Episode 2 begins with Trevor presumably returning from China, having survived the events at Ta Lo in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The continuity is less important than its thematic parallel. The conflict in China arose out of Shang-Chi’s dad being deceived into thinking his wife was imprisoned by her own people, making him chase an empty final mission — a tragic end for someone reputed to be immortal, and otherwise always got his way. Anyway, we get where Trevor’s been as he is on a plane talking to a Chinese woman, recounting to her how his mom set him on his life’s mission to be a great actor someday.
Trevor’s mission is once again sidetracked when, at the airport, he is tackled to the floor by the DDC for being the terrorist he only thought he was playing. He takes a deal to play under the direction of DDC’s P. Cleary in the act of deceiving Simon into revealing evidence of superhero powers.
At this point, let’s take a detour to explore the DDC. Damage Control debuted as a comic book, but it set a much different tone and function from the DDC in the MCU. Comic book Damage Control was a pure comedy of non-powered office workers and engineers impossibly tasked with cleaning up and restoring the damage caused by superpowered activity — a common occurrence in New York 616. Essentially, Damage Control represented stagehands and set builders for the Marvel Comics “theatre,” resetting the stage for the next violent encounter, though less like conventional theatre and more like Toho Studios, famous for its weekly Godzilla rampages. This conceit explained why New York always looked pristine before it got wrecked again in another powered clash.
The MCU’s DDC is cast more like present-day real-world immigration control, dealing more with the superpowered beings themselves rather than the damage they cause (though we did see their engineering department in Spider-Man: Homecoming). Nothing funny about them — they seem like self-righteous, officious a**holes.
OK, back to the series.
Simon’s agent, X. Mayo (Janelle James), diverts his attention from Wonder Man to make a self-video audition for another movie project, hinting that it might increase his chances of being cast in the role he really wants. Simon tries to make the video at home, but the stress of having his girlfriend walk out on him, combined with his inability to get into character, causes him to lash out with his powers (possibly telekinetic) and damage his apartment.
When Simon reaches out to Trevor for help, Cleary sees an opportunity for Trevor to get evidence from Simon’s apartment. Cleary gives Trevor a device that can clone Simon’s laptop. Trevor’s job looks easy-peasy to us — the evidence is all there to be collected.
But Cleary’s plans get derailed when Simon decides not to shoot in his own apartment and instead rents a private studio. Here, Marvel shows us another way Hollywood auditions talent. OK, nice. At the studio, the camera operator proves so inept at reading the audition script that they abandon the effort altogether. It’s a bit of poetic justice. What Simon did to wreck his shoot last episode parallels what happens to him in this one.
Trevor has the brainwave to shoot the audition video at his old co-star’s house. Joe Pantoliano plays himself, reality bleeding into the fictional world. Here, we’re treated to some social theatre where past hurts and old grudges are smoothed over with politeness and platitudes. Trevor has lived a long time with the idea that Joe had backstabbed him in their long-ended hit series South Side Hospital, but that “scene” had played out very differently from Joe’s point of view. When Joe tries to explain, it only rankles Trevor further. He breaks from social politeness and storms off, while Simon takes his side, insults Joe, and leaves too — his audition tape still not made.
Simon finally decides to shoot at home after all. Now everyone’s back on track with the main side quest — the audition tape. Cleary gets whatever his device has cloned from Simon’s laptop, and Trevor accomplishes his mission. Trevor also uncovers actual superhero damage inside Simon’s apartment, but for now we don’t know what he will do with that information.
Simon gets his video shot, with Trevor reading the co-dialogue. The bond the two have developed through their misadventures shines through. Simon has found his motivation and his character’s frame of mind. More than that, the scripted dialogue sounds so intimate and sincere that it feels as though the real-life actors, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley, are speaking to one another in genuine respect and appreciation for the working partnership they have in the real world.
The theme of betrayal rings strongly in this episode: Shang-Chi’s dad betrayed by the “mega soul-sucker” as optional backstory, Trevor betrayed by Joe, and Simon in danger of being betrayed by Trevor. The layers and concentric circles blending reality and fiction are palpable here — not just as text, but as lived experience. And this is only Episode 2.
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