"I'M GONNA CONSOOOOM!!! AAAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHH!!!!"
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I just torrented Loki episode 1 and watched it. Let's hear, or rather, read the video I transcribed on what's bobs take on things. just trying something different.
It's hard to know where to put punctuation when Bob's diatribes have inconsistently few pauses between sentences. If you find any grammar mistakes or offences, please take it all with a big grain of [sic].
Full Transcript:
_____And now here's Loki in which Marvel puts their in-house developed impishly handsome wiry English dark dream boat back to work while cramming Doctor Who, The Good Place, and The Blacklist pureed into a more meta than meta brunch smoothier [sic] streaming series while glancing around, avoiding eye contact with excessive fake humility high-whispering: "Oh gee I wonder if TV reviewers are gonna like this exact specific combination of ingredients I mean it's not like we got this down to a science or anything no but really do you like it?" (cue Lisa Simpson clip saying yes)
_____But yes, big fucking shock, Marvel, the Hollywood studio answer to a 3.0 GPA that still got into hobbit thanks to shockingly deep extracurricular numbers and a mall karate blue belt counting for two extra gym credits, appears to at least from the outset to have crafted another above average streaming miniseries by pairing a smorgasbord of story ideas and supporting characters from its 80 year history of comic book weirdness, fresh creative talent eager to prove their worth to the new fuedal lords of the entertainment kingdom, a studio chief possibly genetically engineered by DARPA to save the American movie industry, and whichever name stars from the cinematic universe were not currently shooting a feature but were still interested in a nice new car, boat, or addition to their house.
_____Time will tell of course whether or not it has a chance of measuring up to Wandavision's medium challenging genre redefining emotional powerhouse, or Falcon and the Winter Soldier's occasionally awkward but admirably gutsy topical boldness but right now it feels prime to scratch the particular itch for quirky takes of big sci-fi metaphysical story conceits being turned inside-out by rye [sic], deadpan actors in an unfolding mystery maze plot that fans of such things may have been missing between other, bigger properties while also giving Tom Hiddleston an immediately intruiging new context in which to play around with the character he's taken ownership of like few blockbuster-level actors in recent memory, that fans should find instantly satisfying and yes, it looks as though these stripe of marvel fan that will tune in regardless to pour over every frame, seeking clues to futre storylines, will find themselves more than serviced as well, though, thus far thankfully not at the expense of more casual viewers I'll [sic]. <-- (prolly an editing mistake)
_____Note that I am aiming to keep this review by my definition "spoiler free" in terms of specific not-vailable-by-looking-just-at-the-promotions-and-ad-mataerial-plot-details-and-surpises, but given that the series appears to answer at least one, big previously unclarified question of the entire marvel universe "thing" offhandedly within its first 12 minutes, I'd advise those trying to go in completely clean to maybe watch the first one before this review. Okay? Alright. Otherwise- (cue transition)
_____So, in case there was any confusion Loki functions as a kind of direct side-sequel to the second act of Avengers: Endgame i.e [sic] the time travel heist part where in, you'll recall because the future Avengers made a mistake trying to steal the tesseract from their 2012-Avengers-part-1-selves. 2012-still-alive-and-still-evil-Loki was able to grab it back and teleport away, likely creating one of those new butterfly-effect-alternate-reality-timelines proffessor Hulk had warned about. Except it turns out, that's not such a big deal as he finds himself snatched up and thrown into a dystopian cosmic courthouse by very interminating [sic] agents of the Time Variance Authority. (cue clip of Loki getting arrested by the time police for time crimes)
_____A kind of cosmic combination [sic] legal bureaucracy, police force, FBI, detective agency, and court system that exist to chase down variants, which he apparently now IS, for crimes against the sacred timeline. Yeah that big lingering question I mentioned? If you've been wondering between the Quicksilver stuff, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D inconsistencies, the Netflix stuff, et cetera, whether or not there was or was not a mult-eye-verse component to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Loki has your answer straight off; there is not. (cue sad trombone) But there USED to be, and there could be again maybe but not if the TVA has anything to say about it. See a big conceit here is that apparently there WERE multiple universes at one point, but they kept getting into each other's business and making mult-eye-versal wars and destructive chaos that could've destroyed all realities forever if not for the trio of omnipotent cosmic beings calling themselves "Time Keepers," who whittled everything down to a single "Sacred Timeline," with a predetermined proper continuity of events for well, everything that the TVA is tasked with "protecting." Which chiefly means hunting down variants like Loki who break off their fated path, and in doing so creating alternate timelines which if not deleted in time, could become new realities and restart the mult-eye-verse which would be "bad" according to the Time Keepers, wherever they are.
_____But Loki seemingly lucks into a reprieve from deletion when Owen Wilson's TVA Agent Mobius decides for spoilerly reasons, he might be useful in tracking down an apparently even more dangerous fugitive variant that's skipping around the timeline, murdering entire squads of minute men, TVA enforcers, to steal their special equipment for sinister purposes. Loki agrees, in part because even the TVA random desk clerks seem to massively outpower him and also because the revelation of what supposed to, and what did come of his sacred timeline self has shattered his sense of identity and forced him to confront the TVA's seemingly self-evident commitment to benevolent fatalism versus his own inherence to uniquely chaotic free will, OR both sides are working a double-cross, hence Loki is literally the god of mischief and can't wait to tell anybody who'll listen. He just wants to talk with the time keepers. (cue Loki clip saying COME ON? What did you expect?) Mobius is, well a cop but also a cop that's pulling the: "only a killer can catch a killer" schtick, and the judge obstensibly in charge of their investigation is Gugu Mbatha-Raw as "Ravonna Renslayer," a name Marvel Comics fans should immediately recognize as belonging to the complicated, sometimes romantic interest of Kang the Conqueror, AKA the guy Jonathan Majors is playing in Ant-Man 3 who may or may not be the next major villain for this entire damn mega franchise.
_____Both the first and second episodes additionally conclude with big game-changing reveals as to the nature of the fugitive variant they're chasing that are fun and t-significant [sic] interesting directions that could get very interesting in the remaining 4 episodes but beyond whatever big Marvel reveals or retcons could be awaiting hardcore fans it does appear were back in the Wandavision territory in terms of subgenre. A one time supporting character taking center stage for a personal journey of sci-fi fantasy introspection and self-healing. Well, on the meta narrative side, the Marvel machine engages in some media study self-criticism vis-à-vis its own role as prime arbiter of the new global popular mythology. Where Scarlett Witch's eerily well timed truama-purg [sic] explored the psychology behind retreating into comfort viewing like nostalgia TV and by association the MCU itself, and whether or not this was healthy for us in general, as a therapeutic replacement for coping with grief or anxiety, Loki is both trying to find himself and also seems poised to be a counterargument for the benefits of free will and chaos of a multiverse, in opposition the ordered, quasi-religious fatalism of the TVA. Which of course also seems to represent an internal argument as to exactly how much of the velvet glove, iron fist treatment Marvel should be giving to its own stranglehold on the MCUs famously marketable, shared universe continuity.
_____Whether it succeeds or not at this goal, in fact if these ARE the goals and there isn't some sort of huge, thematic curveball waiting now that episode 2 has dropped its "okay, I guess anything can happen now. " cards on the table will remain to be seen but I find the whole thing extremely encouraging, in part with how laid back it is. Sure, nobody was expecting Wandavision to pull a complete en-medias-res reality break for three full episodes and trust the audience to stick around and catch up, or whereas Falcon and the Winter Soldier took a more complicated route given the material, by opening and sticking with a big movie level action crossed with TV level intrigue but so far Loki has a dialed down, melancholy, TV energy that feels key to both the frequency of TVA's retro 50s, DMV/Data center/Soviet filing office aesthetic, and Owen Wilson's ultra "Owen Wilsony" groove as Mobius, great great casting here as it turns out. Nothing about it feels like it's in a hurry, but Loki, which, fits with the world building and the gives it a fresh, chilled-out tempo for the main character to bounce off of.
_____Bottom line for now; I like the new characters, Hiddleston still works, I'm eager to see where all of this weirdness goes, I'm sure Tara Strong is going to be a fan favorite as Miss Minutes, the cartoon clock who claims to be both alive and a recording but not quite but extremely down for more. Not that I would probably need to say so but I recommend it. this should be a fun ride. (roll credits)