Following the series premiere, Marvel Studios unveiled the second installment of Ms. Marvel on Disney+ and continued the strong storytelling and unique approach the show brought to its viewers in its first forty minutes. Episode two, entitled “Crushed,” kicks off with rejuvenated energy brought on by Kamala set to the tune of the classic Mase song “Feels So Good” on her entrance into school. Sporting this newfound swagger since discovering the powers of her ancestral bangle, Kamala and her best friend Bruno begin some classic origin story training on the rooftops of Jersey City.
Kamala, like each and every other superhero that comes across the page or the screen, struggles to gain control over the new cosmic energy that is shooting out from her body. Bruno, of course, provides the necessary best friend, and probable love interest, the solidified structure for training, and the savvy tech skills to back it up. In the meantime, her brand new confidence from Kamala results in her social life with a trip to Zoe’s party in order to interact with the new boy in school Kamran. After the cops bust Zoe’s party, Kamran fits Nakia, Bruno, and Kamala into his car to drive them home when Kamala and the new kid hit it off by discussing Bollywood and music. Bruno’s romantic interest in Kamala comes to the front of the stage with the anxiety building up watching the duo in the front seat discuss their interests.
Kamala continues to experience weird visions of a woman and flare-ups of her powers while also helping her friend Nakia run for the board at their local mosque to change the manner in which the religious group operates within their community. During this episode, the viewer is returned to Zoe in an interview room where she is confronted by two agents for the Department of Damage Control or the DODC about the events that occurred at AvengerCon. Additionally, the campaign for Nakia kicks off at their local Eid celebration in the neighborhood with Kamala at her hip, but also on a path to learn more about her familial history, particularly her great grandmother Aisha, from other elder mosque members after being turned down for information by her mother Muneeba.
While these conversations continue around the celebration, a young child has gone to the top of a steeple to take some selfies and ultimately slips and falls off. The whole crowd turns around to this potential disaster while Kamala runs off to slip into her Captain Marvel cosplay outfit/makeshift super suit to help the child return to safety. While approaching the child, Kamala does exhibit some trepidation in using her powers, but comes to terms with the reality and rushes to save the child that loves ice cream pizza, whatever that might be. On her descent from the building, her focus becomes lost for a moment where she drops the child, but manages to brace his fall with some last-second efforts. Ashamed about the nature in which she saved the child, she descends into a raid from the DODC and she narrowly escapes and climbs into the car driven by Kamran who is accompanied by his mother in the backseat.
As the follow-up episode to a successful premiere, expectations for Ms. Marvel rose significantly with an excellent portrayal of innocence and coming to grips with newfound responsibilities by its lead Iman Vellani. In addition, the series also allowed to flesh out more of its characters such as Bruno’s underlying romantic leaning towards his best friend as well as the trepidation that Kamala’s parents carry about their familial past in order to protect their only daughter. The interesting inclusion of the series is the DODC as their scenes have taken on a whimsical tone and also a naive way of approaching their agency’s missions. While this decision was most likely to maintain due to the nature of this being a series revolving around a teenage superhero, it does proffer some undesirable events that may come ahead all because of the lack of government awareness to recognize heroism instead of lasering in on the negative on an individual which is a first in the MCU.
Rating: 8.5/10