Ms. Marvel review, Episode 102: “Crushed”

To say that I’m head over heels in love with Ms. Marvel would be a vast understatement. I cannot describe the joy I have been feeling as a South Asian woman watching a South Asian superhero on the screen. It’s literal goosebumps, and we’re only two episodes in!

Somehow, the second episode of Ms. Marvel, “Crushed,” exceeds expectations and goes bigger than the series premiere. I am completely hooked on the show, and could honestly go on for days regarding everything I love about it.

After meeting Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and her family in the series premiere, this week’s episode dives a bit deeper into the mystery of the bangle that is giving Kamala these powers. Last week, I hypothesized that this isn’t the first time someone in Kamala’s family had powers. This became obvious after her mother, Muneeba (Zenobia Shroff), alluded to something in the past and how people get overtaken by their passion for things. We don’t know the details yet, but this episode puts us on the path to finding out. Let’s dig in.

The aftermath of Avenger Con

High off the events of Avenger Con, Kamala is on superhero cloud nine. She’s got all the confidence in the world and nothing can bring her down. But her momentum is halted by Zoe’s (Laurel Marsden) incessant bragging that she encountered the superhero at the con. According to her, this superhero’s name is “Night Light.” Naturally, Zoe’s Instagram followers have shot up overnight.

This scene also introduces us to Kamran (Rish Shah), who Kamala and her friend Nakia (Yasmeen Fletcher) are immediately smitten over. This is why they decide to go to Zoe’s party, which she throwing in celebration of her newfound fame.

Ms. Marvel starts her training

I loved the opening sequence of scenes because it reminds us that no matter what superhero-level things are going on, this is a show about a young girl stepping into a world she has no idea about. There’s a sudden burst of excitement and joy, but it can be followed by sadness and grief. Ms. Marvel is doing a wonderful job of capturing the rollercoaster of emotions that is being a teenager.

One problem is that Kamala has no idea how to use her powers. Bruno (Matt Lintz) offers to help her out with training. I love their dynamic even though it’s clear that Bruno is in love with Kamala but she just sees him as her best friend.

The training montage is fun to watch even though Kamala clearly struggles at first. She uses the bangle to create a colorful force field platform that can allow her to walk on air. It involves a lot of stumbling and falling, but slow and steady wins the race!

During their training, Bruno realizes that the bangle isn’t what is giving Kamala powers. In fact, it seems like the power is coming from within her. Could this be the explanation behind the change in Kamala’s powers from the comic book to the live-action show?

Zoe’s party

Before I get into the events at Zoe’s party, I just want to say that I respect Marvel so much for how they’ve created this series. There was a scene where Kamala and Nakia rush to the mosque for prayer, and it perfectly reflected my experiences whenever I go to the mosque. From the girls rushing in to make it to prayer to wondering why the women’s section of the mosque is falling apart while the men’s section looks pristine, there are just so many things that hit home for me.

Anyway, the night of Zoe’s party arrives, and after getting permission from her mother, Kamala and her friends head over. It’s the basic high school party and it doesn’t last very long because the cops show up. Luckily, Kamran is there and offers to give everyone a ride home.

Kamala and Kamran share a moment in the car where they talk about Bollywood films, and once again, at that moment, my heart was so full. They mentioned SRK, aka Shahrukh Khan, one of India’s biggest and most well-known actors, as well as some of his movies. I had to pinch myself because I couldn’t believe this scene was going on.

From the moment I saw Kamran, I had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to him than meets the eye. He went out of his way to be friendly to Kamala and even offered to give her driving lessons. I’m not saying that the dude isn’t capable of doing nice things, but when you’re watching a Marvel series, you have to suspect everyone.

The most important Ms. Marvel conversation

I have to take a moment to address one specific scene that takes place between Kamala and Nakia at school. Kamala asks Nakia how she makes things look so easy, and Nakia’s response is important: she shares that it is not easy to be her and because she wears the hjiab (Islamic head covering), she’s met with many challenges. Because she is light-skinned, some people have considered her “too White” and others think she’s “too ethnic.” It wasn’t until she accepted herself and the fact that she feels the most like herself wearing the hijab that she felt at peace.

This is a huge conversation to have on a Marvel series, especially given that women that wear hijab are often attacked, abused, or singled out. I’m so in awe of Marvel that they gave a platform to address the complications that can come with wearing a hijab, but how important it is to those that do. Bravo, Marvel, BRAVO!

Kamala’s powers

We finally get some insight into the origin of Kamala’s powers, although things are not super clear. During dinner, her father shares a story about Muneeba’s mother Sana, who lived through the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan. When her mother’s family was trying to flee India, they went to the train station but Sana got lost. She eventually found her way back to her parents and claimed that a trail of stars led her there.

It’s a story that has been told many times in the Khan family, but this time around, it hits differently. Clearly, there is some connection between Kamala’s ancestry and these powers, and we need to know what it is! Plus, her mom definitely knows something but doesn’t want to dive back into painful memories.

Later that night, Kamala calls Sana to discuss what is going on with the bangle, but she won’t share anything. All Kamala finds out is that the bangle belonged to Sana’s mother, Aisha, who apparently had a very bad reputation in the family. Muneeba won’t even talk about Aisha, who would be Kamala’s great-grandmother.

And the plot thickens, folks!

Ms. Marvel’s Episode 2 ending explained

The Khan family celebrates Eid (a Muslim holiday/celebration) with the local community, but things take a wild turn when a child falls out of a window whilst taking a selfie. The things kids will do for the gram!

Kamala is there, luckily, to help save the day, but she has still not perfected her powers. In fact, the force field steps she was creating were breaking apart before, but she manages to get it together to save the kid. It almost goes south when the kid falls through the field because Kamala has a vision, but she manages to get him to safety while the entire community looks upon her assuming she’s the superhero everyone is calling “Night Light.”

Because of Kamala’s vision of some lady (which she also had earlier in the episode), she isn’t able to use her powers effectively, but the kid is saved, so she makes a run for it. Unfortunately, the government has been watching her, no thanks to Zoe who got manipulated into saying the superhero at Avenger Con was trying to hurt her and is from a minority community.

Kamala is cornered by drones, and even though she nearly gets caught, she uses her powers to fight through. What we don’t expect during this showdown is for Kamran to magically show up and save Kamala when she needs it most.

However, when she gets in Kamran’s car she is alarmed to find a woman sitting in the back, the very same woman who was in her visions earlier. So is there some weird connection between Kamala’s family and Kamran’s? And how did they know where she was?

We don’t have the answers to any of that yet, however, the Ms. Marvel comics suggest that Kamran is an Inhuman who was exposed to Terrigen Mist. Whatever the details, I cannot wait to see what’s next. Seriously, I love this show so much!

It has only been two episodes of Ms. Marvel, but I am in love with every aspect of it. I know I have a bias but it has simply been such a joy to watch. Iman Vellani is perfect in the lead role, and does a terrific job of portraying childlike wonder and the excitement to be a superhero. It’s just so perfect, and I hope that Vellani continues to be a big part of the MCU in the future (we’ll see her in The Marvels, don’t worry).

This episode got into the thick of things. Kamala has her powers, she’s learning how to use them, and now we’ve got a plot twist with Kamran’s family. Things are picking up very quickly so I can’t wait to see where they head next!

See you guys next week!

Grade: A

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