In Review: Ms. Marvel (S1 – Ep5) – Time and Again

Synopsis: Transporting her to the past, the bangle reveals to Kamala secrets about her family lineage, as well as the truth behind the Veil.

Story

Much of this episode focused on great grandmother Aisha’s backstory, and how it relates to her daughter, Sana, and Kamala. Kamala’s bangle sends her back to 1942, at the train station where her grandmother, Sana, lost her mother when she was a small child.

The story opens up with documentary footage of the tumult in India in 1942, where the British military brutalized and oppressed the people who followed Mahatma Gandhi. Indians, who were mostly Hindu or Muslim rose up against the British Empire to declare their independence. Aisha, who was trying to hide from Najma and the other Djins, met Hasan (Fawad Khan), who was harassed by British soldiers.

Hasan and Aisha fell in love, and Sana was born. When she was four, her family, which was Muslim, was forced to move to what would become the Islamic country of Pakistan. As India declared their independence, so did Pakistan. In the Partition, the mass migration to Pakistan, Aisha and her family congregate with thousands of others at a train station. Aisha and her family get separated in the crowd. Sana calls for her mother. Hasan calls for Sana. Aisha encounters Najma, who wants the bangle. Aisha refuses to give it, or go back to the Djin dimension. Najma stabs Aisha. As Aisha lays dying, Kamala shows up. Aisha mistakes her for Sana, and gives Kamala the bangle before dying.

Kamala, hearing Sana crying for her mother, helps her find Hasan, by elevating her with her hard light. The light breaks, and appears as stars, which draws Hasan’s attention to Sana. Father and daughter reunite, as Kamala realizes she is the one who helped her grandmother find her great grandfather. It is then she is transported to the present. As she returns, the Veil, the door between dimensions, opens.

Najma (Nimra Bucha) and other Clan Destines, attempt to go through the  rift. Fariha tries to go through, but is killed. Then Najma goes through, but before she dies,she transfers her powers to Kamran.

Kamala’s mother and grandmother witness Kamala using her powers to help people escape the scene where the Veil opened. They realize she is “the light girl.”

Red Dagger (Aramis Knight), who was also there, leaves, but hands Kamala his red bandana, which will ultimately become part of her costume.

Just as Muneeba comes to appreciate Kamala, Kamran finds he is abandoned. He seeks out Bruno for help, because he has nobody else to turn to. As they talk in Bruno’s apartment, a drone, most likely from damage control, appears outside the window. Kamran, without even thinking about it, destroys the drone with his new found powers.

Acting

Can we give out acting awards for everyone? All the actors in this episode gave stellar performances, especially Mehwish Hayat as Aisha, Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba, Samina Ahmed as Sana, and Iman Vellani as Kamala. Also noteworthy in this episode is Rish Shah as the abandoned Kamran.

CGI & Effects

The CGI and special effects were once again, top notch. What was missing was the signature quirky animation that characterized previous episodes, but that did not makes this any less of a great episode.

Overall

This series has been nothing but excellent, but this episode is far and away the best one, yet. It’s fast paced, revelatory, humorous, tense, and offers a moving view of the impact of historic events affecting individuals and families forever in India and Pakistan. It offers viewers a moving account of the tumult in India and Pakistan while under British rule, as well as the turmoil and upheaval after Indian independence is established and Pakistan breaks away from India and forms as a Muslim state. Many viewers who reject dealing with real world events and history, or revel in anti-intellectualism, may not like this. It’s too cerebral for them. This episode, in my mind, makes this series the best thing that Marvel/Disney+ has made. I find myself still thinking about it hours after viewing it, which is a testament to its power as a story.