Moon Knight: The Friendly Type

 

In The Friendly Type, Marc is in Egypt, trying to get to the location of Ammit's Tomb before Harrow does.

We find that the Marc version of Moon Knight is kind of a jerk. Even worse, there may be a third personality who is something of a vicious killer.  We don't see that version, just the bodies left behind.

Layla, Marc's wife, does a spectacular job of working with both the Marc and Stephen personalities, and calling out which is needed in a given situation. Who could be that adaptable? It almost seems to me that she likes Stephen better. Not only is he kind, but his knowledge of ancient Egypt matches her own.

In an effort to locate Ammit's tomb, Khonshu turns back the night sky so the stars match the day Ammit was buried. Layla's computer program can help match the coordinates from their former position. 

Khonshu knows this will bring down the other old gods upon him, but he wants Harrow stopped.

When the gods convene and accuse Khonshu (Marc the avatar of Khonshu is confronted by the avatars of the others), they bring in Harrow as a witness. Harrow tells them Marc is an individual who is very ill, possessed of multiple personalities. As Khonshu's former avatar, he knows well how cruel and manipulative Khonshu is.  Harrow is slitheringly compelling, and the gods take his counsel and turn Khonshu into a small stone stature.

 

Now it's up to Marc, Layla and Stephen to stop Harrow and Ammit.

I thought the episode would just be giving Marc screen time so we knew his character as well as Stephen's, and it does that, but the ongoing nature of Moon Knight's split personality, with both aspects having useful skills presents an interesting problem. Is there a way to share the body and work together?

Moon Knight: Summon the Suit

Such an odd episode title, until everyone is shouting "Summon the Suit!"

Steven is fired from the museum for trashing the bathroom he killed the jackal in (as Moon Knight).  The jackal didn't show on the museum cameras, just Steven running wildly through the place, then walking out with a scowl on his face.

Layla of last week's phone call shows up at this apartment, and she's Marc's almost ex-wife.  She doesn't understand why Marc/Steven is speaking in a British accent, and why he seems not to remember her or their marriage.  She is taken by his knowledge of ancient Egypt though.

Suddenly the police are at the door and there's nowhere for Layla to hide, and they're both sure she should.

As they hunt through the place, it turns out she's gotten out a window.  They take Steven away, but not to the police station.

 

Once again Harrow has managed to corner Steven. This time, he gives a long, earnest speech about the evils of Khonshu, and the encompassingly great life everyone will have under Ammit. 

Ammit will judge and remove anyone who might commit a crime in the future, as well as those who have done so in the past or present.

Steven highly objects to the innocent being judged, particularly children. 

Failing to convince Steven once more to hand over the Scarab, Arthur moves in on Steven with his cane which is of course a magical instrument.

Useless Khonshu stands around screaming the whole time in his tall bony plague doctor outfit.

Luckily, Layla shows up just in the nick to distract Harrow and give Steven a chance to get free.

As they fight their way to the top floor of the building, Layla encourages Steven to Summon the Suit. Mirror Marc (who is only heard by Steven, not Layla) also says Summon the Suit. Steven has no idea what they talking about.

However, chased by another jackal, Steven somehow summons a suit. Not a bad suit, but not the mummy like Moon Knight suit.

Something about the mask, the suit, and Steven's hilarious attempts to be a hero remind me of Jim Carrey's The Mask.

After a fight with the jackal, surrounded, Steven once more gives the body over to Marc who cleans things up as the real Moon Knight. 

This time, though, he traps Steven in the glass, and he heads to Egypt to confront what comes next.

Poor Steven in his moment of glory, then trapped in a mirror. I guess in the next episode we find out more about Marc, Khonshu and Layla. I hope Steven finds a way to peek out and comment.

Moon Knight : The Goldfish Problem (Disney Plus)

 

There is an actual goldfish.  Museum shop worker Steven Grant lives in a garret, his only company being a goldfish that has only one fin. He's the only friend Steven has, aside from a statue in the park who Steven shares his meals and conversation with. 

Steven is trod upon by his superior in the gift shop, and ignored by his co-workers.

If they knew he strapped his ankles to his bed at night, and surrounded the bed with fine sand to see if he got up and around at night, he'd really be avoided.

Steven calls and leaves his mom messages every day chatting about his life, but she never answers.

At night, Steven finds himself in other places.  He gets little sleep because this terrifies him, and his travels wear him out.

We see him one night (dreaming?) he's in the Alps and being chased by men with guns. In a village square, a man with scales on his arms that move and judge people in the crowd zeroes in on a thoroughly confused and frightened Steven.

The man demands that Steven gives him a scarab Steven somehow has, and Steven tries, but a voice only Steven hears controls his body and won't release the scarab.

There's a car chase wherein Steven, driving a cupcake truck, on wildly winding mountain roads, seems to black out periodically and he's defeated some of his pursuers. 

Steven has a dissociative disorder, featuring two personalities.  There's mild, sweet Steven Grant, and Marc Spector, a tough mercenary who follows the orders of Khonshu, the voice Steven hears in his head.

When he's not Steven he's Marc.  I'm guessing we will see more of Marc, but what happens to kind, bumbling Steven if Marc takes over more?

Ethan Hawke's Arthur Harrow character is interesting, a prophet type with loyal followers. That scale on his arm, balancing whether a person is worthy, is fascinating.

We don't know the Moon Knight version of Steven at all yet, but hopefully he has some redeeming qualities.   I really don't want to see poor Steven facing all of this alone.