“Ms. Marvel” Episode 5 R&R: A Wrinkle in Time
And Hasan thought the only dish worth having in India was fried with butter. Great Gol Gappay!
by Rob LoAlbo
All photos courtesy Marvel Studios and Disney Plus
It’s a blast from the past with Kamala and friends as we swing to the super sounds of the 40s on a flower farm with Aisha and baby Sana in the most time-spanning travel adventure since Back to the Future II. With Doc at the helm and Marty altering his grandparents’ destiny, we’ll be bending time and logic itself to make sure this episode flies.
Does that Karachi train hit 88 mph? If not, be prepared for some timey-wimey spoilers!
In the biggest grandfather paradox since Klaus and Five went back to piss off Hargreaves so much that he started playing with Sparrows, Kamala is here to make sure her grandmother gets back in time with a trail of stars that starts with her. But first, a history lesson about the Partition told with authentic news footage! As a central point to the series, it’s helpful to get the specifics as it reframes the majority of this week’s episode which takes place from 1942-47, filling in the missing plot points regarding Aisha and Hasan.
“No, it’s not from lunch. I’m 6 months pregnant.”
The romance of these two heartthrobs takes up most of our time, as Kamala doesn’t appear until around the halfway point. The couple are positively swoon worthy, meeting in troubled times and developing love through a country’s strife. It’s a well-worn formula for historical romance that works especially well here because there have been so few times that we’ve seen Indian love blossom (in America, at least) as opposed to American or British wartime love sagas, the prevailing ethnicity of most epic stories around these here parts.
In short, she’s on the run, he’s arguing with the British soldiers, and their love binds them during turbulent times. She’s lady-ish and proper, he’s tramp-y and working class, and on their first date he noses some paratha over to her side of the plate. She resists, he makes eyes with her and recites poetry, and before you know it, she’s a melted puddle of pregnant frozen mango kulfi.
“Okay, Sana. We are going to play a little game called ‘Summon your future generation to this time period.’ I’ll go first.”
We catch a few glimpses of Sana’s birth and growth, but despite the rapid timeline shift, the show takes its time building up to the inevitable train encounter. Watching their nation slowly divide itself into chaos and violence, Hasan’s and Aisha’s relationship contrasts the current events around them. (Aw, they found love in a hopeless place!) It’s a bold move on Marvel’s part to branch out to something so non-super hero-ish, but that seems to be the MO of Phase 4, for better or worse. With The Eternals, Shang-Chi, WandaVision, Moon Knight, etc. you might not always like what they are doing but you can’t argue that the MCU is taking chances and branching out past the stiff edges of previous phases. Wagwan!
Aisha and family are trying to make the best of a bad situation, but when Najma shows, that throws their future plans into high gear. Remember: Aisha disappeared after putting on the bangle, and Najma has been hunting her down for the last five years in an attempt to return to their home world. Now that Najma’s found her and the Indian Sikhs are driving the Muslims out, Aisha sees her moment to flee and finally tells Hasan about how every little thing she does is magic. (Marriage and secrets…don’t get me started. I’ve been keeping secrets for Paul for the last 5 years!) BUT…Najma somehow tracks her to the train where she gets all mopey and stabby about having been betrayed, leaving Aisha for dead.
“Please, find my daughter. And I’ve got a shopping list I didn’t get through either.”
And of course Hasan loses track of Sana (blink and you’ll miss it!) where she weeps and wanders the station looking for her parents. Only when Aisha whispers the (magical incantation?) words inscribed on the bangle - “What you seek is seeking you” that a pair of red size 7 Converse show up to save her. All this time, Kamala was the bridge of stars that Sana spoke of years later! (Don’t think about it too hard; just go with it.) She light-projects Sana back to her father which sets time right and Quantum Leaps Kamala back to the present. BAMP!
One crisis averted, another created! When returning back to the present, Kamala finds that the veil has been opened and the Despicables can now go home. Or can they? When they try to go through, the veil gets all wonky and people turn to dust. But will that stop Kam-mom? No way! She not only sacrifices herself but manages to become some sort of a viral mist that infects her son. (Mom of the Year award!) Now Kamran’s got powers (Who knew they were transferable? Are they refundable, too?) and he’s on the run with Bruno, which looks to be the focus of next week’s DODC finale.
“Two things I now need: instructions on how to use these powers, and a clean pair of shorts.”
And since the Khan family all have iPhones, Ammi is able to track down Kamala which blows her secret out of the water! Mom now knows that Kamala is “Light Girl” but since older Sana is there, she can explain everything. I really didn’t think Kamala’s mom would ever find out, that the show would keep it from her for good. It’s nice to know that the showrunners decided to embrace the themes of generational identity, as her reveal brings the characters closer together and solidifies Kamala’s independence and her search for who she is steadily becoming.
Which turns out, is the REAL purpose of this show. Looking back, we can now see the seemingly small mentions and hints that pay off in later episodes. Similar to Hawkeye with its setup & payoff structure, here the setups are WAAAY more subtle. Unlike that bottle cap snapping trick, who thought that Kamala’s necklace would become her lightning bolt sign? Or that the Red Daggers scarf would become a permanent part of her costume? (It’s an indication that the screenwriters trust us a bit more, a nice consideration.) It’s rich material, and next week when we see her fully suit up, where her costume could have been derivative of Captain Marvel, it will instead be a conglomeration of all the elements that made Kamala who she is and an allegory for the new land that the Muslim’s created in their country’s post-Partition era. (Chef’s kiss!)
“I promise, I’ll never let go, Jack!
The bad? Tonally this episode is a bit jarring, especially with the contrasting aspects of Aisha’s and Kamala’s time periods. When Kamala shows up, it’s like she’s from a different show altogether. And gone now are the animations and rapid ADD pacing of Kamala’s world. I get that they are showing her maturation, but it could have been a bit more seamless. The show’s handling of the Partition and of Hasan’s and Aisha’s romance is wonderfully executed and the stuff you usually see in gorgeous David Lean epics. The problem: from a storytelling perspective, it feels out of place here, shifting narrative focus too far away from our titular character.
And sure, a lot of it is a bit on the nose with treacly sentimentality in it’s delivery, but the underlying message hits effectively through the creative lens of the Pakistani experience. I know I keep saying it, but each episode reminds me that the entire approach to the cultural elements is so undeniably authentic and immersive, broadening the average Marvel fan’s appreciation for people outside of ourselves. We’ve had way too much of a single type of hero in the SWM MCU, so although this show’s got its flaws, it’s still worth the watch.
For a penultimate episode, they packed a lot in, and seemingly (and surprisingly) tied up a lot of loose ends. As for the finale, I hope it doesn’t just come down to Kamran and Kamala vs. the DODC. The show has always been best when it’s focus was on Kamala and her learning to embrace her identify, so if that’s the big reveal, that might satisfy. What I do know is that her super suit reveal will be applause-worthy.
Star City Rating: 3½ out of 5
Next week: Strange things are afoot at the Circle Q