But... Sylki’s not rushed at all?
As someone who prefers her slow-burn to last roughly 5000 years, I don’t think I understand the complaints about the romance between Loki and Sylvie being rushed and underdeveloped. Does it happen quickly? Sure. But that doesn’t necessarily equal sudden and underwritten (rewatch The Last Jedi if you want a counter-example). The speed with which the two get from “just met” to “twin flames” may be fast, but otherwise their story follows a fairly typical romantic trajectory, with all the usual steps those entail.
After meeting, they banter and act as two antagonistic snarky office workers, a standard romance trope.
More bantering as they interact during an adventure, sharing a new experience together and seeing how the other works.
As they go on, they become more open around one another, actively choosing to get to know each other better. A connection is established based on their shared sense of loss and family relationships.
Loki does a thing for no other reason than to make Sylvie happy. This is where we see an obvious romantic attraction appear as they discuss love and sex, clearly trying to sus out whether the other is dtf. Also, more banter but this time without the snarky edge.
They grow comfortable enough for the pathologically distrustful Sylvie to fall asleep in his presence and Loki to outright woo her with a song.
After Loki screws up Sylvie’s mission, he offers his support, both emotional and practical. In contrast with their first slog through the wasteland there’s no antagonism; they see themselves as partners in crime now and have a perfectly normal conversation. Upon entering the town they verbally verify trust and work as a team.
About to die, Sylvie shares her deepest pain with Loki, he expresses his admiration for her, and she initiates physical contact as they hold hands and gaze into each other’s eyes, ignoring the looming apocalypse and realizing they’re in love.
Bam, the basis of the relationship is established, escalating and deepening from there.
They are worried for one another.
They have each other’s back without thinking.
They attempt to verbalize their feelings.
Loki is Sylvie’s only good memory.
They (attempt to) engage in outright self-sacrificial heroics in order to be together again.
They contrive a scenario where they 100% need to cuddle under a blankie for science or whatever as they discuss their future together.
They refuse to leave each other’s side in a fight.
They protect each other some more.
Their bond and mutual trust help them defeat a monster, improving one another and making them realize they’re stronger together than apart.
Bad guy tempts them with a vision of a shared future, Loki refuses the notion of having power without Sylvie.
Revealed as twin souls destined to fall for one another.
A means to an end with no intent to cause harm, their fight ends with Loki expressing deep empathy with Sylvie’s suffering and pleading with her out of concern for her own wellbeing, acting out of selfless love.
Then and only then, after all this stuff, do they kiss.
It’s all there, from the flirty bickering and mutual attraction to opening up and deep bonding. Nothing is missing. The boxes are checked off fast, but they’re still there to be checked off. And the absolute best part about it is that the romance manages to stand as an element of its own and develop the characters while staying true to them and their individual stories. These new feelings don’t magically correct Sylvie’s crippling trust issues in a single blanket-sharing session and they don’t make her stray away from her mission. They’re a complicating factor and facilitate both current and future development instead of hampering it. The story takes precisely as much time developing its individual aspects as it needs to, not hesitating to put its characters in a conflict with each other if required.
So again, please, where is that rush I’m meant to dislike? Because the fact that all this happens in the span of four episodes, all the while moving the plot along, developing side characters, and seeding future plots while packing one hell of an emotional punch the entire time? That’s not rushed. That’s fucking great filmmaking, my guy.
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