WandaVision
2021
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- Season 2
- Season 1
- Season 2 overviewOct 5-Nov 9, 20236 episodesSeason 2 episodes6. Glorious Purpose Nov 9, 2023
- Loki learns the true nature of "glorious purpose" as he rectifies the past.
- 5. Science/Fiction Nov 2, 2023
- Loki traverses dying timelines in an attempt to find his friends, but reality is not what it seems.
- 4. S2 E4 Oct 26, 2023
- The TVA's Loom nears catastrophic failure but Loki, Mobius and Sylvie have a He Who Remains variant.
- 3. 1893 Oct 19, 2023
- Loki and Mobius hunt to find everyone's favorite cartoon clock as they try to save the TVA.
- 2. Breaking Brad Oct 12, 2023
- With the TVA on the verge of a temporal meltdown, Loki and Mobius stop at nothing to find Sylvie.
- 1. S2 E1 Oct 5, 2023
- Loki finds himself lost to time and torn, quite literally, between past, present and future.
Nov 3, 2023 · Loki season 2, episode 5 ends on a very exciting note, setting up a major season finale as well as massive new powers for the titular God of Mischief.
Nov 3, 2023 · Loki Season 2 Episode 5 explores a post-TVA existence and follows Loki's journey to save the TVA and reunite with his friends. The episode delves into Loki's growth and...
- Features Editor
Nov 3, 2023 · Loki has to convince his comrades to go back to the island, er, the TVA, and it forces him to admit how much he cares for his friends. Read more in Vulture’s recap of the fifth episode of season...
- Siddhant Adlakha
- Contributor
- The God of Mischief slips the surly bonds of physics in the season’s penultimate episode.
- Marvel Studios' Loki Season 2 'Mid-Season' Trailer Images
- What might be the most poetic future for this version of Loki in the MCU?
- Verdict
- Loki Season 2, Episode 5 Review
- More Reviews by Jarrod Jones
- IGN Recommends
By Jarrod Jones
Updated: Nov 3, 2023 6:41 pm
Posted: Nov 3, 2023 9:03 am
This review contains full spoilers for episode five of Loki, now available to watch on Disney+.
Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has been gallivanting through space-time with the TVA for long enough now that it feels like The God of Mischief has lost his magical mojo. The Loki of MCU Past wouldn't let a little thing like the unspooling of reality blunt his fun. Out of spite, he'd re-spool every dimensional branch into a single thread himself if it came to it. Today's Loki – also known as the Disney+ variant – is softer than the Loki of Thor (2011), having gone through an entire lifetime of character growth over the course of a single episode back in Season 1. After last week's calamitous events, where Victor Timely's (Jonathan Majors) Throughput Multiplier failed to put the timeline back on track, today's Loki takes one look at the cosmic spaghetti strings that were once his friends and retreats into himself. In Episode 5 of Loki Season 2, titled "Science/Fiction," this cosmic entropy has triggered an emotion in this once-proud Loki, only it isn't anger, annoyance, or defiance. It's despair.
Don't blame Loki for being so bummed out. The Time Variance Authority is gone, spaghettified by the implosion of the Temporal Loom that zipped up all the timelines in the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse. Pruning branches from reality was the TVA's purview; now, with branches unspooling every which way, the TVA is theoretically no longer a place that exists. Loki is lost, without a home and without purpose. Making matters worse: His newfound time-slipping powers have been acting up – at least it's allowed Hiddleston plenty of opportunities to flip his hair back in that way he does – but now they're reacting randomly to this crisis. How he navigates this week's chaos feels like a disordered dry run for Loki 2.0, a strutting Frost Giant TemPad who can disrupt any secret war in the multiverse as he wishes.
There will be time to talk about Loki's new function in the wider MCU later. For now, Loki's emotional fallout is the primary concern of "Science/Fiction," a kaleidoscope of what-ifs that presents interesting variant existences for the TVA ensemble. Through a bit of time-slipping tomfoolery (where Loki wiggles into being like those air-filled Tall Boys seen at car dealerships everywhere), friends are found in their respective branching timelines. TVA receptionist Casey (Eugene Cordero), fated to be a criminal, apparently, attempts to escape Alcatraz in 1962. In 2012 New York City, Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) is a doctor. Over in Cleveland, Ohio, Mobius (Owen Wilson) is Don, a jetski salesman. TVA? ATV, more like.
It's difficult not to feel sorry for most of these variants; they look so happy. This might have been their lives had He Who Remains (Majors) not plucked them from reality to flesh out his temporal watchdog outfit. Hunter B-15 dotes on her patients and displays compassion that complements her protective instinct to preserve all timelines earlier this season. Casey relishes his life of crime, ready to rob a bank at the earliest convenience. Mobius also appears to be quite content crouched atop one of those jetskis he loves regardless of what dimension he lives in. As Don, Mobius is a single dad and loves his domestic existence, even if one of his sons might be a pyromaniac. When Loki lays his journey into mystery schtick on Don, Wilson’s face says it all: He'd rather be jet skiing.
Loki finds his new mojo in the season's strongest episode yet.
“
But that's jumping ahead. First, Loki visits the variant life of Ouroboros (Ke Huy Quan) in 1994 Pasadena. In this branched timeline, O.B. is A.D. Doug, a struggling sci-fi novelist whose work is unceremoniously rejected at a local bookstore. (Maybe Doug doesn't have a publisher?) When Loki tries to explain his predicament as rationally as possible, naturally, Doug is ready to believe him. ("One of my characters has come to life and needs my help!" he exclaims.) It's a match made in multiversal heaven – a science-nerd writer who's also studying to be a physicist and Loki, who conveniently keeps a TVA manual tucked away in his stylish jacket. Slipping the surly bonds of physics shouldn't pose much of a problem.
Streamlining Loki's story trickery to make room for much-needed character work is a refreshing twist – it comes a bit late this season, but it's still welcome. Directed by Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead and written by Eric Martin, "Science/Fiction" unearths pathos for almost every character in this appealing ensemble, with Quan maneuvering around these tribulations with affable grace and Mosaku displaying a sense of warmth that says much about her character's shifting views on time authority and its purpose. If the episode suddenly feels like it's rushing to find closure beyond zipping up the Marvel timeline, that's because it is. Shouldn't Wilson's Mobius find some solace after all the work he's put into making reality a stable, safe place to live? Those jet skis are more than just a hobby; they symbolize the freedom denied to him and all TVA employees. Wilson may feel the mist of a righteous wave on his grinning face before long.
Curating the multiverse as the leader of the TVA
Become a chaotic-neutral space-time traveler
Going on jet-ski adventures with Mobius
Defeating Kang the Conqueror and restoring the MCU
Private Eye TV Procedural
Getting into gnarly scrapes with Ryan Reynolds’s Deadpool
A penultimate shift in priorities makes a world of difference. “Science/Fiction” explores the Loki ensemble in interesting and revealing ways that add crucial missing pieces to the unwieldy puzzle that’s been its second season. Tom Hiddleston’s softer, more introspective God of Mischief finds a new, thrilling outlook on his purpose, Owen Wilson’s M...
Review scoring
good
“Science/Fiction” is the strongest hour of Loki yet, exploring its ensemble in interesting and revealing ways that add crucial missing pieces to this unwieldy puzzle.
Jarrod Jones
Nov 3, 2023 · Loki season 2, episode 5 was filled with bittersweet moments - including one where Sylvie visited a record store and listened to the song "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" - the lyrics of which carry some incredible importance. The scene followed one in which Sylvie successfully convinced Loki to leave his friends to their lives on their respective MCU ...
- Staff Writer
Nov 1, 2023 · Loki episode 5 will be available to watch on Disney+ in the US on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 6pm PT/9pm ET and in the UK on Friday, Nov. 3 at 2am BST. What to Expect in Loki Episode 5.
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Nov 2, 2023 · Loki Season 2 Episode 5 premieres Thursday, Nov 2 on Disney+. What time does Loki Season 2 Episode 5 premiere? Loki Season 2 is adopting a more traditional television release schedule...
