Loki episode 5: Now it’s getting magical. And that’s not exactly a compliment – series review

SPOILER on the course of the episode. Please only read when you have seen them or you don’t care about such spoilers. But it doesn’t get too specific.

Hmm … good. I was afraid something like this would come. The previous episodes Loki hinted at the best Marvel series product so far for me, episode four even felt like the finale of a season to me in terms of tension and twists. And now, in Act III, Marvel is risking … well, a lot. However, you have to tell me if this is a personal problem of mine. Because I’ve never been particularly fond of the magical to cosmic side of the MCU.

You can probably tell from the fact that Cap was by far my favorite Avenger. When the Guardians of the Galaxy defeat Ronan by holding hands, Scarlet Witch solves problems with runes and unspecified energy secretions, or nothing seems to be really important or real in Asgard, I mostly just watch for the sake of completeness. I’m still entertained, but I’m never as invested as I am in the more down-to-earth MCU stories.

That was why I was so surprised that I liked Loki so much. Probably because sci-fi and time travel nonsense is another of my weaknesses, Brazil-like set design suits my taste exactly and Loki’s personal journey is all about human problems from self-doubt to being alone. Or went. In episode five, Sylvie decides on the basis of a loose idea to wash the brain of a vaguely living murder cloud with her magic, and so – hopefully to get the door and gate to the Obermotz open – which of course works.

I’ve done a lot of daring logical gymnastics since I started pursuing this universe, starting with the Ed Norton Hulk. But that seemed a bit very far-fetched to me. How does she think that will work? Why is Loki taking this from her? Well, otherwise the situation is relatively hopeless, but then I lost my faith. That everything then culminates in a magical struggle with CG smoke, which is more difficult to understand than when Cap steps a Nazi into a plane turbine, I notice how my patience is slowly tightening.

Also read: Netflix improves download functionality

The rest? Quite interesting and nice to look at. A world at the end of time, in which the TVA disguises all of its unloved variants instead of actually deleting them from existence by “clipping” them. Of course, it also makes the “demise” of Mobius in episode four less significant, although I’m glad to see Owen Wilson again. The thing about all the other Lokis? At the latest with the appearance of Loki number six, this message – “We Lokis survive” – ​​had crossed the line. Two good gags and, as always, a great performance by Richard E. Grant were worth it in the end.

It’s not even that I found the episode itself bad. There were some good moments of tension, even if Ravonna is still too wishy-washy for me (almost like Karli Morgenthau in Falcon), and visually there were a lot of interesting gags, such as the USS Eldridge and Thor’s Avengers-1 glass container. I also liked the further rapprochement between Loki and Sylvie, but it all took a backseat just to pave the way to this mysterious castle at the end – with means that simply bypassed my thematic preferences.

Okay, I’ll give Loki a slack. So far, I’ve liked the series too much to lose faith in a gripping conclusion. But shortly before the end there is still the risk of getting a little tangled. Let’s hope the best.