Halfway through and the show continues to play with expectations and narrative in fun and interesting ways.
I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when He Who Remains finally returned, but it wasn’t this. I expected a villain, or at the very least an antagonist. Victor Timely was basically an innocent in this episode, to the point where even Sylvie couldn’t go through with killing him. He is a con-man (sort of), and is a bit off-kilter with a strange stilted way of speaking. But he’s been manipulated by Miss Minutes and Ravonna, forced into a different role as an inventor and scientist with future knowledge.
What I’m not quite following is the timeline. Who is Victor? How is he in the 1800’s when it was previously stated He Who Remains came from the far future? Anyway, the whole point of this episode was tracking Ravonna who comes across as less of a villain and more of a misguided wannabe hero. She thinks she is doing the right thing, and her motivations are good… ish. I think this is a prime example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions.
Miss Minutes continues to be super creepy, and I’m getting the impression she might be the real villain here. An unhinged AI in love with her boss who refused to give her autonomy or a real body in all the eons they worked together. So either A, he was a selfish prick who couldn’t see or value his own creation. Or B, he knew she would be unstoppable if she ever got a body and was right to keep her confined and limited as an anthropomorphized clock. Either way it was another clue as to who He Who Remains was, and why Sylvie was probably right in killing him.
Speaking of Sylvie, she was a bit tiresome in this episode. While I still like the character, it felt like she was repeating herself a bit. Yet, she did have some character movement towards the end with her choice not to kill Victor. We’ll see, but she seems quite a ways behind Loki as far as emotional development goes. Which is a sentence I never thought I would write, Loki being emotionally mature, weird.
I continue to love the rapport between Loki and Mobius, who are now acting like an old married couple. They also keep teasing us with who Mobius is in the main reality, and I’m starting to think he is important. Before I got the impression he was just a nobody, someone that likes Jet Skis. Now I think he might have a role in the greater MCU that just hasn’t been announced yet. Either way they are both settling into a nice dynamic again, and it is clear they depend on each other for support.
It was also really nice to see Loki letting loose with his powers. Those pops of green in an episode that was otherwise sepia-toned, was really visually interesting. Like his power was disrupting the timestream, which I guess is true in a way. I also really loved the way they did the action in this episode, which was bordering on farce. The sight gags and set pieces all worked, and I love where this is going, but I am starting to get curious what the end-game for this series is going to be. Are we going to get a third season? Are these characters going to transition into the greater MCU? I guess time will tell (see what I did there?).
Bits:
This episode takes place almost entirely in the past, specifically at the Chicago World Fair, which was a real event that took place between May and October of 1893 and had over twenty-seven million visitors.
Miss Minutes decided to shift to black and white in an attempt to fit in, and she was still seen several times as a Ghost at one point growing super large and scaring a crowd (like that wouldn't cause a branching timeline).
Ravonna looked like a badass with that prototype disintegrator.
Ravonna and Miss Minutes were sent by Sylvie to the end of time with the decayed body of He Who Remains, and I have no idea where they are going to go from there.
Quotes:
Mobius: “We can hack into the system?”
OB: “Really? Oh, that is such a relief.”
Mobius: “No, no, no. I'm wondering.”
Mobius: “What?”
Loki: “I think he meant it as an idea.”
Mobius: “The Cracker Jack concession stand is a high-traffic area. It was necessary and logical to go there.”
Loki: “Sure.”
Mobius: “The fact that it's tasty is a bonus. You wouldn't know. You haven't tried it.”
I think this might be my favorite episode so far, so while it may not be the best in the long run I gotta give it top marks.
4 out of 4 Sepia Flavored Concessions
Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.
A fascinating episode. I just wanted to wander around and enjoy that fair, it looked so real. Amazing set design, Loki people.
ReplyDeleteMiss Minutes is creeping me the eff out. Is she planning to steal Renslayer's body, perhaps?
I'm also wondering about season three. Are they going to bring the story to a close with only three more episodes to go?
I can't figure Victor out. I don't know if I would call him an 'innocent' exactly, although I'd agree that he isn't a villain. Granted, some of this may be me being unable to divorce the character from the actor playing him, but a lot of what he did put him on edge.
ReplyDeleteMiss Minutes is definitely super creepy, but I kind of love it. I wish that we had more Sylvie. Or rather, that we spent more time in her headspace. She's not nearly as big a part of this season as I had been expecting.
As for Victor's timeline, we know that he's a Variant, one created by Ravonna dropping the TVA guidebook. Could He Who Remains be someone who isn't called Victor but has the same face? A descendent maybe? I don't know.
Really enjoyed the old timey music. The sets were also fantastic!