Deron Generally
Deron GenerallyMs. Marvel
Disney Plus
Season 1 Episode 2
Crushed
Kamala and Bruno explore the source of her newfound powers just in time for a perilous adventure.
In the aftermath of Avenger-Con, Kamala returns to school with a newfound confidence. Unfortunately, her rival at school gets all the attention for being rescued by her and Kamala discovers the new boy in school. I like the opening of the episode and its classic high school comedy feel. I also like that the story doesn’t spend too much time on it before Kamala decides to team up with Bruno to test the limits of her powers.
The training montage is well done and gives a great sense of evolution and fun. It is paralleled with Kamala and Nakia dealing with issues at their mosque. The sequence is interesting and gives some great insight into the culture that not many people have seen. There is also a great scene between Kamala and her mother that showcases the love in their relationship.
The episode features another element of Kamala as a character as she explores a potential crush on the new kid in school and their interactions lead to a fun musical interlude that is awesome for the tone of the series. I continue to be impressed with the visual style of the series and I love how Kamala’s emotions have a connection to her powers.
Bruno has a run in with the guidance counselor where he gets some life changing news. I love the counselor character. He is ridiculously funny with a dry sense of humor that is hopelessly engaging. Things get awkward with Bruno when Kamala chooses to spend time with her crush rather than him and we get a great call back to the Eternals in the episode.
There’s a great moment at family dinner where we learn more about Kamala’s family history and it leads to a great scene where Kamala connects more to both the power and the history of the bangle she’s wearing. We also get some great family moments as well and they are incredibly endearing. I like seeing the Damage Control agent from Spider-Man: No Way Home return and be the same manipulative jerk he was in the film.
The episode has some relatively low stakes even with Kamala having her first public hero moment, Things don’t start getting serious until the end of the episode when she has her first encounter with Damage Control. What I liked about the episode is that it takes its time to give us more insight into the character, her family and its history as it seems to play a major part in the overall plot of the series. The episode is good and definitely makes me want to see what happens next with the reveal at the end.
Ms. Marvel S01XE02
