Loki Review: For All Time. Always. (Season 1 Episode 6)

To call this a finale is a bold statement. Loki Season 1 Episode 6, “For All Time. Always.” is but a footnote in what had every chance to be a phenomenal conclusion to this season.

It’s further evidence that when given the chance to tell glorious stories on the small screen, Marvel will prioritize the promotion of its films before it will ever craft a proper ending for these spin-offs.

An infuriating lack of closure doesn’t overshadow the mesmerizing conflict of these final moments. Strong dialogue-lead storytelling and a villain capable of pulling this show out from under Loki is nothing short of cosmically brilliant television.

For the majority of the episode, it looks like Loki is going to obliterate the dreaded Disney+ finale curse. After all, WandaVision had a rushed ending to its award-nominated season. Falcon and The Winter Soldier stuck the landing but had to cut off the conflict at its knees to do so.

Each scene here offers up little in the way of violence or magic. It’s all very low-key compared to the absolute bonkers Loki-verse we just lived through. However, this episode does boast one of the most glorious and cruelest Marvel opening credits as Peggy and Steve’s song plays us into its madness.

It’s a strong opening note that allows the real winning combination of this episode — heavy-hitting actors with home-run dialogue — to take hold of the momentum.

The result is gripping dialogue-led conflict as we bounce back and forth between Sylvie and Loki’s utter confusion in the face of insanity, and Mobius and Renslayer’s own tennis match of insults.

The finale embraces the darker undertones of this plot through the allure of the Citadel at the End of Time, with its elaborate granite walls and dark marble columns. The castle’s haunting elegance is captured beautifully by a kaleidoscope of lighting.

Top off the spooky elements with a Miss Minutes jumpscare and you have a finale that’s easy on the eyes, and a thrill for the heart.

The Curse Continues

Alas, our savior doesn’t quite make it as Loki chooses to leave a huge chunk of the plot open-ended and create even more world-building chaos in its final moments.

Marvel is reshaping how we consume television. However, closure is a natural progression of their blockbuster films, and it needs to be here as well. It doesn’t matter if you write and direct the perfect episode; if you don’t give viewers some form of closure to a seasonal arc, they won’t leave satisfied.

It’s one thing to end this season on a cliffhanger with the promise of a second season. It’s another thing to weave promising story threads together, only to abandon them.

The multiverse reveal gives the illusion of productivity, yet nothing leaves a major impact on the show itself. Not for the characters we care about and certainly not for the iron-clad season this series found purpose in.

This finale does wonders for Marvel’s upcoming films, but it hardly leaves this story on the most fulfilling note. I’m sorry Loki, but chaos without reason isn’t clever, it’s just unpleasant.

We’re All Villians Here

A new competitor has entered the arena of phenomenal Phase 4 villains and his name is Kang the Conqueror.

The episode boldly decides to sideline everyone, including our two lead Lokis, and give itself over entirely to Jonathan Majors. What a brilliant decision that is!

With Loki giving up his pursuit for power in search of real purpose, someone had to take the throne. But who could have predicted Kang would claim it so easily from beneath our God of Mischief.

He doesn’t just chew up the scenery, he molds it with spectacular unhinged and word-vomiting dialogue; only to tear everything down when he grows bored of his own antics. His egotistical nonsense eats up this finale’s entire run time and yet we hang onto every single word because he’s just that good.

Majors is mesmerizing, and a bull in a china shop of chaotic monologues and captivating delivery that changes in a heartbeat. He’s unpredictable, he’s terrifying, and he’s everything this franchise needs.

Kang is the embodiment of chaos, and Majors is the entire moment. For that, I’m grateful not even Loki himself gets a word in edge-wise.

Lokis Always Be Lying

This finale does not give us much in the way of Loki. Yes, a strange choice for the show named after him. That said, this episode does give us more of the dynamic between Loki and Sylvie.

Watching the two tricksters debate whether they should trust Kang’s claim that killing him will unleash his variants on the multiverse is fascinating stuff.

It’s a theme that runs through the core of who Loki is fundamentally and amounts to one of the coolest slow-motion battles, complete with illusions and elaborate blade combat. It’s a total Loki special!

Sylvie: Why aren’t we seeing this the same way?
Loki: Because you can’t trust… and I can’t be trusted.

This episode does a masterful job of demonstrating how much Loki has grown during these six episodes as he outright refuses a dictator’s promise of power, only to have Sylvie’s reluctance to believe he’s changed fuel that bittersweet feeling.

It’s difficult to invest in Loki and Sylvie romantically, but it’s clever to have the one “pure of heart” trickster use Loki’s tactics against him to gain the upper hand. Sylvie’s desire for revenge may not be a throne, but it’s a lust for power all the same and one hidden well.

Not only does the female love interest chose revenge over a man, but just as Loki learns to trusts someone, they use that very trust against him. It’s sad in the way good character conflict can be.

This Isn’t Goodbye. It’s See You Soon

“For All Time. Always.” is television at its finest, and would continue to be fine if it didn’t ignore its duties as a season finale.

A supercharged cast and expansive setting bring this gothic time mystery to life in immensely enthralling ways. However, there’s not nearly enough Loki. There’s only the first act of a much longer play — one we didn’t realize was being postponed.

How ironic it is that the show with control over time itself ultimately didn’t have enough to tell a proper ending. For all time? Always? Not from where I’m standing.

Sure, if this is what we have to consider as bad television these days, then we’re really in no place to complain. The problem with giving us a show undeniably worthy of Loki’s legacy is we’ve come to expect better than this.

What did you think of the season finale of Loki? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Season 1 of Loki is streaming now on Disney Plus.

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