SERIES REVIEW: MOON KNIGHT

SERIES REVIEW:  MOON KNIGHT  

To say that the series Moon Knight was a tad confusing was an understatement....but it also was a wild ride of a series that featured Oscar Isaac take on the titular role of Moon Knight...and the many personalities that make up the character and his own world.  Marvel Studios ensured that this series DID stand on its own, and didn't feature any real cameos, but did set up the chance for a Season 2---provided they should produce one---or, spring him off into his own movies or guest appearances in other Marvel films (which you know he will down the road).  But for what this was...a psychological and spiritual journey of a man who is fractured in mind and heart----and purpose.  It left us scratching our heads...but yet, still wanting MORE.  

Along the journey of Marc Spector...a man diagnosed with DID - Dissociative Identity Disorder...in his alter of Steven Grant---a gift shop employee of the British Museum with knowledge of Egyptian folklore.  He is shy, timid, talks to his mother, and is something of a social outcast.  He's belittled by his boss, and talks to a man imitating a gold statue.  Steven has trouble sleeping, and has these nightmares where he's somewhere and someone else.  At the onset of the series, we see Steven fall asleep, and wake up in the Austrian Alps, having no idea as to how he's gotten there.  He's then chased by men set on killing him at the behest of Arthur Harrow---who is seeking a Scarab that Steven has in his possession.  Steven manages to avoid capture with the help of Khonshu, the Egyptian God of the Moon.  Harrow was once an avatar for Khonshu, but then became the avatar for another Egyptian Goddess, Ammit, with whom Harrow uses his abilities to judge those Ammit deems worthy of living, or if they are deemed evil, or capable of doing evil down the road in life, then he kills them as Ammit's behest.  That doesn't sit well with Khonshu or Steven.  

Steven is attacked by Harrow's men at the museum, and it's when we first see Marc Spector appear to aid Steven in escaping.  From there, Spector takes on the heroic form of the Moon Knight, and manages to stop Harrow's men...and demon dog that he's summoned, from capturing them.  However, Steven doesn't see the Moon Knight outfit OR the demon when he looks at security footage the next day...only that he sees Marc Spector.  He's fired from his job and, and then uses his access key to find a locker where he finds the Scarab.  Grant meets up with Spector's wife, Layla, who's been helping him out.  They are chased again by Harrow's men, and Harrow catches up with Steven.  He says that he needs the Scarab to resurrect Ammit, so that she may cleanse the Earth of evil, which include persons who have yet to commit an evil act.  Layla rescues Grant, but Harrow sends more demonic jackals after the pair, and Steven then becomes Mr. Knight to try and fight the jackal.  However, he's overwhelmed, and allows Marc to assume control, and---as Moon Knight---ends the threat.  But Harrow obtains the Scarab, and Khonshu threatens to take Layla as his next avatar if Marc fails, so he wakes up in Egypt.

While Harrow and his crew manage to find Ammit's tomb in Cairo, both Marc and Steven suffer blackouts while on the hunt for him.  Khonshu, meanwhile, confers with the other Egyptian gods, and informs them of Harrow's plans, but he manages to convince them that Khonshu is the one in the wrong, and not him or Ammit.  Layla takes Marc to meet Anton Mogart, who owns the sarcophagus that holds the information to Ammit's tomb.  Marc and Steven have to work together in order to depict the location, and have to fight of Mogart's men to get it...which turns out to be a map.  With the star map in hand, Steven tries to decipher it, but the map is 2,000 years old, so Khonshu turns back the night sky to that night in order to discover Ammit's tomb.  However, Khonshu is imprisoned by the other gods, and therefore leaving both Marc AND Steven without his powers.  

Grant and Layla discover the camp of Harrow's men, who've been killed by undead Egyptian priests.  They discover Ammit's tomb, which is a maze in the shape of the Eye of Horus. They make their way in, and meet up with the undead priests...who then are beaten by Layla, but she runs into Harrow, who says that Marc was one of the mercenaries hired to kill her father, archaeologist Abdullah El-Faoulay.  Grant, meanwhile, enters Ammit's tomb, and discovers that her last avatar was Alexander The Great.  He retrieves Ammit's ushabti, but not before he is met by Layla, who is angry at Marc for killing her father, but it Marc says that it was his partner that killed her father.  Harrow shows up as their about to make their escape, and shoots Marc, apparently killing him.  Marc then wakes up in what appears to be a mental hospital, where Harrow is his doctor.  He tries to escape, but is met up with Steven.  As they reunite, and see a couple of different sarcophaguses, they discover a female talking hippopotamus upon their plan to escape.

The hippo-headed woman is another goddess, Tawaret, who informs them that the hospital they're in is actually a boat sailing on the sand of Duat---the Egyptian afterlife.  She grabs their hearts and weights them, in order to see if they can enter the Field of Reeds...providing the Scales of Justice are balanced.  But there's an imbalance, and we see that it takes Marc AND Steven to go through Marc's life, where we see that his brother Randall drowning in an accident, but Marc's mother blaming him for it.  She never let him live it down, and she got abusive as he got older...forcing Steven to realize that Marc created Steven as a coping mechanism for his mother's abuse.  Marc shows Steven how he became a mercenary and Khonshu's avatar after his partner, known as Bushman, left him for dead.  They then tell Tawaret that they need to get back to the land of the living to stop Harrow before he unleashes Ammit on the world.  She steers the boat toward the Gates of Osiris, but Steven falls off the boat after being attacked by hostile spirits.  Steven is then dragged into the Duat, where he turns to sand.  At that point, the scales balance for Marc, and he finds himself in the Field of Reeds.

While Marc and Steven are fighting for their life, Harrow has destroyed the other avatars, and has unleashed Ammit upon the Earth.  Layla finds Khonshu's ushabti, and releases him.  Marc refuses to stay in the Field of Reeds, and goes back to the Duat to rescue Steven.  With Taweret's help, they get through the Gates of Osiris, and back to Earth.  Khonshu reunites with them, and grants them their powers back, allowing Moon Knight/Mr. Knight to fight Ammit.  Layla discovers that Ammit can be rebound by mulitple avatars, and agrees to become Taweret's temporary avatar, the Scarlet Scarab.  And with the combined efforts of her, Moon Knight, and Khonshu, they fight Harrow and Ammit.  But Harrow gets the best of Moon Knight, only for both men to wake up, having defeated Harrow.  With Ammit defeated, and put back into her tomb, the threat ends. With Ammit know entraped in Harrow's body.  Khonshu urges Marc to kill Harrow, but he refuses, and orders Konshu to release him and Steven from his service.  So, it appears Khonshu does.  

The pair find themselves in a "hospital" once again, but see through the vision, and agree to work together to protect the world as Moon Knight/Mr. Knight.  However, Harrow, now in a mental hospital of his own, is taken out and put into a limo, where he is met by Khonshu.  Kohnshu than has Harrow/Ammit killed by yet another personality of Marc Spector's:  Jake Lockley, who is still working with Khonshu.  

This series took quite a few side roads on the way to completing the story, and I think it was by design, as to keep the viewer on their toes, and allow the viewer to peel back the layers bit by bit.  We do see the reason WHY Marc Spector created the identity of Steven Grant, how Steven is SUCH a vast contrast to Marc, and how Khonshu was able to manipulate both.  Especially since there were gaps for not only Steven whenever Marc was in control, but we soon discover that there were blackouts for Marc as well, and that's when Jake Lockley appeared.  So, now we have all three aspects of Marc Spector in place, and it will be a VERY interesting character study once Marc and Steven are made aware of Lockley's existence.  He is obviously the more ruthless of the three, and is still in league with Khonshu, which is why Khonshu hasn't fully released Marc and Steven from his service---Lockley is still loyal.  As for Harrow, he was brilliantly played by Ethan Hawke, which allowed him to take on the villain role for the first time (that I can recall), and he kept it straightforward, and allowed the audience to see the levels of his own evil to show.  We got an insight into Egyptian mythology, and got some pretty cool location shooting from the show.  Layla is a fascinating character in-and-of-herself, what with being Marc's wife, but also really "meeting" Steven Grant for the first time.  It will be something of another story to see how both of those personalities are able to work with and BE with Layla.  And will she return as the Scarlet Scarab?  Or was it just a one-time deal with her being the avatar of Taweret?  

The show provided some humorous moments between Steven and Marc, but in the end, we see a VERY flawed human...a very DAMAGED human, rise to the occasion and save the world...with those around him looking to take advantage of his disorder to control him at their whims.  Should a Season 2 happen, it will be the job of the writers to intermix and weave a story where Layla deals with this DID of Marc's, as well as what they do with Jake Lockley, how HE fits into all of this, and just what Khonshu's plans going forward are.  I commend the cast, but especially Oscar Isaac for the tremendous pressure of having to portray two VERY different people who happen to occupy the same body, and bring their distinctive personalities to life.  He had to walk the toughest highwire, and did so with exceptional skill.  I also commend the producers and director for telling a well thought out story...with extreme complexities at times---and still managing to capture the essence of the character.  We shall also see down the road where exactly Moon Knight fits into the MCU...which might not be until further down the road with Phase 5 setting up into Phase 6.  

What did YOU all think of this show?  Did you find it easy or difficult to follow?  Subscribe to the blog below, and leave your thoughts.

Until next time....
 

THE FLASH 8.20

RECAP - THE FLASH  8.20:  "Negative - Part 2" 

We have reached the end of what can only be called a very tumultuous season of The Flash, as we see the return of Eobard Thawne in a huge way, and discover that both the Speed Force and it's Negative counterpart, have avatars that they pick to harness the speed...which, in this case, are Barry and Eobard.  And now they're looking to get back at the Scarlet Speedster for having taken away their avatar in Eobard previously by disconnecting him from the Negative Speed Force, they put their plan into place to kill him by killing Iris to resurrect Eobard, and to upset the balance of nature by tipping the scales in their favor---all the while laying the blame at Flash's feet. Meanwhile, it's up to Cecile to see if she can find the positive Forces, and rescue them from certain doom.  

So...when last we left Flash...he, just saw Iris die in part to his lightning bolt, which the evil Dion had snapped his fingers to put her in the path of.  On top of that, the Eobard from the Legends' timeline, had been destroyed by the rebirth of the original Eobard Thawne, and killing the Thawne that had been loved by Fast Track.  Eobard goes on to gloat to Flash about how he felt Iris truly served her purpose, and Barry gets pissed off enough to attack him, wanting revenge.  The kids witness this back at STAR Labs, as Cecile can sense his anger---they race to stop him before he kills Thawne, and says that he's not that way, and if he kills Eobard, he'll be no different than him. Eobard, now full of power, is determined to destroy the Flash...as it is his life's purpose.  The kids try to convince their father that Iris truly isn't dead yet, but he's not convinced...he saw her die in his arms.  He wants to stop Thawne AND the Negative Forces once and for all, but to do that, they need to get into the Negative Speed Force.  Nora and Bart feel it's too dangerous, but Barry says they're out of time and ideas.  Chuck gets cracking on devices that'll help the speedsters tap into the Negative Speed Force, but Cecile can sense the anger in Barry....and his thirst for revenge.  She is deeply concerned.  However...Bashir...the good one, appears and requires Cecile's help in freeing the positive Forces before they're destroyed for good.  

We see Iris appear, but in the Time Stone that Damian Dhark occupies, and says that she's not dead, but what's happened to her is far more interesting:  she still has much to do on Earth, so it's not her time yet.  But only SHE can free herself from the Stone that Damian left Joe.  She's not sure how she can get back, since her connection to Barry was lost, but he says she's stronger than that...and when she figures out that she can re-establish the connection, she'll be back on Earth. Damian tells her she was an incubator for the Negative Forces to bring their avatar back. Meanwhile, Bashir brings Rosa Dillon with her to get Mona Taylor to assist in freeing the other forces.  We find out that Bashir opened up Cecile's mind, and expanded her powers, which allowed her to steal Dillon and Taylor's powers.  But combined, they manage to get the Forces free.  Meanwhile, Jay Garrick appears at Joe's, and they find out that Iris is trapped in the Time Stone that Damian gave him.  They traced Iris' signature to the house, and she manages to free herself from the Stone.  

The speedsters managed to get hooked up with enhancers to go into the Negative Speed Force, but the idea fails.  Meena is upset that the machine she created caused all of this, and she goes to destroy it, but Flash tells her not to.  He understands her pain, but there is a way.  By sharing HER Negative Speed Force energy with them, they can make it into the Negative Force.  As for Thawne, he's in his now-erased timeline, and Dion and the other forces tell him that they CHOSE him to be their avatar, it wasn't his machine that gave him super speed.  They then decide to give him a makeover.  Once Meena powers the trio of speedsters, and Barry manages to get into the Negative Speed Force, where he meets up with the evil forces, and he sees that Thawne is in the process of an upgrade.  Evil Dion says that it's Flash's fault that all of this occurred, because HE upset the cosmic balance.  They're going to "right the wrong" by not only getting their evil  Speed Force back, but tip the scales in their favor.  He snaps Barry back to Earth, and then Eobard is back...with a black suit upgrade, and using his Negative lightning to kill people.  He goes out to battle Thawne, and their final race begins.  They battle all over the city, but their fight is leaving destruction in their wake.  The news reports tell of this epic fight, but the citizens are frightened for their lives as the two speedsters wage a deadly war in the streets.  Iris tells Jay to get her to the town square in a hurry before Barry and Thawne destroy the town...causing Armageddon.  

Iris and Jay arrive and Iris convinces Barry to stop.  She says that killing him is not the way to end this...there's no way to stop him.  Thawne agrees, and says they'll keep fighting until one or the other is dead.  Iris tells Barry there's another way.  Barry sees that she's right.  The city can't take anymore destruction.  So, Flash decides to stop fighting, and meditate, as Thawne draws upon the Negative Forces for more power to tip the scales...which Flash warns him they're not supposed to do.  So he manages to use the power of the positive Forces to turn back time and reset the timeline, thus causing Thawne to overload his power, and be zapped out of existence.  This also brings back the kids and Meena, who had been zapped out by Thawne.  The universe resets itself, and all is right again.

Jay, Joan, and the Allen kids head back to 2049, after finding NO trace of Eobard Thawne ANYWHERE in the timeline.  Meena has lost her powers, but she's okay with that.  Iris managed to find her Eobard's yellow tie back at the lab, and gave it to her.  Barry says that if she ever needs them...or technical help.  They'll be there.  Once alone, Barry and Iris talk about their connection being broken, but she jump-started it again. But they also realize that with Thawne gone, the Negative Forces will look for another avatar.  But Barry knows they'll be ready.  

Meanwhile, at Caitlin's apartment, Mark wakes up when there's an alarm on the chamber that says there's a system failure.  The chamber opens, and Mark asks if it's Frost....but she says she's not sure...but she THINKS she's a friend.  

Well...for what I felt was a VERY up-and-down season, we finally got the Forces story finally finished, and hope we really don't tap into THAT aspect again.  Fast Track's career ended before it started, but I have a feeling this is NOT the last time we see Meena, as she might end up becoming the new avatar for the Negative Speed Force.  We got Damian Dhark giving  pep talk to Iris, and saying that the Time Stone spared her because she had more to do...which she did.  She stopped Barry and Thawne from creating Armageddon, which was predicted at the beginning of the season by Despero, and he was nearly right.  It was always great to see Jay, Joan, and the kids.  And Jessie L. Martain's last full-time appearance on the show goes out with him glad to have Iris back.  As for whether or not we still get more Cecile is hard to say.  But we did find out the reason for HER power upgrade:  Bashir.  But with the Forces finally back, I am not sure her powers will remain that way.  And for Caitllin and Mark...who KNOWS what she has become thanks to her little experiment, and whether or not she'll be a threat to The Flash next season. 

What bummed me out about this whole speed thing was the fact that we had ZERO Wally West in this storyline AT ALL.  After all, wouldn't HE be affected by all this Speed Force war stuff?  They missed out on that, and it bums me out, because there's literally NO mention of him AT ALL this season.  But hopefully, with Iris illness gone, and her back to normal...MAYBE we can finally have her get pregnant, so she can have those future kids she and Barry's spent time with.  With the revelation that Superman & Lois does NOT take place in the Arrowverse, and there's rumors of a "Super-Verse" coming, once The Flash goes off the air this next season....the Arrowverse will die.  It's been an interesting ride, with the 1st spinoff show being the lone survivor.  But we have some time to rest our feet, as the Scarlet Speedster will not run HIS final race until 2023.  So, we get a bit of a breather between now and then, and I HOPE that they take the time to plot out a good final season---the show deserves to go out on a high.  

What did all of YOU think of Season 8?  Subscribe to the blog, and leave me YOUR thoughts and opinions below.

Until Season 9....keep on running!

SUPERMAN & LOIS 2.15

 

RECAP - SUPERMAN & LOIS  2.15:  "Waiting For Superman"  

We finally reached the end of Season 2 for the Man of Steel and his family, as they had dealt with the threat of not only doubt being cast about as to Superman's loyalty to the United States, but with each other, and then the boys having THEIR mistakes on full display, only to have yet another otherworldly threat try to disrupt the cosmic balance of the universe in the form of Ally Alston, who tried to use two pendants to merge not only this Earth, but a Bizarro World together into one, thus giving her ultimate power.  

We had Ally---now merged with her Bizarro self---in the void between the two worlds, looking to pull them together and merge them.  John Henry Irons went into the void to stop her, since she had absorbed Superman's powers, leaving him powerless at this point.  However, as Natalie had tried to keep tabs on him, she lost contact after he got blasted by Ally in the void.  She's under the impression that he's dead, but they heard a faint signal, but still not sure he's still alive.  Chrissy Beppo has done a broadcast telling everyone about Ally's master plan, and what's going on--informing the citizens of Smallville an anyone in earshot that they should stay home, and be with their loved ones.  Clark and Sam have been trying to monitor John Henry, but can't find him.  Once they get the faint message from John Henry, Nat springs into action, and she's going after her dad.  Meanwhile, Tal has arrived to offer his services, and says that he's going to confront Ally, and try and stop her until Clark can heal.  Meanwhile, things are fluxuating between the two worlds, and some people are disappearing between both planets---with Kyle among the missing, causing Lana, Sophie, and Sarah to go out on the hunt for him.  

Tal reaches into the void to go and stop Ally, but he's not a match her, as she begins draining HIS Kryptonian powers as well.  Jordan can hear his uncle in pain, and Clark tells him to go and rescue him, but to be careful, and to NOT confront Ally.  So, Jordan steps up and flies up to rescue his uncle before he crash lands on Earth.  Bringing him back, Tal says he can't stop her, she nearly killed him again.  They're running out of ideas to stop her, and the clock is ticking.  Back at the Henry household, Natalie tells the A.I. to get the suit ready, as well as the pod, she's going after her dad.  In the void, as John Henry is about ready to say his goodbyes, Natalie does appear.  They are reunited, and she says she brought the pod to help them escape back to Earth. But John Henry had said that he set up the pod with X-K to blow up and try to disrupt Ally's merge....so they put that to the test----and it seems to work.  The portal is closed.  However, some people are caught between two worlds - Sam and Lois were on the Bizarro World and managed to find Kyle, but then Sam disappears back home, and that leaves Lois and Kyle on Bizarro World.  Kyle feels this is his punishement for what he did to Lana and their family, but Lois says otherwise.  Kyle ends up vanishing back home, and it just leaves Lois on Bizarro World.  

With Tal unable to stop her, the only card Clark has to play is the one where his mother gave him an idea about how to recharge his cells:  have his brother throw him into the heart of the Sun, and absorb as much solar energy as he can.  The boys see the risk in it, and that he could die, and Tal does tend to agree, but Clark says they don't have a choice.  So, Tal flies him up into the Sun.  And Tal thanks him for showing him a better way...that he had a family that did care.  And he sends Clark into the sun.  And while all of this transpired-  we could see Bizarro Lois watching all of it.  Ally's continuing the merge when Superman emerges from the sun supercharged.  He ends up battling her a little bit, and the merge is halted.  She's frustrated with him, and begins to absorb his powers...but he grabs her hand, puts it on his chest, and tells her to absorb more.  She can't handle the power overload, and she splits in two.  with her now powerless, he takes her down, where she's arrested, and he also rescues the Irons Family.  Superman then races around the Earth in order to get these two worlds to eventually split, and go back to their respective universes.  Once again, Superman saves the day. 

With the threat ended, Smallville holds a celebration for surviving yet another threat, and Lana ensures that the town celebrates Superman for his efforts yet again.  Clark and Lana finally talk, and Lana tells him that she just needed time to absorb everything.  They make up, and the best friends are back.  As for Sarah and Jordan, they both realize that they need to have better communication with each other.  She formally apologizes for cheating on Jordan, and he promises to work more on being more open about who he is. Lois and Lucy also make amends, as Lucy heads out of town with their dad to get her life in order.  Lois also talks to Chrissy, and admits to her that Clark is Superman.  She's tired of hiding from her friends, and Chrissy is her friend and partner, so it's time to be honest.  As long as Chrissy keeps a tight lip on that secret.  Later on, we see that Tal has left brand new trucks to his nephews as a gift to them for saving his life...and for being his family.  Clark isn't thrilled about it, but Tal is now on Bizarro World....looking to be that world's hero. 

There's a dance later on, and while Lois and Clark finally get to have some time together, not all is smooth for everyone else, as Lana is blunt with Kyle about them ever getting back together.  So, while they have THEIR last dance, Clark wishes he could help fix them...one of the things Lois loves about Superman.  Not too long after that, John Henry is met by John Diggle, who informs him about Ruper Manheim and his group, Intergang.  They were responsible for killing the John Henry Irons of this world, and Diggle is wanting to know WHY.  

The end of the episode  happens when Clark takes the family out into the ocean, where he says they're going to connect better, and be a bigger part of the Superman part of his life.  So, he tosses a crystal into the ocean, and a new Fortress of Solitude is created. 

It was kind of a janky season, and I wasn't sure exactly where it was going---and while that can be good, it's also NOT good when things don't make sense, or the plot seems kind of cheesy.  Ally Alston as the main villain felt like a letdown.  I felt we were due for something MORE epic....but we didn't get it.  And the Bizarro Superman was killed off before the huge part of the story really kicked into high gear.  And what of the Bizarro Lana?  One of her sons is on THIS Earth with Bizarro Lana...captured and powerless.  We get no resolution to THAT part of the story.  So, I felt the story COULD have gone better, and I would NOT have gone with her as this super-powered villain.  

One of the other HUGE disappointments I got out of this season was the fact that we discover---as of this last episode---that THIS Earth is NOT Earth-Prime, where the Arrowverse heroes are.  So, THIS Superman Family is NOT the Superman Family of the Earth Flash, Black Lightning, Supergirl, Diggle, and the Superman we knew from CRISIS reside on.  It explains a few things, such as no mention of the Justice League, or Kara, Barry, Batwoman, nor anyone ELSE that we've come to know.  So, much like Stargirl, THIS Superman takes place on a separate Earth....which was the design of the show runners.  So...once The Flash ends it's run next year (and I'm sure it will), the Arrowverse will officially END, and Earth-2 where Stargirl resides, and THIS Earth that this Superman & Lois reside on will be the only ones that remain, and they'll have NOTHING to do with each other.  So...those potential crossovers and whatnot are OVER...never to occur again. 

Some things I AM happy about, is the fact that the Lane family has resolved their issues, and that Lois and Lucy can begin anew.  And for Clark and Lana---his biggest secret is now known to his best friend...and her family (outside of Kyle), as well as Jordan.  It makes that group of family a little bigger.  Add Chrissy to that, and the Irons Family, and you've got your core group of characters.  As for Kyle...I feel he's kept in the dark for a reason...because, at some point, he's going to be written off canvas.  I think we're going to see next season that Lana Lang can operate on her own, and she's better OFF that way.  The separation between her and Kyle was a necessity to get Lana to stand out on her own.  Now, while Kyle has had some growth this season, he's still NOT as important a character on the canvas, so I can see that there would be LESS of him next year.  The other character that I see NOT being on canvas for the forseeable future is Tal.  He's on the Bizarro World looking to be THEIR hero....or so we're supposed to believe.  Either way, he's served his purpose, and it allows Superman to be the one unique hero, and gives us only Jordan as his superpowered son.  

What did YOU all think of this season?  What did you like/not like?  Subscribe and leave your thoughts and comments below.   

Until next season.....Up, up and away!