Just watched, which is out of character for someone that has midnight released most marvel movies (having a toddler, busy at work, and going to see my first movie in theaters since end game last night kept me from streaming).
This was a solid 9.5 out of 10 so far. Thoughts;
Acknowledgment and interaction with the current MCU was at the forefront, which I love as it is making everything tie together.
Hiddleston is legit a part of this character and may be the best cast marvel actor (RDJr, Cumberbatch, and Pratt being the other contenders... may add Owen Wilson by the end of this)
The TVA is both necessary (as we know so far) and terrifying.
Loki watching Frida die, Odin assimilate, and himself die, was by far one of the most impactful character moments in the MCU. The fact that it all happened within 10 minutes (much less if you count the reviewing of fridas death with the others) is kind of cheapening those moments, but somehow they made it work like gangbusters.
The infinity stone box seemed kind of overkill. I know we have to get the point that the TVA is supreme and that supernatural/magic/universal truths are no more, but that seemed a little like if Indiana Jones opened the Ark of the Covenant and walked around reading intact tablets. The enormity of the devices a decade of movies revolves around being reduced to "paperweights" was kind of that too much. This is my biggest nitpick on what otherwise was an amazing episode 1
My theory is that this "evil Loki variant" is actually still the same Loki we've watched so far sent by Mobius to either take down the TVA or recalibrate the timeline. I surmise we eventually see both Loki's team up (possibly with infinite other magic Loki projections) fight together to reach this goal.
I really hope this doesn't start the multiverse as I think it's going to cheapen it with this setting (too easy). I hope Loki ends up fighting with alternate Loki to make one true timeline in this series, only for that to be one upped by a villain (or even by accident) in a Dr Strange or GOTG film. Dark horse is an alternate universe Stark and Banner getting sidetracked in an experiment or attempted creation gone wrong after the timekeepers or TVA is ended by Mobius/Loki