Moon Knight - Episode 6 - Review

Well, here we are, six weeks of television and we start the final of Moon Knight with our hero dead, the villain in control of unlimited power and no way out, or so it seems. The question is, did the final episode of the first Marvel Studio show, based around a character we had never met before, reach lofty heights, or did it fail to stick the landing, like many of their other shows?

***Slight spoilers ahead***

Starting the show out with a recap was a nice touch, as fast as it was, but it did give us a chance to see the aftermath of the shooting of Marc/Steven by Harrow. Seeing Layla having to hide, while the man she loves was lying dead in a shallow body of water, the bad guys seemingly unconcerned about providing any sort of medical aid, helped put Layla in a mindset where she didn't care. What was cool, was that while that was happening Marc easily gave up an eternity in paradise, not to return to life, but just to bring back Steven, it really shows the growth the two characters have achieved since the series started. While Marc’s efforts may have been in vain, it seems that somebody else was looking out for the pair, as evidenced by the gates to the mortal world opening on their own, this of course does raise many questions about what the other gods know and how much influence can they have without an avatar.

While Marc and Steven were having their reconnecting moment in the underworld, it was great to see Layla having a small conversation with Taweret, who gave her the necessary information in order to try and stop Harrow. It would have been easy for them to show Layla running forward and trying to take a stab at the cause of her husband's death, by her stepping back it played up the sense that Layla is a dangerous woman in her own right. She knows how to fight; she knows her Egyptian mythology but more importantly she knows when a sense of self-preservation is crucial in achieving one's goals. There was a sense of satisfaction seeing Layla scurrying around in the shadows, while Harrow was front and centre talking to Ammit, while one was on their knees essentially giving up on life, the other one was still fighting on not only to save the world but try to save the man she loved.

I have said in almost every review for this show so far, that Ethan Hawke has done an amazing job being a villain that is dangerous, without being violent, though he does resort to violence quite often. What was sad about this episode, was that he was pretty much relegated to being a puppet, and yes, the actions that he was undertaking were in service of his goddess, but it meant that he wasn't as much of a threat anymore. Having his character get into a regular fist fight, with a few moments of magic thrown in, against the good guys didn't make sense for the type of person we've seen him be up til this point. Every single time action has been taken it has been him directing others to do his work, or him doing the simplest of tasks. That's not to say that the action wasn't entertaining it was, in fact it was probably one of the most interesting fight scenes in the show, it just didn't make sense for him to be fighting.

Of course, seeing Marc and Steven both in their Moon Knight threads, casually swapping back and forth, was amazing. It gave the show a sense of peace, not in a conflict sense, just in that every time we've seen these two characters fight previously it's always just been one or the other, but as we learned in the Duat, the scales have been balanced bringing these two characters into balance as well. It was clear going in that they were going to do something with an additional personality, and while it made sense it would have been more entertaining for that to be just the stinger after the credits, rather than spoiling it during the main run. Again, that's not to say, that it wasn't a good move, just more along the lines of its presence undercut the satisfaction that Marc and Steven, and to an extent the audience, would have had from seeing Harrow beaten on camera.

My main concern with the final episode is that it didn’t feel final, yes there was the obvious case of them leaving it open for more, but the lack of finality was from how everything just sort of ended. We never got to see the big fight end between Harrow and Moon Knight, the fight between Ammit and Khonshu was wrapped up by Ammit being locked away, without any resistance. Heck, the large amount of followers that Harrow had were just forgotten about, right alongside the dozens upon dozens of souls that were sent on, long before their time. The run time for this episode was also the shortest of the series, which may explain the feeling of it not being complete, but I think it is more just that the ending didn’t quite satisfy.

Moon Knight was a great series, not only were viewers discovering the character for the first time, at least the MCU version of them, but it was also interesting to see the characters literally discovering parts of themselves at the same time. Harrow was one of the most interesting and threatening villains the MCU has ever had, which isn’t a high bar to clear, but still, I would rank him up there against Loki or Thanos. Each of the actors gave performances that were spectacular across the board, Hawke’s was incredible, but it was seeing Oscar Isaac doing double duty for the entire time that solidified it. While the ending of the season may not be as great as the rest, it was still a good adventure and if the moon is set to rise once more, I will be there to see it happen.

The Score

8.5

Review access provided by Disney

The Pros

+Great performances from the cast across the board here, helped make the danger feel real

+Seeing two Egyptian Gods fighting each other, was great fun

The Cons

-The ending felt incomplete, as if there was something cut from it, leaving questions unanswered

-The inclusion of a third personality was totally expected, but it would have been more impactful if it was left until the stinger