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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