Review: Thor: Love and Thunder

 What's better than a Thor? Two Thors!

Let’s talk Love and Thunder. The fourth solo film of the Thor franchise is the second directed by Taika Waititi. When we last left Thor, he’d been suffering from a severe depression form the events of Avengers: Infinity War, having gained a lot of weight and spent the five years after the battle drunk. He rejoined the Avengers to help undo Thanos’ snap, traveling through time with Rocket Raccoon to get a past version of the Reality Stone that was within Jane Foster. While in Asgard, Thor ran into his mother, who’s witch vision informed her that this was a time traveling version of her oldest son. The gut was a bit of a clue too, but magic helped. She gave her son the advice to try to be the man that he wants to be and not who she and his father wanted him to be. He reclaimed Mjolnir from his past self, confirming he's still worthy. In the present, Thor battled a time traveling Thanos with Captain America and Iron Man. When all seemed lost, the rest of the MCU’s heroes arrived and they did battle with Thanos, finally killing him and his forces with the sacrifice of Iron Man. After the battle, Thor decided to follow his mother’s advice, leaving Valkyrie as the official King of Asgard. He left earth with the Guardians of the Galaxy, clearly to Peter Quill’s annoyance, in search of said purpose.  We pick up with him there. Let’s get to it.

 

It's a good group.

We open Love and Thunder, not with Thor, but with Gorr. Gorr was the last survivor of his people along with his young daughter. Gorr spent his days praying Rapu, his God, as he and his daughter suffered in the desert. His daughter eventually dies, and Gorr buries her body. He starts hearing something call out to him and travels deeper into the desert. He finds an Oasis where Rapu is having a party with his pantheon. Gorr expects to be rewarded for his faith and the resurrection of his daughter and people, but Rapu is uninterested in him. Turns out, they’re celebrating the defeat of a warrior wielding All-Black the Necrosword. Gorr tries to convince Rapu that without followers, he’s not really a god, but Rapu claims that there are always more worshippers. Gorr denounces his God, pissing him off. Rapu starts strangling him, saying his sacrifice will serve his god. The Necrosword comes to Gorr’s hand and he uses it on Rapu, killing him. The God-Butcher is born.

 

We rejoin Thor, whom is on an adventure with the Guardians of the Galaxy. With some info dumping from future narrator Korg, we learn that Thor had spent time exercising, reclaiming his svelte physique. He tries to meditate under an alien tree, until he’s called in by the Guardians to help them clear out a group of alien Owl bandits that stole the native’s temple. Thor easily dispatches the aliens, but ends up destroying the temple much to the natives distress. They do thank Thor for this help, saying that they had lost the temple after the death of their god. They thank the Thor by giving him two giant goats. This is a reference to Thor’s actual giant goats that pull him around the universe in mythology, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr aka Teethbearer and Teethgrinder. While looking through new distress calls, there are an insane amount across the universe, Thor sees his ex and friend Lady Sif sending one. Thor bids Farewell to the Guardians, they seem “okay” with him going, and leave him with the Goats. Thor takes them and his friend Korg across the galaxy via Bifrost Bridge to Sif. They find her beside the colossal body of the dead god Falligar The Behemoth. Sif seems okay with dying in battle as it lets her go to Valhala, but Thor tells her she’ll officially die after the battle, which doesn’t count. But her arm, her left arm had been severed above the elbow, might. She warns him of Gorr the God Butcher and Thor decides to take her to New Asgard to get help.

 

Batman with a death sword, oh no.

Meanwhile, we learn that Jane Foster is going through treatment for stage IV cancer. Darcy and Erik Selvig have cameos as Jane’s support system that are trying to help her. But unfortunately, they can’t find any way to cure her or speed her recovery. Desperate, Jane remembers some things she heard about Mjolnir and decides to visit New Asgard. Since Endgame, New Asgard has been turned into a lively tourist attraction. We get to see the death of Odin and Loki and Thor’s first battle against Hela retold by the Asgardians that looks suspiciously like Sam Neil, Luke Hemsworth, Matt Damon and, shockingly, Melissa McCarthy. It’s once again so bad it’s good. She makes it to the shrine they built around Mjolnir. Funnily, since no one could lift it, they excavated the area to make the pedestal it sits upon and the amphitheater for it. As Jane gets close to it, the fragments start to glow.

 

That night, Gorr attacks New Asgard, using the Necrosword to create giant monsters made of shadow. Thor, Korg and Sif arrive to help hold them off. When he sees Mjolnir flying in the air again, Thor tries to catch it, but it returns to the Mighty Thor, Jane Foster. She shows off a new power of Mjolnir after it’s shattering, that it can split into shrapnel and bombard her enemies.

 

"I still love my ex" face.

Future Narrator Korg breaks in to explain that Thor and Jane had an intense and loving relationship, but it fizzled out given their busy schedules and their fears of intimacy. But during their courtship, Thor tells Mjolnir that he wants the hammer to look after Jane always, it flashes with light to tell us Thor either intentionally or unintentionally added an enchantment to it.

 

They drive off the Necrosword constructs, but they discover he’d used the attack as a cover allowing him to kidnap the children of Asgard. Thor meets with Valkyrie and the rest of New Asgard to try to figure out where the kids are. They get a big help from Axl, formerly Astrid, son of Heimdall. He’s developed his father’s vision-based power and reached out to Thor. Thor uses the spell that Heimdall taught him long ago to astral project to the kids. He tells them to be brave and he’ll come to save them, and confirms that they’re in the Shadow Realm. Knowing that Gorr will be extremely powerful there, Thor proposes he goes to Omnipotence City, the city of gods for help. He tries to Bifrost himself, but Stormbreaker seems to be acting up. Jane suggests that they anchor Stormbreaker to help steady the bridge. Valkyrie has a tour boat gutted, they put Stormbreaker at it’s head and have Thor’s goats pull the boat.

 

While they prepared that, we get a scene alone with Jane. In her room, she lets go of Mjolnir, and without it in her hand or otherwise connected to her, she reverts to her extremely sickly human form. Valkyrie comes to get her, just after Jane pulls the hammer back to her and shatters her sink.

 

Omnipotence City is neat.

They travel to Omnipotence City. Fearing being spotted, they sneak in by stealing the clothes from other gods and enter the grand meeting room. Omnipotence City is run by Zeus, played by Russel Crowe. Thor tries to get Zeus to help against Gorr, but Zeus doesn’t believe him to be a serious threat to them. He disinvites Thor to the god Orgy and when Thor continues to struggle, he orders him imprisoned. Thor and his friends do battle with Zeus’ guards. In the battle, Zeus destroy’s Korg’s body with his Thunderbolt. His face remains intact, though and that’s enough for his species to survive. Thor gets the Thunderbolt and throws it through Zeus’ chest. They call the Goats and bid a hasty retreat.

 

Valkyrie should get the bolt back. Just saying.

Thor and co travel to the Shadow Realm, Thor learning that Jane has cancer on the way their and they rekindle their relationship. They arrive on a dead planet in the Shadow Realm. They find a tent that Gorr has sent up. They split up and search. Jane finds papers detailing Gorr’s plan and tries to warn them but is a bit too late to do more than fling Stormbreaker into space. Gorr’s plan is to steal Stormbreaker and use it’s ability to open a Bifrost Bridge to Eternity. It’s an ancient place that any person who reaches can ask a boon of and they realize that Gorr will ask for the extinction of the Gods. Gorr captures them all and strangles Jane and Valkyrie to try to force Thor to call Stormbreaker back. Thor does, freeing his allies and they battle Gorr and his monsters. The fighting proves too much for them, and Thor tries to Bifrost them away. But, Gorr grabs Stormbreaker at the last second and rips it away from him.

 

Back on New Asgard, they learn that constantly using Mjolnir and being in her Asgardian form has aggravated Jane’s cancer, as the transformation makes Chemo ineffective. It’s effectively a poison and Mjolnir protects her from it. Thor tells Jane to stay behind and recover. Jane wants to fight with him but he begs her to stay back because he loves her. Valkyrie is too injured to go with, either so Thor takes the Thunderbolt and uses it to follow Gorr.

 

Sooo many Thors.

Gorr has the Asgardian children with him as he uses the Stormbreaker to break the door to Eternity. Thor arrives. Knowing that he can’t protect the kids from the Shadow monsters and fight Gorr directly, he tells the kids to gather rubble and debris, anything they can use as a weapon. Using his own magic, Thor places Odin’s enchantment on these items, including a bunny, to temporarily imbue the children with the Power of Thor. They fight the monsters while Thor battles Gorr. Jane, sensing Thor is losing his fight, does what any hero would, summoning Mjolnir to herself, transforming and using Valkyrie’s winged horse to Bifrost herself into the fray. So, it’s Thor and Mighty Thor vs. the God Butcher. See the movie if you want to see how it goes.

 

The good first. Everyone in this film is giving 100%. It’s great to see Chris Hemsworth back as Thor. They walked a fine line with Thor in this one. He’s constantly smiling, constantly making jokes, but you just… sense that he’s hurting. He’s in pain, he’s angry, but putting on a brave face because Thor is brave. There’s a pretty good joke where he keeps trying to get Mjolnir back to him, and Stormbreaker comes at him like an angry current significant other. It was also good to see Tessa Thompson and Taika Waititi as Valkyrie and Korg respectively. I loved seeing Natalie Portman back as Jane. Especially after she was just kind of written out of Thor 3. She’s obviously nervous, loving the new power but terrified about her illness and showing vulnerability, especially to Thor. Christian Bale is amazing as Gorr the God Butcher. You get his anger, and his, justifiable, hatred against gods. There’s a scene that I could remember exactly where it occurred, but he’s taking the kids to the Shadow Realm, appears before them and mutilates one of his shadow monsters in front of them to terrify them. He’s furious and going to burn all gods to get hi revenge. Also, loved Russel Crowe as Zeus. He’s a goofy little bastard but is really closer to Zeus as he appeared in Myth than most other Zeus’. I laughed out loud when he reveals Thor by flicking Thor’s robes off, ripping off his under clothes as well, and the other gods on the platform with Zeus pass out when they see Thor’s… Gungnir. “You flicked too hard, damn it!” He also has a nice tattoo on his back in memorial to Loki. I’d like to think TVA Loki will see that and feel… odd about it.

 

The bad is minimal but there. The movie honestly wastes Gorr in this. Christian Bale is amazing, but he doesn’t appear in this enough. He has maybe 5 scenes where he gets to bust out his acting chops. The humor is fine in most of the film but goes a little too hard in places. Like when Thor is fighting the alien bandits in the beginning and there’s a long lingering scene showing him doing a Jean-Claude van Damme split kick when two of them try to ram him which just messes with me. And, while I liked seeing Jane Foster’s Mighty Thor in this, I wanted more. Much more. Like, where was this Disney+ show, Marvel? Give us six episodes of Jane learning how to use her powers while also dealing with her deteriorating body and I’d have watched it all in prep for this. So yeah, it’s biggest weakness is not fully utilizing it’s all star cast in my opinion.

 

Oh, also, loved the after-credit scene. In it, Zeus is being treated for his chest wound and lamenting the fact that somehow being a God has become less impressive than being a Superhero. He blames Thor for this and tasks his son, Hercules, with killing Thor and showing the universe not to trifle with the gods. And Hercules is being played by Brett Goldstien aka Roy F***ing Kent.

 

Overall, I liked Thor: Love and Thunder. Not as much as Thor: Ragnarok, but more so than the firsts two films. It’s funny, action packed, and has a lot of heart. While not utilized to his full potential, Gorr the God Butcher is a solid antagonist that you want to see beaten but totally get why he’s doing what he’s doing even if you don’t agree with it. He’s in agony over a loss that I would not wish on my worst enemy and has the power to punish those that wouldn’t help his child when they had the chance. I can total get wanting to massacre them all. They had a great version of Mighty Thor in this one and I wouldn’t be upset if they brought her back in at some point in the future. Thor, I think, is in a much better place now than he was at the end of Endgame and I’m looking forward to him facing off against Hercules someday. It’s always a treat to see the top Gods from different pantheons get a chance to brawl like those two guys love to do. I think next time we’ll be getting back into X-Men: Evolution. See you then. 

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Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero

Viewer Log: Ms. Marvel ep 6

Escape from New Jersey 

Last time on Ms. Marvel, we got a brief history of Aisha. We quickly covered the six or seven years she spent in India, meeting, falling in love with Hasan and having Sana. Things got complicated as the violence increased around the Partition, and Najma finding her and demanding they use the bangle to get home. Aisha and her family flee, but Najma follows and stabs her at the train station. Using her connection to the bangle and the last of her strength, Aisha pulled Kamala back in time to help Sana. Kamala helped her young grandmother return to her father, making the trail of stars Sana spoke of to lead her. In the present, a portal opened through the Veil to the Noor dimension. But it’s unstable and it kills the Clandestines that try to use it. Najma tries to risk it, but Kamala pleads with her not to leave Kamran alone. Najma still approaches the portal, but uses her Noor to seal it, and transfer energy to Kamran back in Jersey, giving him power. Kamala, Muneeba and Sana bond after the ordeal, and the Matriarchs learning of Kamala’s powers. Back in Jersey, Kamran seeks Bruno’s help. He reluctantly gives it, but they’re spied by a Damage Control Drone which destroys the Circle Q when Kamran destroys it. Enough recapping let’s get to it.

 

Episode 6: No Normal

 

We open with Deever and other Damage Control agents investigating the Circle Q explosion. She says this is what happens when the wrong people get powers, claiming she means teenagers when her partner gives her the “did what you say what I think you said?” look. Also completely ignoring it was their weaponized drone that did the actual damage. She orders the city get locked down and the use of non-lethal rounds, to capture the kid alive and figure out what he is.

 

Meanwhile, Kamran and Bruno are on the train and trying to head upstate. A situation made complicated by Kamran’s powers being unstable right now. His hands are coated in shining Noor, and spreads to things he touches. Damage Control tarts catching up to them, they try to run, but Kamran gets shoved, and he makes a spike of hard light Noor, damaging the train. They keep running as Damage Control follows.

 

Yusuf is a good dad, I like his relationship with
both of his children.

At that moment, Kamala is home with her family, Muneeba passing out souvenirs to everyone as Kamala gets their attention for an announcement. She tells them she’s the girl with powers, to no one’s shock. Turns out, Muneeba told Yusuf, and Aamir and Tyesha heard because Yusuf like most men his age always keeps his phone on speaker. They are all very excited for her, though and they’re all proud of her, so that helps not getting to blow their minds. Also, love that they aren’t doing the secret identity thing with her family. Nakia falls Aamir, as she didn’t know Kamala was back yet, and informs her that Bruno is missing, and Circle Q exploded. Damn

 

Kamala tries to call Bruno but only gets voice mail. Her mother comes in and tells her she’s not going anywhere… not dressed like that. Kamala opens the gift Muneeba has for her, which turns out to be her own costume. Made from the various materials she’d picked up on her journey, or at least close lookalikes, and made in Pakistan. Kamala suits up and runs via platforms in the sky to the downtown area.

 

Kamala has a solid crew, not going to lie.

Bruno and Kamran make it to Kamala’s mosque where they meet up with Nakia. They assumed that a place of worship would offer them sanctuary, Nakia points out this is an American mosque and that pretty much every government agency down to the department of sanitation probably is watching them. Whoops. She tells them to go to the high school when the coast is clear, and she’ll call Kamala. Because it’s the only place guaranteed to be empty on a Saturday.

 

Deever and her team arrive at the mosque, demanding IDs from everyone present, all of whom have theirs out before she’s finished talking. It’s sad how accurate that probably is to real life. Sheik Abdullah comes in and lets her know that, based on her search perimeters of male, 16-25, Pakistani or Arab, they’ll be looking for a while as that’s most of the people here. And that they should feel free to have a cookie while they work. Sheikh Abdullah quotes Abe Lincoln at her as they go searching. Nakia distracts them by acting super suspicious about a hall closet, only for it to be another of her friends, Miguel. He was at the party in the second episode, and you’d be shocked at how hard I had to look for that name. She claims is her secret boyfriend to explain her attempt to hid him. Meanwhile, the Sheikh pulls Kamran and Bruno from a secret closet and leads them to the door. He gives them hats as they go, and advice to Kamran that ‘Just because someone treats you as their enemy doesn’t give you the right to treat them as yours.” Outside, they run into the suited up Kamala. She and Bruno hug as Kamran’s powers grown more unstable and he starts causing shockwaves. He hears his mothers voice , and he tells them he’s feeling like he’s being crushed from the inside out. They run.

 

Damage Control cordons off the area as they make it to the high school. Kamala sends them ahead and calls Kareem. She begs him to help Kamran sneak him out of town. Kareem agrees, reluctantly, saying they just need to get Kamran to the harbor by midnight.

 

They get into the high school and meet up with Nakia. There is an awkward moment as Nakia and Kamala talk about the whole hero thing, but they’re interrupted by Damage Control’s arrival. She tries to get the others to leave, but Damage Control has messed with everyone a little so they’re not leaving. Also, Zoe joins them and informs them about Damage Control trying to make her turn on Kamala. Turns out the theater has good lighting and Kamala has the easiest to guess secret identity since Tony Stark.

 

They are really cute, if I'm being honest.

Kamala makes a convoluted plan to distract the DODC to get Kamran out. Aamir also shows up as Muneeba told him to look after his sister, to her annoyance. They’re going to use a bunch of things like the science lab chemical explosion that Kamala did in episode one and something with Nakia and a bunch of softballs to distract DODC long enough to get Kamran out. This is obviously too much stuff for them to do in the time that it looks like they had left, but this is somewhat waved away by Deever having to get approval from her superior Agent Clearly. Something she’s not getting because apparently attacking a high school is frowned upon. He orders her to pull back, but she refuses.

 

Nakia and Zoe bond a little. Zoe revealing that she kept Kamala’s secret because she saved her life at Avenger Con and that she wanted to give Kamala the chance to tell the world when she was ready. Kamala pulls Bruno to the side and explains to him what happened to Najma, while Aamir grills Kamran on what he was doing with his sister and if he even likes Great British Bake off like he claimed to explain his English accent when he was “Cousin Kamran.” Bruno tells Kamala to keep Najma’s fate quite until they get out of there. The doors get breached by DODC soldiers. They get close to a device, they think it’s a bomb, but when they try to run it starts playing an Urdu song and drops a disco ball. While the DODC is dealing with minor inconveniences, Zoe is using her online presence to live stream what’s happening at the high school. The goons are chasing their target, a teen in a red hoodie and a baseball cap, not realizing until its too late that they’re dealing with multiple targets. They get led into the science lab, where a bunch of goons are caught in a slime explosion. Kamala and Kamran try to stay unnoticed and run into Gabe’s office. While they hide, they hold hands. The agents get drawn away as Kamran and Kamala’s Noor energies mix. They almost kiss when Bruno runs in and tells them they need to run. Kamran takes a moment to stop and thank him as they run. Bruno draws more goons to him and does a little dance so they tackle him. Nakia leads her group through the gym where she, Zoe, and Aamir fire baseballs via pitching machine. This lasts for a few moments before they’re captured.

 

As Kamala and Kamran try to escape, he starts asking questions. He’s not thrilled about being protected by Red Daggers and asks where the Clandestines and his mother are. A DODC goon bursts in. Kamran tries to blast him, but Kamala blocks him, everyone being knocked back by the shockwave. Kamala tells him what happened to his mom, and he doesn’t take it well. More DODC goons show up, and Kamran crushes them with lockers before trying to crush them. Kamala stops him with a giant hand but gets knocked back as she runs.

 

Yeah, huge hands!

Outside, a huge crowd has gathered and taking photos. DODC keeps them back as Kamran comes out. He’s pissed off and not willing to cooperate. He summons Noor, and blocks when they try to shoot him. He blocks for a few seconds but then Kamala leaps in to save him when his shield breaks. Deevers calls off the shots but then has them activate a sonic cannon that knocks them back. S they charge up another shot, Kamala gets up and does her comic catch phrase “embiggen” to encase herself in a full suit of Noor energy. She jumps up and smashes down, destroying the sonic cannon. She throws shields at DODC guys to knock them back. Kamran gets up and uses his Noor Hard Light to knock DODC goons around. He nearly kills Deever by shoving a car at her, it misses, flies up and nearly crushes the crowd, but Kamala grabs it and throws it back. Deever pulls a gun on Kamran, who fires off a shockwave of Noor, knocking everyone back and causing spiked vines to grow from his body. Kamala, still in her Embiggen armor, walks toward him. Once close enough, she blocks him with her own Noor, encasing them in a sphere. Kamran tells her that these people won’t accept them, and his mother was right, they’ll never be “home” here. Kamala says that Najma chose him in the end, giving everything that she had to protect him. When he asks how he can live a normal life now with all of this, she says that there is no normal, you just have to live life. She makes a tunnel for him to escape and says she’ll hold them off. The field drops and the crowd rushes to protect Kamala from Damage Control, including the normal cops. While they distract the DODC, Kamala gets into the air and runs away on her platform. Clearly gets in contact with Deever, telling her she’s in big trouble and that another team is on the way to fix her mess and she needs to pull out.

 

We get a bunch of TikTok videos of people reacting to the show. Including Nakia and Zoe clearly being friendly with each other. These were all watched by Kamala. She looks at herself in the mirror and looks extremely proud as she does the superhero hands on hips stance. She goes out to the roof, to look at the stars. Yusuf joins her. He asks what she’s going to go by, she says she’s still figuring it out, and he agrees they’re all figuring things out. We’re shown quick flashes of everyone, Bruno walking around in a Caltech shirt making his choice clear, Aamir explaining to Tyesha and Muneeba an (exaggerated) tail of his heroics, Nakia giving Sheik Abdullah a list of repairs and upgrades they can do for the mosque, and Kamran meeting with Kareem in Karachi. That’s going to be awkward, if they both talk about Kamala, just saying. Yusuf tells her that in just helping one person, she is saving the world. He then tells her the origin of her name. Just judging from the age difference between her and Aamir, you can guess they had trouble conceiving. It was so bad that they’d almost given up hope when Kamala came along. As she was perfect in their eyes, they used Kamal as it means perfect in Arabic. He then goes onto explain that in Urdu, Kamal means something more like Wonder or… Marvel. Hearing that her name in Urdu is the same as Carol Freaking Danvers, excites her. Yusuf says that he doesn’t know who that is, but to him, she’s always been their own Ms. Marvel. Oh, that’s a name. As she goes off to do hero stuff by platforming, Yusuf says to himself “Magic, absolute Magic.”

This is a damn neat shot.

 

We’re shown Kamala sitting on a streetlight, looking at Jersey. We time jump to a week later, with Kamala meeting with Bruno and Nakia in Kamran’s car. Bruno claims that Kamran gave it to him, specifically, as they bonded in the last day they were together. After some teasing on who is going to get the car, Bruno tells Kamala that he was looking at her test results again. Dude, that sounds creepy. Anyway, he was looking at her results as Aamir was asking if he might have power too. He compared Kamala to the rest of her family and there was something different to her genes, like a… Mutation. Oh my. Kamala, not realizing the gravity of that statement says it’ll just be another label and asks for the keys. Nakia is already in the driver’s seat; having stolen the keys and they drive off.

 

I'd probably have a similar look if I found myself in
a room that's basically a shrine to me.

In the post credit scene, Kamala is in her room when the bangle starts glowing. She looks at it, and disappears in a flash of light, ramming through her closest. Carol Danvers gets out of the closet in her place and is probably shocked to see the shrine to her. She says Oh no and runs off. I can imagine Muneeba’s reaction to this. “AH! What is this white woman doing here?”

 

Overall, I liked Ms. Marvel. I still think that episodes 4 and 5 were a digression that really should have been a season 2, but that’s my one big gripe. I liked seeing Kamala’s suit finally come together. I think the origin here might be better than in the comics. In the comics, her original costume was a “burkini” that she and Bruno modified with some super mega glue he made to make it sturdier and yet bend with her body. In the show, it has a little bit of everything she’s gathered and formed into a suit. Also love that they made it clear the lightning bolt on her costume is in the shape of her Arabic name. It’s a nice touch. The… Home Alone vibe of the final fight is a bit odd, but again I can forgive it. The final struggle with Kamran does boil down to two people with the same powers wrestling with each other, which isn’t the best, but I do like her message that there’s no normal, you just need to keep going was a good one. Getting to see Kamala embiggen was nice, too, but I wish they’d set up her catch phrase before this point. Again, I liked that the show isn’t having Kamala keep a secret identity from her family. From the populace at large, I get keeping your ID a secret. But, I would 100% tell my folks and siblings, since they can be aware that they’ll need to be on the look out for weirdos in spandex. The cast gave 1000% for this one, and I’m glad we’re going to get more Kamala Khan in the Marvels next year. Also, yes, in the MCU continuity, they’re implying that Kamala Khan is a capital M Mutant. A member of Homo Superior. It’s a significant departure from the comics, but I kind of get using one of the biggest characters in modern comics to prepare people for one of the biggest paradigms shift that will be the comic of Mutants. Also, I know and care who the Inhumans are, but the vast majority of people don’t. Yes, even after the show and Black Bolt being in Dr. Strange 2. So long as they don’t try to retcon Kamala being a Mutant in the comics, I see no harm in this. She’s not the first character to have her powers heavily modified. This show has me hyped for the Marvels, which I guess Is the point. We’ll see where that after credit’s scene is going then. Have a good night, tomorrow is Love and Thunder. 

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Viewer Log: Ms. Marvel ep 5

Time traveling shenanigans. 

Last time on Ms. Marvel, Kamala and her mother visited her grandmother in Karachi. While Kamala tries to learn about her history and her Great-Grandmother, she does a little sightseeing and ends up being attacked by a Red Dagger. The Red Dagger, later revealed to be named Kareem, and Kamala fight, but eventually get to talking and Kareem brings her to meet his master, Waleed. Waleed explains some of the history of the Clandestine and how the Red Daggers have been protecting humanity from various Djinn for centuries. He also explains that breaking the veil between Earth and the Noor dimension will lead to the destruction of the Earth dimension. While this is happening, mama Muneeba and Grandma Sana start to mend their relationship a little. The Clandestine escape from Supermax prison and make it across the planet to Karachi and attack Kamala and the Red Daggers. A chase across Karachi begins but ends with Waleed getting stabbed to death by Najma. Kamala and Kareem face off against he Clandestine, Kareem killing one of them. Enraged, Najma attacks Kamala, striking her bangle and seemingly breaking the space/time continuum. Kamala wakes up in 1942 India, the night her grandmother and great-grandfather left India and her great-grandma Aisha disappeared. Damn. Enough recapping let’s get to it.

 

Episode 5: Time and Again

 

Great-Gammy is terrifying.

We open with a history lesson about India being freed from British rule and the beginning of the Partition. We then jump to Aisha, Kamala’s Great-Grandma running from a hunter that she then kills with her knives. Aisha walks to a nearby village, where she sees a young man with a cane and stiff leg orating to his neighbors that they shouldn’t go along with the British plan to move them out of their homes. Soldiers arrive and force them to disperse. Aisha keeps walking and looking about, she eventually falls asleep in a field of flowers. She awoken by the man with the lame leg, who offers her food and a place to stay for a bit if she wants it. She does take him up on the offer and he goes about wooing her. Huh, so Kamala’s Great-Grandpa Hasan has something in common with Arthur Curry’s father Thomas, they both fall in love with a weird woman that they find on their property. Time passes and Aisha and Hasan bond, Aisha giving Hasan a proper walking stick, and Hasan helping Aisha conceive Sana. Ha, sorry, couldn’t resist. Years later, Hasan listens to the radio and hears about all the fighting the Partition is causing while Aisha sings to Sana, who is playing with the bangle in her crib. Aisha says they’ll get through this, but Hasan looks angry. A neighbor stops by giving them milk and some groceries, which pisses Hasan off something fierce. Apparently, in the last few weeks their rose business has been dying and others are refusing to sell them food, due to Hasan being Muslim and the British induced religious tension. Aisha apologizes for Hasan, but then gets pulled away when she sees someone in their garden. She finds Najma waiting for her. Najma is obviously upset with Aisha for hiding from them for five or so years. Najma hugs her and then insists that they put the plan to go home into action. Aisha clearly doesn’t want to go back to Noor anymore, as her home is with her family, but she tells Najma that she’ll retrieve the bangle from her special hiding place in a few days. Najma gives her until sundown tomorrow.

 

This is a very sweet family, it breaks my heart to
think they're not going to be together much longer.

Aisha hurriedly convinces Hasan that they need to run while they can. She gives Sana the bangle, saying it’ll keep her safe wherever they go. They hurry to the train, Hasan struggling to keep up with his injured leg. Aisha just tells him to keep up since this is the last train but he knows that they’re running from something more than the unrest and demands to know more. They sit and Aisha shows him the bangle and that it has transformative properties. Hasan tells her that he didn’t care about her past as she chose their family. Aisha tells him to keep Sana safe and make sure she gets on the train, to which he agrees but says nothing will happen. They keep going for the train, but Aisha senses they’re being followed. She passes Sana to Hasan and goes to face Najma. Najma demands to know where the bangle is, but Aisha refuse to tell her. Najma stabs her and says she’ll find it. As Aisha bleeds out she tells Najma it won’t work. Hasan gets to the train but then notices that Sana isn’t at her side. She went back and is calling for her mother. Obviously, Hasan has trouble getting back to her given his injury and Aisha is dying. She says that “what you seek is seeking you,” the bangle triggers and Kamala Khan appears in the station.

 

Ignore the time paradox, Kamala and get baby-grandma
to Great-Grandpa.

No one seems to comment on the young woman in strange dress in 1940s India, but what are you going to do. Kamala finds her, and Aisha begs Kamala to protect Sana. Kamala is obviously worried about her baby-grandma reuniting with her GG-pa, but Aisha says that Sana will be fine, because Kamala is here. That’s some nice time travel paradox to soothe her in her last moments, because Kamala is in the past, that means Sana gets back to her father so that she can beget Muneeba who begat Kamala who went back in time.  Kamala takes Aisha’s photo of her family and searches. She finds Sana and starts looking for Hasan. The crowd makes moving difficult, so Kamala decides to try something. She makes platforms to help Sana move through the crowd. It works for a bit, but then she’s knocked over and the platform breaks. Seemingly on her own, Sana begins manipulating the Noor left over, making the trail of stars back to Hasan. Kamala realizes that she did help with the trail of stars just as she’s blasted back to the present. No time seems to have passed since she was knocked down, and they discover that a rip has formed in the veil.

 

Back at the house, Muneeba is stressing out about Kamala’s long absence. Sana isn’t too worried, suggesting that maybe Muneeba should get Kamala chipped if she’s so worried. Muneeba tells her mother that there is a difference between a human daughter and her dog, but that if it was legal she’d have done it years ago. Kamala’s cousin Owais points out that Kamala’s phone is on a family plan, so Muneeba can just track it with the find my phone app. “So it’s like spyware for parents?” she asks. When he confirms she says “So why am I just hearing about it now?” and I chuckle.

 

Solid heroic sacrifice to fix her mistake, I'll give
her that.

The rip in the veil is clearly unstable, pulsing with energy. The surviving Clandestine tries to go through, but her body is turned to ash, and she collapses. Guess they really did need two bangles. Kamala tries to block the energy with her own Noor but she can only slow it down. She asks Najma to help her to close it. Najma wants to go home, but Kamala tells her that she can’t leave Kamran. Realizing that no, she can’t just abandon her son for nothing, Najma runs into the portal and forces it shut. As she does so, energy leaves her, travels to Kamran, and infuses him with Noor. Kamala blocks the final wave of energy, just as her mama and grandma walk up. Muneeba is skeptical but Sana just seems vindicated. Kamala proves that her Grandma isn’t crazy by giving her the photo she took from Aisha, which showed all three of them together. Muneeba asks what the heck is going on, and Sana explains that two people fell in love and made something much bigger than either of them could on their own. Which is just so damn sweet. Kamala runs back over to say goodbye to Kareem. He tells her that Waleed would be proud of her and she thanks him, and Kareem says that he’ll be there if she calls. He gives her his Red Dagger mask before walking off. On the ground, Muneeba finds Kamala’s necklace on the ground. Remember that, the necklace that spells her name in Arabic? Well, it broke, the Arabic script now just showing a very familiar lightning bolt pattern…

 

Later, Kamala and her foremothers’ bond over some old pictures and stories about how Muneeba was quite the rebel when she was younger. She apparently ran away from home to follow Bon Jovi. Respect. Muneeba apologizes for holding Kamala too tightly of late because she wasn’t ready to let her go, and Sana apologizes for not holding Munneeba tight enough and they all hug. It’s jut real sweet.

 

Oh, Giving Kamran powers can't possibly be good.

Back in Jersey, Bruno leaves the Circle Q to throw out trash when Kamran approaches him. They have a very awkward moment in Bruno’s apartment, Kamran trying to talk to him about some of his posters and Bruno being quiet. Kamran asks if maybe they can start over and they reintroduce themselves to each other, shaking left hands because Bruno’s right is in a cast after the wedding fiasco. And this is where Kamran reveals that he honestly thought Bruno’s name was Brian and no one corrected him. He apologizes and they try to figure out a plan. Its then that they notice a Damage Control drone spying on them. Kamran fires a Noor blast at it, knocking it out of the sky and it ends up firing a rocket into the Circle Q causing a fire.

 

Okay, I like this flashback episode. It gave context to who Aisha was, as a Clandestine, as a parent and what happened to her. Seeing a greatest hits of her relationship with Hasan juxtaposed over the country falling apart behind them was well done. I liked that she got to live long enough to get her time paradox confirmation that Sana ended up okay by seeing her Great-Granddaughter. Najma sacrificing herself to seal the portal is nice, but kind of rushed. Like, she goes from being willing to leave her son without a thought but then is like “I’ll die to seal the portal,” because Kamala pointed the obvious out. Just odd. Oh, fun fact, Kamran’s hand glowing blue for a second is a nod to how he showed off his powers to Kamala the first time in the comics, diamond fist. Sealing the portal kind of feels like it should be a part of the finale, but we need to get back to Jersey and finish the Damage Control plot we shelved for two episodes. All of that is why I said the Clandestines felt like a season 2 villain group. I did like that finding out about Kamala’s powers and that Sana’s memories were real was the catalyst to help Sana and Muneeba as well as Muneeba and Kamala to start healing their relationship. It felt earned. So yeah, a good penultimate episode. Next time, the finale. See you then. 

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Viewer Log: Ms. Marvel ep 4

 Kamala goes to Karachi.

Last time on Ms. Marvel, we learned what her species is in this continuity. In the MCU, Kamala Khan is 1/16^th Clandestine through her Great-Grandmother. Her GG and her friends were originally from a place called the Noor dimension, they were banished for unspecified reasons and have been trying to get home. Kamala agrees to try to help them get home. Bruno investigates both the requirements to interdimensional travel and the known history of the Clandestine, otherwise known as the Djinn, and both are… not good. They’d need the energy of a sun to open a gateway, and the Djinn are implied to be willing to do anything to get home. He also finds time to make Kamala a domino mask. Kamala tells Kamran she’s not sure if she can help, and he tells her to not worry about that now and focus on her brother’s wedding. When his mom finds out, she’s pissed and makes it clear Kamala’s help is not negotiable. The Clandestine attack the reception, Kamala pulling the fire alarm to clear her family out. After a struggle, Najma touches the bangle and both women see a train coming at them, and then the Clandestine are arrested by Damage Control. Kamala and Bruno escape, Nakia finding out Kamala is “Night Light,” but Kamala has to run before she can fully explain. At home, she’s in a shit ton of trouble. But she gets a call from her grandmother, who tells her to come to Karachi, Pakistan, because she also saw the train and that’s a sign of something. Enough recap let’s get to it.

 

Episode 4: Seeing Red

 

Such an awkward place to be on a plane between
a fighting mother and daughter.

We begin with Kamala on the plane ride to Karachi. Muneeba is clearly still upset about the reception fiasco, but I guess she allowed Kamala to travel internationally because her mother is old and doesn’t have much time left. Dark reasoning, Muneeba. Also, she didn’t ruin her brother’s wedding, she ruined the reception. I feel bad for the dude that has to sit between them. We also see she’s set a LOT of texts to try to get Nakia to talk to her, but Nakia is ignoring her. Damn. They land.

 

After a slight culture shock, Kamala and Muneeba find their welcoming party, Zainab, and Owais, two of her cousins. I think literal cousins this time instead of adopted extended family. Her Nani, Sana walks over, and Kamala and her have a fairly joyful reunion and Muneeba and Sana have a tense moment. Lot of tension between them. They get in the taxi and head to Sana’s house. Judging by the size of it, Kamala’s mother’s side is loaded. Just saying. Kamala sets up shop in a room, finding a room filled with paintings and drawings. Sana joins her and explains that she took it upon herself to try to recreate all that their family lost during the Partition in the form of art. She shows Kamala an old picture of her and her father and then a drawing of Aisha, Kamala’s GG. Kamala pulls out the Bangle and asks why she sent it to Kamala. Sana confirms that Kamala is a Djinn, or at least that is what her father always told her she was. She says the genetics isn’t important, or how Sana can see the visions, what is important is the fact that the bangle saved Sana’s life back in the day and that she seems to think Kamala needs it. They confirm that the train they are seeing is the one that Sana took when their family were forced out of India. Kamala isn’t sure what to do or how she can fix anything. Sana encourages her granddaughter and walks off.

 

Who's ready to deal with intergenerational trauma?

Later, Kamala goes to text Nakia but then passes out. She has a disjoined dream about her fight with the Clandestines, hearing Nakia say she lied and her grandmother encouraging her to find the train. She’s woken up by her cousins, who want to take her sightseeing. Their lunch plans are complicated by Kamala wearing jeans, but her mother meets with an old friend of hers, Rukhsana and they catch up. Her cousins take her around and show her Karachi. They buy a few souvenirs, some clothes for Kamala, and Owais calls Kamala an ABCD, American Born Confused Desi. Kamala suggests checking out the old train station. Her cousins aren’t interested so she must hoof it on her own. She gets some confusing directions but finds her way there. She enters the restricted “historic” section of the station, putting on her mask as she does so. She checks out an Ant-Man mural at the sight when she’s attack by a young man in a red mask. He claims to have sensed the Noor in her and makes it clear he’s been following her. They fight, Kamala showing off her expanding fists and platforming to great effect. They crash to the ground, Red Dagger asking how a non-Clandestine got the bangle away from Aisha. They hear the cops coming and run, Red Dagger telling her there is someone she needs to meet.

 

They head to a restaurant in town, Red Dagger picking up some food in the main area before showing Kamala a secret room in the kitchen. He welcomes her to the Red Daggers and introduces her to Waleed, his master. Waleed explains that the Red Daggers have been protecting humanity from threats for hundreds of years, explaining that to them, the Djinn are basically any supernatural non-humans. The example he gives being that Thor would have been called a Djinn had he landed in the Himalayas. Waleed explains that the Clandestine are from another dimension, showing Kamala how the Noor world intersects with Earth on a map. He pulls out a much more impressive hologram map, showing Earth on one side and the Noor dimension on the other. They explain that the Noor keeps the dimensions separate, and that if they use the bangle to break the veil between worlds, it’ll destroy Earth. Kamala shows the bangle to Waleed who is surprised to see that there is an inscription on it, it reads “What you are seeking is seeking you.” How cryptic.

 

Hi Red Dagger.

We cut to an undisclosed location, the Damage Control Supermax Prison. The Clandestine are being transported to their cells. Kamran distracts the guard for a moment and the Clandestine free themselves. They escape, but leave Kamran behind for not being ride or die on mommy’s plan. Cruel move, Najma.

 

Kamala returns to her grandmother’s house, finding her on the roof. They bond over a mutual feeling of still trying to figure out who they are as people. Kamala gets a text from Kareem, Red Dagger, and Sana tells her to go be young. She goes out to a bonfire with him and his friends. They have a nice time eating around the fire and Kamala and Kareem have chemistry. Between Kareem, Kamran and Bruno, Kamala is a dude magnet. Just saying.

 

Back at the house, Sana is suffering her Muneeba’s cleaning frenzy. It’s always fun to see how adult children interact with their parents. Muneeba asks why there are toffee boxes all over, and Sana says that they’re for her. Muneeba loved toffee as a kid, so Sana kept buying them for her if she ever came home to visit. Isn’t that sweet? Sana gets up to help clean, but Muneeba tells her to sit, and she massages her mother’s leg. Muneeba says that maybe it’s time to consider moving in with them in America, which gives Sana a chuckle. We learn the source of the tension with them, namely that Sana had some unusual theories as to the fate of her mother and their heritage, theories that earned them looks from the neighbors and ultimately led to her father leaving. Damn. Sana says that she just wanted to share the stories with her, but Muneeba says she needed her mother not stories. That night, Kamala comes home and she and Muneeba bond while eating toffee.

 

Oh no... not... that guy.

The next day, Kamala is training to use her powers with Waleed. He theorizes that Kamala’s human ancestry is why she can manipulate the Noor on Earth. It binds her to the matter of this world and lets her shape her Noor. Waleed gives her a vest as a sign that she isn’t alone. Just then, the Clandestine break in and a fight commences. The Red Daggers have a terrible hideout, it seems. The three make a run for it, the Clandestines in pursuit. They steal a taxi and the Clandestines steal a truck. They almost hit a family on a motorcycle, but Kamala shoves them off the front of the truck and then the truck onto a ramp, flipping it. Waleed separates the cab half from the bike, letting them ride faster, but them almost immediately crash and are forced to hoof it. Waleed draws the Clandestine after him. Kamala and Kareem also split up to cause further distraction. Kamala steals a truck and uses it to hit one of the Clandestine, saving a cornered Kareem. Everyone runs. Waleed gets cornered by Najma as Kamala and Kareem run up being chased by a Clandestine. He chooses to kill the Clandestine and gets a knife to the back for his trouble. Kareem throws a fire extinguisher into boiling water to make a smokescreen and they run.

 

Oh... that can't be good.

They get cornered in back-alley bazaar and duel with the Clandestine. Kamala and Kareem are able to hold them off, Kareem ends up killing one of them, to Najma’s fury. She rushes Kamala and stabs at her, accidentally hitting the bangle. The explosion that results seem to rip space and time, and Kamala suddenly finds herself on a train station in 1940s India. Whoops.

 

This is a fine episode in a vacuum but is part of the reason why Ms. Marvel feels… uneven to me. All the stuff set up in New Jersey, Bruno, Damage Control, Nakia, they’re all put on hold to do the Karachi stuff. It’s a bit jarring to be introduced to new characters like Kamala’s cousins, grandmother, Kareem, and Waleed this late in the game. It’s why I think they’d work better as a season 2 than part of season 1. I like Kareem and Waleed, but I’m expected to emotionally connect to them with almost no time with them. I mean, Waleed is introduced halfway through the episode, is in 2 or 3 scenes and then is killed and we’re supposed to act like it was Aamir or Yusuf. Kind of a tall order. I liked the moment with Sana and Muneeba. Finally getting that some of Muneeba’s anger is from her father leaving as well as from social ostracization is important context for this relationship. Kamala in Karachi was a fun few second of the episode as well, culture shocks are usually fun. And I like the fight between her and Red Kareem as well as their fight together against the Clandestine. Good use of the effects and choreography. The time traveling was a bit… odd, but I enjoy the payoff in the next episode. More on that later. So yeah, the episode is fine, but the connection to the rest of the series makes it feel off. Have a good night. 

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Viewer Log: Ms. Marvel ep 3

I love weddings.

Last time on Ms. Marvel, Kamala trained with her new powers, convinced her friend Nakia to run for the board of their Mosque, and met a boy. She and the boy, Kamran, really hit it off as two Pakistani kids in Jersey, much to Bruno’s annoyance. Kamala finally got a chance to use her powers when a kid falls out of a tall building at their Mosque’s Eid celebration. She uses her new platforming skills to jump on her hard light platforms to save the kid. But, she suddenly has a vision of a woman, which causes her to lose her balance and drop the kid. She is able to slow his fall so he only breaks an ankle, and then runs. She’s cornered by Damage Control agents, but Kamran drives up and saves her. As they drive off, Kamran introduces her to his mother, the same woman from Kamala’s earlier vision. Enough recapping let’s get to it!

 

Episode 3: Destined

 

Aisha is in for a rough time.

We open in 1942, British occupied India. A group of people, led by Kamran’s mother Najma, are searching a ruin for the bangle. They find it just as Aisha, Kamala’s GG shows up. She pulls the bangle free. It’s revealed that they need two bangles for whatever they’re planning, but as they only found the one, Aisha says that one will have to do. They’re interrupted by gunfire and soldiers screaming, as, again, this is British occupied India in a… hectic time. Aisha puts the bangle on, hoping that it can take them home, but all it does is cause her eyes to glow like Kamala decades from how. They split up, Aisha going alone with the bangle to protect it.

 

We cut to the present at Najma’s house, having just finished the story described above. Najma explains that they’re all from another dimension, having been exiled to Earth some time ago. Kamala is a bit concerned that they’ve all been around since the 1940s, but one of the others mentions that no, in fact, Kamran is in fact really 17. No Edward Cullen stuff in the MCU, thank you. Najma takes Kamala aside a so they can talk more privately. She explains that they never looked for Aisha’s family as they were unaware that she had one, until Kamala put on the bangle and drew on her Noor. Noor means light and is the extra dimensional energy that makes them all age slower. It has other powers, but it can’t be fully utilized on Earth by the non-native Clandestine. Kamala is nervous to use the bangle again as she keeps getting into accidents with it. Najma tells her that she believes in Kamala and that she should use the power of it to get them home. Najma explains that they’re species is called the Clandestine, but her group has been known by several names, but most known as Djinn. Damn.

 

I don't think I'd have trusted her. She has crazy
eyes.

The next day, Kamala goes to talk with Bruno, who is obviously freaking out a little. They compare notes, Kamala telling him that she’s a Djinn and that she got the information from Kamran’s family. She tells him that the Clandestine need her help, and by the transitive property she needs Bruno’s help. She needs help figuring out stuff to get to the Noor dimension, and thankfully one of Bruno’s smart kid readings was on a Dr. Erik Selvig paper on the subject. She tells him to reread that while she goes to pick up some stuff for the Mehndi. Before she leaves, Bruno tells her she’s trending.

 

Meanwhile, Deever and her team have arrived at Kamala’s Mosque and are looking for her. Sheik Abdullah claims to know nothing, which is true, but Deever isn’t buying it. She orders her team to search, but Nakia is there to point out that they have no legal right to search the space without a warrant. She won the board position, by the way, or is about to. Good for her. Deever tries to get them to let her investigate, but they aren’t budging. As they leave, Sheik Abdullah tells her that next time they should remove their shoes before entering. Which, sidenote, yeah, if you’re entering a religious space and ya know shoes aren’t allowed, take off the damn shoes. It’s a sign of respect.

 

Later, Kamala is watching the video of herself just as Nakia comes in and flops down on her bed. She’s clearly emotionally drained from the experience with Damage Control. Kamala begins to, I think, tell Nakia that she’s “Night Light,” but Nakia sees her video and that sets Nakia off on a tangent about how Night Light complicated their lives. She slips in that she won the board member spot after she called down a little, which Kamala congratulates her on. They decide to get ready Mehndi. My understanding is that it is akin to a grooms dinner, the day before the wedding prep and celebration.

 

Hello, distinctive domino mask.

At the Mehndi, Tyesha is introduced to the Khan extended family. Much like my ancestors, Pakistani families seem to be quite large. Kamala’s grandmother wasn’t able to make it due to the distance from Pakistan, much to Muneeba’s unsurprise. I sense that there’s a lot of drama between those two. Aamir joins them, looking for his shoes. I guess it’s tradition to hide a pair of the groom’s shoes for the Mehndi, but they hid all his. Rough. Kamala hears Sheik Abdullah talking about Night Light and asks if what Damage Control knows about her. Abdullah says not much, much like them, and Kamala’s mom makes an offhand remark that this Night Light’s mother should be ashamed. She tells Kamala that Bruno left a box for her since he couldn’t get out of his shift. Kamala goes outside to open the box but is joined by Abdullah. She asks the Sheik if he agrees with what folks are saying about the hero. The sheik seems to be on board with the idea in general but is non-committal about it. Kamala asks how Night Light could prove she’s good, to which the Sheik says that good isn’t what you are, it is what you do. Also, Kamala, those questions 100% show you are in fact the girl, so you might as well tell him. She opens the box and discovers that Bruno made her a domino mask. How sweet.

 

That night, Bruno is at the Circle Q doing research. Yusuf comes in looking to buy fruit pies, his little indulgence. He sees what Bruno is working on for Kamala and insists on helping. He translates the pages, they’re in Urdu, and basically tells Bruno that according to the book he’s looking at, the Djinn are bad news. “They move in shadow, searching for the key that will help them get home. But to unlock such an ancient barrier will require a primordial power.” Yeah, sounds spooky. He doesn’t realize the relevance of the passage, though, and goes off into the night, unaware he just sent a chill down Bruno’s spine.

 

Later, Bruno tells Kamala that he was able to run a simulation based on the tests they did on her and that it is theoretically possible to open a door to the Noor dimension, but it’d require the energy of a sun. And there’s a huge margin for error. Like, if they mess it up they could destroy life on earth as they know it kind of margin for error. Kamala is unsure of what to do, and while contemplating what to do, Bruno tells her he got into Caltech. He says that he won’t go until things are square here. He lets her that he’ll still help, it’s just that right now it’s too dangerous.

 

Back at home, Kamala is treating her knee, she hurt it in the scuffle with Damage Control earlier. Her mother sees and helps her treat it. Kamala asks if she’s ever felt like it’s her against a mountain, to which Muneeba reveals, yes, that was what it was like being an immigrant. They had troubles, but they found their mosque and their extended family and that helped. Muneeba tells her she doesn’t have to face her “mountain” alone. Kamala texts Kamran that she wants to help but needs more time to think, he tells her it’s cool and that she should focus on the wedding.

 

It's a really good father-son moment.

At the mosque, Aamir is having a bit of a freak out about getting married, as he has virtually no money and will have a ton of debt given that he’s in grad school. Yusuf tells his son not to worry as he believes that Aamir is brave, and that he’s chosen family. It’s a very sweet speech, I suggest looking it up if you haven’t seen it. The wedding goes through without a hitch.

 

Meanwhile, Najma has Kamran’s phone and seems livid that Kamala is having doubts about helping them. Sidenote, super invasion of privacy right there, respect your kid. Kamran tries to tell his mother that it is dangerous, and they could get hurt, but Najma seems quite aware of the danger and doesn’t seem to care. She says she’s not asking anymore.

 

The reception for the wedding starts. It includes the Khan’s and co doing a Bollywood style dance number for the bride and groom. They even let Bruno participate, isn’t that nice. While the dance numbers are different, the reception feels like one my family would throw in terms of energy. Kamal and Bruno almost dance, but Kamran runs in to tell her that his mother and her team are here to kill them. A moment later, the doors open and Najma and her group walks in. Seeing no other option, Kamala pulls the fire alarm and runs. She’s right, best to stick to the classics. Kamran tries to stop his mother, but she refuses. Kamala dodges around Clandestine, getting cornered in the kitchen. Kamala might be the one with powers, but it’s four grown adults against a teenager, so it doesn’t go well.

 

Outside rumors already are spreading about Kamala pulling the alarm. Both Bruno and Nakia note Kamala’s absence and separately go to do something about it.

 

Ghost Train!

Kamala hides from the Clandestine. They flip the switch, darkening the room. Najma slaps a pan against a pot, making noise to scare Kamala, who throws up a shield reflexively. She gets thrown into the reception area and the brawl begins. She almost gets cornered by a Clandestine with a whip, but Bruno distracts him with thrown presents long enough for Kamala to mega punch them away. Kamran comes in too and helps distract his people, telling Kamala to run with “Brian.” They almost get out but are cornered on all sides by Clandestine. Najma grabs the bangle, causing it to go off, they see a vision of a train coming at them. And a moment later Deever and Damage Control come in. Kamala and Bruno escape notice but the Clandestine are arrested including Kamran.

 

Who's ready for a change in scenery?

Outside, Kamala uses her powers to shut the door, Nakia seeing and confronting her friends about what happened. Bruno tells her run and Kamala promises to explain to Nakia later. Kamala makes it home. She can’t tell her parents what is happening… because. Stupid secret identity idea. She’s in massive trouble, obviously. She goes to her room and tries to fall asleep, but gets a call from her grandma. She tells Kamala that she and Muneeba need to come to Karachi. Why? Because she saw the train, and knows that means Kamala needs to come to Karachi. Kay.

 

This is the part of the story that drips a little for me. I don’t hate the Clandestine as a group, but they feel like they show up to soon. To me, they’ve got 2 seasons worth of villains in this one. Kamala really should have focused on taking on Damage Control, the possibly corrupt but definitely racist government agency that brings down a whole lot of heat and hate on Kamala’s part of town. Throw in an unstable engineer named after the late great Thomas Edison to serve as our main baddy, sprinkle in some hints about Kamala’s family here and there, and you have a season 1, ending with Grandma’s call to get her to Karachi. Season 2 is Kamala in Karachi, researching Great-Grandma, looking for the other bangle and meeting, befriending but ultimately fighting the Clandestine. But, when you have only one season to work with, I guess ya gotta cram. I do feel like there’s a whole episode on the cutting room floor here where Kamala works with, befriends, and starts trusting the Clandestine. It’d alleviate the whiplash I felt on how Najma was all smiles and politeness one day, to “she will do what we ask of be destroyed” the next at the slightest hint Kamala is being hesitant. We never get told of a particular time crunch, like the Noor in the Clandestine is running out and they’ll die soon, or anything, either so the impatience just feels odd. You waited 80 something years since your last bit of hope vanished, you can give her a week to think things over. And obviously establishing that none of the Clandestine have powers also made the fight seem… unnecessarily dramatic? Kamala, just get out of the building, the cops will either arrest or shoot these guys, they aren’t immune to bullets as far as we’re aware. Some of this boils down to the “Clandestine were made up for the show, and we didn’t completely think over what their whole deal was” and that makes me a little sad. Yeah, Kamala and Kamran were both Inhumans in the comics, Kamran being part of a small group plotting to overthrow Black Bolt and his wife Medusa for… also not really specified reasons if I recall, but the Inhumans are a known quantity in comics, so things felt smoother. The wedding scene was nice, I enjoyed seeing how the Khan’s do a reception. Fun fact, one of the extras was in fact the wife of Saagar Shaikh, the actor who played Aamir. Yep, he brought his wife to his wedding. The story about the Djinn is the right level of spooky, chilling in a ghost story sort of way to Yusuf but in a much realer sense to Bruno. And I just have to say that Iman Vellani continues to give 1000% and keeps a lot of scenes that shouldn’t work as well afloat on her talent alone. So yeah, okay episode, but not my favorite. Next time, we’re headed to Karachi. 

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