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A Complete Unknown is far from the worst thing you'll see this Christmas season, and many people will probably like it simply because of the various performances.
Posted in: Disney+, Kaitlyn Booth, Marvel, TV | Tagged: disney, Episode 2, marvel, moon knight, Review
Moon Knight Episode 2: Time To Grapple With Exposition & Morality
The first episode of Moon Knight spent very little time explaining to everyone what was going on, which wasn't a bad decision to make, but it did leave people hanging with more questions than answers for a week. However, episode two makes up for it by confronting most of the things plaguing our minds in episode one and giving us at least a surface-level explanation that, considering we're only two episodes in, is just enough. This is also the first episode where we get to see a lot more of Marc and the difference between the two performances that we didn't get to see in the previous episode. The thing about DID is that Marc and Steven aren't different personalities; they are different people; that's why the name of the disorder was changed from multiple personality disorder. Oscar Isaac is leaning into that by ensuring that we can tell when it's Steve and when it's Marc before he speaks a word of dialogue and we hear the accent. It's all the body language, the eyes, and episode two is where we get the chance to see the difference between Steven and Marc in Isaac's performance.
We also get to see Steven pushing back against the idea that he is broken in one of the better lines of the entire show. While he does call himself "bonkers" when he is speaking to Marc, it's done in a comedic and rather self-deprecating way; the show doesn't call Steven or Marc crazy. Even when Steven is being fired by HR, they give him treatment options, and they don't seem to be that judgemental about the entire thing; they just had him a pamphlet and even offer to make that first appointment. Arthur says that he wonders if Khonshu chose him because his mind would be easy to break or because he was already broken, but Steven disagrees. "No, I'm not broken; I just need some help, maybe." This is a man who has met one of his alters and seen an Egyptian God of the Moon, he's quite clearly teetering on the edge of a meltdown, and he still refuses to accept that he is broken.
Later, Steven equates the moments that Marc is in charge as "eating away at parts of my life like a parasite." The thing about mental illness, nearly all of them, is that is exactly what they do. They eat away at parts of your life. You lose entire days or weeks to low depressive episodes when you can't get out of bed. You might max out a credit card if you're feeling manic. Sometimes, it feels like you're losing bits of yourself, and all that's going to be left is this husk of a person once your illness is done with you. Moon Knight meant this in a much more literal way, but much in the same way the broken line speaks to someone knowing what they are talking about, so does this one, in the worst kind of way.
We also get to meet one of the supporting players in Moon Knight, played by the lovely May Calamawy. What is truly refreshing about Layla is that she hasn't been left in the dark about the suit or anything like that. She knows about the suit; she seems to know about Marc's mission, which is something we don't see in superhero shows very often. In fact, the thing that Marc was hiding from her was Steven which is just fascinating. He was fine with her knowing he could summon a suit from an Egyptian God, but explaining his DID and Steven was a step too far. Again, they are different people, and the episode goes out of its way to point out that it was easier to keep their lives separate for a long time.
While we get a ton of exposition, we also get the show bringing a sense of good and evil and morality into the mix as well. Khonshu considers himself a bringer of justice, and Arthur believes that Ammit will do the same thing differently. Ammit will do it Minority Report style and kill people before committing evil acts. It's a question that stories have been grappling with for a long time; how evil is a thought? How much intention does there need to be before you're guilty of something? It's a different version of what Thanos wanted. He didn't care if people were "evil" or "good," he just thought balance was all that mattered, which is a little cleaner in some ways. Now we're getting into what is the definition of "good" and "evil." Arthur even says that the difference between medicine and poison is the dosage, which is undoubtedly an interesting way to look at morality. It's not a new way of doing things; as previously stated, Minority Report did the science fiction version of this, but it always brings compelling questions to the table.
Finally, we get to see more of the suit and two different versions of the suit in Moon Knight episode 2. Marc's version is visually a lot cooler to look at; the cape and the VFX behind it can sometimes look slightly off. Unfortunately, it's hard to make capes look real, and aside from the Thor movies, Marvel hasn't had to deal with a ton of capes before. You really need the real thing for them to look good, and there are times when the cape can take you right out of the scene. As for Steven's suit, Mr. Knight, as he is known in the comics, actually looks a lot better because it is much simpler in design. We're going to see a billion people wearing that cosplayer specifically because comfortable and simple superhero cosplay, even for men, is a rarity.
There has been some pushback online about comic accuracy and style when it comes to Mr. Knight, but again Marc and Steven are two completely different people. It would only make sense that their suits wouldn't look the same. That distinction, while it might cause a hairline fracture for fans, reinforces that Moon Knight will make sure we know that Marc and Steven are two different people. It adds another visual element. And, of course, he didn't know how to fight; why would he? It's basic "show don't tell." He hears "suit" and comes up with a literal "suit" and can't fight because he doesn't know how because Steven is not Marc. He never learned to fight; they don't have the same skills or even the same muscle memory.
Moon Knight episode two is a lot of exposition, which is fine; it's what we need in this series, but it does feature some great set pieces, and we get the chance to really meet all of the big players in this show with Layla and Marc really making their appearances. The final moments of the episode promise big things for episode three, and things are about to get really weird in a good way.
Moon Knight Episode 2 "Summon the Suit"
8.5/10
Disney+ & Marvel Studios' Moon Knight episode two spends a decent amount of time on exposition and grappling with the concept of morality while introducing the last of the principal players in the show.
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