The finale delivered an exciting episode that had a great teaser of a mid-credits scene, but also featured a word not yet heard in the MCU that will have repercussions going forward. While I found episode four and five to be a bit of a drag, they still had some good material that was fun to watch, but episode six was an improvement. The season as a whole was not focused, but not always in a bad way as the time we spent with Kamala and her family was executed perfectly. Marvel has long been considered to have a villain problem, and in Ms. Marvel that problem has struck again. I never felt the Clandestines were a threat, they were dangerous, but they also were sympathetic as they just wanted to return home. I think the show decided to not have a central villain, as in episode six the Clandestines were gone, and Damage Control had taken over as the antagonist. Damage Control too was not really a villain as by the end the lead agent terminated his subordinate who did not follow his orders. Kamala and her family were the focus of the season, and that part of the show delivered; but the show struggled with creating an antagonist that was truly worthy of Kamala. Both Damage Control and the Clandestines were not true villains, but more hurdles for Kamala to jump over.
There is not a lot to talk about in episode five for me; the episode was probably the least interesting episode of the season which is why I didn't write a review until after episode six came out. The flashback to Sana (Nani) getting on the train was not very interesting, and I called what was going to happen before it happened. The story of Aisha was good, but I am not sure it was essential to the story since the Clandestine arc seemed to evaporate like a fart in the wind. I was expecting the Clandestine arc to be a major factor in the MCU going forward (another dimension to explore), but in reality, the purpose of the Clandestines was give the season a few bits of action. We never learned why the Clandestines were sent to earth, and it was never properly explained how Kamran ended up with powers too. We see near the end that Kamran made it to Karachi where he meets up with Kareem, which I missed on my first viewing. I think we might see Kamran again, but there is also a chance he is forgotten and never seen from again. The only character that will matter after this series is over is Kamala, if there will be a second season we will see the family, Nakia and Bruno again, but in film appearances it will be a short scene at most. While I grew to really like the characters in the show, Bruno is the only one that might make the jump to the MCU since he seems to be very intelligent and resourceful.
RECAP OF EPISODES FIVE & SIX
Episode five open with a black and white newsreel explaining the partition so as to set the stage for the events of the episode to follow. We open with a title card reading British occupied India 1942 and we see a woman running through the tall grass being chased by a British soldier who throws a knife and kills the soldier. The woman being chased is revealed to be Aisha, and she makes it to a town when it is being set upon by a squad of British soldiers, so she leaves. Aisha is sleeping under a tree when she is awakened by a man from the town using a cane, the man offers her food and rest in the town. Aisha accepts his invitation; we see that Aisha is wearing the bangle. Aisha becomes charmed by the man (named Hasan) and his gentle easy-going nature. We jump forward and we see that Aisha is now pregnant, and we jump forward again to see a baby Sana. Aisha sees that there are people outside their home, and she finds Najma and the other Clandestines have found her. Najma has spent years looking for Aisha, and now she wants to return home using the bangle, Najma says that tomorrow they will return home. Aisha then makes a desperate plea to Hasan that they need to leave, she says that because they are Muslims it is no longer safe for them. Hasan saw Aisha talking to Najma and he wants to know what is going on so Aisha tells him that they need to leave so they can be a family together.
At the train station it is chaos, and Aisha gives Sana to Hasan to take because it is safer for Sana that way. Aisha placed the bangle on Sana before she left with Hasan, so when Najma finds Aisha the bangle is gone so Najma stabs her for betraying the Clandestines. Sana becomes separated from her father, and Aisha sensing Sana is in danger uses magic (?) and that seems to cause Kamala to transport back in time. Kamala finds Aisha, who is dying, but she gives Kamala a picture of her family, seeing Kamala with the bangle tells Aisha that Sana will be okay. Kamala goes searching for Sana and she finds her. Kamala the uses her blue pads to create stepping stools to get Sana through people and back to her father. Kamala is knocked aside, and the stools breaks apart into glowing little stars, and then we see that Hasan finds Sana. The bangle then brings Kamala back to the present and the fight she was having with the Clandestines at the end of episode four. A glowing portal is open and one of the Clandestines touches the portal and she breaks apart and crumbles to the ground. The portal starts to get bigger, and Kamala uses her powers to shield the portal from people as Kareem evacuates the area. Kamala tells Najma that she can't leave Kamran behind, and Najma says she can close the portal, so she touches it and crumbles apart as the portal closes. We see that an energy tendril from the portal finds Kamran and it enters him as his fist begins to glow like Kamala's.
Muneeba and Sana have found Kamala using the find my phone application, and Muneeba finds out that Kamala is Light Girl. Kamala gives Sana the picture that Aisha gave her in the past, as Muneeba comes to grips that magic is real. Kamala goes to see Kareem before she goes back to New Jersey, he hands her his red scarf and tells her that Waleed would be proud of her. Back in New Jersey we see that Kamran has made it to the convenience store that Bruno works at (and lives above). Bruno lets Kamran into his apartment, but a Damage Control drone finds them, and Kamran uses his powers to destroy the drone but not before it launched a missile that destroys the building they're in as the episode ends.
The finale begins with Bruno and Kamran on the run from Agent Deever and Damage Control, Kamran appears to be in discomfort and having trouble controlling his powers. Kamala and Muneeba are back in New Jersey with their family, and when Kamala attempts to tell everyone that she is Light Girl they react less than shocked as Muneeba already told them. Nakia facetimes Aamir and Kamala answers who learns about what happened to Bruno's apartment. Kamala is getting ready to go find Bruno and Kamran when her mom presents her with a new costume. Bruno and Kamran make it to the mosque, and Nakia tells them to leave for the high school when the coast is clear. Damage Control arrives at the mosque, but they are kicked out because they don't have a search warrant. Kamala finds them and helps them get to the high school which is not empty as Zoe is there filming one her TikTok videos. Kamala calls Kareem and asks for help to get Kamran out of the city, Kareem says to get him to the harbor by midnight. Nakia and Kamala work out their issues as Kamal apologizes for not telling Nakia about her being Light Girl.
Kamala, Zoe, Nakia, Kamran, Aamir and Bruno come up with a plan to fend off Damage Control long enough for Kamran to escape. Agent Deever calls Agent Cleary who tells Deever to evacuate before the incident escalates, but Deever then calls in for more backup. Damage Control agents storm the high school, but the plan to distract them works as they all wear identical outfits so they can hide Kamran. Zoe gets on TikTok urging local residents to come to the school and help them, which causes a scene outside of the high school. Kamala tells Kamran that his mother did not make it which causes Kamran to get mad, but Kamala stops him before he can hurt anyone. Kamran goes outside and starts taking on Damage Control using his powers, and when the agents fire on Kamran, Kamala deploys a shield to protect them, until they are blasted with a sonic canon. Kamala makes herself bigger and smashes the canon. Kamran then accidentally sends a humvee into the crowd of people, but Kamala catches it before it can hurt anyone. Kamran loses control of his powers, but Kamala erects a shield around him while she calms him down and allows him to escape to the harbor.
Agent Deever goes to arrest Kamala, but the crowd surrounds her acting a shield to keep Damage Control away. Agent Cleary calls Deever and tells her that she is relieved of duty and that she needs to stand down. Kamala is sitting on her roof talking to her father, and we see that Kamran has made it to Karachi where he finds Kareem. Yusuf tells Kamala that Kamal means Marvel in Urdu which makes Kamala happy since she is a fan of Captain Marvel. We skip ahead one week to see Bruno, Nakia and Kamala hanging out together before he leaves for CalTech. Bruno tells Kamala that he looked at her genetic make up after Aamir asked if he had powers too. Bruno says that when he compared her to the rest of her family something was off, he says that there is a mutation in her genes that makes her special as the credits rolls. There is a mid-credits scene with Kamala in her room when her bangle begins to glow, and she is blasted through her closet door. Captain Marvel comes out of the closet, looks around and says "oh no" as the season officially comes to an end.
LAST THOUNGTS ON SEASON ONE OF MS. MARVEL
Marvel needs to consider Ms. Marvel a success since they nailed the casting of Kamala and her family which proved to be the heart of the show. The loss Marvel needs to take is that the show did not have a villain, and it fumbled what might be the biggest moment of Phase Four of the MCU. Bruno telling Kamala that she is different from her family because of a "mutation" is huge for the MCU, but the moment should have been given more attention or more time to go into detail. If Ms. Marvel is how the MCU is introducing mutants into the world I will take it, but the moment fell flat because I have no idea when that idea will be followed up. The Marvels is not going to released for over a year, and there is a chance the mutation will not factor too much into that film (or maybe it will). San Diego comic is coming up and D23 returns in September and both events Marvel has said they will make some announcements about the future of the MCU. Ms. Marvel has opened the door Marvel to announce an X-Men film or series, but even if they do it will be at least 3-4 years away at the earliest. The mutation word is an interesting choice to explain Kamala's powers and ability to use the bracelet. A co-worker of mine pointed out that Ms. Marvel was only an Inhuman because Marvel comics had decided to shift away from mutants (since they did not own the movie rights to the X-Men). Kamala was an Inhuman because Marvel was pushing the Inhumans at that point, and she could have easily been a mutant with her powers. You could argue that Kamala being a mutant is a correction to what they think she would have been if Marvel owned the movie rights to the X-Men.
The mid-credits scene involving Kamala apparently switching places with Carol Danvers potentially teases the opening of The Marvels. I knew we would see Carol Danvers at some point, not only does Kamala look up to Captain Marvel, but the bangle being a Kree device means Captain Marvel is now tied to the series. I was already excited for The Marvels, but after seeing how good Iman Vellani is in the role of Kamala, I am now super excited to see Carol and Kamala interact. While making the bangle related to the Kree and Kamala is a mutant helps her origin story for I am still not a massive fan of her powers. I wish Kamala had the stretchy powers of her comic book counterpart, which I was looking forward to see in live-action. I had heard of Ms. Marvel for years, but I had never read a comic with her in it, though I did play the Marvel Avengers video game where she was the central character for a chunk of the game I played. I really enjoyed Ms. Marvel in the video game, and I think that is why I was so disappointed when I saw the series had changed her powers. I think part of my issue also stemmed from the idea that her bangle is connected to her powers, her reliance on the bangle diminishes her strength. If Kamala no longer has the bangle, will she still have powers was something I was waiting for the series to explore but they did not. At some point (possibly The Marvels) we will need to get an answer about how Kamala has powers since the show avoided giving us direct answers. Bruno mentioned the bangle unlocked something inside Kamala, and he further explained that when analyzes her DNA he found she had a mutation that the rest of her family was missing.
There has been a theme to Phase Four of the MCU which has left viewers a little frustrated, and that is the post Endgame MCU lacking direction. The first three phases of the MCU were building towards Infinity War and Endgame, but since Phase Four started it feels like there is little to common thread between the films and the series. The directionless comments have merit, but Marvel is within its rights to plan the MCU as they see fit. I will be patient, but those moments and teases of building towards something bigger was something I was excited to see. Ms. Marvel is a great introduction for a new character who will probably play a bigger role in the MCU. The family dynamics of the show allowed fans to see the big heart that drives our hero, and her family stole just about every scene they were in. I would want a second season of Ms. Marvel, but after making her film debut in The Marvels I think getting her own movie might happen first. The series did not have the biggest stakes, best action or the best villains, but it had a strong story built around family. The Khan family which is something new. was the best thing about the series, and by the end of the series Muneeba became one of Kamala's biggest supporters in the finale. Without the family elements of the show working so well I would think this show would be the worst we have seen so far.
I am going to give the episodes a rating, and then I am going to give a rating for the season as a whole which is something I will do going forward. Episode five was the weakest episode of the entire series, not only did I find the episode dull, but it also lacked the comedic relief of the previous four episodes. Episode five is going to get a 5/10 for me, it was a disappointment that the penultimate episode was bring and it robbed the momentum heading into the finale. The episode also never explained what happened to the two Clandestines that touched the portal, they crumbled apart, but are they did or is that how they pass through the portal. The episode lacked humor and action which are two things needed to keep the episode interesting considering we knew how the episode was going to end. The last few minutes of the episode between Bruno and Kamran was not bad, but the appearance of powers by Kamran was not explained and seemed to come out of nowhere. I wish episode five was better, but it was easily the worst episode of the season, and I think it was too muddled in how it handled things to be enjoyable.
The finale was an episode that I had large expectations for, and I felt the finale never matched the level of episode three. The final is going to be rated a 6/10 since it was not the best episode of the season, but it was better than episode five. I found the choice to have a bunch of kids be able to take on Damage Control agents too stupid to enjoy. I did like that Kamala finally got to wear a more comic book accurate costume for the finale. The mutation reveal at the end of the episode was good, and it made me feel a lot better about Kamala not being an Inhuman. The action in this episode was not as good as episode three, and I thought the emotional parts of the finale kind of fell flat for me. The mid-credit scene was a great tease for The Marvels, and I thought it was the best way for Carol Danvers to make her appearance. I know that Marvel was trying to make the show relevant by having Damage Control be the bad guys, and the community to come together to help Kamala. The whole Damage Control angle would have worked better if more time had been devoted to Agent Deever being a 'Karen'. I am glad that Marvel is making it series socially aware, but I wonder if the films will follow that path too.
The season as I said earlier must be taken as a success because we got great actor cast in important roles (Kamala and her family), and possibly mutants being introduced into the MCU. The series is going to get a 7/10 from me, but it could have been a 6/10 very easily had Iman Vellani not been such a great fit in the role as Kamala. The show was able to explore the family side of the character and making her family such a key part of season worked so well for the show. The action scenes were not great (episode three was the standout for action), but the scenes involving the family worked incredibly well and made me care about all of them. The bigger world elements of the show like the bangle being found on the arm of a Kree, the word mutation being said, and an appearance by Captain Marvel made the show feel relevant. Those bigger world moments were also played off with a lot of subtlety, and they were also very short moments, but they happened which is something important. When Kamala went to Karachi, I felt the show lost some momentum, and had it just been a one episode diversion it might have made the season feel a little smoother. Episode five could have used the Kamala back in New Jersey with Bruno and Kamran. I liked the show, but the promise in the first three episodes did not hold up in the final three episodes. The series is worth a watch especially since Ms. Marvel will be a big part of The Marvels.
Thank you for reading my spoiler review, sorry for the delay as I was sick and got behind on my reviews. Let me know your thoughts on the episodes as well as what you though of the season/series.
Post a Comment