Don’t you just hate it when a television series finds its footing in its second to last episode?
After being pruned from the timeline by the TVA, Loki ends up in a world at the end of time with other variant versions of himself. Now, with the knowledge that the Timekeepers are fake and the TVA was built on a lie, Loki must somehow make it back to Sylvie, but only if he can avoid the giant cloud monster that is eating everything.
Okay, now this… this is an episode worthy of the name, “Loki.” It is weird, it is silly, it is whacky and whacked out. Everything about this episode was unconventional and you never really knew where it was heading next. There was not a load of exposition or silly fight sequences where Loki didn’t use the powers we’ve seen he’s had for the last ten years, it was just a fun adventure with a beginning, middle, and end. By the closing credits, a story has been told, a sense of accomplishment has been had, and the events of the final episode are teed up.
Best of all, I was never bored.
Yes, friends, this is the kind of episode that should have made up Loki‘s entire run. Part of me is happy to get an episode that I enjoyed from beginning to end and the other part of me is sad because we’re almost at the end of the series and it seems like it’s only just now gotten the hang of itself.
Not only was this a thematically sound and fun romp, but the episode is full of all kinds of easter eggs for the keen-eyed nerd. I swear I saw the Thanos Copter at one point and, if my eyes were not deceiving me as I watched this episode very, very early in the morning, I have nothing but respect for this show acknowledging something that dumb and fun.
“Journey into Mystery” is the best episode of the series so far. I know that Loki has been a low-key disappointment for me since it started, so you may not take that as the compliment that I intended it to be, but compliment was completely intended. This is a high bar. Exactly what this series should have been. It just felt right for the character.
Hopefully, next week’s finale will end the series on a high note as well.
Jason Gaston 