Television

‘Invincible’ season 2 episode 6 ‘It’s Not That Simple’ recap/review

While not as impactful as last week’s episode, ‘It’s Not That Simple,’ still packs a punch.

Nick Nafpliotis

March 21, 2024

Last week’s episode of Invincible concluded with two gut-wrenching cliffhangers:

On Earth, Dupli-Kate and Shrinking Rae appear to have been killed by the Lizard League. Rex Splode survived (albeit with his hand getting bitten off), but King Lizard has a gun pointed at the back of his head.
Up in space, the mission to stop the Sequids from reaching Earth is not going well. Atom Eve tried to create a shield so that Robot could finish wiring an EMP device, but was unable to maintain it, allowing a tidal wave of the parasitic creatures to wash over the strike force.

Allen the Alien has healed from his injuries and is much stronger than before. He also learned that Thadeus is a former Viltrumite who is ready to lead the rebellion against his people. If that’s going to happen, though, they’ll need Mark/Invincible’s help.

Got all that? Good, because once again things are picking up right where we left them.

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.

Head Like a Hole

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

The episode opens with King Lizard still holding a gun to Rex’s head. When Rex tells him to get it over with and shoot him, that’s exactly what the villain does, blowing a massive hole in his head.

Up in outer space, the strike force fights valiantly, but there are simply too many Sequids for them to keep up with. When things look like they’re about to hit a breaking point, Shapesmith finally starts his redemption arc and shields Robot and Atom Eve, allowing the former to finish his EMP and the latter to recover. The Immortal attempts to take the device to set it off near Rus Livingston (the parasite’s host), but Invincible stops him, declaring that he should do it because he’s smarter and faster. Unable to deny his claim, the Immortal hands the device over before helping him reach Livingston.

Upon being detonated, the device causes all the Sequids to fall off the astronaut, which appears to be a win…until Atom Eve and Robot/Rudy reveal they’ve been taken over. The Immortal and Invincible team up to catch the brainwashed pair and use a small charge left in the device to free them. The strike team then flees the ship’s hull (with Livingston in tow) before the reawakened Sequids can swarm them again.

As they’re about to leave the ship, a group of Martians stops them and demands that Shapesmith be handed over for execution. The strike team instead gets in their own ship and makes another escape. When they’re pursued by Martian spacecrafts, Invincible flies into space and takes them all out. This final act of heroism cements the hard-earned respect/trust of the Immortal (along with a lingering hug and look from Atom Eve).

Monster Girl and Robot also start to have their own nice moment, but it’s ruined when he once again asks about fixing her so she won’t age in reverse.

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

Back at the nuclear missile facility, King Lizard is surprised when a grievously injured Rex Splode somehow wills himself to stand up. Despite blood spurting periodically from his head, he manages to beat the villain senseless moments before the facility’s guards swarm in. Rex attempts to assure them he’s alright, but falls back down, losing even more blood in the process.

As the guards work on getting him evacuated for surgery, a barely alive Shrinking Rae emerges from Komodo Dragon‘s corpse.

Saying Goodbye

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

Cecil stops by to see Deborah and let her know that Mark’s mission was a success. He also makes one more pitch to have the Global Defense Agency take care of Mark’s half-brother, but is turned down.

Meanwhile, Mark & Co. take Rus Livingston to the hospital. Despite having his mind back, the astronaut is clearly traumatized by what he went through with the Sequids. The group then learns about Dupli-Kate’s death and that both Shrinking Rae and Rex Splode are in critical condition. The news devastates them all, particularly the Immortal.

After being comforted by Amber, Mark is afforded a brief moment of happiness when his half-brother refers to him as “bra-bra.” He also learns that his mom has decided to name the boy Oliver after his grandfather.

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

The Immortal delivers a heartfelt eulogy at Kate’s funeral. He also confides in Black Samson that her death is hitting him much harder than those he’s lost over his very long life.

Later, Mark and Amber have coffee together and attempt to reconnect after their time apart. After a series of awkward silences, the pair realizes their relationship may not be as strong/solid as they previously thought.

When Mark returns to his dorm, he’s surprised to find Donald there along with Rick Sheridan, who appears to be doing much better since he was turned into a cyborg by D.A. Sinclair. After William excitedly takes Rick to see his new private dorm, Donald discusses the intensive body reconstruction Rick had to go through — a subject which understandably causes him a great deal of angst.

Mark then goes to the hospital to visit Rex, who is in surprisingly good spirits. In addition to the GDA working on a cybernetic hand for him, the near-death experience made Rex realize that he needed to treat people better — especially the women in his life. He then notices how down Mark seems and asks him what’s wrong.

As Mark leaves Rex’s room, he runs into Eve, who also notices his dour demeanor. When she sees Rex, he lets it slip that Mark and Amber aren’t doing well.

The Right Moment

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

While interviewing people to be a nanny for Oliver, Deborah immediately sniffs out one of Cecil’s spies and dismisses her. She’s then visited by a candidate named April, who immediately reveals that Cecil sent her while also assuring Deborah that her primary focus will be caring for Oliver rather than reporting back to the GDA.

Meanwhile, Cecil visits Atom Eve in her new digs (a secluded treehouse) to ask if she’ll consider rejoining the Guardians of the Globe. Eve rejects the offer, but tells Cecil he can always count on her to be there if they need her help. After he leaves, she’s visited by Amber, who wants advice on how to handle being in a relationship with Mark.

Around the same time, Mark visits Art Rosenbaum to ask for advice on handling relationships while being a superhero. Both Mark and Amber come closer to the realization that their completely different worlds make a “normal” relationship impossible. Mark also learns that Art has a stash of Nolan‘s old sci-fi books.

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

That night, Rick goes on a walk through campus with William, which triggers his jumbled memories of what he went through. William assures him that they’ll get through this together.

Meanwhile, Mark begins reading Nolan’s books, which he realizes are thinly veiled accounts of his real-world travels throughout the galaxy.

Back at GDA Headquarters, Cecil tries to tell the Immortal that he needs to take a leave of absence to get his head straight. As the two argue, Cecil receives an alert that someone is entering Earth’s atmosphere. The Immortal assumes it’s Omni-Man and rushes off to fight him. After discovering that it’s Allen, that doesn’t stop him from throwing hands. Invincible flies up and manages to diffuse the situation, which also helps the Immortal realize just how bad his mental state is.

As Amber stands by herself at a party, Mark returns to his dorm with Allen, who explains why they need him to win the war against the Viltrumites. Invincible says he isn’t in a place where he can travel into space again, but he can let Allen scan Nolan’s books, which apparently hold the key to defeating the Viltrumites. Allen also offers to ask around about where Nolan might be held prisoner. In return, Mark pledges to answer the call when the Coalition of Planets is ready to strike.

We then travel to somewhere out in deep space, where Nolan is being held prisoner. The only reason he hasn’t been executed yet is because the Viltrumites want him at full strength before being slaughtered in punitive combat. General Kregg makes one more request for Nolan to rejoin his people, but he refuses.

Back on Earth, it’s revealed that Rus Livingston isn’t as free from the Sequids as we previously thought. In a mid-credits scene, Angstrom Levy makes his long-awaited return to his original dimension to find and kill Invincible.

The Verdict

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

While not as impactful as last week’s episode, “It’s Not That Simple” still packs a punch.

We still got plenty of great action sequences (especially at the beginning), but it was the character moments that really took center stage. Amber and Mark’s relationship is a magnified version of what many people go through when they leave one stage of their young life and move into another. Whether it’s romantic relationships or close friendships, they rarely make the path toward adulthood unscathed.

Meanwhile, Rex’s absurd survival is buffeted by getting to see him actually have some self-awareness for once. The seeds were already planted during his talk with Eve last episode, but a bullet to the head sped things along. It’s not the best way to organically kickstart a redemption arc, but at least the potential end result looks promising.

I wish we’d spent more time with Rick and Donald, which is fertile ground for existential storytelling — much more so than the Immortal’s pain at losing Kate. It doesn’t feel like their relationship has been “sold” well enough to earn the tragic impact it wants to have on Immortal’s heart. I’m honestly sad enough about what happened to her without his part in it.

I also wish we got to see more of Rus Livingston coming to grips with what happened to him. Being taken over again by a Sequid makes for a great cliffhanger, but there’s still a lot I would’ve liked to see first.

Those small complaints aside, “It’s Not That Simple” was still a great episode. It also sets up multiple explosive narratives that are likely to converge before any of us are ready.

Next Episode: ‘I’m Not Going Anywhere’