Disney's Ms. Marvel Episode 4 Impressions

Spoilers for Plot Points of Ms. Marvel Episode 4. But if you've been following this, you know I am planning on spoiling the whole thing. 

Episode 4 is in the books. In this episode, Kamala travels to Karachi, Pakistan to visit her Nani. I was originally wondering if she would somehow sneak out with Bruno to go on an international flight, but it seems like there was an offscreen reason for Kamala's mother to visit. In any case, Kamala meets her cousins who don't really do anything throughout the episode (they are just excuses as to why Kamala can do stuff without her mom knowing). She meets new superheroes that fight Djinn called the Red Daggers who immediately fail at fighting Djinn/ClanDestines (they end up escaping to protect Kamala). 

We do get to see more of Ms. Marvel's powers and how she controls Noor (Light), so that was cool. I have warmed up to the powers she has but I do wish she had the powers from the comics. In this show, it feels like she has a limited version of the Green Lantern ring, which just makes me wish we had a good Green Lantern movie. So far she has floating platforms, a big fist, and reflexive armor. 

The Red Daggers felt disposable and didn't really feel like they would matter when we met them. Besides the initial fight with Kareem (I do love how everyone has K names in this show), the only reason they are introduced is to give the backstory as to why the Djinn don't just want to return to their world but to take over the current one too. As that exposition is going on, the Djinns escape from Damage Control some how and instantly transport to Pakistan to get ahold of Kamala's Bracelet. Kamran's (not Kareem) mother, Najma makes him stay because of what he did in the earlier episode. 

And then people die, dude. Something I actually wasn't expecting in this show. A fight breaks out in the streets of Karachi where the leader of the Red Daggers, Waleed, distracts the ClanDestines to protect Kamala. As Kamala is escaping, Najma kills Waleed. Kamala can't even stop to grieve but at the same time she barely just met the person that died. I would expect that we would deal with that grief in the next episode but based off the ending, we'll be dealing with a whole other issue altogether. That's because during the end fight with the ClanDestines, Najma hits Kamala's bracelet and sends Kamala back in time during the partition. 

A couple things I didn't get was how sane and logical Kamala's Nani was. In all the episodes preceding this one, she seemed crazy which is enhanced by the fact that she doesn't know how to use Facetime. But really she acts extremely...well...normal. Besides believing in the Djinn (and all Muslims do believe in), she only seems to have a falling out with Kamala's mom. I just feel like in a world that had to experience a five year blip, had to experience multiple alien and otherworldly invasions, and where the Avengers exist, it wouldn't be too hard to believe in the Djinn and such. Heck, even be obsessed with them isn't too farfetched. 

Also, I want to call out that Kamala is being saved by a lot of men. I've seen articles about how she is a strong  female character that we sorely need but so far she was saved by Kamran and Kareem in Episode 2 and 4 respectively. Even Bruno jumps in the way to protect Kamala in the wedding scene. Besides saving the boy at the mosque, she is still being protected at every turn. I understand that she is still learning her powers and such, but she's needs to learn by winning sometimes...right? 

All in all, the episode is a little bit better than past episodes. I think have those moments with her grandmother gave a bit of character development Kamala needed. A lot of shows and comics make superheroes "go back home" to re-examine their roots, but Ms. Marvel it feels like visiting Karachi is more of character progression. Nani is probably my favorite character in the show because of how badass she is. 

Listening to the adhan in a non-negative scenario was nice as well.