A little revenge, a dash of history and a healthy serving of family dysfunction. What’s not to love?
The Howard the Duck episode notwithstanding, this is one of the simpler stories this season. Shang-Chi and Kate Bishop team up to find The Hood. The person they believe responsible for the death of Kate’s family, the disappearance of Shang’s sister Xialing, and the kidnapping of hundreds, if not thousands, of Chinese immigrants. Whatever faults Marvel may have, I’ll give them points for not shying away from our history, warts and all. First The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, then Echo, and now this episode.
For all the talk of this country's great melting pot, the US has a history of using immigrants and people of color without providing them with any of the promised opportunities. The Chinese happened to be both. In the late 1800s, the Chinese were used as cheap labor to build the burgeoning railroad lines that connected the Eastern and Western sections of the country. However, they were treated poorly, segregated, and in 1882 became the first ethnic group to have legal limits placed on their ability to immigrate to the US or to become citizens.
I wished there’d been more than just hints of the actual history in this episode (even the above is a gross simplification of events). Or that the villainy of what happened didn’t seem to be laid solely at the feet of The Hood. That’s not quite true. Sonny Burch is a fine representative of how and why the Chinese were treated as they were. The United States has always placed more value on the free market than the freedoms of the people within its borders. Either way, I’ll be happy if this episode causes at least one curious person to look into the history underpinning this story.
As with the history, the same can be said of the plot. I’m amazed by how much story is packed into one tiny episode. However, on subsequent viewing, I realize that prior knowledge is the reason it works as well as it does.
Do you need to have seen the movie Shang-Chi to understand this story? No, but knowing that his father also lost himself to a mystical force and that his sister was predisposed to want (and potentially misuse) power means this episode packed more of a wallop than it would have otherwise. Shang-Chi believed that The Hood had not completely subsumed his sister. He was right. However, just as with his father, The Hood controlled enough of Xialing that his faith was misplaced. Shang-Chi would have died without Kate’s intervention.
As for Kate, without seeing Hawkeye, you might not have understood why that moniker is now attached to her instead of Clint Barton. Though, she has traded in her bow and arrow for six shooters, making her feel more like Bullseye than Hawkeye. But I digress.
Unfortunately, this is where things fall apart for me on repeat viewing. Kate always hits her mark so she chose who to kill and who to let live. The Powers That Be made a point of her not killing anyone in their first confrontation. Was that merely so that Shang-Chi would have someone to fight? She then killed all of Burch’s henchmen, yet let him live, despite the confession that it was him and not The Hood that killed her family. So, why did she kill and not disarm The Hood? Emotionally, it was the the stronger choice but it didn’t make as much sense in the context of the plot.
Additionally, and I know this was due to the limited time, the other thing that bugged me was that Shang-Chi was immediately forgave Kate for shooting his sister. He wasn’t wrong that The Hood was ultimately responsible for Xialing’s death. But in the moment, I doubt few people would be rational enough to realize it.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t address The Watcher’s coda. This is not the first time he’s intervened in events. He had to know there’d be consequences. It looks like they are about to come due.
I find Shang-Chi’s family dynamics one of the most interesting in the MCU. So, it should be no surprise that I enjoyed the episode. The issues I have are due more to time constraints than anything else. They told the story they set out to tell with the tools at their disposal. I, being the greedy person that I am, wanted more.
3.5 out of 5 (Or in this case 7 out of 10) Rings
Parting Thoughts:
The original Hood was a man by the name of Parker Robbins. He had quite the colorful past, in case you're curious.
Stark, Hammer, and Cross corporations all have iterations in the 1800s in this universe. That can’t be good.
In true comic fashion, The Hood blew away to find another vessel.
Quotes:
Shang-Chi: "You rang?"
Sonny Burch: "This here is a train of liberation. And those fine folks? Well, they’ve been conscripted into a force that's going to change the world."
Shang-Chi: "Conscription doesn't sound like freedom to me."
The Watcher: "Tragedy can often befall even the bravest of souls. But not this time..."
Sonny Burch: "I'm not sure how many rings your boy's got left in him."
Shang-Chi: "What are you?"
The Hood: "I could be an ally, if you'd let me."
Sonny Burch: "Hypnotic little ditty, ain't it?"
Xialing: "You think I'm the villain in this story, but I am the hero."
Sonny Burch: "Killing you with your own Mama's gun. Why that's mighty poetic, ain't it?"
Shang-Chi: "I won’t play your game anymore. And my sister would never kill her brother."
Xialing: "I'm not your sister anymore!"
The Eminence: "We can no longer allow your interferences to go unanswered."
Shari loves sci-fi, fantasy, the supernatural, and anything with a cape.
I liked this episode a lot. My favorite detail was that Xialing lost her facial scars once she was shot and the Hood came off. It certainly implies that it was more a magical/malevolent force than just Xialing deciding to go evil.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed it when Kate didn't kill Burch. I didn't expect her to. There was no way that Marvel was going to let her shoot him in cold blood, but I did wonder whether or not his henchmen were there for their own free will or if he had hypnotized them too.
I also liked the Iron Fist mention, although the Watcher's actions were interesting. He so casually meddled this time around without even considering it. But he also seemed surprised that things went well. Does he even know how much he's changing?