“Moon Knight” Episode 6 and Series R&R: or How I Lost My Soul To Marvel

Judge shows, not souls

by Rob LoAlbo

All photos courtesy Marvel Studios and Disney Plus

So, I had previously mentioned that it would take a miracle this week to pull off a successful series, and I’d like to report that no Virginia, there isn’t a Santa Claus.

Not as bad as it could have been but still suffering under the weight of the previous episodes, this week managed to tie a few loose mummy bandages together despite itself, but it still didn’t really come together in what was the series' shortest episode.

Get in the back of the limo with Jack Lockley and watch out for spoilers coming at your head!

The best I can say is that I’m glad it’s over, yet the show still managed to find a little bit of the winking fun that was revealed in the first couple of episodes with some good needle drops and semi-clever plot twists that we saw coming several miles, and episodes, away. The episode fared better than the show, but damage done, Marvel. Get your head together in Phase 4 already.

I will blend it with the glyphs! I’m going to be a master of disguise!

Starting off with Layla lurking in the shadows, Harrow wishes Marc/Steven a fond farewell, giving him the gift of scarab on his deathbed. Harrow’s wielding the Ammit idol, and he’s not afraid to use it. He’s ready to cure the world and judge it harsher than a pre-cog in a Minority bath. Headed back to the pyramids, he turns the Egyptian police into soulless bodies, because they’re (checks notes) bad? Unclear here, but definitely not my idea of police reform.

Thankfully Taweret’s on the job talking through dead people and asks Layla for her body (which is an instant turnoff to most women - Taweret needs a new pickup line). Opening up the tomb faster than a kid on Christmas, Harrow (who for some reason is SUPER sweaty during the entire episode) gets into the pyramid which is apparently the only place Ammit can be brought back to life (is that written down somewhere?), but Layla manages to get in too to try to find Khonshu’s idol (which again, how did she know that and what to look for since she wasn’t THERE when it happened?). 

“Alas, poor Ammit. I knew him Horatio.”

Well, plot holes aside, thankfully this episode has some good action and god-like effects. Ammit is totally boss as a giant talking crocodile, so my guess is that they saved money on scriptwriters to pay off the CGI department. If nothing else in this show, they managed to create some really awesome Egyptian superhero gods that would look weird but cool fighting off Thanos.

Layla resurrects Khonshu, who tries some similarly smooth pickup lines on her, but she turns his ass down faster than F. Murray Abraham losing a toupee in a windy sandstorm. (Yeah, there was a little bit of satisfaction in seeing Khonshu end up being the wallflower at the 8th grade graduation dance.) Without an avatar, Khonshu doesn’t have too much power to fight, so without Marc, there’s not a lot he can do. And without Steven, there’s not a lot Marc can emotionally do, so out of the fields he goes to track down little Stevie in the Duat. After his heart grows three sizes that day, he unfreezes (un-sandstones?) Steven and together they head through the pearly gates and back to the world of the living. Marc renews his subscription to the Khonshu of the month club by swearing protection of night women, or something, 

Marc thinks he’s all levels of awesome in his white duds, but Layla’s like, “Hold my beer.”

What is also fun is seeing Marc and Steven finding a great balance as Moon Knight, seamlessly switching personalities and outfits. It’s nice to see them getting along, especially since the whole fighting off one another grew tiresome back in episode 3. To complement his renewed thirst for Miami Vice threads, Layla takes on Taweret and becomes Wonder Woman 1984 the Scarlet Scarab! Despite me not liking Layla much up to this point, she slays in her new role, and those bulletproof wings sure do come in handy. 

But the biggest slay of the night doesn’t go to Layla, ultra-action hero Ethan Hawke, or even Superman wannabe flying Moon Knight: it’s the Kaiju fight between Ammit and Khonshu! Easiest my favorite part of the series, watching them Godzilla-ing it out against a pyramid killed more eyeballs than a Sam Raimi movie. Who knew that’s what Marvel needed? More Kaiju action, please! 

Crazy Ammit vs. Khonsu action!

And even though Harrow should have died like five times from the impact of gravity, the street fight brought me Daredevil feels of back alley pummels and hallway smacks. If only the rest of the show brought their A-game the way these 15 minutes of beatdowns did.

Then, just when it looks like the chips are down for our heroes, Marc/Steven black out, waking to find that everyone is either dead or defeated. Either someone edited out the wrong scene from the show, or the third personality is at it again, kicking names and taking ass. Sure enough, we come to find out that it’s Jake Lockley, the final boss at the end of the video game.

Since Harrow’s out, Layla and Marc bind his body and trap Ammit from doing any more harm, but they need to kill Harrow to seal the deal. Marc doesn’t play that, so back to the institution he goes, but the proof is in the bloody footprints. (THAT’s the payoff for the opening scene?) Mark checks himself out of the hospital against the wishes of his physician and HMO only to wake up deciding to “go save the world.” Hence, a superhero is born that lives in his mother’s old apartment tied to a bedpost. End scene. Cut, print, it’s perfect.

Jake Lockley! Pew, pew!

But is it that simple? Of course not. A mid-credits scene changes our perspective when we see a “lobotomized” Harrow being wheeled out by an unknown man who killed the head nurse because he asked for his primary insurance card. It’s the third personality, cabbie and chauffeur Jake Lockley, who’s main pastime is wheelchair punting. He leads Harrow into the limo, and faster than you can say “Joe Pesci is a made man,” Lockley puts two into him so he can sleep with the fishes. (Our only hope is that the cannolis made it out alright.) Despite Marc and Steven being released from Khonshu’s deal, Jake is still in with a secret Boy Scout handshake.

So again…sense or nonsense?

“Please say sense? I’m going to need you to say sense. These shoes are killing me.”

All of my previous complaints still stand: Layla isn’t as interesting as they think she is, we spent too much time Tomb Raiding, there’s lots of setups with little to no payoffs, and overall the storytelling is ineffective and unsatisfying. To be or not to be? Not to be.

I did like that the show tried something new and out of the box, though. That Marvel is taking more chances with non-traditional storytelling is a plus. And the presence of a morally ambiguous main characters is different: they just need to develop him to the point of being actually interesting. Both Isaac and Hawke are great actors who can chew scenery with the best of them, but they were given so few opportunities to be memorable here. I mean for Osiris’s sake, Isaac’s Marc and Steven were almost indistinguishable beside a haircut and accent. AND I STILL DON’T KNOW WHY HAWKE WAS SOOO SWEATY IN THIS EPISODE!!! 

“No, I don’t want your deodorant. Mine works just fine.”

I also like that this show was its own story set apart from the MCU. Too often, these properties are more concerned with setting up continuity and future film storylines. Detachment is fine and should be encouraged, especially if you want to bring in new viewers, Disney+.

As for my final verdict, I can’t really recommend the show because of its weird pacing, tonal inconsistency, lackluster performances, and giant plot holes, but I wouldn’t exactly dissuade Marvel-ites from staying away from it the way I do with The Inhumans (seriously, stay away at all costs). I wouldn’t even recommend it to Marvel completists because it adds nothing to the canon. (From what I’ve read, Oscar Isaac was only signed on for this series, anyway, so I’m not even sure he’ll be popping up in future films.) Most importantly, it just wasn’t fun–and fun doesn’t have to be funny or lighthearted. It just needs to be willing to take the audience on a wild ride, not a dour one. Now, I also know that there are others who have critically really leaned into this series and enjoyed it, but from what I’ve read from the fans, they were not feeling it and found it similarly dull. Count me a fan, then. 

Moon Knight, here seen attempting to out-brood Bruce Wayne.

It’s a shame because I felt that the show had a lot of potential with an unreliable narrator who is unsure about his own reality, but I think they played it too safe when it should have been bonkers and too loopy when it should have been grounded. It was as if the show suffered from a dissociative personality disorder, and not the fun, engaging kind.

Next month: A tale of a stretchy Muslim girl from Jersey City, which sounds way more fun than the wild nightlife of Marc Spector.

Star City Rating: 3 out of 5 for the episode, 2½ for the show