- "The fish is wrong, the time is wrong. You're not quite right."
- ―Pet Shop Owner to Steven Grant
The Goldfish Problem is the first episode of the first season of Moon Knight.
Synopsis[]
Steven Grant learns that he may be a superhero, but may also share a body with a ruthless mercenary.
Plot[]
Steven Grant wakes up in his apartment, removing his ankle restraints and tape on the door, before going to call his mother and feed his pet goldfish Gus. Afterwards, he goes to his job at National Art Gallery, where he talks with a girl about the Ancient Egypt, but Donna Kraft reminds him that he is a gift shop clerk, not a tour guide. Dylan then talks with Grant about their date at the steakhouse, and although Grant does not recall asking her out, he gladly accepts the invite.
At night, Grant tries to combat his somnambulism by solving puzzles and studying books about the Ancient Egypt, however, he suddenly regains his consciousness in Austria, without memory of how he got there. The mysterious voice in his head tells Grant to give his body back to "Marc", but Grant does not understand what is going on. He gets attacked by a group of armed people and runs away to the streets, where he sees Arthur Harrow preaching to his disciples about Ammit and bestowing her judgement on them. Harrow gets informed that the Scarab of Ammit has been stolen by a mercenary and he points out at Grant as their target, but he denies it.
Harrow demands Grant to return the Scarab, but he loses control over his body, brutally killing the attackers, before running away. Grant tries to escape from Harrow's disciples in a cupcake van, while they keep chasing them on the road. Grant keeps periodically blacking out and waking up with dead attackers around him, while the voice in his head tells him not to give them the Scarab. Grant then wakes up in his apartment and assuming that the entire chase was just a realistic nightmare, which relieves him.
Grant then notices that Gus appears to have two fins instead of the one that Grant previously often noted and goes to a pet shop owner to find about what happened. The pet shop tells him that all fish at her store have two fins, the same she told Grant yesterday, but he does not recall going to the shop that day. Grant then notices a clock hanging on the wall, which reminds him of the time for his date and rushes to the steakhouse, but Dylan does not come. He tries to call her, but Dylan tells him that their date was two days ago and Grant was the one who dumped her, but he does not understand what happened.
Saddened that his date did not go as planned, Grant returns to his apartment, where he notices something hidden behind the plank. He finds a key and a cellphone that was mostly used to contact "Layla", and when he was about to call her, Grant receives a call from her instead. Layla tells Grant that she has been looking for him for months, calling him "Marc", but Grant responds with confusion, telling that he is not "Marc", and Layla hangs up. Grant then hears the voice calling for him, but he does not find anyone at his apartment, although he notices how his reflection in the mirror almost moves on its own.
Suddenly, the apartment building gets hit with a blackout, and scared Grant tries to escape, before the mysterious figure approaches him. The figure suddenly materializes behind him, but in the next moment, Grant finds himself in the bus on the way to the museum, while seeing the figure outside of the window. Grant then sees Harrow on the bus he just left and runs to the museum, but Harrow and his disciples found and surround him. Harrow talks to Grant about Ammit and their mission to help her save the world before judging Grant, claiming that he has chaos inside of him. Grant runs away in terror, while Harrow tells his disciples not to follow him.
At night, Grant gets ambushed by a monster, while Harrow demands him to hand over the Scarab, if he does not want to be torn apart. Running away from the creature, Grant locks himself in a bathroom, but the creature follows him and tries to break inside. Suddenly, Grant's reflection in the mirror talks to him, telling Grant to give control of his body to him, otherwise they both will get killed. Scared and confused, Grant ultimately complies and allows Moon Knight to take over his body and kill the creature, before heading out of the museum.
Cast[]
Main Cast:
- Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector/Moon Knight/Steven Grant
- May Calamawy as Layla El-Faouly (voice)
- Karim El-Hakim as Khonshu (on-set performer)
- F. Murray Abraham as Khonshu (voice)
- Ethan Hawke as Arthur Harrow
Guest Stars:
- Lucy Thackeray as Donna Kraft
- Saffron Hocking as Dylan
- Shaun Scott as Bertrand Crawley
- Anouk Christiansen as Little Girl in Museum
- Nina Mahiri as Female Photo Patron
- István Mezei as Male Photo Patron
- Alexander Çobb as J.B.
- Gábor Szemán as Alpine Guard
- András Korcsmáros as Alpine Man
- Gabriella Csizmadia as Alpine Woman
- James Bomalick as Cupcake Van Driver
- Peyvand Sadeghian as Pet Shop Owner
- Eric Colvin as Steakhouse Waiter
- Anne Kavanagh as Elevator Lady
- Marcell Szelle as Ronnie
- Michael Benjamin Hernandez as Marc Spector/Steven Grant Double
- Kaan Abdullah as Man in Green Jacket (uncredited)
- Andrea Martina as Additional Voice Talent (uncredited)
Appearances[]
Locations[]
- Earth
- London, England
- Austria
- Giza, Egypt (mentioned)
- Great Pyramid of Giza (miniature)
- Great Sphinx of Giza (picture)
- New York City, New York (picture)
- Statue of Liberty (picture)
- Chicago, Illinois (picture)
- Armenia (mentioned)
- Wakanda (mentioned)
- Asgard (mentioned)
- Multiverse
Events[]
- Conspiracy to Release Ammit
- Armenian genocide (mentioned)
- World War II (indirectly mentioned)
- Holocaust (indirectly mentioned)
- Cambodian genocide (indirectly mentioned)
Items[]
Vehicles[]
Sentient Species[]
Creatures[]
- Goldfish
- Jackals
- Dogs
- Goats
- Chickens
- Otters (footage)
- Alligators (mentioned)
- Crocodiles (statues)
- Scorpions (mentioned)
- Hippopotamuses (mentioned)
- Worms (mentioned)
- Monkeys (mentioned)
Organizations[]
Mentioned[]
- Wendy Spector
- Taweret
- Horus
- Osiris
- Tefnut
- Isis
- Hathor (indirectly mentioned)
- Ammit
- Jean-Paul Duchamp
- Alexander the Great
- Adolf Hitler
- Atum (picture)
- Shu
- Geb
- Queen of Sheba
- Nero
- Pol Pot
- The Boy Who Cried Wolf
- Finding Nemo
- Avatar
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
Videos[]
Music[]
| Song title | Artist | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Every Grain of Sand | Bob Dylan |
|
| A Man Without Love | Engelbert Humperdinck |
|
| Arab Trap Made in Egypt | DJ Kaboo |
|
| Bahlam Maak | Nagat | |
| Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go | Wham! |
|
Trivia[]
- The title of the episode might be a reference to the myth that goldfish only have three seconds worth of memory; comparing to Steven Grant's gaps when he blacks out.
- A QR code can be seen in the background of the National Art Gallery that, when scanned at the time of release, led to a digital Moon Knight comic.
References[]
External Links[]
The Goldfish Problem on Wikipedia- The Goldfish Problem on IMDb
- The Goldfish Problem on Disney+
- The Goldfish Problem on Marvel Database
| Season One | The Goldfish Problem • Summon the Suit • The Friendly Type • The Tomb • Asylum • Gods and Monsters |