I’m relieved to title this review that of a season finale and not a series finale, and that’s the only thing I knew going into this episode. As soon as I saw that the show had officially been renewed just before I had the chance to watch it, I made sure to steer clear of any possible spoilers to give myself the best possible viewing experience. This episode felt completely different from the one before it and from the rest of the series, but, as always, it’s so incredibly grounded in the moment. Opening with that animated clock was weird and unnerving, especially after the absence of the traditional chime music and the present of so many familiar lines of dialogue from other characters we haven’t seen in this show. I was absolutely thrilled to see that Jonathon Majors, who is now an Emmy nominee for a wholly different performance in “Lovecraft Country,” was playing He Who Remains, a seemingly all-powerful being who eagerly showed Loki and Sylvie transcripts of their conversations and was generally casual and complimentary when they weren’t trying to kill him. Pairing that with Mobius making his triumphant return to the TVA to confront Ravonna and Hunter B-15 offering undeniable proof that all of the TVA employees were actually variants was very interesting, not that it made what was going on all that much clearer. Loki defending He Who Remains by claiming that a liar knows when another liar is telling the truth resulted in an eye-popping duel and then a passionate kiss before Sylvie sent him back to the TVA. His panicked ramblings about a dangerous variant were nothing compared to the shock of Mobius turning around to ask him who he was, indicating that plenty has changed since Loki left, including that He Who Remains now has his face on a statue that, according to my limited Interest research to avoid going down endless black holes, may be Kang the Conqueror. I don’t know what to make of all of it but I think we’ll likely see more of this in “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” before we get around to a second season of this show anytime soon, but I’m very excited. This show has been riveting and I’m all for whatever comes next. It’s just a delight to know that we’ll see these fantastic characters again.
Season grade: A-
Season MVP: Tom Hiddleston
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