‘Moon Knight’ – ‘Asylum’ – Review
Episode Four of Moon Knight, ‘The Tomb’ ended on one hell of a cliffhanger with Marc Spector/Steven Grant shot by cult leader Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) and awakening in an insane asylum where all he had come to believe of his life seemingly was a figment of his own imagination. Now in Episode Five, ‘Asylum’ it’s time for Spector to come face to face with his duality, reality and the insanity that lies within him and it’s about to get very confrontational.
Awakening as a mental patient at an insane asylum, Marc Spector comes face to face with Dr. Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) his psychologist and with himself. Seemingly existing in two alternate plains of reality, one with Harrow and the other with his other self, Steven Grant, he soon runs into the Egyptian deity Taweret, an Egyptian fertility goddess and protector of Mothers and Children who then gives the news that Spector and Grant are indeed dead and they are now in the Egyptian afterlife, The Duat, a seemingly endless desert where they are now on their final journey. With their souls in crisis and needing to be balanced, Spector and Grant must relive their past life to determine whether it’s hell or heaven that awaits them.
It’s time for the weird in this latest episode of Moon Knight and things get kooky and crazy quickly. Admiration and respect must be levelled on director Mohamed Diab for the creativity that he presents in ‘Asylum’ and this passage through the underworld leads to plenty of revelations about the character and inner nature of Marc Spector/Steven Grant. We bear witness to Spector’s traumatic childhood, and the incident that set him off, we learn of his fractured, abusive relationship with his mother and how the persona of ‘Steven Grant’ was first created. The tragedy lies at the heart of the character of Steven Grant and these early moments are confronting, and this deep sense of drama is shown through the performance of Oscar Isaac and his deep drama is incredibly moving to watch.
“Asylum’ also holds plenty of significance as we get to look into the past and see the character of Marc Spector grow. Leaving home he joins the military and then after a psychotic episode soon becomes a mercenary. Atrocities and murders follow, and on his way through the Duat, he comes face to face with the actions of the past and the audience is privy to his fateful first meeting with the god Khonshu. This meeting is an epic superhero origin moment and it allows Steven Grant to see the moment where Moon Knight was created and how Marc’s actions have bound the two of them to Khonshu and that Khonshu was far more manipulative than we could have ever foreseen.
This fifth episode of Moon Knight comes with many twists, turns and heavy emotions and the final moments of the episode are pure shock as Marc Spector/Steven Grant’s journey through the afterlife comes to an end and it’s anyone’s guess as to what happens next.
Moon Knight streams every Wednesday on Disney+
Image: Walt Disney Pictures
