I had no hopes for the Loki show at all, so maybe that's why I found it more tolerable than expected but, at the same time, it feels like a sci-fi version of shows like White Collar and similar, in which a talented convict is "given a chance" to work on the "right side" to catch worse evils and along the way forms a bond with their more-or-less willing working partner, which is... trite? The only interesting thing, so far (aside from TH's acting range) is the explicitly dystopian vibe of the TVA and the faint hope that the end goal would be to bring back freedom of choice, but even then, I think at Falcon&WS and how the Flag Smashers ended and feel that Marvel isn't willing to change things and put in their shows the idea that change is good and often people who fight for it with "bad" methods have good points. In a way, the TVA so far feels like a reflection of Marvel itself, from the way it treats Loki to the reasonings behind it (the Avengers not being in trouble because they stuck to the Sacred Timeline while Loki didn't feels so much like an excuse for themselves!) and of course they'd never admit they're wrong and oppressive, so I don't know if the tiny bit of optimism I have about this show has a reason to be.
Yeah, the talented convict working with good guys was not really interesting imo either. But I think episode two made things more interesting.
The only interesting thing, so far (aside from TH's acting range) is the explicitly dystopian vibe of the TVA and the faint hope that the end goal would be to bring back freedom of choice
This! I couldn't think Loki series could get even more personal for me but now it is. The vile totalitarian fascistic theme of TVA made me shake with hate and rage. It feels weird that you experience and live in a situation that are only imaginary nightmares to others. Any outcome but total destruction of TVA is going to make me seethe with rage.
I didn't even consider the possibility that it might not turn out that TVA is evil. In tfatw they didn't said change is bad. Even the heroes said Flag Smashers had a point. They message was that change should happen within system which is in line with US politics. But now that I'm thinking about it, they framed Odin and Asgard as protectors instead of colonizers until TR and even in that movie they didn't do it right. Also there was another MCU tv show called Inhumans, which was awful btw, and they had this caste system and you wouldn't know until the final episodes, why you shouldn't side with the bad guy who was against this system. This and some of interviews of Loki series have worried me now that this might happen with TVA too.
And if that happens, if TVA isn't shown to be the evil they are is not only a horrible message, but also it would be a very bad artistic choice. When reading dystopian books, and a lot of times, it ends tragically with the system winning, it supposed to shake and make you horrified that sth so terrible can happen. If the authoritarian power wins, it's not because they're good, but because they're vicious and cruel. In superhero genre, they shouldn't be shown as the good guys and they shouldn't win. I really hope this doesn't happen in Loki series.
Also, totally felt the same way that TVA is a reflection of MCU with their treatment of Loki and their stupid this-doesn't-suppose-to-happen reasoning. Like when Loki was supposed to die in TDW or end his story in IW, but every time fans brought him back.