Moon Knight Episode 6 Review: An Unsatisfactory Ending That Will Make People Argue

Cast: Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke, May Calamawy

Directors: Justin Benson, Mohamed Diab, Aaron Moorhead

Streaming Platform: Disney+

Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four star) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

After giving us one of the highest moments ever reached by the MCU series Moon Knight Episode 6 with the last episode  (here you can retrieve our review of Moon Knight Episode 5), the time has come to close the circle sorry, crescent – of Moon Knight. And we’ll be honest, already pressing play we shivered a bit, as we feared the possibility of an ending too confusing for Moon Knight, a sensation heightened by the extremely short duration of the episode – which is around 35-40 minutes, excluding the titles. tail. It was honestly unthinkable to make ends meet and solve every single plot and trick concocted by the scriptwriters in such a short period of time.

This led to some unsatisfactory and hasty solutions, which do very little justice both to the various intriguing insights that Moon Knight has in any case fielded between ups and downs so far, and to the character himself, who could and should have marked a watershed and carve out a space for a different tone in the MCU. It is now understood that it did not go that way, Moon Knight after a couple of master strokes capable of subverting expectations and questioning any event, immediately repositioned itself within the more classic Marvel formula. Too bad that the series had repeatedly shown enormous difficulties precisely in staging more standard and typically Marvelian sequences.

Moon Knight Episode 6 Review: The Story

But let’s proceed in order: the episode begins when Harrow (Ethan Hawke) shoots Marc (Oscar Isaac) inside the tomb of Alexander the Great, with Layla (May Calamawy) horrified and hidden spectator who nevertheless manages to blend in with the followers of the mad apostle of Ammit. As she follows him waiting for the right moment to kill him, she is contacted by the goddess Taweret, who orders her to stop and focus on freeing Khonshu. In the Underworld, meanwhile, Marc rejects the Reed Field, despite the undoubted beauty and peace he has found, to help Steven and desperately find a way to escape the Duat once and for all.

Now, before starting the actual invective, it should be noted that the ending brings into play some interesting elements: first of all it inserts Khonshu’s release in the most coherent and natural way possible, an element that alone ran the risk of corroding the base. narrative fabric of the episode, which perhaps could be solved at random or even off-screen in the worst possible scenario; Steven who finds the strength to bargain with the manipulative god of the moon, where even Marc finds impediments due to insurmountable feelings of guilt, is a perfect closure of his evolution; some scenes are discreetly evocative and at times thrilling – such as the two-pronged combat or the brilliant post-credit scene. There is some good in this close of Moon Knight, who, however, cannot shine in the presence of the wicked choices that have been made for everything else.

Moon Knight Episode 6 Review And Analysis

In fact, from the smallest aspects to the same situations that guide the episode, this epilogue is a mix of misplaced ideas, almost unbearable inconsistencies and developments that would have taken much longer to have an impact. Let’s take for example the Marc / Steven dynamic: now the two get along well, but why now do they switch roles every 3 seconds making any attempt at dialogue with the others impossible? Why does Steven now suddenly know how to fight well and not clumsily? Why do they continually exchange even during battles for no reason? And on Layla the circumstances are no better; victim of a sudden characterization that does not limit and further weakens the already little space on the screen, but which above all is thrown into the fray without the conditions or consequences being really addressed.

Or who thought that a blackout in the decisive moment of the final battle was a stroke of genius? At this point it is no longer even a narrative tool, it is productive neglect. How wicked it is to get rid of all the intuitions of the last episode in a single swipe or to suddenly raise moral dilemmas at the last moment – and not before – in Marc, an individual who killed dozens and dozens of criminals in conditions without of stakes and not with the lives of billions of people at stake. For its characterization within the series, such grievances would not be out of place, but they cannot be thematized and resolved in five seconds flat. This is not the way to build an ending, Moon Knight is yet another demonstration that Marvel shows have a serious problem with the last act.

However, even though I feel it is better than its predecessors, the Moon Knight series would have profited much more from a debate as it did in Loki. Upon opening the doors of the multiverse and seeing that only one being controlled everything, all they could do was sit down and discuss the terms of that position. Not that I didn’t want to see Marc Spector shoving that bat into Harrow’s throat, it was extremely necessary, but the delicacy and subtlety of the previous episodes abruptly disappeared and causes discomfort by the change of pace.

Here we see that the villain has finally managed to get his hands on Ammit, threatening to take the unclean souls of Cairo and, later, the entire world. With fate in the hands of a deceased Marc Spector and Layla, who has neither powers nor the help of the gods, they must race against time to turn this whole situation around. In the middle of the way, of course, several battles and bodies along the way are shown until the end. As I stated above, in terms of visual effects and battle scenes, this was by far a spectacular episode. I’ll spare you some surprises along the way, as I propose to deliver my texts without spoilers. However, it is impossible not to watch the content without marveling at the direction they took to demonstrate what a true combat between gods would be like. Not even the Avengers would know how to face what appears here, which made me excited by the difference in scales that are faced.

The big issue is that what seen in Moon Knight, which has left her acclaimed so far, basically disappears to deliver only action. Some moments even resume a certain level reached by the others, such as a sincere dialogue between the parties involved in the chaos of Khonshu and even the return of the asylum in an internal illumination of the character. However, none of these parts are extended as previously. Quick appearances, short conversations and that’s it, “all settled”.

That Marvel formula is what really tires within this universe. Regardless of what happens, everyone ends well and things get resolved. I confess that I ended the episode with a bit of a bitter taste, even though I delivered everything and then some. The change of pace that went from water to oil in the blink of an eye, the ending that didn’t please so much and the lack of explanation about some factors left me discouraged with a series that had everything to go right. Then in this sudden sadness that I had, the post-credits scene came to me and made me believe again that something great had been placed in front of me.

I’ll be honest, unlike other studio content, in this one the post-credits scene is complementary to the story presented and will make you be impacted by a truth that no one wanted to face. It doesn’t show you where the character will end up in the future, nor does it contain any extra appearances from the vast cast of differentiated heroes. It just shows you that there’s so much more to it than one episode was able to tell. Can we, then, get a glimpse of what Moon Knight’s next steps will be? Yes, until we managed to do that. Even so, it is extremely difficult to have to say that you have to watch until the last scene to understand a piece that until then was uncertain to exist. Considering this is a limited series and may not have a second season, not knowing if we’ll see something this spectacular in the future can have the opposite effect.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see someone claiming that we will have a character movie or even a joint appearance as Ant-Man and the Wasp. It seems to me the natural way, considering what is seen at the end. This time the studio was right not to tell anyone where this is going to end up. At Wandavision we knew that Scarlet Witch would be an essential part of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Loki put in front of us a second season announced in the series finale. Kate Bishop and Yelena Belova’s friendship was enough to show that they will see each other in the future. Already Marc Spector, Steven Grant and Khonshu? It’s in your imagination.

It may even seem evil, but it was exactly in this factor that Marvel Studios conquered its faithful audience through more than twenty productions. We saw Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man, he speaks very clearly about the Avengers initiative, but we had no idea how that would work on screen. Here we have something similar, but in a completely different way. I already advance that it is not to expect any last minute appearance, but something that can define this character for the future of this universe. And how this will work will be demonstrated only when Kevin Feige wants to.

In my last words here about the show, it is indeed worth it. Is very. Although I don’t agree that the ending does justice to everything built so far, it sounded a lot like Wandavision was put together. He won’t take away the merit of what was seen, just tie the knots with the classic action and combat between heroism and villainy. However, both lose space for a sincere discussion about the conditions imposed until then, as Loki did. At least one certainty remains: there is great evil out there and it will be up to someone to take care of it. We will see in the future how this will be accomplished.

Moon Knight Episode 6 Review: The Last Words

Moon Knight is yet another proof of how hard the Marvel series are in their latest act. Let’s assume that there is something good in this final episode: it inserts some plot elements in the most natural and coherent way possible, some sequences are breathtaking and evocative, the post-credit scene is brilliant, the characterization of Steven finds its perfect closure almost. The problem is everything else, which is nothing more than a mix of wicked ideas (such as the blackout in the decisive moment of the fight to not solve it) or not focused, first the sudden characterization of Layla. Or even out of place, like Marc’s final moral grievances resolved in five seconds, or ignoring with a single swipe of the sponge all the insights put in place last week. A weak whole comes out.