Moon Knight: Episode 2 - Review

After the debut episode of Moon Knight, there were a lot of questions raised, some of which were intriguing and others were less so, but with how it ended, there was the question of what would happen next. Now that the second episode is here, we start to get some answers, but then we get a lot more questions.

***Spoiler Warning for what is ahead***

With how the first episode ended, Steven giving up control to Marc, one would expect that we would pick up the action right there but playing up the idea that Steven has little control over his life at times, he wakes in his own bed, quickly believing that the events were nothing but a dream. However, upon arriving at work, we learn that it was not the case and after incriminating himself, after watching the hilarious security video, he is let go. Now determined to learn what is going on, as someone else appears to be with him, he sets off to investigate the key that he found, alongside the phone. I won’t say much more than this, only that the events that quickly spiral and Steven finds himself in the midst of a lot of situations that he normally attempts to avoid, like crossing the street levels of avoiding.

What the episode does though, is bringing the mysterious Layla into the mix and gives us more of a look into Arthur Harrow and the purpose of his quest, but it also provides us our first look at Moon Knight, in full costume and ready for battle, at least eventually. The episode is less about the action, though there is an amazing sequence in the final third of the episode, but even that is given a back seat to the uneasy alliance between Steven and Marc and that is where the show shines the most. Even when Steven is scared out of his mind at the events that are happening around him, he refuses to give in, to let go of the steering wheel and giving Marc control, because he is afraid of what will happen when he does. He worries that something will happen and he will snap back into the drivers seat, covered in blood or worse and as we learn from the conversation that he has with Harrow, he is not someone that wants to deal with any sort of bad behaviour, especially if innocents are getting hurt.

Oscar Isaac does an incredible job here, especially in the end, of giving very distinct portrayals of two people, each struggling to gain the upper hand in life, one via being a nice guy and the other by being the opposite. The final scene with them talking it out, gives everyone their first good look at just how far Marc is willing to go, in order to achieve the goals he has, even if he doesn’t fully agree with the final outcome and as we learn why he is doing it, it does put the actions we know he has taken, into a slightly different context. For me though, it is Ethan Hawke’s Harrow that stole the episode, giving viewers a glimpse into the master plan for his actions, but at the same time, explaining why its necessary. It does feel a little similar to the goal of Hydra from The Winter Soldier, but it is the way in which Harrow explains it, that makes it feel more dangerous. There isn’t a passionate and loud speech about why, there isn’t even the madness of feeling helpless that some villains have, instead it is a calm and orderly approach to the goal. After only hearing May Calamawy’s Layla in the first episode, I wasn’t sure what to expect when she did appear on screen this time, but she managed to fit in alongside Steven with little ease, even though the character is very confused. There is more than happens in later episodes, which helps explain why she is so pissed at Marc, but even without that, she proves to be a strong character, willing to get in the mud, so to speak, if the situation calls for it.

The second episode of Moon Knight started answering some questions, while raising a few more, but like the first episode, it was the dynamic between Isaac’s dual performance and his scenes opposite Hawke that drive the show forward. When you have to main characters, within the confines of one body, the show could easily lose itself in making the switch, or the conversations between the two a joke, but it doesn’t. The show is continuing a fine balance of showing that Steven Grant and Marc Spectre are two very different people, while showing that things are not simpatico between them, the ending alone drives that point home.

The Score

8.5

Review access provided by Disney

The Pros

+Finally getting to see Steven and Marc have a decent chat, that doesn’t go well is good

+Harrow is still proving to be a villain with unlimited danger attached, thanks to the calm demeanour of Ethan Hawke

The Cons

-The inclusion of Layla is good, but she seems out of place, one minute she kicks ass and the next she doesn’t

-The fight at the end of the episode is good, but it lacks the wow factor of the previous episode