The Reel Rejects - REJECT RECAP: Moon Knight Ep 4 REVIEW & Credits Discussion - PODCAST

Episode Date: April 20, 2022

The Moon Knight Saga Continues as Greg, John, and Coy sit down to discuss all the latest developments from Episode 4. Chock-full of swashbuckling adventure, "The Tomb" sees Steven and Layla entering just that, as they follow the Eye of Horus to a fascinating revelation regarding Ammit and Alexander the Great. Layla and Marc Spector also have a tense confrontation prompted by the revelation from Harrow that Marc may have been involved in the murder of Layla's father.. and could this all just be taking place in a psychiatric hospital?!? We dive into all the details, easter eggs, and theories for what's to come in Moon Knight episode 5 & beyond! Watch the Reaction Highlights on YouTube or Stream Along with us at Patreon.com/TheReelRejects Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-reel-rejects/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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How's it going there, Reject Nation? John, here with my best radio voice to welcome you to our Moon Night Season 1, episode for review, recap, breakdown, credits, discussion, et cetera. Greg and I are joined once again by our good friend, resident comic book aficionado, Coy Gondro, always love having him in the studio, always have you guys, always love having you guys here to join us. And, yeah, you can catch our reviews and, recaps for the first three episodes as well here where you get your podcasts and you can check

out the highlights over on YouTube if you want the full experience or if you want the even fuller experience come sync up with us on Patreon I think that's everything all the housekeeping you've done here in my voice a yak in a way let's jump into the review and we'll see you next week nice wow that was awesome best one yeah I did not think this show would go there. That was... Wow.

Ooh. I'm like so, like, sweaty and uncomfortable. It's like Legion vibes, too. It was so intense. I genuinely don't know what reality they're going to land on. They could really go a lot of ways. Do we think is Jake in that third sarcophagus? I think it's Tony Stark. Tony Stark's back.

Tony Stark is just in there. Trapped in a tomb. I like that episode a lot. Back to my A's. That was incredible. I have theories. I like that pace. Thieries will wait.

Whose voice was that at the end? I don't know. I don't think it was hers. What's the corresponding animal and envisage for the god of music and love? Oh, yeah. Could be. Do we know any hippopotamus-based gods? I don't.

That's why, yeah. I'm like, has anybody got the Egyptian? Enough to know a hippopotamus god. Hippogamous. Hippotomous. Hippotomous. The hip-hipopotamus. Tika voice.

That the whole comic? 14 odd issues. That's what I thought we were going to get to with that... Yeah. Actually, when I think about this show, it seems like it's mainly based off of this comic. This is... And I said from the beginning, this is what I would, because this is the most cinematic, I think. I was like, very much...

And that's how I was like surprised to be like, oh damn, we're going all the way... We're going that far and do it, whoa! Because I think that Bendis Malavron is really solid as well, but it's not as approachable. And I also think the Sinkiewicz stuff is a lot of the visual aesthetic they're doing but it's not as approachable either I mean Steven Grant is like very different I'm surprised they went there I really like that I don't know it's not like the fight club thing where you've got a twist that is like now I know I mean they gave a really good there was one solid hint as to what's happening he says it about like getting passageway

when they're going through and they see the horror sign he says they're going like a passageway to hell or something oh they're on a boat do you think that water in the boat that's what the rocking was like in the on the lights and so do you think the afterlife is I think there's no I think he's there it is number one That's why it's it's the clapper board is like issue number six or seven which I And then the actually yeah that's number one is this that was the one I was like that's what they're gonna do I think we should hold back because I feel like it's just hold issues Let's just read the comic for you and it's what I think that was the early clue in in there

That's that's great and that's why I was like huh huh but I didn't think they would do it Drifting into the afterlife and then that wake up was genius. I don't think they're on a boat, but they could be on like something. They're in water. That was like a water rocking, but I think that's what it's reflective of. Could be way raw, but it seemed like to be the biggest indicator. Man. They're in a truck that's falling while they're also here in the hospital.

I also was not expecting the externalized two marks. I was not expecting Jake. I mean, Mark and, and... Who's our other guy? Estabon. Spencer Groff I just forgot

This is the biggest episode of the season It's Jake is the one I want to see Because we've got Mark Stephen Grant Guys sometimes I thought he was doing a bit I thought Guys I'm so tired my brain just

I was like That's an authentic tired You are dragging My brain chest I'm like it's not money anymore man I've lost the line. But I'm so tired of my brain just shorts, that's what it looks like. That was like your credit joke.

A cocktail the difference between when Coy's joking and when he's being sincere. Did he just have a stroke? Coy, give me the body, Coy, give me the body. Let me say Stephen Grant. Save our credibility. You don't know comics. I'm so tired. I was so tired.

It's just funny to only read one comic run of Moon Night. moon night. I literally like this is the exact thing. I told you guys I think they're basing it off this run. I was so like overwhelmed with all the stuff I was like there's gotta packing a lot and told you guys this is the run no you just need the one I only gave you like 30 issues yeah and they've done about 14 no it's definitely not the same thing no but it's just there's a lot yeah there's definitely not the same there's a clearer connective tissue to one specific run there often tends to be yeah and it's just exciting because John and I really get to have that I'm going to get it all the time.

It isn't excited to be like, I'm validated in my reading. Look at me during the homework. There is an excitement to it. It's so much fun to know what you're like. Because I can't tell you the amount of times I've read comics, and I've been like, they don't even do 99% of the comics that I read. So you do get that gratification. You're like, oh, it's so cool.

It feels great when you're like, I remember that from my readings. Remember? Yeah, but most of the time we don't get to say that. So that's why it's exciting. Drink it in. It's not like, we're got. We know it all. It's like, this is a rare,

the rare feel like. It's like, like a hundred issues and they use like 12, but throughout the 100. So you have to read way more to really get that feeling of like, yeah.

And it's exciting because I didn't expect them to ever do that in the show. I didn't either. I didn't think they go that far down the rabbit hole where I was like, whoa. Because we're already into, you know, very interesting gaps in reality with them changing identities.

I didn't know if they'd go full meets self existentially. Yeah. And also reality to the level of like, Where does the show go in 5 and 6 with this much up in the air? Earlier in the episode, he's talking about, like, a riddle for passage, which seemed like it was references to the moment. My mind went to a comic book specifically dealing with something with passage. He talks about protection in the afterlife.

So that's why it was like, oh, maybe we'll actually go to the afterlife. You hear him exclaim in the episode rewashed. If you'd like to see that moment, it's 13 minutes in or so. I'd be surprised if they did it exactly the same way, because there's different plot setups to it. The A, B, and C of it is different than the D, E, F of it. You know what I mean? So I think they could.

Also, the visualization of the thing we're talking about is very different. So they could go that way or not. I don't know. They did some visuals in the last episode. There's this thing in the comic called The Void, basically. Even though that wasn't what we were entering into in the last episode. Yeah, definitely had the cosmic array look. And the color palette.

Yeah, exactly. So it definitely felt like very referential. to it but instead of getting bogged down and things that could be heavy potential spoilers for what's to come let's just talk specifically about what's going on here i liked it way more than episode three i thought it was a really i thought it was really strong like yeah this is about what i liked it had that swashbuckling tomb raider uncharted-esque vibe not talking about the movie uncharted no you really liked it but i'm not talking about the movie uncharted talking more about like the video game and i think that the way they've woven these interpersonal conflicts while moving the

adventure along is really strong. I can imagine that there's a part of the fan base that's probably disappointed with the way this show's going because you barely get Moon Night in here. Like, you've barely got it moon night. I haven't noticed. You guys have mentioned that a couple times and like it hasn't been a thing for me

because I don't read comics for the punching. Oh, aren't you sophisticated? No, but like if... I read it to look at the dry... I just, I like the pondersome like, you know, existential musings on reality more than I like the throwing punches. So I don't mind that Moon Knight is

used as a means to an end as opposed to the characterization being the importance. Yeah, no, absolutely. I think that this what makes it strong is I'm more invested in Stephen Grant and Mark Spector to the point where I don't find myself going, when's he could have turned into moon? I want to punch it. It should always be treated as like cherry on top or necessary for plot development. The way they use him here, like I don't miss it. I'm not like, where's the suit?

That's when the show is most interesting. It's not when the show is most interesting to me. And I think the way they've really established the relationship. I was right, by the way. I was totally right. I predicted that about Layla. It was totally right. I was close.

Yeah, he did not kill. Yeah, he did not kill. But he was there and I thought, you know, worked out. I mean, the show alludes to like, yeah, he should have died that night and that's when... Which is fun for the comic fans. But beyond that, like, I think even if you haven't read the comic, you're like, oh, that must be the night when Conchu saved him. Because episode one, which is at a very event.

Yeah, so it references the fact that, like, the same nay, Layla's father was killed and Mark was there as a mercenner. was also the same day he made his pack with conchew and that's also the event that the people the the not cops when they throw them in the back they reference and show photos of like that's all this event we've relived in various episodes it's cool out there like as this mystery unfolds you also get like the backstory a little bit clearer without actually cutting away to it and i keep wondering if we're ever gonna see that actual scene i like that we're not because then it feels like we're living through their adventure of it instead of flashbacks always make me feel like i'm watching something as opposed to in real life we tell stories of a thing and therefore you're with these

characters. As soon as you do a flashback, then you're suddenly like, oh, right, I'm watching a medium. Like, I'm watching an art piece instead of watching a life. Does that make sense? Yeah. Give me Mike Flanagan's Moot Night. Yeah. Lots of time version. Well, I keep wondering, too, with this like plot reveal that they have here of the psychiatry hospital, what approach are they going to take? Because as much as we've referenced a comic that it's definitely pulling inspiration from, is it going to be the case where there are actual souls trapped there? like you have this one guy there who sort of looks like that what is that job called john when someone isn't like gold painted outfit and i feel like you know the name of it for some reason

living statue that's what's called everyone knows with me makes sense pretty aptly named exactly what it is isn't it living statue forget what they call the actual little totems that they imprisoned the gods into but that's yeah it's like a little human version of that but i do like the parallel of like a busker being like a god that's imprisoned as living statue that's a thing well beyond that it's the guy who's the living statute in the first episode who mark who stephen talks to and then it looked like one of the guys there was that guy might have been that guy yeah so i don't know if it's like these are actual people who are also in this other world but then what threw me off is the fact that mark is interacting with stephen as two separate entities

who can look at each other okay but maybe this is just some weird world that mark is trapped in now in his own head and then they're messing in like Egyptian gods or whatever the imprisonment is happening is messing with him specifically or are there or is like Layla also there but doesn't remember she's Layla you know like so that that's what I'm wondering like I don't know which direction it's gonna go I also wonder if Mark and Stephen are alternate realities of the same person because we haven't really explored that in this and Marvel Universe is starting to do multiverse theory what if this is a multiversal world where there is a Stephen and a mark that are separate leaning into the variance and leaning into all those concepts it is an interesting question a lot to wrap up. Two hours. Make it happen. It does raise a lot of implications because you do see, you know, they're doing partly playing on his own psychiatric state because it's like, okay, here's everything we've seen, pretty much every prominent face.

Here's an origin for all those that could motivate this being some kind of fantasy. Or you could argue that maybe it's like a parallel, almost rhyming spirit realm where not everybody is aware of their earth circumstances or something like that and I like that at least right now that is mysterious and it seems like certainly whatever's being presented here as a mental hospital scenario isn't true but I like that they've drawn it in a way that is very sort of you can you can look at it and interpret it and anticipate it turning out multiple ways but it so complements nicely with everything else that's been going on because if you look at you know the motivation that Arthur Harrow and his disciples have shown as much as

there are those like movie moments where they get kind of dastardly for the most part like the mission is still one of like we got to guide people and help heal them and blah blah so like it makes sense that the counterparts might you know translate into the people running this joint for the powers that be it's a nice adaptation but also a nice strong metaphor visual plane to kind of move forward from well what is omits deal again i'm totally freaked you blanking right now i'm hungry to But it's omit's up. She basically is the one that like punishes people before their crimes, which is his whole issue with it. I don't remember what she's actually the god of.

Yeah. So could Ethan Hawke in the psych hospital be Amet messing with him? But why would Amet be doing that? And why wouldn't she look like an alligator? No, no, I'm not saying that the hippo was. I don't know who the hippo was. I say omit's in disguise as Harrow. Yeah.

Maybe. In this psych unit thing. Yeah. on what implications, how much power that you might have in this realm carries over to the other realm. Because I'm like, if she's got all the control here and is able to orchestrate this elaborate fantasy to imprison Mark, it seems like she could get a lot done on Earth. Yeah, if she can make this happen. Yeah. Need to deal with Arrow and she wouldn't need an avatar. Yeah. Yeah. But maybe not. I mean,

maybe it is, you know, some, or maybe it's like she's puppeting his astral form or something. I don't know. I also feel like with Marvel shows, usually it's that episode five cliffhanger makes you go like how do they wrap it up it's cool to have this but for like what's the last movie of this because there's a two-hour movie left effectively like well how does this all we're in a very different place i think it would be very disappointing for a lot of people if this was all just in some guys head i don't think they'll do it was all a dream i know they were so painful for i think it would just upset people to be like oh you just committed to that and there's no actual moon night like yeah if that was episode five maybe that could happen but i feel like that's

why this happened on episodes because they have two episodes of the actual reality So it is not a film, a student thesis film of like, oh, he's dreaming. Yeah, because at five, we have to spend a little bit of time unraveling this, assuming it could be true and finding out it's not. And then climax in Danube Mountain 6. That being said, they should stay here for a whole episode, I think. I think you've got to, like, do what the movie Glass failed to do. I think it would be fun to do, like, 40 of the 50 minutes here.

And then at the end, you transition back to the... And really make Mark wonder if he is crazy. And, like, because I felt very paranoid and unyled. easy in that whole scene. Like, I really enjoyed the way they had the outside of the lenses being disoriented and they played with rack focus and they really made you feel pulled. And I've definitely like, that was the disorientingly almost paranoid high experience. Yeah. When I feel like this could make a good bridge to complimenting and ultimately tying up that question from the first couple episodes, which is that, you know, did Conchue choose you because you're broken or did he

break you in choosing you? And maybe the answer we will discover through this is sort of neither. and maybe, you know, in having these two personified personalities now interacting separate of their host body. Which is good therapy. Maybe, yeah, maybe then they can see that it is neither and they can use, you know, again, the struggle, you know, with the personality as, yeah, part of the strength or come to realize that, self-actualized that, you know. I mean, this could be the void, you know, where, like, Conschus in prison into. Yeah. They could very much be, like, where he's, and then we could see a personification of him. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. And I think, I think either he's in that sarcophagus or Jake is. Jake Lockley, Egyptian cab driver. They said it speaks there. I think it's very possible and maybe even likely. Like, we meet Jake in the next episode. He has a fourth personality, doesn't he? Depending on the continuity, so many different barriers.

I don't think he has more than like six ever at once, but he's got a lot going on in his head. But I think the three main ones are going to be represented in the show because there's so many threes. In the post-credit scene, there's three Oscar Isaacs. In the first scene in the, in the museum, you see his reflection and it's him plus two. they've made three a recurring number so I think Jake Lockley is coming by the end I don't think the third is Moon Knight because we have two Moon Nights

in Mr. Knight and Moon Night. I don't think the third is Kanshu because they've always been representative of the image of Oscar Isaac. So I think they were trying to mislead us by thinking that Kanshu is the third because of the posters, like the posters had Mr. Knight, Moon Knight, and then Kanshu, but I think it's going to be three Oscar Isaacs and therefore Jake will come. Or it's the guy

who fights werewolves in space. Could be. That's going to be episode six. Going to space. Cosmix. Just burst through. Going to werewolves and space. Some scrolls show up, all the tie-ins. Sets up Secret Wars, and then it's just shameless connecting tissue.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, what's interesting is he only signed on, like, Oscar Isaac didn't sign on for more after this. Yeah. So, if we get more Moon Knight, it's going to be case-by-case for him trusting the script and wanting to be the character again. So it's going to be interesting where this ends because it needs to be open-ended enough for more Oscar-Isaac, but enough closure that we have a story. Muhammad said that Moon-Night's here to stay, and there will be more. I want that. and i think oscar isaac was smart so he can renegotiate for more money he's getting to do like

between the kanshu overwhelm in the last episode and the and the shifts between him stephen so seamlessly like this is an actor's dream if you're as talented as this actor well and funny enough actually as much as we've talked about it i don't really miss moon night or mr knight or feel like i'm being deprived of those characters really at all and i think this episode brought that around really beautifully because this episode had the gradual pacing that i wish we we kind of collectively expressed a wish for the previous episode to bring and so this one really wonderfully traversed scenes added some icky horror stuff and then brought it back around to a really mind-bending emotional place all that was like great i'm just with this and i

don't even need the suit well it also did the thing we wanted like what we were talking about how that had to do a lot i think we needed moon night and mr knight and the last one so this one could not have both so this was the answer to that and it's interesting because Muhammad's directing style is so capable to have that tension and action densely, and then you get Justin Aaron who love, like, inverted framing and a lot more like avant-garde style shots, and that suits this episode much better, whereas Mohammed suited the last episode better. So I think it's really smart, actually. I was worried at the top when I heard there were three directors on this, because I was worried that the difference in episodes would feel jarring, but it's positively jarring. Their styles suit each storyline better. Yeah, I think the swashbuckling of this episode is great.

I think the actress who plays Leila. Do you know her name? I don't. May Alamawi, I think. Not sexist. Ha-ha. There's her scene with Arthur Harrow, especially, and the way they frame that they're talking across a chasm.

Beautiful. I forgot Stephen Grant's name. Thank you very much. The actor and character name on the show. Yeah, that shot was stunning. That was like a desktop background. Yeah. And then the close-ups on a like she, yeah, she just...

So stunning, it's like a desktop background. It could be my Facebook cover. I want to see it often. It's a desktop background. I want to put folders on top of that. I'd like that to be the dark void that is me opening my computer because the internet makes me sad. I want to get used to that image and never appreciate it. I want to feel sorrow.

Yeah, her performance was awesome. When yeah, when she confront Stephen Grant too, or Mark in that moment. This was like a great episode. I probably ranked this as my second favorite. What's your first? The first episode. First episode is still my favorite. I would say this is my second favorite episode.

That lasts like 10 minutes, I'd say. I also loved her in the last 10 minutes where, you're from his perspective theoretically and how she's like manipulative and selfish and how Mark might see her that way like if we're looking at Mark's view of her where she's like we'll share this it's mine i won like that whole play on how he might perceive her as fun because we've only seen her as selfless like she's been altruistic like jada pinkett it's all her fault right guys that's right it's what everyone says right the only Oscar i want to talk about is is He's going to go smack Mark for being a...

The smacks in episode 3? When he, like, he opened his fist and then palmed the dude? I was like, again, the only Oscar were talking about his eyes. It was a pretty contained episode. They drop pants of what's going on, but it's, I mean, we really, really don't know. Because they can't just pull from a comic. They would have to do some different. It's like the Civil War thing.

They're going to nod to it heavily, but play around. The thing that made it especially different, though. But then again, that is kind of like the comic, too, with the two... But that's why I'm thinking multiversal is an option to make it unlike the comic. I think they could go variance in multiversal stuff because that's where Marble is right now. Yeah. I don't think they will.

Like, that's not my expectation. I just think that option I wanted to say it out loud because if it lands there, I want to be like, ah, but I don't think that's what they're doing. I just want street credit from right. I do think if this sticks to landing, this is on part with Loki for me again. Like the way they're navigating this dense of materials,

insane. What makes me curious is like if this is Amet's doing, like it would be weird if there was just some other God who was doing this or something, right? If it is Amet's doing, why would Amit be doing this to him when Kanchu is not even a part of him anymore. Unless Kanchu's trapped there too.

And that is that realm where everyone's stuck. I don't think Amit's causing that afterlife. I think that's the afterlife. I don't think Amit's responsible for that. So this is just like the, like kind of like the Egyptian afterlife. And that's how he perceives it because, oh, that's what. Because they were saying protection in the afterlife. Because the pen, the pen, the pen is a pen to him.

The pen is blue. No, no, no, no. The pen is blue. The pen is a pen to a harrow and the pen is a chew toy to a dog. afterlife is going to be perceived as Mark would perceive it versus how the Egyptian gods would perceive it. Ah, yeah. The pen! Oh, good. The answer's in the pen! Right? The pen! That's a thing. Is there the whole time? I think it's the pen. So they have to learn to work with the afterlife. I think the perception of what reality is is literally in the palm of your hand. And in the next

episode, Dr. Strange walks through and be like, there's a lot of variance here. Gets you all out of here. This pen needs nothing. No! I put all my faith in the pen! I was so excited about my pen moment! The pen is mightier. It's a fatalistic world.

This pen will only ever be a pen. Come on me, Mark. We need a fire king. The psychiatric board is perspective itself. There's only one reality where this isn't a pen. Perspective itself. I think that's it. I think the pen is perspective itself.

I'm very excited about it. Yeah, there's a lot of depth here, man. All right. It shows a weird day to film this. Yep. We're all a little slated. I think this is a lot. longest reviews we've done after episodes yeah it's the show's fault so that it's too good

it's too good man we ought to reach about a half an hour yeah i'm gonna move for an egg salad sandwich oh i want to go like meatball marinera sub oh wow that's what i want right now that's crazy yeah i'm leaning in it's a lot of i want density i want protein i want i want i'm all in just a tube full of buffalo sauce you can tell them four days into a diet because i've been eating salads and juices and i'm like meatball marinerra pro time oh buffalo chicken artichoke pizza too though yeah he didn't stop talking for like a minute hey subscribe click that bell we watched what we were saying this time around we'll catch you guys soon let's do a patron of the day shoutout Olivia Hamelin looked up what your

name means and guess what it's olive tree it sounds a lot like my fiance's name Olivia which means olive branch and In a way, you two should be together. When I watched the show Moon Night, and I think about, you know, Layla can be with both Stephen Grant and Mark Spector. I could be the Mark Spector in the situation, and you could be the Stephen Grant. That's right, buddy. I'm inviting you, your sexy reject, into a polyamorous relationship with us.

I think the time has come for us to take that next step. Just by virtue of your name, what is a branch connect to? A tree. You are the tree trunk to our relationship. So, Olivier, before you say no, just know this. I will gladly never get involved in the bedroom if that means I can emotionally have you because that's what matters most. I don't know what you look like.

I don't know what you look like. I don't know what you sound like. I don't know anything about you, really. But I do know that we are a perfect triangular fit. He's sexy son of a bitch. Please don't cancel me.