Invincible Season 4's Lobster Scene Secretly Sets Up Oliver Grayson's Future

Spoilers for "Invincible" season 4 episode 6 follow.

The latest "Invincible" episode — titled "You Look Horrible" — unfolds over several weeks as war between the Viltrum Empire and the Coalition of Planets commences. However, that is largely the B-plot of the episode. Instead, most of the running time is saved for some overdue father-son bonding.

After our titular hero Mark Grayson's (Steven Yeun) brutal and final defeat of Conquest (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) last episode (in an actor match-up that might remind "Invincible" fans of "The Walking Dead"), Invincible is down. Stranded on a planet deep in Viltrumite territory, his father Nolan (J.K. Simmons) and his half-brother Oliver (Christian Convery) watch over Mark as he recovers. As Mark is stuck unconscious, Nolan and Oliver have no one to talk to but each other.

Remember, Oliver has never really known Nolan. He was born on planet Thraxa from Nolan's brief marriage to the insectoid alien, Andressa (Rhea Seehorn). So, while Oliver was raised on Earth and looks human (especially since his purple skin has now faded into a caucasian-passing pink) genetically he isn't human at all. One comedy beat in this episode reminds you of that.

By human standards, Oliver is about 14-years-old now — just the right age to have the talk with his dad. He and Nolan broached the subject this episode ... except it's not a pretty girl Oliver has crushed on. At a restaurant, he saw a blue lobster in a tank, and butterflies filled his stomach. Remember, Thraxans in all likelihood are genetically closer to Earth crustaceans than to humans.

Oliver uses this to highlight how he doesn't quite fit in on Earth. It foreshadows the path that Oliver takes in the "Invincible" comics, like him leaving the planet altogether — and hooking up with a lobster-like alien.

Spoilers for "Invincible" comics follow.

Show-only "Invincible" fans should prepare for major status quo shifts. At the end of the "Viltrumite War" arc (where season 4 is now), planet Viltrum is destroyed. The surviving Viltrumites flee to Earth, but not to conquer it ... yet. As "Invincible" the show has already established, Mark, half human and half Viltrumite, is about as strong as a pureblooded Viltrumite because human and Viltrumite DNA are highly compatible. The Viltrumites plan to live among humans and breed up a new army. If Mark interferes, they'll raze Earth.

Allen (Seth Rogen) tries to drop the Viltrumite-killing Scourge Virus on Earth (that virus is why there's less than 50 Viltrumites left). Except, the virus might also harm humans due to their Viltrumite-like DNA. Oliver? He supports Allen's plan. Oliver doesn't see Earth as his home, like his lobster conversation with Nolan in "You Look Horrible" suggests, and he thinks humans are worth sacrificing to kill the Viltrumites.

Ultimately, the virus isn't released across Earth, but Oliver still decides to move to planet Talescria, capital of the Coalition of Planets. Later in "Invincible," Mark and his wife Eve move to Talescria, too, where Oliver introduces them to his wife, Haluma. She's an insect/lobster-like alien, with a tentacle mouth resembling the alien "Prawns" from "District 9" (all played in that film by one actor, Jason Cope). To humans, she looks off-putting, but in Oliver's eyes, she's a smoke show. Indeed, Haluma is perfectly nice, even if her appearance takes some getting used to for Mark and Eve.

Since the animated "Invincible" has already teased Oliver being into lobster girls, I'd put good money on the animated Haluma debuting around season 7 or 8.