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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