So, episode 3 of Loki. I can already imagine this being a divisive episode for a number of reasons. The most prominent being that it’s a filler episode, and that there aren’t enough episodes for the show to be squandering any of them on filler.
First off, I’ll admit that initially I didn’t think this episode was as good as episodes 1 and 2. Not because it felt like ‘filler’ (which isn’t always an inherently bad thing; filler ≠ bad). My thing was that it didn’t really include much of the TVA - an establishment that I really dig. From the characters there, to the overall setting; I think the show did SUCH a good job establishing the world of the TVA and making it so cool, that when they rip you away from it this episode, you really do miss it. Even though you know it’s all a sham LONG before the reveal we get in this episode that everybody who works there is a variant.
I also think Loki, now being the third Marvel show we’ve gotten, somewhat reveals the formula of Marvel shows and their linearity, and I don’t mean this in a bad way. I mean it in the sense that Marvel shows really lock you into a moment and scenarios. And I think this is partly why the finales of the shows we’ve gotten so far have been hella wonky. They go full hog into things that other episodes don’t, which is jump you between lots of different moments. With WandaVision everything was either locked to a sitcom or what was happening on the S.W.O.R.D pop-up base. So the finale jumping us between so much stuff in addition to all of the typical MCU action made the entire tone of the finale feel different. In The Falcon and The Winter Soldier we saw things happening somewhat in real-time with Sam, Bucky, John and the Flag Smashers, and the scale felt close-knit and personal despite the wider implications. But then the finale felt like this large scale thing, and turned the show into an MCU movie.
If this particular episode of Loki were more ‘traditional’, we probably would have gotten more moments cut into it of what exactly is happening in the TVA; Mobius reacting to Loki running off and then doing everything in his power to try and track him down, and Gugu Renslayer dealing with the fallout of the sacred timeline getting bombed. But if the Marvel show formula is what I feel it is, then that may end up being a whole episode unto itself next week, with episode 4 ending where episode 3 did, but from Mobius and the TVA’s narrative perspective. This may make you think ‘They wasted an episode doing that, why not intercut them together’, but it is what it is.
What I will say though is that by this point, we all need to realise a couple of things. One is that these Marvel shows slow things down and lock into moments a lot for the sake of character development that we wouldn’t get if they kept interrupting episodes with things which don't concern the characters that the story wants us to focus on. And whilst some people have been critical of slower episodes (i.e the first episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier) they serve a purpose to help build the world of the characters. Episode 3 was a necessary slow down in pace and character focus, because we’d spent the last 2 episodes building up this mystery character - so it makes sense that we’d get an episode where we find out more about them. And naturally, Loki is as curious about who this person is as we are, especially because they seem so different to the Loki he / we know in every single sense, beyond their difference in gender.
Tonally, episode 3 of Loki felt very different, but in a cool way. With Sophia Di Martino also being a British actor, you get the sense that fellow Brit Kate Herron revelled in having an episode where she got to direct an episode with 2 Brit actors as the key focus; she really leaned into it. The Loki variant who reveals their name to be Sylvie is a very potty mouthed character, in a typically British manner. And the banter between Loki and Sylvie feels very Channel 4 sitcom-esque, which tickles me as a fan of channel 4 sitcoms, which Sex Education (several episodes of which Kate Herron directed) reminded me a lot of. Because if Netflix hadn’t backed and released that show, Channel 4 absolutely would have.But whilst this episode will absolutely be widely considered filler, it presents many things which I feel are crucial to both Loki, Sylvie and the theories that many had (Loki included) about the TVA.
One thing that Marvel Studios are showing with these shows is that they aren’t afraid to slow things down. But it seems many audiences still just want running, gunning, powers every second and non-stop action. I for one don’t want that. When both WandaVision and The Falcon & The Winter Soldier devolved into that, and JUST that, it presented the weakest moments of both shows. MCU fans need to move past that and allow the MCU’s stories to be varied, and also allow the shows to stand apart as what they are for the most part: character focused stories. Not constant VFX shots and displays of heroes / anti-heroes in action. And just because there doesn’t appear to be a lot happening, doesn’t mean that nothing is happening. Episode 3 probably revealed more about a whole bunch of things than episodes 1 and 2 combined, and there was a lot of great pay off here if you actually took in what was happening and being said.
This episode, much like episode 2, was another instance of Loki really letting his guard down and opening up. We discover that his use of magic is more than just him being able to cause mischief, but that his love for it is tied to his love for his mother. Episode 2 teased that Loki is telekinetic, but we get a far more powerful display of it here, when Loki uses telekinesis to stop a giant structure from falling. But we also see Sylvie opening up too, which further cements that she's probabaly not the villain of this show. Both Loki and Sylvie almost seem to take relief at being able to be themselves. Even if they do annoy one another, and they are stuck in the midst of an apocalypse with no escape plan.And we also get a pretty monumental reveal which will (hopefully) have huge implications for not just the MCU, but Disney going forward. And that is that Loki is bisexual / pansexual. And it’s not some off-hand comment, or some Easter egg. Loki is asked (and I’m paraphrasing) ‘You dip in pussy a lot on Asgard? Or perhaps bussy!?’. And Loki says ‘A bit of both’. And for this episode to fall on Pride month too.
Disney has been absolutely trash when it comes to representation of sexuality in everything they’ve put out. They always hide it or make subtle references to things that are SO subtle they get missed, are completely pointless and can easily be edited out for releases in markets where all things homosexual in media is banned. (Shout-outs to China). And Marvel Studios, for the massive machine that it was even before Disney acquired them, has never done anything with it. Similarly just giving hints and nods to sexualities, and expecting those yearning for representation from them to be okay with that. Case in point, that nonsense bullshit in Avengers: Endgame. They had a character say ‘I went on a date with a guy’ in one of the most forgettable scenes in the entire movie, and yet the Russo brothers and Marvel Studios wanted a pat on the back for it. Get the fuck out. So for Loki, a main character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to pretty much confirm their own bi or pansexuality is a big deal. But with this said, whilst it is progress, Disney and Marvel Studios should’ve been WAY further along than this. And I think that we should be critical of this, as opposed to just applauding Marvel Studios for doing the bare minimum. It is still a great moment, and it makes sense for a character like Loki. But Marvel were late to the party and they’ve got lost time to make up for. Hopefully we’ll see fruits of this representation bared in Eternals, which features a gay character who is also Black.
Some people have been calling out for the show to actually show Loki with another guy, but I don’t think we’ll get that. And to be honest (don’t drag me after ALL I just said), but I don’t want it unless it feels right for the story or the show. Don’t get me wrong. I think it would be amazing. Seeing Loki feed his male boo-thang grapes and throw his legs back would be fun. But pandering can be just as damaging as a lack of representation at all. And I just can’t see where or how they could work something like this into THIS particular show and story. Also, we need to all remember that this is still Marvel Studios and Disney we’re dealing with.But Loki’s admission of his bi / pansexuality in addition to him being recorded on file as gender fluid are also nods to the actual lore and mythology of Loki. I think people forget that Loki is a part of Norse mythology and not a Marvel creation. So it’s great to see the show actually tie back to that with some form of accuracy, as in Norse mythology, Loki is gender fluid, which would also pertain to fluidity in his sexuality.
I did initially think that the show may have Loki and Sylvie fall in love with one another, because falling in love with a variant of yourself is SUCH a Loki thing to do, and mythologies love that kind of shit. The exchange between Loki and Sylvie not only seemed honest and heartfelt, but seemed to potentially imply that they share the same views on love and are looking for something that nobody thus far has been able to offer - with the implications that maybe that thing is one another. So you can dash all hopes of Loki getting railed by Mobius on a jetski out of the window. But, I also think that viewers may consider Loki variants siblings, and for this reason I can’t see Marvel Studios touching on something that some would read as incestuous. Also, China. And as I read this back, Loki and Sylvie falling in love would be really fucking weird. But I do think the connection they share will play out in this show in a big way.
Then there’s Sylvie, who has long been dubbed Lady Loki.Sylvie is an interesting character, and I always figured that there would be more to her than the show would lead us to believe. At first I was convinced that she wasn’t a Loki variant at all, because episode 2 made such a point of establishing that Loki variants all look like (wait for it…) VARIANTS of the Loki we know (Tom Hiddletson in cosplay), and that they all pretty share the same powers. But episode 2 confirms that Sylvie really is a variant of Loki. But I still feel that there is more to this.
Sylvie lets slip that she’s been on the run from the TVA for her whole life, which begs the question, at which point in her life did she become a variant? Were her parents variants, meaning that Sylvie’s birth was a Nexus event? Or did Sylvie do something in her childhood that made a timeline branch? Sylvie also shows great disdain for the name Loki, and Sylvie is the name that she gave herself. This may explain her difference in hair colour, which is not the signature Loki black. I figured that maybe Sylvie had even used magic to change her gender appearance, but she doesn’t have the shape shifting magic ability that Loki does. And I also don’t think that gender identity is a path that Marvel Studios are ready nor willing to go down. Not when they’ve only just had a character make an admission of their sexuality.
Many people on the Internet have dragged Sophia Di Martino for her portrayal of Sylvie, and...I get it. I didn’t think she was bad at all, but I get why some wouldn’t be won over by her performance in this episode. Particularly US audiences. As aforementioned, there is a very, VERY British TV sensibility with how Sylvie comes across in this episode, which feels out of step with what you’d expect of a character in the MCU. Also, she’s in a show with Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson and Wunmi Mosaku, all of whom have done a fabulous job thus far. And Loki is also coming off the back of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, where Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Daniel Brühl and Carl Lumbly all crushed it. And WandaVision, where Elizabeth Olsen gave an Emmy worthy performance, and Kathryn Hahn just chewed up every single scene she was in. So the calibre is high, as is the expectation from audiences. It’s unfortunate that not everybody has warmed to Sylvie in the way they did Agnes and Monica in WandaVision, or John Walker (we all hated him, but we warmed to how much we hated him, as we were supposed to) in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.It’ll be interesting to see how Di Martino settles into the role of Sylvie as the show progresses. Especially once she’s in scenes with characters other than Loki, and we start to delve into her past and dig deep into the emotional motivations of the character - which I’m almost certain this show will do.
Marvel Studios love to pull from different movies and popular culture, and this episode is a reminder of that; giving us elements from Snowpiercer, The Fifth Element and even a bit of Kill Bill Volume 2. And the buddy-up dynamic feels very Lethal Weapon and Rush Hour. Catching these references is fun in an episode which pace wise is pretty slow, and visually, really bland; despite how visually vivid the aforementioned films are.
After 2 episodes where we got gorgeous production design, this episode looks very flat. Only during the scene on the train with the Hype Williams Hip-Hop / K-Pop music video lighting are we reminded of it. There’s also a whole lotta purple in this episode, to the point where I was done with it after 20 minutes. Whilst Marvel Studios are now being far more open to directorial styles being imprinted in their movies and shows, their grading is still off and way too dark. I coulda dealt with the overuse and saturation of purple if the brightness was whacked up. I’ll disclaim now, that every screenshot in this post has been brightness adjusted, in case y’all wanna be like ‘But the screenshots look fine’. It reminded me a lot of the episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D which were set on Maveth, where everything was blue. That was also annoying after a while, especially given how many episodes took place in that dusty shithole. But at the very least the scenes on Maveth felt real and everything was practical. Unlike the treks through Lamentis, where so much was green screened, which leads into the other visual issue: the dreaded, raggedy and inconsistent Marvel Studios VFX.
Some of these shots are so obviously green screened to a point where it was distracting. And I don’t get why some shots look super crisp whilst others don’t. There is a really cool moment at the end of the episode where we get a faux one shot / long take, but it doesn’t override how inconsistent the VFX in this episode was, and how flat it was visually. And the cool one shot features one particular moment where the VFX shot compositing looks so noticeably bad. I really do wish Marvel Studios would get it together. This is one episode where I feel that the virtual stage tech they used for The Mandalorian would’ve been so useful and fixed so many of these issues. Marvel Studios used it for Thor: Love & Thunder, so hopefully, they’ll get some Stagecraft set ups in Atlanta where they can shoot all of their shit.
Initially I was like ‘Wow. This episode...is not what I expected’. But upon watching it for the fourth time (and not by force) I liked it more on each viewing. Episode 3 did a great thing in forcing Loki and Sylvie to actually work together, because ultimately, they do and will need each other. And it also mirrors what we’d seen in episode 2 with Loki and Mobius, who also need each other. But Loki and Sylvie’s meeting feels fated. Both have found themselves in uncharted territory together, following lives where they always felt like they were alone; something which this episode highlights. Loki and Sylvie are reluctantly working together for their own glorious purposes, because...obviously. They are still who they are. But there’s a part of them deep down, I’m sure, that likes the camaraderie, having somebody to talk to who understands. And that whilst a lot of things don’t make sense, that somehow through all of the universe, space and time and interferences in both of their lives from the TVA, they still managed to run into one another.