This is the Way Phase Four

There really should be some way to warn you what you're about to hear that goes above and beyond what can be included here in the description of the episode. Steve is a bit cruel and snotty about having his time wasted.

The acting in Moon Knight has been, for the most part, superb. Oscar Isaac does as much with the script as an actor can. Ethan Hawke may not be a favorite actor for Steve, but capable actors were in the main and supporting roles. There's even a surprise appearance of the Phase Four iteration of the Scarlet Scarab, though you wouldn't have known it without social media.

Moon Knight's failures came in the script, edit, and planning. When you limit your season to six episodes, faults like those are going to be easier to spot. If you have one story to tell, the exposition is going to feel rushed if it's not poetic and sharp and mindful of the rules the show sets out for itself. In the end, Moon Knight tried to set up a mystery that it couldn't figure out for itself so it figured it could fudge it to the end. It wouldn't have been hard to make it make more sense. It's like someone thought "hey, if we SAY this is about exposing a mental health issue, no one will critique us on the normal storytelling because they'll be afraid (woke)Disney will shame them" and it ruins what could have just been a fun ride. Writing is hard, but the solutions here were obvious, even to an amateur.

It's perfectly fine to disagree. It's also possible that you agree, but just don't like the smart-aleck tone Steve takes. Forgive the frustration, if you wouldn't mind. How bad was this episode, in Steve's opinion? It was so bad, he skipped watching any and all content creator takes on YouTube, something he very much looks forward to doing after he finishes recording. He just didn't care enough.

This was a rough episode to review and discuss. Was it because of the subject matter? Maybe. Was this an important episode for people to watch who have gone through suffering in childhood? Maybe. Was it an important episode to the character of Marc Spector and for the show Moon Knight? Probably. Was it a well-meaning episode? Yeah. Was it a good penultimate episode in a six episode series. Absolutely not.

Episode five was great and terrible at the same time. For the show, it puts a grinding halt on the entire narrative. Marc is in heaven now. Why should we care? Is he NOT in heaven? Well, you should have shown us more at the end to hint that's the case. If the people putting this show together think that pulling a "St. Elsewhere" style reveal at the end or "J.R."-ing us with scenes of Jake Lockley under sedation at the end, then this show was a colossal fraud. Marvel fans don't want or need psychology lessons. Marvel fans want superheros saving the day. If you're going to tell fans of the genre that they'll have to do with it being all in someone's mind, well, you can do that, but don't expect people to watch. Something tells me (woke)Disney will complain anyway.

Yeah, that's right, this show is bringing out a political side the host would rather keep hidden. That should tell you enough. Let's just say we're venturing into "Rian Johnson" territory with this show and it has a lot to live up to in it's final minutes, coming on May 4th, 2022.

Did you like the episode? Great! You're allowed. That doesn't mean other points of view aren't valid. It's not our glass of water, but maybe your scales found balance on the boat, like some "perfectly level" roulette wheel in the "Princess of the Duat" casino.

Music appreciation time! "May Alla Del Sol" from Manuel Bonilla is how Marc Spector first experiences A'aru and "Love and Revenge" by Rayess Bek samples "Saat Saat" as performed by Sabah. We still can't figure out where that song appeared last week, but we're not going back to watch again...unless episode 6 is a "banger" of a finale.

Theories galore! Steve wonders aloud a few times in this episode. Is Harrow the secret partner that killed Layla's father...because Layla's father was actually Ammit's avatar or seeking Ammit's treasures? Did Harrow leave Khonshu's service because he stole the cane and was searching for "the little scarab" and Marc's devotion to Khonshu came about after a betrayal? Is Hathor secretly behind all this plotting, actually endowing the cane with power to help release Ammit? IS Tawaret hiding from the Ennead on the funeral boat of the dead or like a hippopotamus just hanging out in the Field of Reeds?

One thing we're absolutely sure of is that the hospital is not real. The lanterns are a "dead" giveaway, but then again, so is Steven and Marc having separate bodies, a couple of sarcophagii lying around imprisoning people, a bingo game with nonsensical letter and number combos, a cupcake cart at a sanitarium, sharp objects and stark colors, an office that is a "dead ringer" for the storage room above Harrow's London haunt, and don't forget the talking "hippo" goddess.

The "real world" should be abuzz at the discovery of Alexander the Great's hidden tomb, but he was hiding something in his tummy. The goat stuff? It turns out all that was foreshadowing for us because he's "the son of Zeus-Ammon", which is weird, because he was a pretty powerful general. He was a "pharaoh-phile" though and apparently the "voice of Ammit" who betrayed her. Heka was a goddess, too...one of healing. She sure had some nasty priests, but nothing superhero Layla can't fight her way past. All we were missing were tasks written down by Henry Jones Sr. in a diary and a chalice at the end. Instead we got a low budget version of Indy called "Tomb Busters".

Join in on the discussion! Let us know if you think Steve is close to solving the mystery or stuck out in the Siwa desert. You can email the show at [email protected] and find our other media at our new Linktree site: linktr.ee/thewayphasefour. @TheWayPhaseFour is convenient for links since it also happens to be our Twitter and IG handle.

If Star Wars is of more interest, Steve produces another podcast called "This is the Way Podcast" (@ThisistheWayPod) and you can find links to it at linktr.ee/ThisistheWayPod. Thanks for listening!

If you ever see the sky spinning at the speed of light at night, it might be Khonshu to blame. We get appearances from Moon Knight, Mr. Knight, Marc Spector, and Steven Grant in this episode AND a pretty big indication we have yet to meet another of Marc's persona non grata. Spector went on a nice little "treasure hunt" for clues to where Harrow would be digging, but kept coming up short. Khonshu signaled for a meeting of the Ennead "eclipse" style and got a dressing down from the five laziest gods on the planet. Maybe Harrow should just run for office if his run-around answer to "Why are you in the desert?" is so readily accepted by supernatural beings. Mere mortals wouldn't have a chance. In the end, the search for Ammit's ushabti by Arthur was allowed to continue while the creation of Khonshu's ushabti happened right before our eyes.

Are we really watching a battle between these lazy gods that just LOOKS like it's between Arthur and Marc? Maybe the Ennead's three triads have been broken and we're seeing some power plays against Osiris and Isis. Those were a lot of ushabti's sitting there in the great chamber. Cross Selim and get chiseled? Maybe Hathor has the hots for one of the gods and our hearts just aren't light enough to be invited to that celestial party. Maybe Arthur is (gasp!) right and releasing Ammit will only be bad for the Ennead. What if Khonshu's quest for justice SHOULD end with his imprisonment? Three episodes remain to clear up questions and for the host of this podcast, a clear connection to the MCU's Phase Four needs to happen or this is just another exercise in wasting time.

Music appreciation time! "Batwanes Beek" from Warda gets sampled by DJ Kaboo for "Enta" and it's beat begins and ends the episode for us. We also hear again from Abdel Halim Hafez, this time "Shaghalouny", another of Hathor's love songs, perhaps? "Walima" by Tito Rinesi gives us some street sound and "Salka" from Hassan Shakosh gets some ferry goers dancing on the way to Anton's house party.

Marc Spector caused a lot of damage to the museum "loo" and Steven Grant suffers the consequences. He gets "sacked" and seems to have lost his livelihood, his future as a tour guide, and a bit more of his sanity. With few friends to turn to, he looks inward and finds more than he's ready to handle. Just when he "reunites" with his (well, Marc's) long lost wife--Layla from the flip phone contact list--he gets a visit from corrupt cops who take him to Harrow's version of Shangri La.  Arthur and Khonshu are formerly acquainted it would seem, but he weighed his options and now chooses to support Ammit. Layla brings a scarab to a summoning fight and she brings out a new personality for Steven--Mr. Knight. In the end, it's Moon Knight's job to protect the innocent at night, so control is back in Marc's hands...until Khonshu decides he's had enough and finds a new fist of vengeance.

Music appreciation folk might appreciate the music in episode two with Bauhaus's "quasi-famous" goth hit "Bela Lugosi's Dead", a redux of Dylan's episode one kick-off song and his personal born again anthem "Every Grain of Sand" and we whet our Middle "Eats" appetite with "El Melouk" by Ahmed Saad in the credits.

Move over Batman! Moon Knight is on the...

Wanda is off reading the Darkhold, Vision is nowhere to be found, the Winter Soldier is making amends, The Falcon became Captain America, Loki finds himself in a new timeline, Marvel asked "what if" over and over again, Yelena is our new Black Widow, and Kate Bishop is taking up the bow for Hawkeye. We've come a long way in a year, haven't we?

This is the Way Phase Four Podcast host Steve Loscalzo talks briefly about who Moon Knight is and what we might see when the show starts streaming at the end of March. This doesn't seem like a show that will figure heavy into the "lore" of Phase Four, but the nature of the trailers means it might be a fun weekly watch, working out the mysteries alongside Marc Spector. Or Stevie. Steven? The mummy looking guy?

You can send feedback via email at [email protected] or interact on Instagram or Twitter @TheWayPhaseFour and Facebook at facebook.com/TheWayPhaseFour and we hope you will.

Episode 6 sought to pay off some obscure set ups. Snap trick? Check. Arrow split? Check. Jack's backstory? I mean...does that chat with Armand VII count?

Kate isn't handed Clint's bow, but she does seem to be welcomed to the "club" if the Avengers still get together for parties and birthdays and saving the world. It sure doesn't seem that way lately. Yelena doesn't help clip the Kingpin, but at least she doesn't cut down Clint. Maya takes her shot and it sure sounded like an echo after she pulled the trigger on Wilson Fisk. Kazi catches one arrow, but not the one that hurt the most. We find out who's watch that was, Kate's daddy was dirty, Eleanor was the one responsible for Armand's death, and Clint knows how to whistle.

Host Steve Loscalzo recaps the episode and laments that the credits don't hold any clues about what comes next. I guess you're jazzed if you like showtunes.

There's a little break between Hawkeye and what comes next on the schedule for Marvel Studios on Disney Plus. We do have Shang-Chi and Spider-Man: No Way Home to talk about, but those might have to wait until after our sibling podcast This is the Way gets done with The Book of Boba Fett. You can still write us. Send feedback via email at [email protected] or interact on Instagram or Twitter @TheWayPhaseFour and find the page on Facebook at facebook.com/TheWayPhaseFour.

Before episode 5 became available, someone said they had heard it was going to "break the internet" and boy, is that phrase used a lot. No, it didn't do any breaking, but it did set up an interesting finale, because a lot has to be resolved in just one short episode. That's what happens when you have lots of reveals with very few pay offs.

Host Steve Loscalzo recaps the episode and talks about some of those things we need cleared up. We keep hearing form Laura. Does Echo kill Kazi? What's with the watch? Are the tracksuits comfortable or just functional wardrobe for shakedowns?

Marvel Studios now has only one episode and less than an hour (most likely) to wrap up stories for Kate, Clint, Jack, Eleanor, and Yelena. Will that resolution be satisfying and still believable? That's why we keep "tuning in" as it was once said. I mean, if you're trying to tune a TV to watch Disney Plus...

Enter our current giveaway because this may be our last episode of the calendar year. If you'd rather only comment on the podcast, send  feedback via email at [email protected] or interact on Instagram or Twitter @TheWayPhaseFour and find the page on Facebook at facebook.com/TheWayPhaseFour.

Sometimes you get them out quick, sometimes barely before next week's episode, and sometimes you finish editing on a Friday, "not so silent" night. We here at This is the Way Phase Four Podcast have two young kids to take care of and they might not enjoy the ins and outs of audio editing programs, but we do our best just the same.

Kate thinks she talks Clint out of a jam, but it's more like he "Hawkeye'd" it and the suit and sword are now recovered. It's a pesky watch that might keep Clint in the Big Apple a bit longer. Is it Laura's? Seems like a men's watch to me, but the tech inside it might be what the Barton parents want to keep secret. Don't think we forgot about Yelena Belova. She seems to have found her target and whether Clint likes it or not, he's going to have to answer to Tash's little sis at some point. Maya meanwhile takes an arrow to the shoulder but keeps ticking. I mean, it's not like Kate didn't ask for it, snooping around her apartment.

Marvel Studios now has only two episodes left to answer our questions, but maybe this is just supposed to open up more than it answers like the last three live action shows on Disney Plus.

Enter our current giveaway(s) before it is too late or simply take part in the podcast by sending feedback via email at [email protected] or interacting on Instagram or Twitter @TheWayPhaseFour and Facebook at facebook.com/TheWayPhaseFour.