What I’m Watching: Moon Knight (Season Finale)

Moon Knight: Season 1, Episode 6 “Gods and Monsters” (B-)

I’m not sure what to make of this installment, which feels like it might be a series finale to me but apparently could lead into a second season, given that even its creators don’t know whether it’s coming back. It always feels this way with the Marvel series that only run six episodes, and there’s so much more that I feel like I would be open to exploring which didn’t end up dominating the focus. Harrow telling the soldiers that he didn’t need to show them his papers but that they needed to show them their souls was a relatively terrifying concept, and apparently he was well aware that his own scales might not be balanced, which was the height of hypocrisy from someone who claimed that was all that mattered. I liked that Tawaret possesses multiple dead soldiers so that she could identify herself to Layla and express that Marc said wonderful things about her, and Layla got her moment to shine, told by Steven that she looked amazing in her “suit” and identified excitedly as an Egyptian superhero. It was endearing to see Marc and Steven so happily reunited, able to overcome their initial disagreements to develop a warm relationship. After a relatively lackluster ending, we got an extended credits scene with Harrow being taken out by a third personality, which is intriguing, but it’s hard to know where things go next. I’m not sure I could imagine Moon Knight showing up to hang out with Doctor Strange or any of the other Marvel superheroes, but I did appreciate the performances and some of the action scenes on a show that I ultimately found more intriguing than fulfilling.

Season grade: B-
Season MVP: Oscar Isaac

What I’m Watching: Moon Knight

Moon Knight: Season 1, Episode 5 “Asylum” (B-)

I wasn’t all that fond of this episode mainly because it didn’t really answer the question of what was real, but I think it did in a way that I don’t quite buy. Getting behind all this Egyptian gods stuff is a challenge anyway, and this was again a territory where Steven ended up being stronger given that he knows all about the lore that doesn’t concern a mercenary like Marc. While they were busy navigating a boat and trying to balance the scales so that Tawaret could take them home, we did learn a lot about how that splinter happened, with Marc dealing with his abusive mother by creating a separate personality that could retreat from them and be generally happier. Being hunted by the ghosts of those he had killed was definitely a strong way of representing the need to overcome past traumas and come to terms with what he had done that he needed to at least acknowledge and accept even if they weren’t right or ethical in any way. We did also see a glimpse of Marc’s Judaism, which I had heard about before the show, but there wasn’t much in the way of substantial shiva content aside from his throwing his yarmulke off as an apparent rejection of his faith and what it required of him in the event of his mother’s death. Now that the scales are finally balanced, Marc, potentially without Steven, has one episode left to fix everything, which hardly seems like enough time, just the latest instance of this happening with these six-episodes Marvel Cinematic Universe series that really should be much longer and more substantial given the built-in audience they have.

What I’m Watching: Moon Knight

Moon Knight: Season 1, Episode 4 “The Tomb” (B+)

Much of this episode was just spent wandering around and looking for answers, and that wasn’t too enthralling, along with them fighting mostly unseen and rather creepy creatures, but the parts that were more exciting did deliver. Layla made a formidable stand when she hid behind the car and that grabbed the flares, and she made sure that they got out of there alive, which was hardly guaranteed. Steven defending Marc when Layla went in to kiss him was an unexpected show of loyalty for someone who has been trying to keep him suppressed and unable to be in control of his own life. Harrow did try to get into Layla’s head by telling her that he read Marc’s scales and that he’s not a good person, mainly because he was there when her father got killed. Fortunately, she wasn’t too swayed by that and still tried to help Marc, who promptly got shot multiple times by Harrow. I’m not big on the idea that this might all just be a dream or a hallucination, with Marc waking up as a patent in a psychiatric ward with Harrow, Layla, and other people surrounding him in various roles, but Marc finding Steven in one of the caskets made it seem like there’s definitely something serious going on here that’s not just in their minds. Their joint scream when the elephant lady started talking to them was a weird but a fitting way to close out this episode, and I wonder what kind of answers we’ll get in the next two episodes.

Take Three: Moon Knight

Moon Knight: Season 1, Episode 3 “The Friendly Type” (B+)

It’s definitely not a great thing if Marc is the one who is doing less damage when he’s in control and can’t comprehend what has happened when he’s able to take the body back over. Marc seemed just as unwilling to let Steven out as he had before he understood what was happening, but, as Layla pointed out, he was quite useful in certain respects, like when he was able to quickly and calmly assemble the pieces of the puzzle to make sense of what they were looking at. He also knew when it was time to switch back, getting stabbed a few times in his suit and then having Moon Knight continue fighting as if there weren’t objects impaling his body. Khonshu’s efforts to get Harrow censured by his fellow gods ended up achieving precisely the opposite effect, with him instead encased in stone and reduced to a figurine that Harrow could hold in his hands and taunt, unsure of whether he could hear him but eager to talk down to him regardless. The feat that got Khonshu his punishment was quite spectacular, guiding Steven to roll back the night sky to a moment in time that would allow them to figure out exactly where they needed to go. We got to meet another intimidating figure who is part of this expansive mystery, Anton Mogart, portrayed by Gaspard Ulliel, the French actor who sadly died at the age of thirty-seven several months ago in a ski accident. It’s good to see him again, and he definitely made an impression in a relatively brief appearance.

Round Two: Moon Knight

Moon Knight: Season 1, Episode 2 “Summon the Suit” (B+)

This second episode offered a bit more clarity in the form of explicit confirmations of what’s going on, but that still does leave plenty of questions. Steven’s life as he knows it is over, though he was still worried about having to give back his nametag when he got fired and found out that a lot of what he’s seeing isn’t visible to others around him. He knew enough about Khonshu to understand what Marc was saying to him but still wasn’t ready to accept it, and he found himself even more confused when he met Layla, played by May Calamawy from “Ramy,” and she kept telling him to stop with the accent, which he insisted was just how he talked. Marc warned Steven that she was going to get killed if he told her, but then she ended up getting involved anyway when she tailed the cops back to Harrow’s urban utopia. Harrow knowing what Khonshu was saying indicated a level of understanding that seemed to stun Steven, but he snapped back quickly to the ruthless cult leader we saw in the first episode when what he needed wasn’t being given to him. I was trying to figure out who the voice was behind Khonshu and it makes complete sense that it’s F. Murray Abraham, an Emmy nominee for his recurring role on “Homeland” who infuses plenty of intensity and humor into what sounds a whole lot like voiceover. I don’t find the scenes of invisible combat all that compelling, but the idea that Steven feels trapped in the mirror watching Marc’s life is far more interesting and worthwhile, especially now that he’s traveling to the geographical root of all this in Egypt.

Pilot Review: Moon Knight

Check out my one-minute take on every new pilot, which is embedded below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.