32 thoughts I had while watching the Loki season finale

Disclaimer: This story contains spoilers for the season finale of Loki.

You can’t make a show about the god of mischief unless you’re willing to get weird, and Marvel’s Disney+ series Loki is just that. A time-traveling dramedy about Norse deities who make poor life choices, Loki crams an immense amount of information and action into six episodes. While there’s plenty of phase-four exposition and references to the comics, there’s also an evil cartoon clock, romantic comedy subplots, alligators, alternate timelines, and a mustachioed Owen Wilson. If ever there was a target demographic for such absurdity, I would be it, and the season-one finale more than met my expectations for mayhem. Below, a list of everything that crossed my mind while watching. 

1. The Marvel Studios logo has become so iconic that Lil Nas X teased his latest album by creating a parody of it. His version isn’t what kicks off Loki’s season finale; instead, we get the standard preshow scroll through comic-y scenes. Still, I’m pretty sure Loki would enjoy “Montero.” 

2. Usually, when movies and television shows mark the passage of time through rapid-fire montage, they utilise the same series of cultural touchstones. As Loki and Sylvie travel through the cosmos to time’s end, some of the familiar landmarks—Nelson Mandela’s 1990 speech to the US Congress, Neil Armstrong saying “One small step for man…”—play out via voice-over. The 2020s are represented via the words of Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai, a nice touch.

3. After escaping the void in the previous episode, Loki and Sylvie, aka Lady Loki, are headed to destroy the series’s mysterious big bad. Given that Loki and Sylvie are essentially versions of the same person, this isn’t a two-against-one unfair fight. 

4. Speaking of which, it’s impressive how Marvel’s arguably most narcissistic character has managed to begin a tentative romance with himself. Somewhere in the hereafter, Tony Stark is exceedingly jealous. 

5. Since every villain needs a spooky residence, the Citadel at the end of time looks like a haunted Victorian mansion. Tom Hiddleston has plenty of experience with those—see Crimson Peak—so I’m assuming Loki will be just fine in the end. 

6. One of the most compelling characters in the series is Miss Minutes, a cartoon clock who is relentlessly cheerful and downright creepy. Each time she shows up, the show gets a jolt of surrealism beyond the absurdity of comic book logic. I’m reminded of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and, to a lesser extent, Mary Poppins. 

7. If you grew up in the ’90s and 2000s, you’ve heard Tara Strong, the actress behind Miss Minutes. Having given us Rugrats’ Dil Pickles, Bubbles on The Powerpuff Girls, Timmy Turner from The Fairly OddParents, and so many more iconic and incredibly fun cartoon characters, Strong is the unofficial voice of millennial nostalgia. 

8. Miss Minutes refers to the big bad as “He Who Remains”, which leads me to believe that the Marvel Comics Universe has once again merged the histories of two characters into a singular story. It’s fascinating to see the changes between the comics and the films, and how plot points are traded, characters reimagined, and the audience generally kept on their toes. 

9. For weeks prior, the internet has been buzzing with the idea that Loki’s key antagonist would be Kang the Conqueror. I’m pretty sure that is what will happen, but after all the rumours that Mephisto would make an appearance on WandaVision, I’m cautious. I try not to be overly critical of these projects, but having Evan Peters’s character be a nobody named “Ralph Bohner” was trolling, and I can’t take a repeat of that disappointment. 

10. Throughout the series, they keep mentioning the “Battle of New York” and Loki’s rather embarrassing loss there. Within the world of the MCU, I wonder how these events are covered in the news media. Are there headlines in the New York Daily News that read “God of Mischief Goes Ballistic” or TMZ articles with paparazzi pictures of The Avengers stumbling out of nightclubs? 

11. Miss Minutes promises Loki and Sylvie a utopian world where they can have all they desire. Villains are always offering the protagonists these unrealistic situations that are obviously fake. Maybe they should start with a lowball offer instead: Promise the heroes that they’ll have good health insurance and a 401(k) if they switch sides, then gradually work up to bigger things based on their reactions. 

12. The interior design of the Citadel is very Castlevania. 

13. At last, Jonathan Majors pops up! I am still in mourning for Lovecraft Country’s demise, but his presence in the MCU—as ultimate badass Nathaniel Richards aka Kang the Conqueror, no less—warms my heart. As there are (seemingly) multiple versions of every character on Loki, this incarnation is only the first that we’ll see. It may be completely different from the one that is going to be in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. 

14. Majors’s Lovecraft Country costar Wunmi Mosaku has been stealing scenes all season as Hunter B-15.

15. There’s something menacing about watching a bad guy eat, especially when they’re chowing down on an apple, which seems to be the fruit of choice among evildoers and overly confident characters. If ever you see someone biting into a Granny Smith onscreen, know they’re responsible for everything wrong with the universe. 

16. Majors’s office reminds me a great deal of Agatha’s lair on WandaVision. Were there to be a snappy “It Was Kang All Along” song or a cameo from the divine Kathryn Hahn, I would not object. 

17. Surprisingly, there hasn’t been a big musical moment on Loki. Even the comparatively realistic Falcon and the Winter Soldier had Baron Zemo dancing his heart out to EDM in a European nightclub. 

18. Baron Zemo would also like “Montero.” It is known. 

19. There is nothing more soothing than the sound of Owen Wilson’s Texan drawl.

20. I’m not saying that Wes Anderson should direct a Marvel film, but I do think that Young Avengers would lend itself to his brand of whimsy. 

21. Beneath the plot of Loki is a great big philosophical debate over free will. Granted, things don’t get overly esoteric—Doctor Strange is better at unpacking philosophy—but the Time Variance Authority’s commitment to hard determinism would make Pierre-Simon Laplace proud. 

22. Given that the Nathaniel Richard/ Kang / Immortus variant claims to have seen all and watched every permutation of Loki’s reality, does that mean he’s a voyeur, or just an enthusiastic fan of reality television? 

23. Speaking of voyeurs, I hate to think that this episode will end without Mobius having his Jet Ski fantasies fulfilled. I’m sure being brought to his knees by Ravonna Renslayer was also on his bucket list, but it would have been nice to see him cruising through the water, enjoying a momentmajors of bliss.

24. Majors’s choice to play his part like someone who has been stuck in quarantine isolation for all eternity and subsequently gone bonkers is inspired. That said, if you had unlimited power and complete control over time, would you decide to spend your days in a purple cape-coat? I think not. 

25. Sylvie is a strong candidate for best hair (wig?) in the MCU. Loki is in the running for worst. 

26. Loki and Sylvie’s sword fight was more romantic than their kiss. If ’90s romantic comedies have taught us anything, it’s that true love means having coordinated daggers and occasionally attempting to stab each other. Still, Kang looked very interested in all the smooching; he doesn’t get out much. 

27. This is where I admit that I was not a particularly big fan of Loki as a character before the show began. His “glorious purpose” never gelled for me in the movies, and if I had to root for a selfish, out-of-touch Norse god, it was going to be Cate Blanchett’s fabulously wicked Hella. While it’s to be expected that a show focused on a single character will add new layers to his persona, I’m surprised to find myself caring about his journey. 

28. I didn’t ever expect to see Loki admitting that there are things more important than his personal experiences. The amount of growth the character has shown over the last six episodes has been admirable. It’s a bummer that he’s technically dead in the MCU, or at least scrubbed from the primary timeline. Thor might never get to see this new and improved version, though I’ve always suspected that Thor gets a real kick out of evil Loki’s antics. 

29. There are times when classically trained actors get this look on their faces like they’re just itching to deliver a soliloquy. The moment Hiddleston—who has the double whammy of being both a RADA and Cambridge graduate—gets transported back to the TVA offices, he seems ready to shout, “Is this a dagger which I see before me?!” 

30. The timeline reset has so many implications. Everyone at the Time Variance Authority had their memory erased (excepting Loki), but what does this mean for the citizens of earth? Do they get a reset too? Can we start from scratch and bring back all the characters who were gone too soon? Can we negate Ralph Bohner and have more Evan Peters? 

31. I sincerely hope that the mammoth marble statute of Jonathan Majors is a real prop and not CGI. If I were him, I would take it home and put it somewhere it would scare my neighbours. 

32. The “Loki will return in season two” end credits are very James Bond. I wanted a post-credits scene, but that will have to suffice. 

This story originally appeared on Vogue.com

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