Warning: The following review is for the second episode of Moon Knight full spoilers.
You can watch our spoiler-free review of the Moon Knight premiere The Goldfish Problem here.
The second episode of Moon Knight fully introduced May Calamawy’s Layla, sprinkled in some key information, upped the ante, and gave us a freshly squeezed look at this story’s version of “Mr. Knight”, the three-piece suit variant of the “Fist of Khonshu.” Oscar Isaac continued to excel as a brought down Steven, more at war than ever with his Marc persona, while Ethan Hawke delivered more of his gently sinister Arthur Harrow (including a better idea of his plan). The show still gives us distinct scenes between the two, but again in the second episode, Steven’s element of confusion started to wear off.
Steven Grant’s confusion of living half a life while unknowingly serving as the vessel for an Egyptian god helped ensure last week’s premiere episode was sizzling with slapstick mysteries. Now that the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit more together, his utter delirium feels like an anchor holding this show back. Admittedly, we still don’t get the whole mosaic as Marc never feels like explaining everything clearly to Steven, but the questions are piling up at an alarming rate and Episode 2 is only a little deflating in terms of answers. Even with only six episodes, a show can dally when it should rush.
moonstruck
Okay, here’s what we know-know. Marc Spector serves as an avatar for Khonshu, a deity who saved Marc’s life in the Egyptian desert. Marc doesn’t like this role (at least not lately). Khonshu is a massive jerk (Harrow, Khonshu’s former sign even says as much) and now has eyes to turn Layla into his next vengeful servant. So the two heroic goals here are: stop Harrow from unleashing Ammit and her deadly wrath on the world before the crime, and protect Layla from Khonshu.
Ammit and Harrow aside, the true enemy here is ultimately… Moon Knight? Khonshu’s avatar himself? If so (and let’s say the Harrow stuff gets sorted out in the next episode or two, leaving us with a different endgame), then this could be the first problematic superpower in the MCU since The Hulk – that is, the Superhero that causes nothing but grief and turmoil to his alter ego. It might be good in a fight but otherwise a hell on earth to endure. Anyone who gets powers obviously develops more complicated lives, but Moon Knight doesn’t seem to be doing anyone any good. Heck, the main villain so far is the former Moon Knight.
And yes, one has to wonder who these gods are. Are they really gods or aliens? This, among other things, makes Moon Knight: The Series feel even more disconnected from the MCU. It’s easy enough not to mention Avengers or The Blip, but also facing everything Thor taught us with Asgard – or even what Eternals just told us about myths and gods in various ancient cultures – seems like a lot to be. How are Ammit and Khonshu possible? Granted, that was never really an issue in the comics, so maybe that’s the mental route to take here.
The man in the Moon
At the end of Episode 2, Marc the Mercenary is in control, but he also tells Steven he’s more than happy to leave once he’s done with this mission. Can Marc do it? We’re assuming he’s the dominant personality, right? You would have to be to actually become a mercenary and get married and do full life things. Of course, Marc could just lie to get the job done, but that doesn’t change the fact that we still don’t know much about the Steven/Marc situation other than that Steven was part of the package, so much so that Marc Khonshu previously assured that Steven wouldn’t get in the way.
Some things to wonder about if you decide to do this:
- How did Marc and Steven usually swap places before? At the end of this episode we saw Steven experience his first time in thought prison. It was sort of mentioned this week that what’s happening now is unprecedented for them on a DID scale, but how much of that setup was an accident and how much was intentional?
- It seems like Marc made a conscious choice to hide in Steven. He set him up a whole (partial) life, bought him new goldfish when needed, always made sure he made it back to his bed (and ankle straps), and asked co-workers for Steven’s name (which is still weird when considering Marc is married and it would no doubt lead to an awkward moment for Steven). How much life did Steven have? who is his mother Layla mentions that Marc is traveling with his mom, but is Steven leaving messages for the same mom?
- How much of Steven’s life is curated? The original Moon Knight character, Crawley, appears in this series as a living statue in whom Steven confides. Is that just an easter egg or is this guy a hired actor for Steven’s benefit? Steven yells at Marc in this episode for “eating away” parts of his life and preventing him from thriving, but Steven is also acting like a simulation. He’ll get right back to work putting price tags on gift shop toys after being in a mad chase and gunfight knowing cult members work at his museum. He will also go back to work in the morning after being chased by a jackal monster (and before he knows other people won’t see that jackal monster).
Steven and Mark continued their cerebral tug of war this week, though things weren’t resolved until the end of the episode. It was a lot of fun to contemplate here as this allowed Marc to talk to Steven – to try and convince him to sleep in a locker so Marc could take over, which was fun (maybe if I hired him with a comfy crib…) — but the show easily reached its limits with a confused protagonist. Isaac makes a good meal out of this dynamic, but story-wise there really isn’t room for a main character who barely knows what’s happening.
New Moon Knight pictures
Harrow’s Utopia, Layla and Mr. Knight
Last week we pretty much knew what Harrow was up to. This week Steven heard the sales pitch in person, only to immediately realize it’s insane, will remove free will, and kill children in their cribs. Ammit’s rule would shatter Loki’s desire to rule Earth (peace through obedience) with Winter Soldiers Project Insight (eliminating perceived threats) with a handful of other ethically shaky versions of utopias. Does that mean we are not destined for a communal life of lentil soup and multilingualism? Fear.
Steven’s questioning of Harrow’s chain of ideas has been one of his best character moments to date. He’s been constantly anxious and aimless since we first met him, so it felt important to hear him actually utter the worst parts of that blissful, crime-free dream, and a hint that Steven buried a hero’s mind deep (it’s not just Marc nagging him). ). The guy is an intricate mess, with the voices of Marc and Khonshu pecking at him, but he’s decent enough to know right from wrong and want to protect Layla without really knowing her.
Layla as a character doesn’t feel settled into the series yet, having entered the mix as another character intended to confuse Steven. She was also immediately taken aback by thinking that Steven was just a cover that Marc was using (doesn’t she know about her husband’s DID?), so it certainly feels like she’d do better with all the cards up lying at the table and she gets to interact with the world she knows and not with a gentle jerk. However, things came to a head in the end when Steven, not Marc, invoked the Moon Knight suit and battled Ammit’s monster.
Dubbed Mr. Knight, this version of Moon Knight was created by Warren Ellis and artist Declan Shalvey as Moon Knight’s public face personality. Basically, he showed himself in a less threatening form during the police consultation. Here Mr. Knight is caused by Steven’s misunderstanding of the word “suit” and the whole fight scene worked as a nice continuation of Steven’s action shenanigans in the premiere because he had more agency and it mixed up all the chaos in his head with a punch out.
Marc took over completely, and becoming an OG Moon Knight also felt rewarding, giving us a much better portrayal of Moon Knight than the first episode’s off-screen antics. In the end, we’re dropped at the doorstep of what seems like a very different adventure, with Marc in solemn control, Steven banished to the looking glass, and Egypt as the backdrop. Episode 2 was good, but it definitely pushed Steven’s confusion as far as it could go.