Secret Invasion Episode 4 Puts The Best And Worst Of The MCU On Display
This article contains spoilers for "Secret Invasion" episode 4.
I've got some good news and I've got some bad news, folks. The good news is that, contrary to everyone's worst fears last week, "Secret Invasion" wasn't actually misguided enough to completely waste the talents of Emilia Clarke on half of a limited series and peddle some rather tired and outdated tropes while it was at it. The bad news? It undoes the "death" of G'iah in the most abrupt, anticlimactic way possible, while going back to the well of a very different and just as exhausting trope that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has developed into a science by now: the fake-out death. And, even worse, the series ends the hour the exact same way as the majority of episodes this season, with an established character seemingly killed off in "shocking" fashion.
Coming across more as a half-hearted apology rather than a genuine rug-pull, the opening moments of episode 4 (titled "Beloved," directed by Ali Selim) hastily explain away what many fans could've guessed in the interim. G'iah apparently injected herself with the same self-healing Extremis virus that Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) has taken himself, allowing herself to walk away from Gravik's execution last week with nary a scratch. Of course, her cover is now completely blown and her allegiances to her father Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) laid bare ... but, encouragingly, it's not quite as simple as all that.
Loyalties still remain murky on "Secret Invasion," even among the closest of allies. Much like episode 3, "Beloved" follows up its cold open with a flashback delving deeper into the relationship between Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his secret Skrull wife Varra (Charlayne Woodard), who operates in disguise as a human named Priscilla. Although their day job as spies hasn't left a ton of room for love, the two have somehow managed to sneak in some personal time over the decades. This time, they meet in a Paris restaurant in the aftermath of the climactic events of "The Avengers." And in a neat example of the MCU's greatest strength — the strong sense of continuity bridging otherwise unrelated movies and shows together — credited writer Brian Tucker weaves together what Fury accomplished back in 2012 with the plight of the Skrulls through just a couple lines of dialogue:
"He understands that the universe is a dangerous place. That home is worth fighting for. And that the weak are worth protecting."
Villains unmasked
Unfortunately, the sense of mixed results that pervades throughout much of episode 4 continues to hold things back from their full potential. Much like in episode 2, the best moments here derive from characters simply sitting down and talking to one another. The discussion between Fury and Priscilla over Raymond Carver's poems (including her favorite, "Late Fragment," which gives the episode its title and just so happens to unfold as a conversation between two people) provides the emotional backbone of the episode, even as we know from last week's cliffhanger that Priscilla has been recruited into Gravik's service, along with a Skrull-impersonated Rhodey (Don Cheadle). All anyone wants to feel in this life is "beloved," as the two reconfirm in the later scene when it becomes clear they each have reached a critical impasse and must kill the other. But even as this plot line resolves dramatically with neither taking a bullet, the pesky demands of a typical MCU plot keep getting in the way.
This provides an excuse to grouse about maybe the most disappointing revelation of the entire series so far, which is that Rhodey is, in fact, a Skrull infiltrator. Never mind that the highlights of episode 2 came from the blisteringly tense and perfectly motivated dynamic between James Rhodes and Fury. Both of their respective duties put them at direct odds with one another, adding a refreshingly grown-up conflict between them and the implicit suggestion teased all-too-infrequently in the MCU (last explored in "Captain America: Civil War") that good guys can, in fact, be at odds with one another for perfectly legitimate reasons without having to become outright villains.
Well, there goes that, because of course only an evil Skrull under Gravik's sway could be rude enough to give our hero Fury such a hard time. Remember all that lip-service in the premiere about the SHIELD director having lost a step? That all feels like a distant memory now, as he's since settled into the standard Marvel groove of simply being right about everything. One would think the goal of a paranoid thriller series would be to capitalize on self-doubt and mistakes, even by our protagonist, but this one twist undermines whatever attempts "Secret Invasion" once made to throw a little grey into the black-and-white world of the MCU.
Tug of war
Things fare slightly better elsewhere in the episode. The embattled Skrull Talos at least provides a different and compelling worldview that stands in stark relief to both Gravik and Fury. While Gravik plans another false-flag op that involves framing the Russians, Talos and G'iah meet up for an overdue attempt to clear the air. Of course, this only further emphasizes the vast differences between them as the father continues to cling to the naïve idea that simply keeping their heads down, playing the role of good Skrulls, and proving their worth by taking down Gravik will be enough to win humanity's leaders over to their side and allow them amnesty on Earth ... under disguise, of course. To G'iah, who's seen firsthand what Gravik is capable of, this half measure barely even puts a band-aid on the real problem of finding the Skrulls a new home.
But despite being the most interesting conflict in the entire series, such philosophical problems continue to be put off for another day. With the Rhodey-Skrull orchestrating an attempt on President Ritson's (Dermot Mulroney) life, Fury and Talos track the Presidential convoy (with a little help from a "liquid location tracker," planted by Fury after another fun exchange with Rhodes in his apartment) to a meeting with the Russians. Obviously, this is all a setup for Gravik to go full Super Skrull on everybody and provide a burst of spectacle that "Secret Invasion" has largely avoided to this point. Ultimately, it's a means to an end as the relatively well-staged sequence leads to Gravik murdering Talos right in front of Fury ... meaning the episode-ending kill count for this series includes Cobie Smulders' Maria Hill in the premiere, G'iah's fake-out last week, and now Talos.
As the series lurches towards its final episodes, the stakes don't feel quite as clear as they once did. And without the reliably entertaining fireworks between Fury and Talos to drive the action anymore (presuming the latter is actually dead, of course), it's difficult to imagine what course the remaining season will take. But like the shapeshifting Skrulls, here's hoping "Secret Invasion" proves to be the best version of itself — and the MCU at large — that it can be.
Stray thoughts
- Where's the Buzz? Is it just me or is it getting harder and harder to ignore the feeling that "Secret Invasion" is struggling to drum up much interest, compared to previous Disney+ Marvel shows? It's tough to claim that anything MCU-related will fail to make a mark with general audiences, but the reception to this series in particular can't help but feel ... muted, if viewership numbers are anything to go by, at least.
- Credits Confusion: This is now the latest episode to credit Cobie Smulders as a "Special Guest Star," this time as a result of Rhodey showing Fury a CCTV clip of Gravik in disguise killing Maria Hill from the premiere. Fans seem to be taking this as confirmation that Hill might not be as dead as we thought, but I'll wager it's safe to say this is merely a quirk of the credits. Get that paycheck, Cobie!
- Another One Bites the Dust: RIP Talos, we hardly knew ya. No, seriously, we really didn't. It's kind of a shame that his storyline comes to an end here after fighting for every second of screen time he could get in "Captain Marvel" and only scratching the surface of his potential in "Secret Invasion." Mendelsohn and Jackson have that special kind of chemistry that can only come from two seasoned actors rubbing elbows together, and I have a feeling that its absence will be felt in ways both good and bad in the remaining episodes.
- All Rhodes Lead to Rome: Okay, despite all my griping earlier, it's actually been really fun to see Don Cheadle commit to his performance as a villainous Skrull trying to embody Rhodey. It's led to some pretty awkward moments, like when the President sizes him up as drunk before the convoy attack or, in retrospect, pretty much every instance of Fury and Rhodey bonding over being people of color in America. Uh, does a Skrull impersonating a Black man count as blackface? These are questions that I don't think "Secret Invasion" is fully equipped to ask, but here we are anyway!