Miles Foster
*Warning: This piece contains spoilers for episode one of Moon Knight*
After a long wait, Moon Knight finally arrived on Disney+ this Wednesday morning. The Oscar Isaac led show’s debut was wildly fun, entertaining, and intriguing with an air of mystery.
The episode opens with an unknown man, later revealed to be Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), placing broken glass in his sandals and walking away. We then cut to our protagonist, Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac), and his slightly more normal morning routine: unlocking his ankle restraint, checking the sand surrounding his bed for any indication of his escape, removing the tape from his door (he’s been known to blackout and wake up in an entirely new location), and feeding his one-finned fish. All this before he heads to his job as a museum gift shop employee.
One night after work, Steven awakens to find himself in the middle of a random country and not in his bed in London. Confused, and being shot at, he escapes into a nearby village where he witnesses a cult meeting led by Harrow, a servant of Ammit, an Egyptian goddess. Harrow acts as a vessel to judge whether or not a person’s soul is fit to remain living. Harrow spots Steven in the crowd, but recognizes him as a mercenary, much to Steven’s confusion. Harrow asks Steven to hand over a golden scarab, which Steven unknowingly had in his pocket. As he goes to give it to him, a mysterious voice who has control over his body takes partial control back and flees. In the ensuing chase, Steven manages to hijack a track and flee on wheels, and eventually grants the mysterious voice full control of his body and he wakes up in his bed in London, the whole situation seemingly a dream (as there is no indication of his leaving).
When Steven goes to feed his goldfish, though, he finds that his fish now suddenly has two fins. Additionally, having woken up later in the afternoon, he realizes he’s soon to be late to a date he arranged with a co-worker at a steakhouse. After waiting at the restaurant, he calls his date only to find out their date was supposed to be two days prior and that he’d been gone those days. Confused all the more, Steven heads back home, where he discovers a hidden cell phone and keycard in his apartment. He notices several missed calls from a girl named Layla on the phone. Just then, Layla calls the phone and Steven answers. On the phone, Layla refers to Steven as “Marc” and inquires why he’s been away for so long. This furthermore makes for one confused Steven.
The next day at work, Harrow confronts Steven but then seemingly leaves in peace after he surmises that Steven and Marc are two different personalities sharing one body. However, after his departure, Harrow sets loose a creature to attack Steven in the museum. After becoming cornered in a bathroom, Steven’s reflection, Marc, talks to convince Steven to let him take over in order to survive. Steven/Marc then transforms into a cloaked figure who single handedly takes down the creature and we cut to black.
The first episode of Moon Knight felt very unique. Everything from Oscar Isaac’s brilliant performance, as well as Ethan Hawke’s, to the ancient Egyptian imagery and motifs, and even the action sequences felt very fresh and kept me very tuned in for the whole episode. I also really appreciate how much is left unknown in this first episode, like the backstory of who Marc is or why any of this is happening. It really provides a mysterious feel and makes me want to come back for more in the coming weeks.
You can stream Moon Knight now on Disney+
Comments
Loading…