Moon Knight Episode 2 Review; Who Are The Heroes?

Moon Knight Episode 2, Summon the Suit was released yesterday and has yet again surpassed expectations. The episode did an excellent job of continuing the intrigue and developing character motivations and personalities. If you haven’t seen our previous review, read it here!

Visuals

In this episode, there was much more liberal and direct use of CGI, as the monsters and Moon Knight Costume take center stage. Whilst the CGI isn’t perfect, its flaws are hardly noticeable as it was generally used during high speed action scenes.

Meanwhile, during still-shots and slow motion, the team clearly put extra effort into the finer details to bring these characters to life when they are in focus. My only gripe was that the action sequence was yet again short lived, but I suppose one is better than none.

Still, considering this is just a TV series and not a feature-length film, the overall visual quality is impressive.

Plot

The episode focuses on Steven investigating his circumstances and expands upon the identity of the mysterious “Marc”, his ghostly master Khonshu, the cult of Ammit and its soft-spoken yet unnerving leader, Harrow.

Eventually, it culminates in Steven (unintentionally) involving himself in Moon Knight’s mission whilst beginning his own conflict to take back control of his body.

I appreciated the momentum in this episode as several key plot details were addressed within the runtime. I also think it’s interesting how they’ve chosen to write the antagonist and protagonists.

Harrow is shown to be compassionate and empathetic despite his unethical methods, whilst Marc and Khonshu are shown to be manipulative and dishonest despite their understandable opposition.

It really makes you question if there are truly any ‘heroes’ in story. So far, these are probably most multi-faceted characters the MCU has created.

Writing

Regarding the characterization and dialogue, I felt there was a constant feeling of uneasiness in the episode. Characters rarely spoke plainly or expressed their true emotions until the very end.

Every character felt like they were simmering below the surface, just waiting to explode. This is mostly in part to Steven’s misguided interference, which also intentionally annoys the audience somewhat. This is not a complaint, as I think it allows you to relate to the otherwise distant Marc and Khonshu.

Steven’s panic is not out of place either, with the consequences of Marc and Khonshu’s selfish actions clearly taking a toll on him. The show has given proper context for Steven’s impulsiveness.

As for the comedy in this episode, most jokes land pretty well. The highlights were the crass and rude Khonshu, throwing demands of violence, Marc’s exasperation with Steven’s incompetence and Steven’s poor imitation of a ‘hard Londoner’. These moments never overstayed their welcome and weren’t delivered under inappropriate context.

Summary

Overall Moon Knight’s second episode had once again delivered an enjoyable experience that successfully gripped me the whole runtime. As the episode ends with a stunning view of Egypt, it appears the gears are now switching up.

I am excited to see where this series takes us! Side note, the ending song slaps and has made its way into my Spotify.

Other members of our team absolutely loved the episode as well! To see their thoughts, check out their Live Reaction to the episode here!

What do you think of the second episode? What do you think is going to happen next? Who’s your favourite character? Go wild with your thoughts in the comment box!

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