LOKI Episode One Review (Spoiler Free!!!) 

Predetermination doesn't preclude free will.

Maybe this is the reality that Dr strange wanted

@@glassbakeware No, it just eliminates it entirely

@@robertthompson5701 even if what I'm having for lunch today is pre determined I still have to choose what I'm having. That's not the illusion of free choice. Whatever my lunch is predetermined to be it's because that's the lunch that I will choose. Our choices define fate.

@@robertthompson5701 that's what preclude means already by the way.... "Prevent from happening; make impossible"

I'm worried about that. There's like 27 of them.

Oh wait Marvel did something good after so long? Darn I better check it out then

@@andresgonzalez5676 no, it literally breaks the mcu. This single episode does more damage to the universe than anything in Endgame, Wandavision, and falcon/winter soldier. I am more than willing to explain.

@@theredbanana6265 Yeah after some hours since my last post I see now that it is not as good as people say it is, darn I was hoping it would be a return to the old times ☹

@@andresgonzalez5676 I'm holding out hope for james Gunn's guardians 3. But after that he's leaving for DC, so I dont know what to hope for after that. If anything this makes it clear you cant buy good writing.

@@theredbanana6265 Yeah good acting also needs a good script to give it a heart, which this show does not have

Luiz entered chat to explain...

That seems like a low bar. Seeing my dog walk on the treadmill, now that's interesting. Watching wanda kidnap a town full of innocent people and keep their children in a nightmare state, now that's interesting. Watching falcon flip from the hopeful tone in Endgame when he gets the shield, to pretending cap and his shield representing racism, now that's interesting. Watching a single episode of the loki show, that destroys all of the world building up to this point, and does just as much damage to the characters. Is a nightmare. The mcu is done.

Daredevil was amazing, jessica jones s1 too, Punisher was great. Luke Cage was enjoyable and let's pretend that iron fist never happened. To me the Disney stuff feels "safe". Boring vanilla stuff made to appeal to the masses.

How does it fundamentally break anything?

@@OoXLR8oO This will be a long post, but I am not angry as I write it. I just like picking apart stuff to see what works and what doesn't, and this Loki episode doesn't work imo. So let's dive in :D The issue with what they set up for a lot of people is that it destroys the concept of free will in this universe. Even when characters act in character (like Loki picking up the Teseract and teleporting out), they will still be reset by the TVA for deviating from the timeline. So now we know that everything the characters have done, and everything they will do in the future (if the TVA still exists by the end of the show, which I doubt, Loki will probably destroy it and kick off the multiverse) is pre-determined. They never had a choice in their actions. And that's a problem for a lot of people because they feel like all they're seeing is a bunch of puppets jumping around at the will of 3 god-like being overseeing everything. And that's only when we stay on a macro-level, the concept itself destroys the universe. But when we go a layer deeper and look at how the TVA functions, it doesn't make sense. A bunch of cops-looking humans running around through time and space with time-thingy batons, the administration-like protocols, the "people in it, nothing makes sense when you take into account that this is an organisation beyond time and space, set up by godlike aliens. If they are so powerful, and their role so important (basically making sure the fabric of the universe stays whole, doesn't go more important than that), then why choose such an inefficient set up for it all ? The thing is... We know why... It's because the 90s aesthetics is cool looking and Disney has money. And it's a shame it's as shallow as that. Now, let's talk about Loki. He is Avengers-time Loki, the cunning, mastermind Loki. Not Ragnarok-Loki who has been softened by his mother's death, his father's death and being with his brother for a while. (this is why I am sad that the moment where he sees his timeline in this episode works on a lot of people, because it's cheap. This hasn't happened to this Loki, he's seeing another person doing those things and experiencing that, it's not him. But the show needed some instant-emotions without build up, so they did it. Like I said above: it's shallow and not earned in the slightest, anyway, sorry for the tangent, back on track we go ! :D) He is "peak"-Loki some would argue, a real threat for the Avengers at the time. So why does he act like a buffoon ? When the time cops arrive through clearly very advanced teleportation tech, he just walks up to them and doesn't use his powers like he was shown to use often in the Avengers movie (which was 30min ago for him). Clones, illusions, etc. Then, it takes him until the trial to realise his powers don't work ? I don't buy that. Especially since the Teseract was taken from him and he had ample time to try and escape when the cops weren't close to him (in the robot chamber for example) But we know why they did that... To have a "funny" moment at the expense of a great character. They seem to do that a lot in this episode by the way, and I can't believe a Loki fan would have enjoyed seeing their beloved character get so much disrespect for 50min straight (and again, this is Avengers-Loki, not Ragnarok-Loki) What else ?... Hmm.... OH ! The infinity stones being disrespected for a joke too. This doesn't break anything per se, but again, downplaying something established for a cheap joke and propping up their new shiny thing, this is both bad powercreep and a retcon. Dare I say The Last Jedi-levels of disrespect for former elements of the universe... And I think that's it for the issues from the top of my head. The positives now: It looks cool ! (but doesn't make any sense that it would look that way) The actors are great, especially given what they're working with The high-concept it appealing, time-travel mystery is a set up I LOVE ! But here it comes at the expense of the entire MCU and undermines everything that came before, so I'm not thrilled about it. I personally call LOKI the anti-DARK ! If you want a time travel mystery show, watch DARK, it's beyond incredible. I fail to see any flaw in this show (except subjective stuff like "it's slow", but that's hardly a negative imo) Dirk Gently in a more goofy way too ! This show is great ! And of course, if you want good Marvel content in TV Format: LEGION !!!! WATCH LEGION PEOPLE !!!! The best Marvel TV Show by far (well, maybe Daredevil gets close in a way) But it has everything Loki is trying to do, without breaking a beloved universe in the process (and it's better written, by FAR) It just doesn't have the same budget so some stuff look cheap

good post

...he says without even seeing the entire show first. Are you always this negative about everything?

Slice and dice brother

Agreed.

@@GanjjaCat You don't need to see the whole show with the reveals in this one episode. The only way this can be fixed is if we learn that Loki was having his mind probed by Strange the entire time and what we see isn't real That's it Because if we take what we see at face value, the MCU is finished

Seems this and Wanda might both set up the Dr. Strange Multiverse movie a little. I only have an issue with the one timeline, one set of choices thing. The no freedom of choice is boring. Stones being useless I kinda liked.........like stuff they took away from Variants who used it to mess with their holy timestream. And when taken outside of time they are useless and nothing more than paper weights (which is weird for the time/soul gem). To me it all can be saved with the TVA being destroyed at the end and having a multiverse setup.

Finally sense and understanding. The deconstruction is insane!

If they cared about consistency or logic, they would've been melted.

@@jeronimo196 you watch EFAP too?

@@theredbanana6265 slice and dice, brother. Slice and dice.

That's what makes it interesting