Loki Season 2 - Full Season Review

While there are many out there who will tell you that WandaVision was the best Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series to date, I've always been a believer that belonged to the first season of Loki. The initial slate of episodes introduced us to a collection of interesting characters and finally laid down the foundation for the next era of the MCU. It was arguably, to this date, the most important piece of Marvel entertainment since The Infinity Saga wrapped up. But that was back in mid-2021, and since then the MCU has faced all manner of issues, revolving mainly around uninteresting projects and a case of FOMO that is almost nuclear.

So, needless to say, Loki's second outing had a lot working against it even before it started its run on Disney+ in October. While I want to tell you that it's managed to overcome these problems and stand out as a diamond in the rough that is this era of the MCU, Loki Season 2 is, simply put, a contrived and difficult to digest production that is only saved by its performances and strong finish.

As I mentioned in my review of the first episode of Loki, the plot of this second season is very difficult to follow and lacks interesting elements for five of its six episode run. There's no sense of deliberate confusion and awe as was the case in the first season when we were first introduced to the Time Variance Authority and their duties, and likewise the overarching villain is neither foreshadowed nor present, in fact there isn't really a villain in this season at all. Instead the cast are essentially racing against time to stop the multiverse from unravelling and eating itself alive, and to me, it seems like the creators missed a prime opportunity for a 24-like season, where the action was taking place in real-time and all within a six-hour period.

But this isn't what we got. Instead the story takes Loki and the gang to all manner of different locations through time and space as they hunt for answers and solutions to fix the loom that weaves time and space together, which ultimately leads them to a variant of He Who Remains (Kang the Conqueror). While you can see the idea of the plot and the way it was intended to be offered, what this second season gives us is really an elongated and poorly paced adventure where there are very few moments where you are left on the edge of your seat or are invested in the narrative.

In fact, the episode most people likely anticipated, the one where we finally get to meet Victor Timely, one of the first variants of Kang, is one of the most exhausting episodes of the whole bunch. The narrative unravels far too slowly, the gravity of the situation is barely present, and there's no sense of urgency, despite the multiverse slowly cannibalising itself.

Where Loki's first season excelled with an interesting story that was backed up with great set design and top performances, this season only manages to thrive when you focus on the cast and the locations they visit. Tom Hiddleston is effortless as the Asgardian, Jonathan Majors plays an eccentric and interesting Timely, and Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are all solid in their roles. But this time around, it's Ke Huy Quan who stands out above the rest as OB, giving a lively and scene-stealing performance, as he has done so many times before in the supporting role. It's just a shame that Miss Minutes is so poorly used.

But despite all of its woes, the final episode finally gives us some interesting and exciting moments. Majors and Hiddleston have a scene in the final episode that reminds why the first season was such a fun watch, and then ultimately ends in a way that feels important to the MCU and its plot progression down the line. The main catch however is that this final, good episode comes after five episodes of dreariness, making it overall a poorly balanced and tough series to work through.

So, while Loki Season 2 has moments of brilliance, it's hard for me to say that this follow-up season has been anything other than a let down. Although, granted this isn't a Loki-specific problem, it's an MCU issue, one that Disney and Marvel seriously need to figure out a solution for now that the middling The Marvels has also made its debut in cinemas.