to Classic Loki using massive illusions to throw the beast off, it really felt like a finale to me! I’m honestly surprised this wasn’t the season finale of Loki. Are they going to be able to top this spectacle and creativity next episode? I’m beyond excited to see if they do and how they do it!
Our Loki’s Character Development - FINALLY!
Each episode of Loki has continued to tease us with whether or not Loki can actually be a
hero and whether or not he will get development, or just continue to fall ill to his own devices. In episode 5, we finally see Loki’s REAL growth. We finally see him genuinely admit the importance of his friendship with Mobius, we begin to see him slowly open up to Sylvie and be truly vulnerable with her- no illusion or alternative plan to be seen-, and the best part? We also finally get to see him give his own motivational speech for once. Here’s the complicated part for me personally though: I don’t believe Loki as a character should ever be a true hero. It doesn’t sit right with me- the closest he should ever get is being an anti-hero. Now, that said, for the purposes of how this show has progressed, I think he HAS to become a hero here. We are all tired of the back and forth with him. We want to know his true motivations and we now know they exist beyond what we’ve seen so far. For once, Loki was to do more than rule a place or others- he wants to rule himself, in a way. He wants to be able to evolve. It’s great to see that, no matter how different each Loki Variant maybe, that this is something all of them share. They all want to be better than jeopardizing themselves and what a triumphant moment Classic Loki had! In the end, yes he seems to have actually died, but he did go down heroically, so that’s okay, right??? (Honestly, I’m not sure, but it was still character growth, yes?) Either way, it’s great to see that the writers seem to have at least finally made a decision on where Loki’s character development is going, and Tom Hiddleston has done the absolute best job portraying that growth.
Overall Consensus
Loki has gone from a “watch if you’re bored and want something kinda cool to watch” show to a “you need to watch this NOW!” show! Hell, I may even argue Marvel is creating a new “formula” for themselves with their TV Shows, and it’s paying off! If you haven’t been impressed with Marvel’s TV shows, and you specifically didn’t like WandaVision because it was a one-season one-off, you need to watch Loki. Loki isn’t just another Marvel show, nor is it another short-term Marvel one-off; it’s a Marvel event that isn’t ending anytime soon.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Bi gives this:
4.5 out of 5 finger guns
(because I’m bi)
You can find Your Friendly Neighborhood Bi, Lauren, on Twitter:
@FriendlyNBHDBi
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