LOKI - Marvel's best TV Series To Date?

[highway]

Many seemed to like it. I watched it. Because it’s free and I keep hoping they can produce something that’s good as I still love the source material.
Again, it’s not great. I fear it’s unlikely to get much better either but I’ll likely keep going. Like a glutton for punishment.

I was pleased to see the team behind the new Daredevil season have all apparently been let go as result of concerns regarding how it was looking. Perhaps those in control are finally getting the message.

[Radec]

Nurburgsingh said:

Is that all the comments ??

I enjoyed it.
The exchanges with Ke were funny and he was the best bit of the whole episode.
Hopefully carries on for the rest of the series.

[SpudLink]

Radec said:

I enjoyed it.
The exchanges with Ke were funny and he was the best bit of the whole episode.
Hopefully carries on for the rest of the series.

Having avoided the trailers, it was a delight when he appeared. My reactions was "it's short round!" I should probably make the effort to learn his actual name.

[Radec]

SpudLink said:

Radec said:

I enjoyed it.
The exchanges with Ke were funny and he was the best bit of the whole episode.
Hopefully carries on for the rest of the series.

Having avoided the trailers, it was a delight when he appeared. My reactions was "it's short round!" I should probably make the effort to learn his actual name.

Tbh I was going to put Short round/Data in my comment above even though I used his full name in my post on the previous page.
I just stuck to Ke as that's all I could remember lol.

[Lucas Ayde]

Have only watched the first episode so far but I enjoyed it - it's a bit more cerebral and sci-fi-ish than most Marvel stuff.

I love the whole retro-futuristic aesthetic of the TVA and I'm a sucker for 'alternate universe' Scifi so I am pretty well pre-disposed towards liking it, though. It's one of the best MCU TV shows, maybe the best. But it probably doesn't have wide appeal because its not the regular superhero action type stuff.

[SpudLink]

Lucas Ayde said:

Have only watched the first episode so far but I enjoyed it - it's a bit more cerebral and sci-fi-ish than most Marvel stuff.

I love the whole retro-futuristic aesthetic of the TVA and I'm a sucker for 'alternate universe' Scifi so I am pretty well pre-disposed towards liking it, though. It's one of the best MCU TV shows, maybe the best. But it probably doesn't have wide appeal because its not the regular superhero action type stuff.

It didn't occur to me in the first season, but the TVA aesthetic is a bit Terry Gilliam.

[Lucas Ayde]

SpudLink said:

It didn't occur to me in the first season, but the TVA aesthetic is a bit Terry Gilliam.

The whole 'crazy bureaucracy' aspect of the TVA is reminiscent of 'Brazil' and the visuals in Ep1 with the protective time-suit and 'umbilical cord' were extremely like the Gilliam look as seen in Time Bandits/12 Monkeys/Brazil.

There's definitely been a lot of effort put into sets and cinematography and the actors are pretty decent, plus the plot is intelligent It's just that it's unlikely to grab a mass audience like a straight up superhero romp.

[Muzzer79]

I enjoyed the first series but I have to confess I'm struggling with this new one.

To my mind, it's gone a bit like Doctor Who did a few years back - it 's visually great but I've just lost track of what's going on and why.

Perhaps I need to re-watch the end of S1

[Sheets Tabuer]

The constant clock ticking on the surround channels is doing my head in watching ep2

[darth_pies]

Lucas Ayde said:

SpudLink said:

It didn't occur to me in the first season, but the TVA aesthetic is a bit Terry Gilliam.

The whole 'crazy bureaucracy' aspect of the TVA is reminiscent of 'Brazil' and the visuals in Ep1 with the protective time-suit and 'umbilical cord' were extremely like the Gilliam look as seen in Time Bandits/12 Monkeys/Brazil.

There's definitely been a lot of effort put into sets and cinematography and the actors are pretty decent, plus the plot is intelligent It's just that it's unlikely to grab a mass audience like a straight up superhero romp.

The production design certainly stands head and shoulders above any of the other recent Marvel stuff. A more recent influence they are definitely channeling is the retro-futurist/brutalist aesthetic of the 'Federal Bureau of Control' in the 2019 video game Control.

[judas]

darth_pies said:

The production design certainly stands head and shoulders above any of the other recent Marvel stuff. A more recent influence they are definitely channeling is the retro-futurist/brutalist aesthetic of the 'Federal Bureau of Control' in the 2019 video game Control.

Watched the first two episodes this evening and I was thinking the same thing, with maybe a touch of Aperture Science thrown in too.

[Lucas Ayde]

darth_pies said:

The production design certainly stands head and shoulders above any of the other recent Marvel stuff. A more recent influence they are definitely channeling is the retro-futurist/brutalist aesthetic of the 'Federal Bureau of Control' in the 2019 video game Control.

Yeah - I really love the aesthetics and general atmosphere of 'Control' too (one of my most played games, ever) - another reason I quite like Loki.

[Corso Marche]

Aesthetics put to one side ( I agree with the above comments), I was hugely disappointed in S1 due mainly to the handling of the Loki character and the dawdling which seemed ever present.
None of S1 worked for me, except the introduction of Kang towards the end.

Would I think any differently of S2, based on what people have seen so far?

[highway]

It looks pretty. But the writing hobbled it. It’s too slow. Doesn’t know what to do with its runtime. Dare I say, boring. I’ve turned episode 2 off 20mins in.

[Corso Marche]

Disappointed to read that, but it's how I'd sum up most of S1 also.
Hence why I wanted to get a feel for what others thoughts were on S2, and if it was any different.

[Durzel]

I love every scene with Shortround in, but beyond that I'm mostly bored watching it.

It feel like it suffers for the same reasons the later Marvel stuff does, i.e. the stakes are so inconceivably high that they don't match what you're seeing on screen. They talk about the timelines diverging and how dangerous that is, but because the show can't be permanently on the precipice of an apocalypse the lighter moments just make me think that the big stuff isn't that big of a deal.

I also think as soon as you add timelines and the ability to go back in time you kinda invalidate the pathos at scenes where people lose stuff or each other.

[Lucas Ayde]

It's a bit weird that all the people in the TVA are now crying about timelines being destroyed when previously (until about 24hrs prior in-universe), its entire and sole purpose was to destroy timelines. Suddenly, all the TVA staff who had no problems dedicating themselves to doing that for decades now care about preserving alternate timelines and about the people being erased when the timeline goes?

[MBBlat]

Lucas Ayde said:

It's a bit weird that all the people in the TVA are now crying about timelines being destroyed when previously (until about 24hrs prior in-universe), its entire and sole purpose was to destroy timelines. Suddenly, all the TVA staff who had no problems dedicating themselves to doing that for decades now care about preserving alternate timelines and about the people being erased when the timeline goes?

Wasn’t a major plot point of this episode that not all the TVA personnel are crying about timelines being destroyed and some are actively still trying to destroy timelines?

[SpudLink]

MBBlat said:

Lucas Ayde said:

It's a bit weird that all the people in the TVA are now crying about timelines being destroyed when previously (until about 24hrs prior in-universe), its entire and sole purpose was to destroy timelines. Suddenly, all the TVA staff who had no problems dedicating themselves to doing that for decades now care about preserving alternate timelines and about the people being erased when the timeline goes?

Wasn’t a major plot point of this episode that not all the TVA personnel are crying about timelines being destroyed and some are actively still trying to destroy timelines?

Yep. They believed they were created by the TVA, for the sole purpose of maintaining the 'sacred timeline'. Once they discovered that they are all variants of people from 'pruned' timelines, some are horrified at what they have been doing, others still believe in their 'sacred' purpose.
That's how people behave when their faith is confronted by hard facts. Otherwise science would have killed off all religions years ago.

[C5_Steve]

Watched both episodes, it's miles better than anything recently from Marvel, although that's a low bar that's in no way a criticism of Loki. The performances and design have been excellent so far, it's a brilliant concept that I think is working well. Time will tell how far the series actually progresses any bigger plot or character.

Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson play off so well against each other now it's really a joy to watch, along with Ke's new character who slots in perfectly. Whilst I am enjoying it, I'm not desperate for a new episode each week yet, although I don't think I've felt that way since Wandavision.