This week’s episode, “Destined,” was directed by Meera Menon and written by Freddy Syborn and A. C. Bradley & Matthew Chauncey, from a story by Freddy Syborn. It was a little rushed, and a little cluttered, but features an incredible wedding that I desperately want to attend.
That dance number! Aaahhh!
Recap
We begin, as I thought we might, in British-Occupied India in 1942. It’s time for an origin story, people! In a crumbling temple, three people uncover the bangle that will eventually enhance Kamala’s powers. (It’s on a severed arm. I’m sure it’s fine.) We hear commotion and fighting outside as another person runs in: Aisha, Kamala’s great-grandmother. And, wait, one of the women is Kamran’s mother, Najma!
Ohhhkay, Kamran’s not completely human. That explains some things.
They need two bangles to do whatever it is they’re trying to do, but Aisha thinks they should make do with the one they have. The group decides to split up, and Aisha takes the bangle and bolts as more of the temple caves in.
Now we cut to Najma in a nice-looking suburban kitchen. As she talks to Kamala, the other people from the flashback wander in, and she explains that they’re all from another dimension, as was Aisha. They’ve been on Earth for hundreds of years, and hoped the bangle could get them home, but when they were separated from Aisha they were doomed to stay longer.
Their home is called “Noor”, which means light. They’re called the Clandestines, and they have many names—one of which is Djinn.
They’re Djinn.
Kamala’s part-Djinn.
And they’re going to need her help, and the bangle, to finally get back home.
Naturally, Kamala turns to Bruno (“You’re good at math, do you know anything about interdimensional travel?”) and of course Bruno might actually be able to help (“…there’s a paper by Dr. Erik Selvig…”) but there are far more important things to deal with, like the fact that “Night Light” is trending.
Meanwhile, at the Masjid, Damage Control want to sweep the place to search for “Night Light”, but Nakia tells them they need a signed warrant for that. The Imam, Sheikh Abdullah agrees, and they back off… for now.
Kamala’s watching a clip of herself saving Ice Cream Pizza Kid when Nakia walks in and throws herself on Kamala’s bed. She wants to tell Nakia, but… Nakia won the election! She’s on the board! Which is great! But as a board member, she’s already complaining about how Night Light is going to stir up trouble and attract attention to their community.
So much for Kamala sharing her secret identity.
But still, Nakia won!!!
Kamala has to switch back to family mode for the Mehndi, where most of the family has gathered for a pre-wedding celebration. Tyesha is having her hands and feet hennaed, which looks luxurious but also means she can’t move and has to let people feed her.
There is talk of Sana not showing up to her grandson’s wedding, and talk of “Night Light”. Kamala retreats to the front porch, where Sheikh Abdullah finds her. I have just a slight suspicion that he knows who Night Light is—they talk a bit about being good versus doing good, and Kamala seems a little less rattled.
Not so for Bruno. He had to miss the party to work a shift at Circle Q (Does his family own it? Where are this boy’s parents?) and Mr. Khan comes in for a terrible/delicious pre-packaged fruit pie, strictly forbidden by Mrs. Khan. He noticed Bruno trying to read an article in Urdu, and inadvertently translates a story about the Clandestines that doesn’t sound too flattering. They were banished to Earth—but why? What did they do back in Noor?
Buy the Book
A Mirror Mended
When he and Kamala meet up later, Bruno explains that interdimensional-travel-via-bangle is going to be incredibly dangerous. But Kamala wants to help the Clandestines. Even after her talk with Sheikh Abdullah, she’s beginning to think she isn’t good enough to wield her powers. Maybe the bangle’s real purpose is to help these lost Djinn? Maybe she’s ridiculous to think she can make it as a superhero? Bruno, obviously, disagrees on that last point. He finally tells her that he got into CalTech, and wants to go, but he doesn’t want to leave until he’s sure she’s OK.
May we all have a Bruno in our lives, holy crap.
Later on, Ammi finds Kamala in the bathroom tending to her Damage Controlled knee. They have a really lovely conversation, where it finally becomes clear just how abandoned Ammi felt when she was younger. They didn’t have much money when she and Abbu first married, her English wasn’t good, coming to America seemed like it might have been a mistake. But then she found the mosque, and the larger community. “I found my family, and I let them love me,” she says, kissing Kamala on the forehead.
Whatever went on with Sana back in Pakistan it left some serious scars.
Kamala texts Kamran that it might take longer for her to figure out how to help the Clandestines, and he tells her to focus on the wedding. So maybe they’re not so—but wait, now it’s time for the wedding!
But first!
How often do we see an iconic hero shot of a mosque on U.S.-ian TV? Let’s just look at it for a sec and appreciate it.
Now—wait! First we have to have a complementary lovely conversation between Abbu and Aamir. Aamir is worried because he doesn’t even have a thousand dollars in his bank account. But as Abbu tells him, a man has one fundamental choice in life: to live a life in fear, or in love. And since Aamir has chosen love, passion, faith, and to dedicate his life to a partnership with Tyesha, Abbu knows he’ll find his way.
May we all have an Ammi and an Abbu in our lives, holy crap.
Now, finally, Aamir and Tyesha’s wedding!
The ceremony itself is warm and funny, but the reception is amazing. Guest line up to gently knock the newlyweds’ heads together as kind of a blessing/reminder not to get too mad at each other when things get tough. Then the families join together in a Bollywood-style dance routine that they’ve clearly been rehearsing in secret, before everyone hits the dance floor. It’s so nice to have a break from superhero-ing, and to see Kamala in the context of her family on a great day.
Even better? Ammi, Abbu, and Tyesha have found the perfect wedding band ever, and it’s Brown Jovi.
But nothing freaking rad can stay, and just as Kamala’s about to dance with Bruno, Kamran runs in. His family is on the way to the banquet hall—they’re not willing to wait for Kamala to figure out a safe way to help them, and if she doesn’t get out of here everyone’s going to die.
Kamala thinks fast and pulls the fire alarm. As people flee, she leads the Clandestines on a chase through the kitchens and back halls, trying to fight as she goes. It kind of turns into Jurassic Park for a few minutes, with the Djinn as raptors hunting Kamala around distressingly shiny, clangy aluminum cabinets. She leads them back into the banquet hall, still making a strong showing given how little time she’s had to practice, and then somehow Bruno gets back in and starts throwing wedding presents at them. Naturally one of the Djinn knocks him across the room, which leads to…
The first real Kamala punch! She flattens the Djinn (at least for a second) and Kamran is able to run interference while she drags Bruno back out. This only lasts so long—Kamran is knocked over a railing, and the Djinn are closing in. Najma grabs Kamala’s bangle, and suddenly both of them are staring at a vision of a steam engine pulling into a Karachi station—
Which is when Damage Control shows up! For once I’m glad to see them. They start taking the Clandestine down while Kamala’s thrown clear and able to get poor wounded Bruno outside… just in time for Nakia to find them and see Kamala use her powers. There’s no time to explain, Nakia is livid and hurt, but she’s going to have to take Bruno to a doctor while Kamala escapes before Damage Control finds her. Back at home, she faces more furious people. Aamir and Tyesha’s wedding was ruined, an Auntie saw Kamala pull the fire alarm, they saw the Clandestines—her family wants to know the truth, but she can’t tell them. When she says this they all seem to deflate.
But they leave her alone to go up to her room. And now Nani’s calling, telling Kamala she saw the train, and that she and her mother need to come to Karachi.
I’m sure this is gonna be an easy sell.
Cosmic Thoughts!
I thought this one was a little thinner than the last two episodes! Still really good, but there was a bit more capital-P Plot happening, and I got a little dizzy as Kamala ran between friends, family, and Clandestines trying to work out what to do.
This also may be the first time ever that I’m rooting for a hero to tell her family her secret. Although… obviously something happened with Nani and Ammi. Did Nani take up Aisha’s work? Did Ammi refuse to be a superhero? But if that’s the case, wouldn’t she suspect what’s up with Kamala by now?
I’m also a bit disappointed that Nakia won the election offscreen! I wanted that to be an ongoing arc, or maybe its own episode, or something. More Nakia, is what I’m getting at. But still, watching her face off with Damage Control was pretty amazing.
Can I talk for a moment about the use of light in this show? Just as Moon Knight did some excellent work with mirrors, this show is doing fantastic things with different kinds of light: the soul-crushing fluorescent/neon combo in the Circle Q, the deceptively warm lighting of the Clandestines’ house, the beautiful soft light streaming into the masjid, the purplish semi-darkness of Kamala’s room.
The battle scenes were pretty good, showcasing the fact that Kamala is severely outmatched, but doing her scrappy best.
But really the highlight of this episode was the wedding. So vibrant and exciting, especially with the payoff of somewhat stuffy Aamir getting up to dance for his bride. It was so refreshing to get a moment of pure joy like this in the middle of a superhero show. I have to say Ms. Marvel is doing incredible work with weaving Kamala’s life and family into her superhero origin. The writers are showing us her struggles, but they’re not vilifying her family or presenting them as obstacles—they’re all real people with their own lives. Especially now that Ammi’s getting a bit more shaded in.
And speaking of that. Are we going to Karachi? Is it possible that Kamala will tell her mother the truth, and the two will go over there to deal with whatever the vision of the train means?
A Note on Djinn!
So Kamala might be part-otherworldly-Djinn? Or Kamran’s mom might be lying. Why were the Clandestines banished? Where is Noor? Are we going to Noor? This episode opened up so many possibilities!
My understanding of Djinn is that they are pre-Muslim spirits who are not innately evil. This is not a “demon coming up from Hell as a pawn in a battle between God and the Devil” situation, (In Islam, Iblis or Shaytan is either a disobedient angel or the father of the djinn, and while he’s an adversary to humans, a force of temptation and bad vibes, he’s not in any kind of battle with God—and if he was it would be a very short battle) or a “resentful dead person locked in a cycle beyond their understanding” haunting situation—Djinn can choose whether to be practice good or evil like anyone else. Thus, these particular Djinn are jerks.
…Djerks?
Favorite Quotes
Kamala: I’m a Djinn!
Bruno: …and tonic?
***
Kamala: I’m the stuff of my childhood nightmares!
***
Bruno: I’m not sure how I can help a group of ghosts and their average-looking son.
***
Sheikh Abdullah: Excuse me, Ms. Agent. Next time remove your shoes.
***
Sheikh Abdullah: Good is not a thing you are. Its a thing you do.
Ammi: I found my family and I let them love me.
***
Abbu: A man has one fundamental choice in life: to live a life in fear, or in love.
Leah Schnelbach really really wants more on these Djinn and their home dimension. Maybe a crossover buddy comedy with Tawaret? Come join them in dark dimension that is Twitter!
So…they decided to not to go to the inhuman angle, or even mutant angle and went with an obscure group from the 1990’s, so obscure that I don’t think I have even HEARD of the Clandestines, besides from a x-men crossover over twenty years ago. Ok, strange take to have as your villains’. They probably did it because of the djinn connections( which does exist in the comics), thus tying it in with Muslim culture instead of it being about the much more diverse inhumans and the nuclear bombl that is mutants.
It was awesome to have the theme song to Dil Bole Hadippa, even if that wasn’t one of the films that Kamala and Kamran name-checked in episode 2. (Too old?)
Great episode and the wedding was really joyful and fun. “Good is not a thing you are, it’s a thing you do” is Kamala’s “With great power comes great responsibility” — kind of the line that sums up why she’s a hero in the comics.
When I saw that the bangle in 1942 was on a blue-skinned arm, I was thinking it was a Kree and they were going for the Inhuman origin after all. But if it was a blue-skinned djinn, aka genie, are we heading for a Disney franchise crossover…?
Then again, they just said the bangle helped them tap into their inner Noor. Maybe it is Kree technology that they’re just able to use to unlock their power. It would be appropriate, since then Ms. Marvel would have a link to Captain Marvel in a way beyond just fandom. That could be setting up her role in The Marvels.
I like the character and family stuff, and the rich, positive portrayal of Pakistani/Muslim culture to a degree that’s rare on American TV. I liked getting to see the wedding and surrounding customs. And the clothes were terrific. Kamala’s red tunic (or whatever it’s called) looked great.
But I’m not feeling the whole Djinn/Clandestine angle. Okay, giving Kamala an origin tied into the mythology of her heritage is cool, but I’m not crazy about superhero origin stories that revolve around the heroes trying to save themselves from some plot targeted at them. Superheroes are supposed to be about helping other people, being selfless.
Also, the Clandestines’ motive for attacking is illogical. Kamala already wants to help them; she just doesn’t want to rush into it. They’ve been waiting a century already — why can’t they wait a few more days or weeks? So the climax felt unmotivated and gratuitous, like they were attacking just so there could be an action scene in the episode.
Gotta agree with the fourth comment that the attack on the wedding kind of came out of nowhere. Kamala said she’d help them. Would it have killed them to give her time to figure out how, or even to have just contacted her peacefully and said “Hey, we kind of need your help right now,” instead of crashing the wedding and trying to kill her?
Anyway, I’ve never heard of the Clandestines, or, as they are apparently known in the comics, the Clan Destine. Someone who actually knows the comics will have to let us know if the characters in the show are even remotely related to the characters from the comics. All I know is that they are definitely going in a new direction with Kamala’s origin, which is fine. She was only an Inhuman in the comics because Marvel had a feud with 20th Century Fox and didn’t want to give them any more mutant characters.
I forgot to mention, I agree with the review that Kamala should’ve told her family everything. I couldn’t see a good reason for her not to tell them. I’ve grown tired of fiction about characters constantly lying to their loved ones and hiding who they are.
It struck me that Najma was there for the bangle. If their plan was to have Aisha use it to get them home, they don’t need Kamala. If they need someone born here and not Noor, they have Kamran.
Kamala doesn’t tell her family because their disappointment in her superhero-worship was already soul-crushing. We’ve already seen that teenage rebellion does not come easy to her, so she tries to walk the line that what her parents don’t explicitly forbid she doesn’t need to feel as bad about
I do think we’re meant to suspect that the blue arm was Kree, and the bangle might yet be a nega-band.
The family and culture stuff was great. My own heritage is Italian, Irish Catholic, and Eastern-European Jewish; I have a vast mishpucha and the Khans’ is not unfamiliar — as is so often the case, if people will only look, the specific can translate universally. Plus it’s flat-out delightful to see all the celebration. (I just wish I didn’t loathe Bon Jovi even more than I love a good pun…)
I honestly thought Kamala was about to tell her family what’s up. While secret identities have a place in superhero fiction not merely as a trope but as a valid, practical way of keeping oneself and one’s, uh, loved ones safe, their keeping from said loved ones can strain credulity.
@8/Arben: “as is so often the case, if people will only look, the specific can translate universally.”
Yeah, but it’s the differences in detail that are interesting and fun to learn about. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a form of wedding ceremony where the bride and groom were sitting down with the officiant between them. And I knew that a Muslim woman could divorce her husband just by saying “I divorce you” three times, but I didn’t realize you’d begin a marriage the same way, though I guess it stands to reason.
“While secret identities have a place in superhero fiction not merely as a trope but as a valid, practical way of keeping oneself and one’s, uh, loved ones safe, their keeping from said loved ones can strain credulity.”
I don’t buy the “it keeps loved ones safe” argument. The usual excuse is “I don’t tell them my identity so my enemies can’t torture them for it,” but that’s hypocritical given how many superheroes hang out with the same people in their hero identities that they do in their civilian identities. Everyone knows that Jimmy Olsen is Superman’s Pal and Lois Lane is his favorite gal, so they get kidnapped and threatened all the time anyway, which means that keeping a secret identity is about protecting Superman himself from exposure, not about protecting anyone else.
The only way a superhero can keep people safe from that kind of thing is by not associating with them publicly at all, so the bad guys have no reason to target them. In which case it doesn’t matter if they know the secret or not. And arguably they should. You don’t keep people safe by keeping them ignorant of a potential threat, but by informing them fully so they can prepare for it. Keeping people ignorant of the truth is never about safety, just control and domination. If you look back on all the classic stories about superheroes tricking their friends and colleagues to hide their identity, they come off as straight-up gaslighting, the same kind of tactics that abusers use to undermine their victims’ sense of reality. It’s grotesque to call it protection.
Now, you could look at a hero identity as analogous to being closeted about an LGBTQ+ identity, in that it’s something you might not feel safe about revealing to people before you’re ready. But then it’s not about protecting your family, it’s about not feeling you can trust them to understand and accept you. Here, Muneeba and the others seemed ready to listen and support Kamala, so I’m not sure why she chose to stay closeted.
@9: Yeah, but it’s the differences in detail that are interesting and fun to learn about. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a form of wedding ceremony where the bride and groom were sitting down with the officiant between them. And I knew that a Muslim woman could divorce her husband just by saying “I divorce you” three times, but I didn’t realize you’d begin a marriage the same way, though I guess it stands to reason.
Saying three times that you want to marry someone immediately reminded me of the Seanchan marriage of The Wheel of Time :D (I guesse Robert Jordan pulled inspiration from all kinds of cultures and religions).
I love the parents in this show so much. Protect Ammi and Abbu. I was shouting at the screen TELL THEM when Ammi was asking Kamala what was going on with her. My poor girl needs all the support, she and Bruno can’t handle it on their own. I’m happy Nakia knows now at least.
Another great episode. The wedding was a joy. One of the great strengths of Marvel Comics over the years is that the superhero stuff is mixed with the stuff of real life; friends, family, and ordinary challenges. And this show has that in great abundance.
It was fun watching Kamala’s powers emerging on the fly. I feel sorry for Bruno, as he obviously dearly loves Kamala (he has even been learning her language), and she doesn’t seem to reciprocate in kind. But that energy punch, and her concern for his safety, shows she also cares for him.
I was a fan of the Clan Destine comics, a great but short lived series created by Alan Davis, as I recollect. At first, I thought that’s where they were going, as the members of the Clan had very long lives, but the djinn and multiverse stuff seems to argue this is something new and different.
Probably an unpopular take, but, I felt this episode was the best Marvel television episode of all time.
I am 60 and Iron Man and the version of Thor who had to tap his cane on the ground to turn into Thor were my favorite comics.
The best Marvel movies always combine action, humanity, drama and humor in a compelling mix. They show that a hero’s relationships and life experience are as important as their powers or skills. I’ve also felt that the best Marvel movies are also very conscious of the time period they are being produced within.
I have felt that every Marvel TV show since Iron Man 1 hasn’t quite put that mix together as well as their longer form pieces. (Except for the one-shots – which are basically theatrical)
In contast, I’ve felt DC’s movies don’t typically provide that blend makes people love their characters. I’ve felt they’ve done better with with they’re TV shows even though I’m not a huge DC comics fan.
On the tell the parents issue.
I was raised in a devout immigrant family in a different faith community. My grandfather lived in the home. Our extended family lived within a 100 mile radius and we saw them all the time. As the oldest son, of the oldest son, of oldest sons for generations I also grew up with the expectations of my family to be perfect – and in many ways I met those expectations.
My parents were actually very liberal and accepting of diversity, but as a young child I knew I wasn’t a little boy, I was a girl. My father was a construction worker, Iron worker and mechanic. I didn’t like those things. He would say things ” why don’t you like working on the car, you can’t get your hands dirty? What are you a girl?”
I had a completely different relationship with my mother – she was my best friend. (Kind of opposite of Kamala’s relationship with her parents).
My father died when I was 21 and before I accepted myself. I knew in my heart my mother would probably accept me, but I was terrified to lose her love and acceptance. After I graduated, married and separated, she knew something was wrong and constantly, with love, asked what was wrong. But it took me years to come out.
This was for someone in their 20s and 30s. So I can totally understand how a 16 yr old who has suddenly been confronted with their wildest dreams could be scared to lose the love and acceptance of their family.
This episode had me wish once again that (some) Marvel TV series were longer, 13 episodes at least and planned for more seasons, because there’s so much happening in this one that needed more time to breath, and a lot of things not happening but that we have to skip because we’re already at the halfway point.
Najima’s heel-turn comes way too quickly – why even pretend she might be good if she comes to get Kamala by force not even 20 minutes later? The wedding party was wonderful, but how exciting would it have been if the bad guys didn’t crash the reception? Just a nice, no-stress, low-key character episode.
And I would have loved to see Kamala do more trial-and-error low-key superheroing before wondering if she should just give up. Right now her doubts have less to do with her skill and conviction, and more with her fear of bringing down the government on her family and friends, which is legitimate, but very different from “Am I actually doing any good by being a hero”.
In short: more of this, please, but literally more.
I’m old enough to remember the advertisements in ’70s and ’80s Marvel comics where Spider-Man defeats villains by distracting them with delicious Hostess Fruit Pies. I was delighted to see one appear on an MCU screen, though sadly not deployed as a weapon.
@16/rm: Oh! I’m ashamed of myself for not getting the Fruit Pie in-joke.
@9. ChristopherLBennett: “I don’t buy the ‘it keeps loved ones safe’ argument.”
I think you misread me on that. My comment was about the secret being kept from the general public, including of course adversaries that could target the loved ones. Letting close associates in on the double identity is usually a smart move — which riffs on the early Spider-Man dynamic like Static in the 1990s, Blue Beetle in the 2000s, and Ms. Marvel in the 2010s have to varying extents acknowledged. Hanging out with the same circle of people, broadly, in both identities, not so much.
My wife is half-Persian, so I recognized a lot of the elements of the wedding, although the details were different. For one thing, in the Persian wedding my wife and I were the only ones sitting; the officiants and all the guests stood the entire time. (There were accommodations for anyone who was not able to stand for the (fairly short) ceremony, but amazingly enough, I don’t think anyone there needed it.) The other major thing is that although my wife was asked three times if she would marry me, she was required to answer “No!” the first two times! (Otherwise, she would appear too eager.)
Extremely fond memories.
I am also utterly charmed by the show and especially enjoy the family/cultural/religious dynamics. It’s nice to see a warm basically functional family – I really loved the scenes with the parents, and wish Kamala would just open up to them (although I get why she doesn’t).
When Aamir mentioned he only had 700 dollars in his account, and his dad said ‘things will be better after grad school’, my husband and I kind of screamed at the screen. We were both poor grad students early in our relationship/when we got engaged (I ended up leaving academia for a different field by the time we were married). And so I totally related to Aamir grabbing all the money when they ran out hahahaha!
I’m kind of torn (we’re still a few episodes behind, don’t spoil it for me) if I want Bruno and her to get together at all. Like he’s clearly hopelessly and adorably in love with her and admires her for who she is, respects her family/culture, and he manages to deal with it without getting creepy and overly jealous. I definitely want him to go seek his dreams at Caltech regardless, but I also understand that it can be a bit of a trope where the guy kind of wins the girl in the end (especially as I really haven’t seen any indication on Kamala’s part that she thinks of him that way). But, the guy I married was also a person where it took me a lot longer to realize than he did so…it would still be sweet. Granted, I’m also fine if they just leave it and never resolve it because sometimes that’s life too.
I also thought it was weird that the Clandestines were suddenly so impatient. Is there a time constraint they are working against? After decades it feels like waiting a few days to sweet talk/convince her wouldn’t be so hard.