‘Ms. Marvel’ Episode 5 Review - Back in Time

The episode tells a story of its own as it deals with the aftermath of the events of the temple raid where the Clandestine and Aisha split up after the retrieval of the mysterious yet powerful bangle featured earlier in the show, known to be their only way back to their dimension. It captures two different time frames, both British occupied India and the horrors of the partition in 1947. As the episode starts, it wastes no time reintroducing us to the early 1940s, where Aisha, Kamala’s great grandmother is running away from the British soldier, ultimately killing him, as she goes in search of hiding after her dispersion from the Clandestine group.

The episode makes a bold statement as it keeps the main lead Iman Vellani absent for the most part and instead, focuses on Aisha’s story as a multiversal being ceasing to exist with her family while caught in the crossroads between the dual threats of partition and Clandestine. Mehwish Hayat, who plays Aisha, is scintillating in her role and lives up to the hype of the legend that the show claims her to be. It benefits from her extended presence as it unironically comes up with its best episode yet, all together in an underperforming series.

The episode also marks the entry of popular Bollywood actor, Fawad Khan, who plays Hasan, Kamala’s great grandfather. After getting chased down, Aisha eventually leads up to an unknown village with no connections. Searching for a hideout, she is greeted by Hasan, who gains her trust as he provides her with food and a cottage. The two of them grow fond of each other with time and end up forming a sizzling pair with a child named Sana, Kamala’s maternal grandmother. Fawad Khan is on-point with his new avatar in his MCU debut. He is sincere in his short role, and his chemistry with Mehwish Hayat is great.

It also includes the partition segment in more detail, which has only been mentioned in conversations up till now. Although the scenes of the partition are nowhere near as bloody as the reality, it still manages to create a good atmospheric vibe to serve the purpose of the story and give a glimpse of the blood-tainted legacy of the largest forced displacement.

With the episode reaching its conclusion, it falters in its execution. It works the best as long as it stays in the events of the past. The combination of interdimensional beings with a real-life historical setting creates a surreal fusion, that is worth grabbing attention to. When it returns to the present it fails to create the same impact as before, although it does develop the relationship between Kamala and her mother.

The Clandestine ultimately proves to be a poor antagonist after their late introduction in episode three. They turn out to be forgetful with their static and linear personalities and remain the weakest link.

With the show managing to improve upon its ‘childish’ and ‘cartoony’ features, at last, this surprisingly does end up being a decent experience with its dissociation from the original setting.

Final Score – [7/10]
Reviewed by - Devyansh Anand
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