“Ms. Marvel” Episode 4 R&R: Stranger in a Partitioned Land
“What do you mean you can still recognize me? I’m wearing a mask!”
by Rob LoAlbo
All photos courtesy Marvel Studios and Disney Plus
After a rough patch last week with awkward fight scenes and a focus that shifted away from what made the show great, its second act is finding its groove even though it doesn’t quite get back to where it once was. Sure, the fighting’s still awkward, but it’s a bit more realistic and with Kamala’s journey back in center square, we leave continental boundaries towards Pakistani borders for some spicy adventure.
Should we experience some turbulence and spoilers, an oxygen mask will drop down in front of you. Be sure to adjust your own properly before helping small children and enhanced individuals.
Pack your bags, we’re going on a guilt trip!
Leaving behind our series regulars (Et tu, Bruno? Wherefore art thou?), it’s cultural immersion time with Kamala and her bickering mother flying eastbound at the whim of grandma and Thomas the Tank Engine. It’s frightening to head to a new place (just ask the stuffed sloth), but even scarier is facing the broken relationships and mending generational gaps that have eroded from neglect and misunderstanding. And housekeeping. Some things generationally never change.
This episode, we’re all about seeking your cultural identity in your predecessors and the historical aspects that define a people group. The plot is deeply steeped in Partition history, a massacre of two million that I had no idea about because it claims nary a footnote in American textbooks. The series takes the opportunity to educate us on this significant historical event that clearly hasn’t gotten enough attention, an approach similarly taken by the HBOMax series Watchmen. (In that show, the writers used the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot as a historical anchor for its characters as well as an opportunity to draw attention to a major historical event that was also just a footnote.) It’s effective storytelling as it roots the characters in reality, an approach that could have been exploitative. Here it’s authentic because the Indian/Pakastani people are defined by these tragic events, the same way the Holocaust defines much of Europe. And since most American teenagers have never felt that type of loss, there is only one way Kamala can truly understand what it feels like (but that’s at the end of the episode…so slow your paratha roll).
Mandatory estranged cousin selfie!
Years ago when Nani was escaping the partition she became lost in the crowds, and the bangle showed her “a trail of stars” that led her back to her father and onto the last train out. So Kamala is here to make sense of why she’s seeing the train, too, which means shopping and sightseeing! (Even though the filmmakers couldn’t film in Pakistan because of the tense political situation there, its stand-in Thailand does a decent job at getting the basic feel.) But as an ABCD (American-Born Confused Desi - a term used to describe US born south Asians), she’s left to tourist on her own, getting conned out of rupees left and right faster than an overzealous Elmo in Times Square who wants his picture with you for $40.
Thinking she’s a Clandestine, the Red Daggers attack! Kamala, whose skills apparently don’t involve knife throwing, battles out with our latest shipmate Kareem (KamReen? KarMala?). Still growing into the embiggening process, she’s learned a few moves in a much better choreographed fight than last week’s kitchen debacle. Here, Kamala’s powers are much more intuitive than planned out (which makes sense for a teenager whose fights haven’t gone much past crowded high school hallways). It’s when she’s attacked by multiple master assassins and holds her own that’s the issue (see below!).
“We don’t play that where I’m from. Talk to the hand, Red Dagger!”
Kareem sees the good inside her and invites her into his Lair of the Red Daggers, which is really just an alcove behind the kitchen stove (weirdly enough, it’s much bigger on the inside). There, Waleed makes her acquaintance (as played by Farhan Akhtar, a major Bollywood star—their level of Tom Cruise here, which means Fiege is playing the long game with international grosses). He’s down with Aisha and explains that there is another world co-existing with ours and Noor is the veil that exists between. The Clandestines want to use the bangle to tear down the veil, unleash their world, and erase us from existence. (This took me three viewings to fully understand. Unless I don’t.) It’s a bit high concept, even for Marvel, but maybe it’s allegorical for the way the British dealt with India in the 40s? (Must research that more.)
We also get some mother/daughter time with Nani and Mami. As I said last week, Zenobia Shroff steals every scene she’s in. Giving Muneeba a gravitas to what could have been a stereotype or two-dimensional portrayal, in Shroff’s hands she wrenches emotional heft that holds our eyeballs hostage and connects us with her. The discussion with her mother feels authentic and relatable, revealing universal truths about how each generation misunderstands the next.
“No, I wasn’t aware that you are disappointed with my life choices. Please tell me more.”
As for those wily Clandestines? They’re in DODC headquarters, handcuffed and transported by ceiling pipes (I’d love to see the planning schematics on that). It’s a supermax prison, so escape seems impossible. (“Actually it’s super easy. Barely an inconvenience.”) Marvel skimps on the sets, with the place looking less like a prison and more like midnight hour at the Funko Pop factory (they actually pass two recycling bins, which I can’t imagine are big staples at supermaxes. Guess you gotta cut the budget from somewhere so Pizza Poppa can get paid.) Dropping Kamran faster than a hot tandoori oven, they work to track down the bangle. (Use the Noor, Kam-mom! Let go!) They sense it, but Kamala can SHAPE it, hence the embiggening and solid light formations, something she learns while training with the Red Hood gang.
Faster than you can say Red-Eye, Kam-mom and the Scooby gang drop in on Kamala’s training and start one of the most weirdly edited fight scenes yet. It’s nearly impossible to tell where anyone is in relation to one another. (I’m pretty sure Wolverine IS in this show; he’s in the editing room.) The ensuing chase scene is handled better, which I attribute mostly to camera placement—they have enough sense to not put everyone in our face and keep multiple vehicles in the same frame. But Kamala’s effects are starting to look glaringly cheap, like Adobe AfterEffects chintzy (Think “Wizards of Waverly Place”). The embiggening stuff is fine, but any time she needs to summon solid light, I cringe and my wallet puckers a little. And some of the slapstick feels very Disney afternoon-ish with a splash and Zack and Cody, which I think was Paul’s favorite show growing up (although he might be more of a “Cory in the House” kind of guy—will look into that).
If after twenty-four hours swelling does not go down, please consult your doctor.
After a fairly adrenaline pumping street chase, we move into close quarter fighting where some people get killed (?) and others don’t (?). (Again, fight choreography: not their strong suit.) Kam-mom jabs the bangle with a blade and BAMP! Kamala is sent back in time to the Partition, no doubt to confront her great-grandmother. Standing atop the refugee train, the scope goes all Lawrence of Arabia on us, so again, who knows what next week will bring.
Still, I’m willing to forgive those awkward moments because the cast is so willing and the cultural aspects so exciting. The showrunners have a clear affinity for the characters and a deep appreciation for tradition. It’s not like Moon Knight which was cast authentically but much of the cultural stuff was Wikipedia-ed at best.
“Wait…I didn’t research Egyptian culture. I thought you did.”
Sure, it’s going in odd directions, but it’s never boring. Had they chosen to not root themselves in their characters, we’d be lost (right, Steven with a v?). The themes of identity nicely parallel with the cultural identity many modern Indian and Pakistani families feel to this day, which is a thoughtful and creative approach to a Marvel property. Although Damon Lindelof blazed that trail first with Watchmen: still, it’s a great trail to widen with Ms. Marvel and worth the journey. And what could have been preachy and soapboxy (Falcon…) is subtle and effectively memorable. It’s not perfect, but neither is Kamala, which makes us love her all the more.
Star City Rating: 4 out of 5
Next week: David Lean presents, A Passage OUT of India