Loki Season 2 Episode 5 Gives Loki His Own Infinity War Tragedy
This post contains spoilers for the latest episode of "Loki."
In terms of sheer existential dread, I think the idea of all your friends turning into floating strands of spaghetti has Thanos' Snap beaten by a mile. The latest episode of "Loki" ventured into both familiar and unfamiliar territory this week, showing us (and the trickster god himself) the lives of select TVA agents outside of the TVA before cruelly pulling them away during a disturbing unmaking scene. Though the moment was brief, the way that Loki's world temporarily imploded called to mind one of Marvel's most memorable moments — albeit, in a much creepier way.
The temporary timeline death that takes place at the end of "Science/Fiction" doesn't exactly feel like a direct callback to the Snap, but it does mimic the moment from "Avengers: Infinity War" in key ways. Thanos' decision to delete half the life on earth didn't result in an immediate undoing of all our favorite heroes; instead, they got to quite literally fade out while sharing some poignant last thoughts, like when Tom Holland's Peter Parker said, "I don't want to go." The TVA branch death scene is similarly emotionally torturous as it allows each character just enough time to realize that they've reached their end, but not enough time to do anything about it. Plus, the solution to both problems is related to time travel.
A blip, Benson and Moorhead-style
For some characters, this is more upsetting than others. While Ke Huy Quan's OB is more curious than bothered by his disassembly, using the last seconds to note that "it was a fiction problem" after all, Owen Wilson's Mobius is a lot less willing to go gently into the night. Mobius — or Don, as he's called in the real world — thinks of his sons at the last moment, even making a move toward the door as if he can run to them in time. It's sad, but because it's a show with as much topsy-turvy narrative logic as "Loki," the group ends up right as rain only moments later. And because this season is overseen by sci-fi and horror creatives Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the scene comes across as more trippy or scary than heartbreaking.
Take the first undoing scene, for example. Sylvie (Sophia di Martino) grabs a pair of headphones and sinks into an oversized record store couch, collapsing into her surroundings as "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" by The Velvet Underground begins to play. It's in this moment that the world around her starts to come apart. A customer walking in the front door blips away, then the store owner's coffee mug disappears.
New fear unlocked: sudden spaghetti people
Soon, the hot coffee itself is being pulled into strips, as if an unseen machine is yanking it apart at the seams in mid-air. Coffee doesn't have seams, though, and soon the scene takes on the feeling of a psychedelic drug trip gone wrong. It feels just right coming from the guys who brought us movies like "The Endless" and "Something in the Dirt." It also feels scary on some primal, indescribable level.
There are arguments to be made that some Marvel properties would be better confined to the pages of a comic, but these undoing scenes are proof that the opposite can also be true. The slithering, strange visual of a person exploded into shreds (human Big League Chew is another uncomfortable comparison that comes to mind for me) can only be so impactful when explained away in the next comic panel. Here, the scenes get room to breathe, and the result is surprising, sad, and undeniably eerie. They're like the Snap on the surface, but they're also so much weirder. Mobius, OB, and the rest of the crew may be okay, but I'm not sure I am; thanks, "Loki," for this funky little bit of nightmare fuel.
The "Loki" season 2 finale will premiere on Disney+ on November 9, 2023, at 9pm EST.