On Secret Invasion Episode 3, Everyone's Their Own Worst Enemy
This article contains spoilers for "Secret Invasion" episode 3.
The last time Nick Fury trusted someone? It cost him an eye. So, naturally, the man is now on a mission to rebuild bridges and make some long overdue apologies ... to mixed results.
"Secret Invasion" episode 3, titled "Betrayed," is as much about the past as it is the future. Although we open on new Skrull recruit Beto (Samuel Adewunmi) prepping for his latest operation under the villainous Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), with second-in-command Pagon (Killian Scott) illustrating that they both joined the Skrull resistance not through "fear of the past, [but] faith in our future," the episode kicks off in earnest with a flashback to 1998. The de-aged Samuel L. Jackson wanders into a nondescript New York City bar and comes face-to-face with a Skrull agent by the name of Varra (Charlayne Woodard) — the same one who once introduced Fury to a young Gravik in the first place, as seen early in last week's episode.
Of course, it takes only a little gap-filling ourselves to realize that this flirty exchange (she even manages to wring a smile out of young Fury!) was only a prelude to the reveal that she would eventually become his shapeshifting wife (now going by the name Priscilla). And, in the present, he has some 'splaining to do.
See, not only did Fury abandon Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) and Gravik during his sojourn in Earth orbit, but he also left behind a wife on two separate occasions — once in the Blip, and again when he joined up with SABER post-"Avengers: Endgame." Unsurprisingly, it's his voluntary disappearance that causes the most amount of friction between the pair. For a character and an entire relationship that we had no idea about until the concluding moments of episode 2, it's almost startling to see how Priscilla causes Fury to slip seamlessly into the role of the aggrieved husband who has absolutely no interest in explaining himself to her. In fact, it's her loyalty that he questions when he asks if she's contacted Gravik at all in the time he's been gone. And, as it turns out, that little line may have some huge ramifications to come.
Keep your friends close...
Trust, as it turns out, proves to be one commodity in extremely short supply. World War 3 might be set to erupt, thanks to Gravik's sinister agenda involving the infiltration of key figures in the British government, a nuclear-armed submarine named "Neptune," and the panicky, all-too-human urge to follow orders at all costs. But it's the nagging feeling that his enemies are even closer to home that drives much of Gravik's actions in episode 3. Still reeling from Brogan's (Ben Peel) execution last week as a consequence of breaking under torture and giving away key information, G'iah (Emilia Clarke) is abruptly woken up by her highly-suspicious boss, who struggles to believe that Brogan was the only one responsible for undercutting his secret war against humanity.
At the moment, however, he has bigger fish to fry upon agreeing to a parley with Talos. Here, credited writers Roxanne Parades and Brian Tucker most directly address the central tension at the heart of the series. After previously establishing the Skrulls as misunderstood refugees merely looking for a home, "Secret Invasion" introduced the uncomfortable twist that there are those who would rather take over Earth as their own. Will humanity eventually be able to recognize that Skrulls are, in fact, not a monolith and that they're currently split between two extremes represented by Talos and Gravik? Talos sure seems to think so, placing his trust in people like Fury who won't paint an entire species with a broad brush and understand the vast differences between them.
But when pushed once too far about his daughter G'iah, Talos' impulsiveness gets the better of him and ends their parley with a knife stabbed straight through Gravik's hand. As with humans, the Skrulls are easily pushed to violence. The only question is whether they'll let their worst instincts get the better of them or not.
To catch a spy
The main action of "Secret Invasion" episode 3 (which means we're at the halfway point of the story, believe it or not) isn't an unfamiliar scenario to anyone with a passing familiarity of espionage thrillers. Having assumed the identity of Robert Fairbanks (David Bark-Jones), an upper-level figure with the power to singlehandedly prevent or enact nuclear war, Gravik's Skrulls promptly orchestrate the worst nightmare straight out of Cold War anxieties. Falsified orders come down from on high to launch a nuclear strike and, with soldiers trained to do as their told no matter the cost, it becomes a race against time for Fury and Talos to save the day. But taking the direct approach can only get them so far, as the two go in guns blazing to uncover the Skrull currently impersonating Fairbanks. Now if only they could wrest the code word out of him that would prevent the end of the world.
To Marvel's credit, this darker portion of the episode sees Fury and Talos pushed to their absolute breaking point. It's not every day that you see the show's hero take a young teen hostage at gunpoint or the co-lead shoot their target dead in cold blood. But desperate times call for desperate measures as the clock winds down to when a United Nations aircraft will come within weapons range of the submarine. Diplomacy doesn't work in the face of a Skrull who looks down on everything Talos stands for, so he plays the only card left to him. Knowing that this will burn her cover completely, he begs his daughter G'iah to figure out what only Fairbanks (and his imposter) could know and pay a visit to where the genuine article is currently being kept prisoner in Gravik's compound.
Having correctly deduced that the code word would be his son's name, G'iah passes the information along and makes her escape ... but plays right into Gravik's hands, as he admits he purposefully let her overhear the information about "Neptune" to test her loyalties. In a total shocker, Gravik shoots her at point-blank range and leaves her for dead, adding what sure seems like yet another major casualty in this ever-expanding war. But the real twist is still to come, as we return to Priscilla as she makes her way to a dead drop. Picking up a gun from a safety deposit box, she answers a call from someone who sure sounds like Rhodey (Don Cheadle) and indicates that he's in league with Gravik.
Trust nobody, indeed.
Stray thoughts
- Super-Skrulls: Although it's relegated to just the opening moments of the episode, we get at least one official confirmation that Gravik's ultimate plan, as suggested last week, introduces the comic-book concept of Super-Skrulls. "We no longer change faces. We change powers," he explains to members of the Council, which we briefly see for ourselves when Gravik heals himself from that stab wound by using powers that look suspiciously like the Extremis virus from "Iron Man 3."
- Red on the Ledger: Somebody at Marvel did their homework. I can't say I was expecting a "Black Widow" tie-in during the opening flashback to 1998, but the timeline does work for the namedrop of General Dreykov, played by Ray Winstone in the 2021 movie. It's a neat throwaway line that shows how Fury always had his fingers in many pies, even if we didn't know it at the time.
- Colman's Corner: This is apparently becoming a recurring staple of this "Stray Thoughts" section, but I for one need more Olivia Colman having the time of her life in these episodes. Sonya Falsworth once again only gets a brief check-in, having figured out that Fury bugged her room back in the premiere but still begrudgingly giving him information on Fairbanks' identity and location.
- Here We Go Again? Boy, Emilia Clarke stans have had a rough few years. With the divisive fate of Daenerys Targaryen still fresh in everyone's minds, would Marvel really go so far as to cast such a talented, name-brand actor only to kill her off so abruptly so early on in the series? Part of me wonders about the wisdom of fridging yet another woman to motivate a man after pulling a similar stunt with Maria Hill in the premiere, but I can't imagine viewers are looking forward to another patented MCU fake-out death, either. Let's just say I'm curious how the writers will get themselves out of this little corner ... and that I have nothing but sympathy for whichever social media manager on the official Marvel Twitter accounts will be inundated with angry replies on Twitter from fans about G'iah.