S01.E04: Seeing Red

[paulvdb]

Quote

Kamala travels around the world to solve the mystery of the bangle and her family’s history.

Premiere date: June 29, 2022

[tkc]

The show continues to impress me, with Iman’s fun and charming portrayal of Kamala, and with a non-exoticized presentation of a culture that gets little attention in North American pop culture.

As for this episode, I really liked the chase scene — well orchestrated!

Hopefully Phil Keoghan was paying attention to some of the things you can do in an auto rickshaw…

[AnimeMania]

At least we know that the Khan family didn't come to America to have a better life.

I am not sure how rich the Khan family is supposed to be.

I am guessing school is over?

Maybe one day we will find out how Bruno is doing?

[arc]

Oh, Nani is rich rich. It's cool that she's an artist like Kamala.

It seemed like in eps 1-3, Kamala had never taken the bangle off, at least not that I remember, but here she did it pretty easily. I suppose it might have been tricky to get past airport security with it on.

The fight sequence between Kamala and Red Dagger was CW quality. =( TBH, so was the breakout at the DODC "supermax" jail, though it was better. Maybe because it was less VFX heavy?

Namja cutting Kamran loose mid breakout is stupidly reckless, but then again, I guess so was her last episode going from pleasantly persuasive to attempted mass murder in a day. And it was needlessly vindictive considering her son made some of the first moves in overpowering the guards.

Gotta say, Nani looks very healthy. I think she skipped Aamir's wedding out of sheer laziness, or spite. Or because the plot needed to take Kamala to Pakistan and it would have been harder if she could've talked to her grandmother face to face right in New Jersey. 

The chase sequence looked very good, unlike the early fight sequences. But aw, did Waleed die already?

Ok, for some reason when Namja stabbed the bangle, I finally realized that that Kamala saw the Noor Dimension in "Generation Why" when she first put on the bangle.

Wait, Kamala's thrown back in time to Partition days and that's the end of the episode?????

It's very cool that they did a whole different end credits sequence since the show moved from Jersey to Karachi. 

[phalange]

I love Kamala's nani and how completely nonchalant she is about being a djinn. She and Muneeba have a complicated relationship but they obviously still love each other. All the mother and daughter relationships are well done. The scene of Kamala and Muneeba eating toffee together was sweet. 

I felt bad for Kamran when his own mother left him behind. Ouch. 

It looks like Kamala's superhero outfit is slowly coming together. 

Uh-oh, Kamala's stuck in the past. Maybe she'll be meeting her great-grandmother for real. 

[Lassus]

I hope people continue to like this.  I read the comics, gave them to my tweeners niece, and thought the first two episodes were incredible, some of the best I've seen.  I don't mind the power change either.

The last two, however, are really losing me.  They are in my opinion squandering their greatest asset - Iman Vellani - in favor of more more more and more.  The Noor, the Djinn, the grandmother, the Clandestine, the Red Knives, and now time travel?  The intimacy and locality of the story was a massive strength but if you were going to do this much info dump and setup it should have been 8 or 10 episodes, not just 6.

And this very odd new dimension for the MCU should almost certainly fit in elsewhere and later, but the setup is just kind of weak.  And, also, seems weirdly stolen from Mieville's The City & the City.

I very much like the show, but I wish it was moving differently.  More Kamala, more powers, less - waves arms - all this, at least without proper introduction.  And the chase scene was boring.

I LOVE THE SHOW I'M NOT A HATER.  I'm not angry I'm just.... disappointed.

Edited June 29, 2022 by Lassus

[tkc]

9 hours ago, phalange said:

Uh-oh, Kamala's stuck in the past. Maybe she'll be meeting her great-grandmother for real. 

Is Kamala going to be the one who creates the trail of stars to allow her grandmother to get on the train?

If so, will this become known as the Grandmother Unparadox?

[thuganomics85]

Ant-Man is popular in Pakistan too, according to that wall mural!  I just kind of love that he seems to be blowing up in this universe now.  I can only imagine what Scott thinks about all of this.

Sana/Kamala's nan is a great character.  Interesting that she actually seems pretty well off, which makes Muneeba leaving for America even more impactful, because their relationship must have really been intense if she was willing to walk away from all of that.  I doubt we will get to go too much into details due to the short season, but I would be curious to explore more of Muneeba's childhood and her own relationship with Sana, and how she ended up meeting Yusef.

Poor Kamran.  Not only is his mother leaving him behind due to warning Kamala, but now Kamala herself might have a new love interest in the form of Kareem a.k.a. Red Dagger.  They certainly were getting their flirt on a bit.  And we still can't count out Bruno yet.  Kamala's got options!

Liked Waleed, but as soon as we met him, he just gave off "I'm here to nobly sacrifice myself so that the kids continue on", so that wasn't surprising.

Nice to know that Damage Control's security measures are complete shit.  Even if they had powers to help, the Djinn got out way too easily.

Love how Kamala is slowly acquiring each part of her outfit as the series goes on.  Can't wait till its complete!

Kamala's time-traveling now?!

Great music again in this episode.  Also liked how they changed up the end credits for this one.

[johntfs]

9 hours ago, Lassus said:

I hope people continue to like this.  I read the comics, gave them to my tweeners niece, and thought the first two episodes were incredible, some of the best I've seen.  I don't mind the power change either.

The last two, however, are really losing me.  They are in my opinion squandering their greatest asset - Iman Vellani - in favor of more more more and more.  The Noor, the Djinn, the grandmother, the Clandestine, the Red Knives, and now time travel?  The intimacy and locality of the story was a massive strength but if you were going to do this much info dump and setup it should have been 8 or 10 episodes, not just 6.

And this very odd new dimension for the MCU should almost certainly fit in elsewhere and later, but the setup is just kind of weak.  And, also, seems weirdly stolen from Mieville's The City & the City.

I very much like the show, but I wish it was moving differently.  More Kamala, more powers, less - waves arms - all this, at least without proper introduction.  And the chase scene was boring.

I LOVE THE SHOW I'M NOT A HATER.  I'm not angry I'm just.... disappointed.

I think one problem that Marvel is having is grasping the difference between a TV show and a movie.  You can't really cut a movie into six parts and call it a TV series.  Well, obviously you can and they did and that's part of the problem.  But this episode as maybe 5 of 8 or 7 of 10 would likely have worked better.  As for the big stakes, screw it.  I'm completely fine with seeing this particular brown girl from Jersey actually save the world.

[greekmom]

Classic Marvel.  2 steps forward in storyline, 1 leap back. Storyline is all over the place. 2 episodes left and there won't be any great resolution.

[johntfs]

20 minutes ago, greekmom said:

Classic Marvel.  2 steps forward in storyline, 1 leap back. Storyline is all over the place. 2 episodes left and there won't be any great resolution.

What would count as a "great resolution" in your opinion?

To me the show is doing what it needed to do: introduce the character of Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel to the MCU (and the adorable young actress Iman Vellani to the rest of the world).  It's doing it in a fun, interesting way that's giving some much needed positive exposure to Islam as a religion, Muslims as other decent human beings and Pakistani culture.  None of those three things have been super-common in Western entertainment for the past 20+ years.

The previous episode of this show has pretty much been the only time I've heard the phrase "Allahu Akbar" spoken on a Western fiction program by someone other than a terrorist.

Could the pacing of things been better?  Sure.  Are the Djinn great antagonists?  Not really (though I'm glad Ms. Marvel didn't end up fighting some kind of super-powered extremist Muslim terrorist or some crap).  But if those are the main flaws (and they seem to be) then I say the show's been doing a really good job.

[greekmom]

35 minutes ago, johntfs said:

What would count as a "great resolution" in your opinion?

To me the show is doing what it needed to do: introduce the character of Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel to the MCU (and the adorable young actress Iman Vellani to the rest of the world).  It's doing it in a fun, interesting way that's giving some much needed positive exposure to Islam as a religion, Muslims as other decent human beings and Pakistani culture.  None of those three things have been super-common in Western entertainment for the past 20+ years.

The previous episode of this show has pretty much been the only time I've heard the phrase "Allahu Akbar" spoken on a Western fiction program by someone other than a terrorist.

Could the pacing of things been better?  Sure.  Are the Djinn great antagonists?  Not really (though I'm glad Ms. Marvel didn't end up fighting some kind of super-powered extremist Muslim terrorist or some crap).  But if those are the main flaws (and they seem to be) then I say the show's been doing a really good job.

Great resolution meaning tie up all the storylines. 

Sure it introduced Kamala but the storytelling is all over the place. It's all muddled up (lack of better words).  They could have kept it tight and told Kamala's story and progressed the storyline but now they are going back to the partition which in my opinion sets Kamala's story behind. Plus the introduction of the Red group then the demise of the Red group was a waste of time (but provided a good chase/fight scene).

I am sorry if you have not heard "Allhu Akbar" spoken in Western fiction other than showing Muslims in bad light. Have you actually found decent programming?  I heard it positively in shows like Little Mosque on the Prairie (which ran like 10 years ago!!!), Ramy, Transplant, Zarqa, We are Lady Parts, and Sort Of which are all very positive Muslim fiction shows. 

The whole thing about the Djinn is just silly. Should have brought in the Kree which it was hinted at. To me again, is the fact with ALL MCU tv series that they don't progress very well and again, hurriedly tie up loose ends in the last few minutes of the last episode. 

[Bill1978]

There's only 2 episodes left???? Crikeys, now I have no idea where the show is heading and planning to conclude. For some reason I thought it was 8 episodes long and we were only half through the adventure.

Still feels like this is MCU's answer to DC's Stargirl. Which is fine by me because I love Stargirl.

17 hours ago, tkc said:

Hopefully Phil Keoghan was paying attention to some of the things you can do in an auto rickshaw…

Glad I'm not the only one who thought of The Amazing Race during this moment. My initial thoughts were they chose the wrong vehicle as TAR has taught me they aren't the greatest machines alive to use as an escape vehicle.

I didn't mind all the action scenes, true some were better than the others. But I found them all enjoyable (for a TV show). And since I'm not a comic reader those Djinns that were killed are dead dead right? And I think the surviving Djinns are going to regret abandoning Kamran. Not sure how, but they will.

The one thing I am enjoying about this show is learning about The Partition. And I feel really bad as a member of The Commonwealth not really knowing about this part of history (I just knew about the splitting up of British India, had no idea about the refugee crisis in caused). It's been a very fascinating read.

[SnarkShark]

I did NOT expect THAT ending.

[SnarkShark]

13 hours ago, Lassus said:

I very much like the show, but I wish it was moving differently.  More Kamala, more powers, less - waves arms - all this, at least without proper introduction.  And the chase scene was boring.

I LOVE THE SHOW I'M NOT A HATER.  I'm not angry I'm just.... disappointed.

You're entitled to that POV, but I'm loving all of this.  They're paying attention to culture, to character beats, to backstory, but still also action.  I don't want added punching at the expense of the other three.   The pace isn't slow, it's just not frantic. 

The chase was pretty good.  Not top shelf but pretty good on their budget (and for having to make Thailand look like Pakistan). 

7 hours ago, tkc said:

Is Kamala going to be the one who creates the trail of stars to allow her grandmother to get on the train?

Of course.

Edited June 30, 2022 by SnarkShark

[Minneapple]

Kamala and collecting cute boys, name a more iconic duo.

I continue to love the slice of life stuff about this show, but the pacing of the superhero stuff is throwing me off. They’re bringing Kamala along slowly while the story itself and the villains move at warp speed. Also it’s a lot they’re trying to cram in with only two episodes left. And now they add time travel! Will Kamala provide the stars that led her grandmother to her father, which creates one of those time travel paradoxes that I can never wrap my brain around?

The scenes between Muneeba and her mother, and the toffee scene with Kamala and Muneeba were wonderful. (No way would Kamala’s mom let her out of the house in jeans like that if she knew where they were going and who they were meeting. I speak for all desi girls who ever were told by their mother to change into something more appropriate.)

I like that Muneeba and Yusuf didn’t just come to America for a better life. Shows that not all immigrants are poor people just looking for a bootstrap. Nani is super rich, I never would have left.

Kamala’s cousin used the term “ABCD,” which means “American Born Confused Desi,” a term that annoys me because I reject the notion that you have to dress or act a certain way to be “Indian.” This was likely at least a partial reference to a movie about this concept entitled “American Desi,” filmed in New Jersey in fact, and starring Kal Penn.

Waleed was played by Farhan Akhtar who is a successful Bollywood actor, so I’m surprised they killed him off so quickly.

[johntfs]

1 hour ago, greekmom said:

Great resolution meaning tie up all the storylines. 

Sure it introduced Kamala but the storytelling is all over the place. It's all muddled up (lack of better words).  They could have kept it tight and told Kamala's story and progressed the storyline but now they are going back to the partition which in my opinion sets Kamala's story behind. Plus the introduction of the Red group then the demise of the Red group was a waste of time (but provided a good chase/fight scene).

I am sorry if you have not heard "Allhu Akbar" spoken in Western fiction other than showing Muslims in bad light. Have you actually found decent programming?  I heard it positively in shows like Little Mosque on the Prairie (which ran like 10 years ago!!!), Ramy, Transplant, Zarqa, We are Lady Parts, and Sort Of which are all very positive Muslim fiction shows. 

The whole thing about the Djinn is just silly. Should have brought in the Kree which it was hinted at. To me again, is the fact with ALL MCU tv series that they don't progress very well and again, hurriedly tie up loose ends in the last few minutes of the last episode. 

Most of it is I don't specifically seek out those shows.  I'm mostly in the Marvel/Star Wars/action-adventure groove.  Still, I'm 53 years old with probably a good 45+ years of TV watching.  And yeah, first time I recall a positive use of "Allahu Akbar."

I'd expect the Kree to show back up in The Marvels movie.  Meanwhile, there's no real organic connection of Kamala to the Kree.  It's not like she told Brian "It's not the blue girls from Jersey who save the world."  Sure, they could have done something with "We want our thingie back."  But that can also happen in the movie.  Beyond that, think about the Kree strike team from Captain Marvel.  Do we really believe that Kamala could handle a force like that as she is now?  Probably not.

Sure the Clan Destine Djinn are a theoretical threat to the world (though realistically if they did try to tear down that dimensional barrier, Wong and Dr. Strange would show up to magically bitch-slap the lot of them to the bottom of the Marines Trench), but they're also a threat that Kamala can reasonably defeat as she is now.  This season is her Kamala centered around her history and culture in a way that sort of maps onto the original comic character (half "alien" exposed to something of her heritage that awakens her powers).  Figure there'll be plenty of time for Kamala to get involved in the wider MCU later.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, johntfs said:

To me the show is doing what it needed to do: introduce the character of Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel to the MCU (and the adorable young actress Iman Vellani to the rest of the world).  It's doing it in a fun, interesting way that's giving some much needed positive exposure to Islam as a religion, Muslims as other decent human beings and Pakistani culture.  None of those three things have been super-common in Western entertainment for the past 20+ years.

I completely agree. I feel like that is the entire purpose of the show and that it is a show that will get renewed attention after The Marvels. Before Disney+ existed Marvel would release supplementary content like comics and the one shots to fill in details. To me this is an expanded version of that which is fitting for the character. The Marvels isn’t going to have the room to give her the proper introduction so I love that this exists and that went fully in on it being meaningful representation.

[Lassus]

12 hours ago, johntfs said:

To me the show is doing what it needed to do: introduce the character of Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel to the MCU (and the adorable young actress Iman Vellani to the rest of the world).  It's doing it in a fun, interesting way that's giving some much needed positive exposure to Islam as a religion, Muslims as other decent human beings and Pakistani culture.  None of those three things have been super-common in Western entertainment for the past 20+ years.

This is all great, I love it, it's amazing, full 1000% agreement.  My issue is with the opposite, the way they've gotten into and moved the super-hero storyline.  I would like THAT part to be better.  I know it's hard NOT to sound like a whiner, but it's because I think the rest of it is so amazing that the fantastical portion being wanting is a problem for me.

10 hours ago, SnarkShark said:

I don't want added punching at the expense of the other three.   The pace isn't slow, it's just not frantic. 

Maybe I wasn't clear.  I think that the pace IS too frantic and the pointless punching in this episode was added at the expense of the other three.  I think it needs more of Kamala and less of this mirror-dimension casts of thousands mucking things up and taking us away from the personal story and growth of the lead character.  It becomes subjective, but the initial villain of the origin series was going after kids in Jersey City and threatening HER neighborhood.  I just don't think there was a real need for a complete generational backstory/world-ending story yet - IMO it makes her personal growth and personal Muslim story LESS important.  Personally, the bigger the story has gotten the LESS engaged I'm becoming.

And, as I'll keep saying, I do really like the show.

[tennisgurl]

Kamala is certainly gathering up an impressive collection of cute boys isn't she? So many architypes, the sweet childhood friend, the sexy mysterious transfer student, the badass who she meets via fighting and bantering who has the secrets of her past, good for her! Kamala is so adorable, I cant blame them. I love watching Kamala's costume slowly come together, with each part representing different aspects of her, her life, and the people in it.

I cant believe that we only have two episodes left, how are they going to wrap this up? I guess, with a lot of the MCU Disney shows, they are both a story onto themselves and a way to introduce new characters, so we should look at this show as more of an introduction to Ms. Marvel so that we can be ready for her greater place in the MCU. I still wish we had just one or two extra episodes though to give us a real conclusion, especially if next week is going to be taking place in the past. I wonder if Kamala creates a stable time loop where she helps her grandma find her dad, and she is the stars she followed?  

Nan is a great character, I love how much she and Kamala have in common and how chill she is about them being part Djin. Everything between Muneeba and Nan was excellent, you can see how much they love each other despite their issues, much like Muneeba and Kamala.  

The Djin aren't that great as far as bad guys, but I do like the mythology they are adding to the MCU with the multiple dimensions on top of each other and the Red Daggers. I also truly love how many ancient orders, secret organizations, groups of supernatural beings, and secret worlds are running around the MCU with no apparent connections to each other, never a dull moment. Civilians see people with super powers and medieval weaponry running around having a chase scene and are just like "huh, interesting. Anyway, lunch?" 

I loved exploring so much of Karachi, like with Moon Knight exploring Cairo, they took a location that in western media tends to get either exoticized as a magical place of mystery or shown as a craphole breading ground for terrorism, and shown it as a modern city with a lot going on.

Edited June 30, 2022 by tennisgurl

[Raja]

On 6/29/2022 at 6:18 AM, Lassus said:

I hope people continue to like this.  I read the comics, gave them to my tweeners niece, and thought the first two episodes were incredible, some of the best I've seen.  I don't mind the power change either.

The last two, however, are really losing me.  They are in my opinion squandering their greatest asset - Iman Vellani - in favor of more more more and more.  The Noor, the Djinn, the grandmother, the Clandestine, the Red Knives, and now time travel?  The intimacy and locality of the story was a massive strength but if you were going to do this much info dump and setup it should have been 8 or 10 episodes, not just 6.

And this very odd new dimension for the MCU should almost certainly fit in elsewhere and later, but the setup is just kind of weak.  And, also, seems weirdly stolen from Mieville's The City & the City.

I very much like the show, but I wish it was moving differently.  More Kamala, more powers, less - waves arms - all this, at least without proper introduction.  And the chase scene was boring.

I LOVE THE SHOW I'M NOT A HATER.  I'm not angry I'm just.... disappointed.

I would say the cross dimensions plot came before. It was what Shang Chi was protecting where Wong, Banner and Captain Marvel had no ideal of what happened and is coming. But the Red Daggers are serving like a pre blip sorcerer, mostly secret protectors of dangers nobody knows is out there. Thus out of  the MCU public eye

[Tuggy]

By the way, the other dimension bleeding out and destroying the other is definitely like the "Incursions" they discussed in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, right?

[Tuggy]

12 hours ago, johntfs said:

Most of it is I don't specifically seek out those shows.  I'm mostly in the Marvel/Star Wars/action-adventure groove.  Still, I'm 53 years old with probably a good 45+ years of TV watching.  And yeah, first time I recall a positive use of "Allahu Akbar."

You should definitely check the series Ramy, which was mind blowing for me in terms of getting to know the islamic community of Jersey City. And as the actress playing Ramy's sister is the one playing Scarlet Scarab in Moon Knight, it can be in the same universe in my head canon 😁.

[johntfs]

2 hours ago, Tuggy said:

By the way, the other dimension bleeding out and destroying the other is definitely like the "Incursions" they discussed in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, right?

Probably?  Maybe?  I don't really know.  Though per the end of MoM it seemed like Strange and his new "friend" had a handle on dealing with incursions.  Which further adds to the idea that the Djinn's goals are screwed no matter what.

That would be an interesting possible cameo.  Dr. Strange shows up along with Captain Marvel.

[Racj82]

On 6/29/2022 at 9:42 PM, greekmom said:

Great resolution meaning tie up all the storylines. 

Sure it introduced Kamala but the storytelling is all over the place. It's all muddled up (lack of better words).  They could have kept it tight and told Kamala's story and progressed the storyline but now they are going back to the partition which in my opinion sets Kamala's story behind. Plus the introduction of the Red group then the demise of the Red group was a waste of time (but provided a good chase/fight scene).

I am sorry if you have not heard "Allhu Akbar" spoken in Western fiction other than showing Muslims in bad light. Have you actually found decent programming?  I heard it positively in shows like Little Mosque on the Prairie (which ran like 10 years ago!!!), Ramy, Transplant, Zarqa, We are Lady Parts, and Sort Of which are all very positive Muslim fiction shows. 

The whole thing about the Djinn is just silly. Should have brought in the Kree which it was hinted at. To me again, is the fact with ALL MCU tv series that they don't progress very well and again, hurriedly tie up loose ends in the last few minutes of the last episode. 

Tying everything up are not what these shows are about. It's not really what marvel is about. It's been like this the whole time. These phase 4 projects are basically phase 1 in practice. Introduce the character and the world. Not wrap everything up in a bow. They will wrap up certain threads but leave others open because this is going to be ongoing for her. I'm just enjoying the show and looking forward to more of her, this world and mixing with the greater universe.

[kay1864]

On 6/29/2022 at 10:36 PM, SnarkShark said:

The chase was pretty good.  Not top shelf but pretty good on their budget

The Djinn must have been like “We really thought this was just going to be a running chase, we were so not prepared for three-wheeled rickshaws. We were not expecting vehicles in Karachi!”

James Bond on a stolen motorcycle it was not. 😆

Felt sorry for the delivery truck guy. 

Edited July 5, 2022 by kay1864

[kay1864]

On 6/29/2022 at 3:26 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Liked Waleed, but as soon as we met him, he just gave off "I'm here to nobly sacrifice myself so that the kids continue on", so that wasn't surprising.

I thought Kamala was going to block the knife with frozen light, but instead she just kind of stood there. I guess they needed a sacrificial lamb at that point of the story.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I don't understand why Kamala isn't asking more questions of people with the information she needs:

1) Nani/Grandma: How do you know you (we) are Djinn?  What did your mother tell you?  Why was she in this dimension? How did she get here? Did she come to India because she looked Indian/Pakistani?  What did your father know?  What do you know about the bangle?  Did you ever see your mother try to use it?  What did she tell you about it?  Did you ever put it on?  

2) Waleed: You obviously know about my great-grandmother Aisha.  How?  Have you met her?  Do you know people who've met her?  You said that she and the Clandestines are from another dimension.  Is she different than the Clandestines?  Why was she/they in this dimension? Did she come to India because she looked Indian/Pakistani?  I was told the Djinn were exiled from Noor and desperately want to get back.  Are you saying that they want to get back to Noor so that they can overrun Earth from there?  How?  How did they get here the first time? Did they come here first to scout it out?  How did they know about it? Are you saying I can use the bangle because I am 1/8 Djinn and a 7/8 human, whereas my grandmother is 1/2 each, and my mother is 1/4 Djinn and 3/4 human, so they are not enough human to make it work?  Why would being human make it work-is it human technology?  Is it alien technology made to work on part Djinn/mostly humans?  If so, why, and why do the Djinn want it?  Can they even use it?

I know she's not Bruno, but some of these questions are pretty obvious.

About the train station-Kamala is not only back in time, she's in a fairly different place.  She's in the Indian train station, not the one in Pakistan she visited earlier, correct?

Edited July 8, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[ouinason]

Yes, she's moved to not just the time but the place that Aisha is calling to the bangle from.

[Ailianna]

I didn't (and would never) think the Clandestines already looked like the people in India and Pakistan in their own dimension. I presumed they landed in India and look Indian to match the people around them.

[ouinason]

See, and I assumed that there had already been some dimensional cross fertilization and that's why they look like the people of the area where they crossed over.  Like the portal in Shang Chi or Iron Fist.

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, Ailianna said:

I didn't (and would never) think the Clandestines already looked like the people in India and Pakistan in their own dimension. I presumed they landed in India and look Indian to match the people around them.

Why? If the stories are part of the history in a specific region it is reasonable to assume there have been interactions that would influence the appearance of the people in both sides. Do the Clandestines look like the people in India or do the people in India look like the Clandestines?

[Ailianna]

I actually don't assume the Clandestines even look human in their own dimension, which is obviously different enough that contact with ours is so destructive.

[arc]

5 hours ago, Ailianna said:

I actually don't assume the Clandestines even look human in their own dimension, which is obviously different enough that contact with ours is so destructive.

I unno, in the MCU a lot of alien races look very human-like. And not just outer space aliens; in Multiverse of Madness 

Spoiler

Clea shows up in the mid-credits scene and she seems to be from Dormammu’s Dark Dimension, but she looks totally human.

[Raja]

15 hours ago, Dani said:

Why? If the stories are part of the history in a specific region it is reasonable to assume there have been interactions that would influence the appearance of the people in both sides. Do the Clandestines look like the people in India or do the people in India look like the Clandestines?

I would just assume instead of the Star Trek he is white on the right side and I am on the left side aliens that in the interdimensional worlds at war we are talking about a parallel universe set up. Thus the Clandestine's are from an earth with all of the variation due to local conditions as we have. But not a varied as the Kree who have a blue skin option along with all the human variation seen on earth.

[possibilities]

I have major house envy and also Nani envy. I looooove her. 

I was pleasantly surprised that when the cousins left her, Our Hero actually managed to complete her mission and didn't just get lost trying to find the train station, then wander around and eventually get into trouble with her mom. They seem to be making her really fallible, so that she chokes in pressure situations sometimes, and also makes a lot of mistakes. I don't think it's unreasonable; it's upsetting but also an interesting character choicse. I just think it's unusual for a superhero show. 

I know these kinds of shows often kill off characters, but is there any chance Kamala could use something in her magic/time travel to resurrect Waleed?

I honestly find the supernatural stuff hard to follow, and not all that inherently interesting. So I don't care much about whether they are doing a lot or a little with that stuff. I think the fight scenes are sometimes fun, but it crushes me see all the innocent bystanders get tossed around and have their property and livelihoods destroyed. The fun of superheros is supposed to be how they help people, not how they create massive collateral damage... at least for me. 

But I love the relationships and the cultural context and the characters, so if they need to throw in some wanton destruction and good vs evil stuff with a supernatural/world-destroying-level stakes to get people to watch, I'm fine with it. I do like that Kamala is not alone in her situation, that she finds friends and allies and love interests wherever she goes, and that her family is really loving. Who says you need to be an angsty, miserable, lonesome hero? Not me! Not Ms. Marvel.

I am sad that there are only 2 more episodes left. I do want to see more follow up on Nakia and Bruno, as well as the larger issues.

[CletusMusashi]

I've been expecting all along that she would go back in time to that train. Otherwise they would have just made a ridiculous number of pointless references to it. Hopefully that one plot point doesn't eat up an entire episode. But I don't think it will. This is a much better show than I expected.

I love the authenticity of how it depicts the ups, downs, and normals of a cultural experience outside of my own. I was kind of expecting one of those Greg Berlanti shows where a roomful of white writers roll their Hamilton dice on which character's going to be which minority.  Sure, some are actually great, but  on most of those shows, most of those shoes don't end up feeling very walked in. This, however, is clearly written by somebody who's describing an experience from the inside, and they are doing it with a lot of color and humor, and even if this season has a weak ending I'll still be back for a second one. I'll just write off any loose ends as cliffhangers.

Oh, and let me make one thing clear to absolutely any kids on this forum. I may be a totally cool wise badass older guy, but I will never be your mentor. I don't care what kind of trouble you're in. I've seen what happens to mentors. Shit, this poor bastard didn't even last one episode. He should have been wearing a red shirt instead of a scarf, but I thought maybe we'd get a little more out of him. Nope. As soon as he gave her the uniform, I was "Nice knowing you." Then they went into the chase scene, and I thought they'd done a fake-out. I suppose technically they did...

I also didn't like the chase scene, but I think that a big point. Normally, I only really like chase scenes that are either so over-the-top I can't help laughing, like "Blues Brothers," or that are simple and clever without relying on collateral damage, like "A Million Ways to Die in the West." Smashing a bunch of shops and vehicles and no doubt injuring/killing people along the way is not particularly funny, nor is it "shocking" to see in a fictional chase scene. And they didn't play it like it was. Kamala hated what was going on, and I don't think the Red Daggers enjoyed their neighbors get smashed around either. This was a chase scene about why the chase scene is the part of the movie that a hero wants to just not have. That may have been part of the reason Waleed decided to distract the baddies.

Although.... why any proper villain would fall for it is a whole 'nother thing. You are specifically chasing after the person who has the magic bracelet that you have been pursuing for centuries, and then some other dude starts calling you into the sidelines to fight him. And so you abandon your actual strategically significant target, and you do exactly what he wants? Now, I haven't read The Evil Overlord List in a long time, but I'm pretty sure that's a big no-no.

[CletusMusashi]

I think it's more plausible that, due to the origins of Kamala's abilities, there would be a power imbalance between her and her enemies. Yes, she could start by stopping bank robberies, and then practice more on some local upstart supers who are too minor for big name heroes to care about yet, and then face ancient evils once she's leveled up a little, but we've seen that story a lot of times. This isn't that story. Life isn't always fair.