Let’s Talk about Ms. Marvel Episode 1-4
Last week’s episode didn’t technically cliffhang viewers, but it came very close. Let’s talk about Ms. Marvel Episode 1-4, the one that has Kamala Khan seeing red (daggers).
Kamala Khan’s Nani revealed that she’s also seeing visions of the train. So, Kamala and her family are ready to embark on a trip to Karachi, Pakistan, to learn about Nani’s connection to Kamala and Namja.
Everything Feels Wrong
Source: Marvel Studios
During season two of Stranger Things, Eleven left town and traveled to Chicago in what proved to be an incredibly divisive episode. I quite liked that one, but I found myself thinking about the critics a lot as I watched episode four, Seeing Red.
I say this because something felt off about the entire episode. The change of scenery and the sudden appearance of new characters just didn’t sit right with me. Admitting my bias upfront, the episode starts on the airplane to Karachi and soon takes Kamala to a reunion with her Nani and cousins.
Throughout the episode, the cousins are, well, terrible. They share jokes without including Kamala, and they disappear for long stretches.
Source: Marvel Studios
Also, Kamala’s mother has issues with Nani. Frankly, Muneeba Khan comes across as a miserable and dislikable person. She’s the only negative part of the series for me to date.
Unfortunately, Muneeba’s one-note disapproval shtick plays into some of the events. The weird part is that Nani seems accepting of everything about Kamala.
So, I don’t understand Muneeba’s motivations at all. For example, Nani not only knows she’s a Djinn but happily embraces the notion as part of her heritage. Nani explains the events that led to her separation from her mother, Aisha, the original owner of Kamala’s bangle.
Source: Marvel Studios
For her part, Kamala is having nightmares about Nakia and the train. At this point, her cousins appear and act annoying for a bit. Then, Muneeba chastises her daughter for acting weird around her family. I’m starting to hate this woman.
Time for Fight Scenes!
Source: Marvel Studios
For various reasons, Kamala winds up walking the streets with her cousins, and that’s where things get weird. Someone senses her Noor and attacks her. With her Ms. Marvel powers activated, Kamala fends off her assailant, albeit not before he demonstrates his skill.
This individual turns out to be Kareem, a member of the Red Daggers. They fight/flirt, turning her previous love triangle with Bruno and Karman into a quadrangle. Eventually, law enforcement takes notice of a superhero battle on the streets and investigates.
At this point, Kareem offers to take Kamala away from…the fight he started. Unfortunately, the writing in this episode feels like a dramatic step backward from the first three. Anyway, Kareem takes a complete stranger to his team’s secret hideaway that Kamala never ever never would have found on her own.
Source: Marvel Studios
Does he always do this with girls he likes? Or does secret not mean what I think it means? Anyway, Kamala meets Waleed, the leader of the Red Daggers. He’s wholly delightful but might as well be named Dead Meat. If he lasts until the final episode, I’ll be surprised.
Update: he dies about 15 minutes later in this episode. So, yeah. Importantly, before his noble sacrifice, Kareem enters full exposition mode by showing the Clandestine home world and how it will devour our plane of existence if Kamala doesn’t stop them.
There’s like a Veil and stuff. It’s very “this will be bad because the CGI looks scary.”
Moms Are Mean
Source: Marvel Studios
Speaking of the Clandestines, they’re being taken to a maximum-security prison. I don’t mean to be all clickbait-y, but you won’t believe what happens next. Yes, they escape! You’re shocked, right?
Before that happens, one of the security guards acts cruelly toward Kamran. Namja shoots the dirty cop a look that suggests she might eat him. Later, after that dude is super-mega-deceased, Namja proves her love for her son by…leaving Kamran to fend for himself.
Apparently, he chose Kamala over the Djinn, and that means ostracization. And really inconsistent writing. On the plus side, Kamala reveals to Kareem that her nickname is Sloth Baby. If that’s not already taken on Xbox Live, I call dibs.
Source: Marvel Studios
For a few minutes, Kamala sits by the beach, tries local delicacies, and gets to be young. Back at the house, Muneeba and Nani fight more while the daughter works on her mother’s sore feet. What is this episode?!
Anyway, Muneeba explains why she left Pakistan for New Jersey. It’s apparently because Nani had some “fantastic theories” about being a Djinn. For her part, Nani has loyally accumulated toffees for decades in anticipation of Muneeba returning one day.
This is reminding me of Knives Out, where the father is supposed to be so terrific, but his children are all heinous monsters.
More Random Fight Scenes
Source: Marvel Studios
Anyway, Kamala spends the next day getting Jedi training from Waleed. Then, because it’s convenient to the plot, the Clandestines suddenly burst into the secret hideaway.
I blame Kareem, who probably hit on Namja, too. Anyway, the Clandestines wipe the floor with the Red Daggers, making their appearance here kinda pointless.
Kareem does help Kamala escape, thereby leaving Waleed to die in a fight against about four of them. Somehow, he survives until he reaches the streets. That only makes the randomness of his death crueler. Kareem’s the one who can’t keep a secret. He deserves to die.
Source: Marvel Comics
Anyway, the Clandestines eventually corner Kamala and Kareem before Ms. Marvel remembers that she’s Ms. Marvel. She embiggens her fist enough to stave them off until Kareem somehow kills Aadam, an action Namra does NOT appreciate.
The lead Djinn tries to stab Kamala in the bracelet, which causes her to…teleport back in time to that train station during the Partition? The episode ends on that extremely confusing note.
Final Thoughts
Source: Marvel Studios
Look, I’ve made my admiration of the first three episodes of Ms. Marvel readily apparent. The first half of the series was damn near perfect. Meanwhile, you could have told this story on any random episode of Relic Hunter in the 1990s, and it would have seemed about right.
I know this because I’ve watched every episode of Relic Hunter, a show I would never describe as possessing excellent writing. This episode was a mess and a bottom-five MCU on Disney+ episode to date.
What worries me is that I’ve read Ms. Marvel’s producers expressing more concern about the fifth episode, which they consider a calculated risk. They were NOT worried about episode four, whose creative writing would get a seventh-grader a C+.
Source: Marvel Studios
So, I’m now genuinely worried about the second half of the season. There’s no sugarcoating the fact that this was a bad episode, at least to me.
