Moon Knight: A Moonless Night

Spoiler Alert

With Khonshu now imprisoned by the other Egyptian deities in an ushabti (a small statue) Stephen, who remains in control of the body, and Layla follow Harrow to the tomb where Ammit is buried and begin to search for the ushabti that holds Ammit. While searching they find blood and hear gun fire but have no idea what Harrow’s men would be firing at. Eventually they find out when they are attacked by an undead priest that protects the tomb. The two get separated and Stephen finds the chamber which contains the sarcophagus of Ammit’s last avatar and retrieves the ushabti. Meanwhile, Layla learns the dark secret from Marc’s past that he has been keeping from her. Once reunited, Layla confronts Stephen which pulls Marc back into control of the body, but it is too late, Harrow and his men have Marc trapped who distracts their adversaries while Layla escapes. The last part of the episode takes place in Marc’s head.

I don’t personally care for episodes in superhero shows that the lead doesn’t “Suit Up” at least once and we do not get to see Moon Knight in episode 4.  There are some common reasons this plot device is used in a series.  Sometimes a character is too powerful for the foe they are up against, so the writers must come up with a clever reason why the characters powers can’t be used.  Sometimes it is due to budgetary constraints. One may argue that the latter is the case for Moon Knight, as they have employed other conventions that bypass what could be costly segments, like cutting away mid-fight scene only to reveal the carnage after the fact, for example. But my personal belief is the former reason, in order for the characters to get to the place that episode 4 takes us, Moon Knight needed to not have his healing abilities or protective armor. I just find it a bit disappointing, as I really enjoy seeing the costumed hero in action, but that is not to say that this was a bad episode and it was to be expected after the events of episode 3.

Even without the appearance of Khonshu or Moon Knight, the episode remained entertaining and does move the plot along for the characters and their journey. Stephen developing feelings for Layla makes for an interesting love triangle, since two of the participants share the same body, this of course gets complicated when Layla discovers Marc’s deep dark secret. All of this adds to some interesting character dynamics, which is played well by the cast. The plot is more like an Indiana Jones film which was interesting. The production quality was good, although many of the scenes played a bit dark and the action was hard to make out (at least on the television I was watching it on). I enjoyed the middle eastern styled music that has run throughout the series and feel it accentuates the mood and overall feel of the series.