Last week’s season premiere of Invincible concluded with Mark Grayson working with Cecil Stedman and the Global Defense Agency again. While this was a big step toward moving on from Nolan‘s betrayal, his first assignment inadvertently created a new and dangerous enemy in the form of Angstrom Levy.
Meanwhile, Deborah Grayson is still struggling to move on after learning that man she loved and had a child with is actually an extraterrestrial mass murderer — and simply thought of her as a “pet.” Robot/Rudy isn’t having a great go of it, either. The uncertainty/fear of being in the field in an actual body made him a poor leader for the new Guardians of the Globe. This resulted in him replaced in that role by the Immortal, who doesn’t trust Mark at all. The team also added a new superhero named Bulletproof who has absolutely no time for Rex Splode‘s douchiness.
Oh, and Donald Ferguson is somehow still alive.
This week, Invincible takes a deep dive into some of the dangling plot threads from last season — including one that a lot of source material fans will be excited to see ramping up.
As always, the recap portion of this review will contain plenty of spoilers. The sequence of events has also been streamlined a bit for the sake of clarity.
Seismic Shift
Invincible (Amazon Studios)
The episode opens with Mark nearly missing his high school graduation due to a brutal (and at times hilarious) fight with Doc Seismic at the Washington Monument. After making it back in time to walk across the stage, he, Amber, and Will join Samantha/Atom Eve at her home in Africa for a small celebration. While discussing their summer plans, Samantha reveals that she plans to help with the reconstruction in Chicago. It’s a bit awkward, but Mark takes the revelation in stride.
Later, Atom Eve arrives in Chicago and begins using her powers to help rebuild a demolished apartment building. When one of the construction workers angrily points out that her work might not be up to code, a resident thanks Atom Even for finally giving them their home back. After the same resident mentions that another construction site has been stalled for six years, Atom Eve turns it into a beautiful park.
Meanwhile, Deborah suggests to Mark that they take a vacation together to get their minds off what happened with Nolan. Mark replies that he can’t due to his obligation to Cecil and the Global Defense Agency. This leads to an argument that’s mercifully cut short when Cecil tells Mark that he’s needed for a mission.
Invincible (Amazon Studios)
After Invincible takes to the sky, Cecil informs him that there have been multiple sightings of the superhero known as Darkwing, who was killed when Nolan massacred the original Guardians of the Globe. Reports suggest he’s working out of Midnight City, an area that was cursed by a villain named the Midnight Magician decades ago (although people still live there for some reason).
Invincible locates Darkwing, who turns out to be his mentally unstable sidekick Night Boy. Their fight ends up taking them into a shadow realm where Invicible does a far too convincing job of intimidating his opponent by implying that he could be homicidal just like his dad.
Invincible (Amazon Studios)
Back at GDA headquarters, we see that the Immortal’s training regimen is putting the new Guardians of the Globe through the wringer. Rex Splode is predictably unhappy about this, but things get even worse for him when he discovers that Dupli-Kate and the Immortal are now a couple.
Meanwhile, Cecil takes a post-mission report from Invincible before a surprise meeting with Deborah, who is not pleased about her son being back in the field. While he tries to assure her that Mark is in good hands, Donald shows up — something Deborah was definitely not expecting since she saw him die. After Cecil escorts her from the building, Donald mutters to himself how strange Deborah’s behavior was when she saw him.
Over at the United States Space Agency, the astronauts from that trip to Mars last season discuss what could happen if the Sequids ever bond with a non-Martian and take over the planet. Unbeknownst to them, astronaut Rus Livingston is actually a Martian who’s shape-shifted into the former’s appearance. They also don’t know that the real Livingston is currently leading a Sequid takeover of Mars, but they will soon enough.
Martian Rus goes home, where his landlord is somehow able to deduce that he lost his job (the passage of time here is not very clear). He then sees something on TV about Martian Man and what a great hero he was before being murdered by Omni-Man/Nolan. This inspires him to find employment in a way that might also be very fulfilling.
See Life
Invincible (Amazon Studios)
Samantha goes home to visit her family, where she learns that they’ve fallen on hard times financially due to the destruction in Chicago. Her father comes home wearing a Burger Mart uniform and refuses his daughter’s help, insisting that he can take care of things without superpowers fixing their problems. She turns an apple into solid gold and demands he sell it before heading off to do a media interview.
Meanwhile, Mark meets Amber at the Community Center where she works and flies her to the Eiffel Tower replica in Vegas for lunch. Their romantic meal is interrupted when Mark is called away by Cecil, who says he’s needed to help with a diplomatic crisis. The Atlantians are still angry about Omni-Man murdering Aquarus, who was also their king. Their laws also dictate that since Omni-Man disappeared, his punishment falls to his next of kin…or he can marry Aquarus’ widow.
Cecil assures Invincible that the marriage would be purely symbolic and leaves as a pair of Atlantians arrive in a ship to take him to their kingdom. He teleports back to GDA headquarters and learns that the Guardians have engaged the newly reformed Lizard League, who are under the command of Supreme Lizard now that King Lizard is locked away. During the fight, the Guardians receive some unexpected help from a new shapeshifting hero calling himself the Shapesmith (who is really Martian Rus Livingston).
Invincible (Amazon Studios)
Back underwater, Invincible is fitted with a breathing device and meets the Atlantian Queen, who assures him that they abolished the who marry-the-person-who-murdered-your-spouse policy years ago. Instead, he’s forced to battle a giant sea monster. That would be challenging enough on its own, but the creature’s roar is also able to disorient and paralyze Invincible.
Cecil sends some backup in the form of torpedoes that destroy the monster’s restraints, allowing it to rampage among the Atlantians who’d gathered to watch the fight. Despite having a clear escape path, Mark once again proves why he’s not his father and returns to defeat the creature — first by rupturing its larynx followed by a good old fashion ass kicking.
Since Invincible saved the Queen, the Atlantians decide to call it even. Cecil, on the other hand, is a bit miffed that he betrayed a direct order. The GDA Director also orders Donald to send a recording of the monster’s roar to their research and development team so it can be replicated. As Donald leaves, he asks why Deborah seemed so distressed about seeing him and receives a lame non-answer from his boss.
Elsewhere, Deborah’s anger over Nolan’s betrayal bubbles to the surface during a house showing when she witnesses a husband mistreating his wife.
Golden Rule
Invincible (Amazon Studios)
Samantha eventually returns to see her family. After finding the golden apple in the trash (along with the food she created), she attempts to empathize with her father before once again demanding he allow her to help. Her father responds by holding up a news article about how the park she created collapsed because it was on top of a sinkhole. No one died, but it was still a colossal mistake caused by using the powers, which he believes make his daughter dangerous rather than a hero.
Samantha leaves with her father shouting for her not to come back until she’s in line with his way of thinking.
Meanwhile, Deborah finally breaks down after the faulty cabinet door that Cecil’s crew installed pushes her over the edge. Mark arrives home to find his mother crying on the floor. He tries to hold her, but she initially wards him off — her grief something that she doesn’t want to share with her son. Eventually, however, Deborah allows Mark to wrap her in an embrace.
Invincible (Amazon Studios)
Over at GDA Headquarters, the Guardians bring back Shapesmith and discuss his potential membership in the group. When Robot points out that they know nothing about him, Shapesmith makes up a ridiculously fake-sounding story about his history as a “normal human superhero.” While that’s happening, the real Rus Livingston (controlling an army of Sequids) defeats the last of the Martian defenders before getting on a ship and heading for Earth.
Later, Supreme Lizard is assassinated by an escaped King Lizard, who retakes control of the Lizard League.
In a mid-credits scene, Angstrom Levy interrogates a captured Invincible in another dimension about how he and his father were defeated — which basically came down to wearing him out.
The Verdict
Invincible (Amazon Studios)
I normally love the mid/post-credit sequences in Invincible, but that one was kind of lame. As cool as it was seeing another dimension (and how menacing Angstrom Levy is), that wasn’t much of a revelation. Maybe I’m just being down on the sequence because of that Lizard League stinger. The scene tried to toe the line between comic relief and foreboding and failed at both.
Otherwise, the episode was phenomenal.
All the usual factors that make Invincible good were there — deft handling of multiple plotlines, brilliant animation, great action sequences, etc. But if you want a single moment that defines what truly sets this series apart, it’s when Deborah held up her hand to keep Mark away when he tried to comfort her.
Despite what a wonderful mother she is, she is also a person who has been understandably broken by Nolan’s betrayal. After weeks of trying to keep it together for everyone around her, she needed to truly grieve — not as Nolan’s ex-wife or Mark’s mom, but just as Deborah. Of course she let Mark comfort her moments later, but that one brief gesture (along with the brilliant voice acting from Steven Yeun and Deborah Oh) was all types of heartbreaking.
Another superb moment was how Mark reacted to Cecil telling him he wasn’t his father. It was meant to push him away from the fight, but ended up doing the complete opposite.
The episode also did a great job foreshadowing a bunch of its upcoming plotlines while also riding us over with some visceral thrills. A show really shouldn’t be able to keep this many narratives spinning so well, but Invincible never fails to keep things moving forward even when it’s not ready to give away the ending.
Let’s hope next week’s journey is as fun as this one was.
Next Episode: ‘This Missive, This Machination!’
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