Loki season 2, episode 5, “Science/Fiction,” delves into the lives of the Time Variance Authority agents before they were taken from their timelines. While exploring their backstories, it is revealed that Casey (Eugene Cordero) is actually Frank Morris.
Spoilers for Loki season 2, episode 5, “Science/Fiction,” ahead!
Last season, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) uncovered the truth behind the TVA. They learned that the organization had been created by He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) and that the agents who oversaw it were actually all variants who had been removed from their timelines. However, their minds were wiped, so they had no memories of their past lives. Once this was revealed to them, they didn’t quite know what to do with that information. Most of them continued working for the TVA, and some even went back to the more nefarious ways of the organization.
This is something that has frustrated Sylvie, as she even told Mobius (Owen Wilson) off at one point for not being more interested in learning about who he was before the TVA, or even trying to find out which timeline he came from. One episode away from the finale, Loki is finally exploring who the TVA agents—Casey, Mobius, Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku), and Ouroboros (Ke Huy Quan)—were before, and Casey in particular has an interesting backstory.
Casey’s true identity in Loki season 2
In “Science/Fiction,” it is revealed that after the Temporal Loom exploded, Loki managed to survive by time-slipping. He starts slipping into the original timelines of the TVA agents in an attempt to find them once again. While all the agents have unique backstories, the real Casey is arguably the most far-removed from his TVA counterpart. Loki finds Casey at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in 1962. But he’s not Casey in this timeline. Before he received a new identity from the TVA, he was Frank.
The timid and gentle version of Casey is gone as it turns out he’s a criminal serving time at Alcatraz. When Loki finds him, Casey and two companions are working on a plot to escape the prison. They stuff dummies in their prison beds, climb through a wall, and set out toward freedom on a small makeshift boat. Though Loki and viewers think of him as Casey, his companions call him Frank. It’s quite clear that he is meant to be Frank Morris.
Frank Morris was a real-life career criminal who started committing crimes at the age of 13. By 1960, he landed himself in Alcatraz for bank robbery and burglary. Prior to Alcatraz, Morris had managed to escape Louisiana State Penitentiary before being recaptured while committing burglary. Morris was no ordinary prisoner, as he had an IQ of 133, which is said to be borderline genius. It wasn’t long before Morris masterminded an escape plan alongside fellow Alcatraz inmates John and Clarence Anglin. The trio made papier-mâché dummies to fool guards into thinking they were in their cells. Meanwhile, the trio escaped through ventilation ducts in their cells, constructed a raft and life preservers, and set off towards Angel Island.
None of the inmates were ever found, though pieces of their raft were. It’s possible they drowned or succumbed to hypothermia while trying to get to Angel Island. However, with rumors of possible sightings, some believe they may have survived. It’s quite fun that Loki suggests the TVA took Morris, thus explaining his mysterious disappearance. Basing Casey’s true identity on a real-life unresolved criminal case also strongly parallels how Loki was revealed to be D. B. Cooper in the MCU. It will be interesting to see if any more MCU characters are hiding criminal identities.
(featured image: Disney+)
