Moon Knight (Disney +)

The scenes with the mirrors/reflections must be nightmares to shoot on set and for the effects people to finish though the longer the restroom scene went the fewer reflections there were in the infinity effect.

I'm already waiting for the "Assembled" episode to explain how they did those and the mountain car chase.  I'm betting every long shot on that was full CGI or, at least, CGI cars on shots of the real road.

That opening scene was unsettling.  I'm sure there will be an explanation for walking on broken glass at some point but, man, did that make me squirm...

Isaacs makes Steven very likable and sympathetic, the character is so unlike anything else I've seen him play while Marc is exactly what I've seen him play.

This episode felt like it was all set-up.  Hoping we get right into things next week.

Intriguing.

I like that the first episode is set up as a mystery and the viewer is not clued into what is going on. We can guess, and people who've read the comics know, but it's a good puzzle for newbs like me.

I didn't expect it to be this funny and enjoyable, and I'm glad that it was.

Like a lot of MCU Disney+ TV stuff, the soundtrack of classic songs makes the project extra enjoyable.

One thing I didn't like, speaking as someone with mental illness, and speaking as someone who has been friends with people with disassociative disorder, was the PSA at the very end of the credits about where to go for info on mental illness and health. I'm like, "Hey, man, either somebody is gonna be offended by this premise or not. Don't pull back and act like it's a sympathetic portrayal of the problem." It uses it as a gimmick, which is my mind is fine. But the PSA makes it sound like they are really trying to be respectful of people who suffer from it, and they're not. And frankly, they're not required to be. It feels a bit that the producers are a little too worried about offending people about this, and having their cake and eating it too. If Batman: The Animated Series has a tenth as much concern for the portrayal of mental illness as this did, we'd have been in great shape. As it stands, I wish the show didn't try to pretend it cares about the struggles people with the actual illness go through. If they did, they could tell a different story. Since they chose this one, I expect them to have enough confidence in it to stand by it. Speaking as someone with schizo-effective, I'm more offended by the show trying to have it both ways, than I was by anything in the episode itself.

But that was a promising opener. Sort of weird how it was a credit blurb that got my biggest bit of ire there. ****.

It was good. But it didn't really have the same frenetic energy as last week.

All though it was fun seeing the superheroics for once. Apparently that's going to be more common going forward since the personalities have merged a bit.

Steven's literal suit was funny.

I liked it, but not as much as last week. ***1/2.

Interesting that Marc becomes Moon Knight and Steven becomes Mr. Knight.  Honestly, from the promo photos I really expected Mr. Knight to be the "badder cop" of the two but that doesn't look to be the case...  Now I have to figure out whether to display Moon Knight or Mr. Knight with my MCU collection... Hmmm...  Maybe set up something so it looks like one is looking at the other in a mirror?...

The show is much less fun when it's from Marc's perspective.

Harrow did almost nothing but spew b.s. at his trial, but I think he was probably right about something. I very much believe Marc and Steven are unwell, and that Khonshu is taking advantage of their unwellness. That's the specific reason I never mind Steven throwing a wrench in their plans when he takes over.

There's a third personality? This one seems like a psychopath.

It was all right, but I liked last week less than the first, and I liked this episode even less than that. ***.

I think the three personalities may have been telegraphed from the first episode...  I haven't gone back to check, yet, but I noticed something in the end credits today.  When Oscar Isaac's name is shown the photo of him has the face detached from the head with three faces floating in front of the head like masks, something most people would just chalk up to a graphic design choice in the first couple of episodes if it is also there.

I'm enjoying the show but I'm kind of like Fone in that it's going down week by week.  The show feels disconnected from the MCU.  There has been no reference that I've caught to MCU history, no mention of other characters (hero or villain).  I get that the locals are new to the MCU and the other characters have to reason to be there but still seems like there would be someone in the background wearing a t-shirt or a store front or vendor stall with hero knick-knacks... Maybe there is and I've just missed it...  Of course this is, also, the first D+ show to focus on a character that we've never met before though the ads for Ms. Marvel show that that sort of disconnect won't happen in that show...  I dunno...

I find it interesting that the Norse gods are aliens in the MCU but the Egyptian are "real".  I've heard that Zeus is in Love and Thunder which makes me wonder how they approach the Greek pantheon.

That was difficult to watch.

Aside from the premise being a bit triggering for me, I found the ideas explored and the idea that Steven was a problem for Mark to work through just morally wrong. Steven isn't a crutch, he's an ideal. And acting like killing him off is balancing the scales is wrongheaded.

Was the drama good, or even great? I would say so. Did I like or enjoy it? Very much not. I have talked about the notions of "good hurts" and "bad hurts" in fiction before, and that was an unambiguously bad one. In its defense, as far as the reality of his awful mother goes, it was at least a truthful one. And sometimes hurts are just hurts and just plain BAD. I acknowledge and concede this, while also saying that that kind of drama isn't my cup of tea and never was. We'll see how next week goes, but I think this episode went a long way towards this show losing me and not ever being able to get me back.

Steven was the one guy who (correctly) told Marc that his brother's death wasn't his fault and that his mother was wrong. Probably the first time he's EVER heard that (even his weak and worthless father probably refused to say it) and I refuse abide by a moral that the first person telling Marc this true thing is the reason his scales are unbalanced. Because it's not true, whether the show thinks it is or not.

Steven also gets points for pointing out Honshu was taking advantage of Marc from the start. Something I had been saying all along, and I refuse to believe somebody speaking that truth is a weakness.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this will be the first Marvel Studios TV show I don't wind up liking. In hindsight, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier doesn't hold up so hot either, but I enjoyed it at the time. I can't even give Moon Knight that much. It's kind of a downer and a bummer. I'm not happy. *.

Layla + Tawaret = Scarlet Scarab

That was surprisingly great. The show lost me last week, but when Marc tell Steven that he is his actual superpower it totally won me back. I also feel like the events of the episode made the pain and horror of the last episode feel worthwhile, which is no easy feat.

I'm glad the third personality wasn't forgotten. The reality is Khonshu is a total manipulative bastard and always has been.

Will there be a season two? The open ending says it's possible, but there was no teaser at the end of the credits promising it either. We'll have to see, I guess. I however would not like to leave things here.

Nevertheless, I was very satisfied with that. *****.