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Review: Loki (season 1, 2021)

Loki (series, 2021-) Loki (series, 2021-)

#JusticeForSylvie

I’m no longer sure i agree with all my thoughts on Sylvie from back when i first tweeted them (right after the season finale) – at least, not on the type of personality her experiences should have formed her into.

I do, however, still feel that the final “big bad” she and Loki meet at the end of time should have been [spoiler alert… for what doesn’t happen?] another Loki variant. It’s what the story builds toward – and it’s sacrificed, as is so much in the MCU, in favour of teasing upcoming movies and series.

Anyways…

PS. Beyond the Lights (2014) left me unsure as to whether Gugu Mbatha-Raw can even act. Sadly, her high-school-drama-class performance here (particularly opposite the effortlessly charming and compelling Owen Wilson), in which her entire screen presence is a composite of one-dimensional line readings and zero-dimensional character building, offers no new evidence that she can.

Further Viewing

My review didn’t even touch on the show’s queerbaiting – luckily, Verity Ritchie and Ada Černoša detail the ways in which Loki falls short of its much-hyped queer representation, by comparing and contrasting the series with the work of Doctor Who showrunner and Queer As Folk creator Russell T Davies:

The show’s “tell, don’t show” approach to Loki’s queerness is called out explicitly by Rowan Ellis. She critiques the “gender binary and weirdly misogynistic” portrayal of Loki’s purported, though not actually demonstrated, “fluid” sex(uality?):

My issues with one character’s portrayal aside, this beautifully-made series gets an appreciation post all its own:

Film School: The Look of ‘Loki’

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