Loki

The first two episodes of Loki (which were all that was made available for review – there are six in total), however, felt flat. The opener was a lengthy, exposition-heavy setup that felt very static, and the second spent its first half going over much the same ground. ... Still, things do perk up by the very end of the second episode.

The slow wind-up has characterized all three of Marvel's Disney+ series, but the pacing feels particularly sluggish — and the endgame, pardon the expression, elusive — watching the first two episodes of "Loki." Seeing Tom Hiddleston reprise his role as the suave Thor villain certainly has its charms, but thus far the god of mischief hasn't taken the shape of a wholly compelling concept.

Only two episodes of “Loki” were screened for critics, making it hard to know exactly how successful the 6-episode season might be in shaping its own identity within the onscreen Marvel universe. Of these first two episodes, however, the second was far more engaging. ... When Loki sighs in frustration about the TVA’s tedious overreach dictating his story when he could be doing something much more dangerous and strange, it’s hard not to agree.

At times, “Loki” feels like a Marvel clip show. ... The setting of the TVA is both interesting and purposefully bland. It’s essentially supposed to be the DMV of time and space; a hellish, boring time suck that makes one want to die, filled with annoying bureaucracy. But a much more superior, more drab, and much funnier version of this idea was already seen in Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil,” and “Loki” can’t match, update or expand of that absurdism.

Waldron and director Kate Herron throw in as many flourishes as they can to try to turn exposition into entertainment, but there’s only so much you can do after deciding to answer every single question about time travel.