The Controversial Actor Who Just Made Loki Season 2 Awkward
We all knew it would happen eventually, but nobody expected that it would be quite like this. The appearance of this "Loki" actor isn't nearly as timely as it appears.
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00:00 We all knew it would happen eventually,
00:02 but nobody expected that it would be quite like this.
00:05 The appearance of this Loki actor
00:07 isn't nearly as timely as you might think.
00:09 Up to this point in Loki season 2,
00:11 it's felt easier than expected to compartmentalize the series.
00:15 Not just from connections to the greater Marvel Cinematic
00:17 Universe, but also from the disturbing criminal allegations
00:20 surrounding actor Jonathan Majors.
00:22 Until episode 3, any trace of the villainous He Who Remains
00:26 has been limited to foreboding statues at the Time Variance
00:28 Authority.
00:29 The opening shot of the entire season
00:31 awkwardly opened on a close-up of this very image,
00:33 in fact, which seemed to confirm previous statements
00:36 that no reshoots took place following Majors arrest.
00:39 Otherwise, any trace of Kang's presence
00:41 has remained hidden behind the curtain.
00:43 That all changed with episode 3, however.
00:46 Desperate to put the malfunctioning TVA back
00:48 in order, Loki and Mobius followed the breadcrumbs
00:51 left by Renslayer all the way to the Chicago World's Fair
00:54 in 1893.
00:55 In this branched timeline, one of the many hucksters
00:58 and con men trying to take advantage of the occasion
01:01 and make a quick buck turns out to be none other than a variant
01:04 of Kang, known as Victor Timely.
01:06 While much of the hour is driven by the typical Loki-Mobius
01:09 buddy comedy duo and Sylvie's frequent interruptions,
01:12 as she's bent on killing any and all Kang variants
01:15 she can get her hands on, it's Majors and his, uh,
01:18 distinctive performance as Timely
01:20 that receives a lot of the episode's attention.
01:22 How much attention?
01:24 More than you might think.
01:29 Unfortunately, giving him ample amounts of screen time
01:32 and dialogue backfired in a big way.
01:34 With so much weight placed on Timely's moral worth,
01:37 several uncomfortable moments arise,
01:39 given what the actor is currently embroiled in.
01:42 It all adds up to the best and worst episode of Loki so far.
01:46 You almost have to wonder whether at any point
01:48 in the last year, anyone involved
01:50 in the production of Loki looked back at episode 3
01:52 and flinched at the vast gulf between the central battle
01:55 over Victor Timely's soul and the allegations swirling
01:58 around Jonathan Majors himself.
02:00 While nobody can reasonably blame
02:01 Marvel Studios or the writers of Loki for the actions Majors
02:05 is accused of, most can agree that the optics of a character
02:08 performed by Majors, loudly insisting
02:10 on his own moral standing, made for an unpleasant viewing
02:13 experience at times.
02:15 Please.
02:15 I haven't done anything.
02:22 Despite the obvious disconnect between facts and fiction,
02:25 the choice to have Loki defend Victor's life
02:27 while Sylvie remains intent on destroying him
02:30 made for tremendous dramatic conflict.
02:32 By setting Loki, Sylvie, and Renslayer at odds
02:35 with one another through their competing loyalties
02:37 and motivations, the writers inject the episode
02:39 with a sense of life and ambiguous rooting interests
02:42 that few MCU installments have ever had before.
02:45 That said, it's a shame that this
02:47 is undercut by the awkward implications of Ravonna
02:49 adoringly stating, quote, "I'm starting
02:51 to see the man you'll become," or Timely defending himself
02:55 against Sylvie's accusations.
02:56 And yet, that's still not even the worst aspect
02:58 of the episode.
03:00 Above all else, there's the matter
03:01 of Majors' actual performance.
03:03 In all honesty, we're not sure what exactly is going on here.
03:07 Based on our introduction of Victor Timely,
03:09 it's clear that this is a man who lives for theatrics.
03:12 Everything is a performance to him,
03:13 starting with his ploy to pull the wool over the heads
03:16 of a curious audience at his demonstration
03:18 of his temporal loom prototype.
03:20 When in the company of Loki, Mobius, Renslayer,
03:23 and Miss Minutes, he croons endlessly
03:25 about his inventions and visionary genius
03:27 and the limitations imposed upon his imagination
03:30 by a technologically inferior time period.
03:32 "Luminary" is the word you're looking for, Fred.
03:34 "Luminary," of course.
03:35 Forgive me.
03:35 My ideas are just ahead of their time.
03:38 Meanwhile, we know all along that he only
03:40 had the ability to do any of this
03:41 because Renslayer put her thumb on the scales of time,
03:44 so to speak, and delivered a ready-made TVA handbook
03:47 right into his living room as a child.
03:49 But none of that quite explains why Major's performance
03:51 feels so unmodulated and imbalanced in this episode.
03:55 His stilted line deliveries and constant stuttering
03:58 seem to be in service of a brilliant scientist
04:00 with very little understanding of social customs.
04:03 But this cartoonish take on the character
04:05 mostly only ever comes across as playing to outdated tropes.
04:08 In other words, he's doing a lot to put his stamp
04:11 on this variant, but it never adds up
04:12 to a complete, well-defined character.
04:15 We knew beforehand that Loki would come saddled
04:17 with a Major's problem.
04:18 But there's certainly no way to compartmentalize things
04:21 anymore.
04:21 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:25 (upbeat music)