Last night's new Loki, the second episode, didn't have any big moments as great as the first episode but the writing was more consistent in quality. It comes from first time writer Elissa Karasik whose previous credits include working as an assistant on Bones and Backstrom and appearing as an actress in a short film called First Handjob. I continue to be mystified by Disney's hiring process.
Karasik's episode takes advantage of the format of a television series and allows the characters to settle into longer, quieter scenes and get to know each other. It's also a procedural with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) being detectives, spitballing ideas and doing research.
The show definitely has a very strong Doctor Who vibe to it, particularly bearing a strong resemblance to the Eleventh Doctor's first couple of seasons. The idea of the Variant Loki hiding near apocalypses isn't as satisfyingly complex as the kinds of things Stephen Moffat could dream up but it was still pretty fun watching Loki goof off in Pompeii.
I don't quite understand why the TVA don't disguise themselves when visiting different eras. Overall, they seem pretty clumsy and easily outwitted and it seems less and less credible they've never betrayed their presence before. But the chemistry between Hiddleston and Wilson is so good I'd be willing to forgive worse crimes than that.
I don't have any strong feelings about the Loki Variant being female. Since Loki is capable of changing sex at will, I'm not sure it even really means anything at all. Actress Sophia Di Martino has a long resume but I've never seen her in anything before. It'll be interesting to see her play off Hiddleston. I hope she's not going to be the replacement Loki in the next MCU Phase if only because it seems kind of silly to have this happen to every single Phase One character.
Loki is available on Disney+.
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