The first season of Loki came about during the initial burst of the Marvel Cinematic Universe-entangled television shows to air on the Disney Plus streaming service and quickly became a fan-favorite. It was fresh and different, and not only did it have Tom Hiddleston reprise his role as the crafty Norse god of mischief, but had him do it repeatedly for all his different versions of himself, or as the show calls them, variants.

The second season comes hot on the heels of the first, where we pick up right where we were left hanging at the end of season one. He’s back at the headquarters of the Time Variance Authority after his run-in with He-Who-Remains (Johnathan Majors) at the End of Time.

This season, Majors plays Victor Timely, a variant of his first character, meaning they are the same person, except they are not. Or rather, they could be the same person, but they don’t have to be. Suffice it to say, you really need to have seen season one to keep up. Regardless of the convolution, Majors once again up his A game as he plays the stumbling inventor version of Kang The Conqueror.

Agent Mobius is also Returning as well, still played by Owen Wilson, who gets a bit more character development this time. We get to see some cracks in his shell, and this is another side to his usual company-man personality.

Hollywood’s latest comeback kid, Ke Huy Quan, is new to the cast. as Ouroboros, or O.B. for short. He’s the TVA’s mister fix-it, practically living in the closest thing the TVA has to a basement and keeping the whole operation running.

The stakes for the season are no less grave, as now the TVA is in danger, and by extension, so is everything else, everywhen else. There’s a stronger forward momentum in the narrative compared to the first season, a bit more drive earlier to keep things going, and keeps the audience interested. There are still trips through time, such as 1893 Chicago and 1980s McDonalds, keeping up the sort of off-handed whimsy that sets it apart from the other Marvel television shows.

The production design is top-notch, with the retro-futuristic aesthetic driving home the idea of the Time Variance Authority being all business. Oppressive at times, yes, but very efficient because, well, they can’t waste time. Also, they have amazing pie, as you will see, in the quieter moments of the show.

The biggest problem I can find for the season, and for Hiddleston’s character in the foreseeable future, is that in humanizing him, Loki is becoming too much of a good person. There's nothing wrong with a villain getting a redemption arc, but some of that villain must be left afterward. Loke needs his charming narcissism, and that characteristic god-complex should still be around after the transformation. We’ll see how it goes for the rest of the season, but for the first four preview episodes, at least, he’s walking that fine line.

As a whole, Loki is the best kind of convoluted mess of time-jumping paradoxes. Fun and whimsical while not being absurd, and just serious enough to keep viewers invested. The four preview episodes kept me on a binge, and I eagerly await the last two in a few weeks.