Invincible (Amazon Studios)

Television

‘Invincible’ season 2 episode 7 ‘I’m Not Going Anywhere’ recap/review

Even with a kaiju battle, the Invincible’s penultimate season two episode hits hardest with its emotional narratives.

Nick Nafpliotis

March 30, 2024

Once again, last week’s episode of Invincible concluded with multiple cliffhangers:

Nolan/Omni Man is not being a very cooperative prisoner for the Viltrumites, who plan to execute him once he’s back to full strength.
Mark/Invincible discovered that Nolan’s old sci-fi books were actually guides detailing his real travels through the galaxy. They also contain information on how to potentially defeat the Viltrumites, which he gives to Allen to take back to the Coalition of Planets.

Rick Sheridan is back. Unfortunately, both he and Donald Ferguson aren’t dealing well with the fact they were basically rebuilt as cyborgs by the Global Defense Agency.
The Immortal is struggling to process his grief after Dupli-Kate’s death.
Rex Splode got shot in the head, but somehow survived and may actually be turning into a decent person.

Mark and Amber are not doing well.
Rus Livingston has been taken over by Sequids again.
Angstrom Levy is back and ready to kill Invincible.

In case all that isn’t enough for you, there’s the whole deal with Deborah caring for Oliver and growing attached to him, which is both weird and endearing.

This week, we kick things off with Mark making a genuine effort to get things on the right track with Amber. As you might imagine, it doesn’t go smoothly.

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.

Plans Interrupted

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

The episode opens with Mark and Amber going to Comic-Con and attempting to reconnect. Things appear to be going well until Atom Eve calls to inform Mark that Rex snuck out to complete a mission alone. Amber understands why Mark has to leave her (again), but struggles to hide her disappointment.

*Side Note: Although it’s not critical to the recap, the part where Mark talks to one of the ‘Sceance Dog‘ creators about the challenges of creating an animated series is hysterical.

Despite his shaking hands and some understandable nerves, Rex is holding his own against Octoboss (who is attacking a nuclear facility for some reason). Thankfully, Invincible shows up just as things are about to get bad. He then lets Rex take down Octoboss with one of his artificial hand’s new weapons while he handles the tentacled villain’s minions.

After the fight, Rex continues his redemption arc by actually showing concern for what Mark has been going through — both with the Omni-Man incident and Amber. He even offers to have the Guardians of the Globe cover for him so the pair can go on an uninterrupted date.

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

Over at the Guardian’s headquarters, Robot somehow convinces Monster Girl to try using a mech suit instead of transforming and aging backward. When she ends up hating it, Robot once again clumsily begs to “fix” her, which justifiably pisses Monster Girl off. Meanwhile, Bulletproof points out to Black Samson just how dysfunctional their team is. Black Samson counters that their strength is in being a family, which is undercut when they hear the Immortal and Cecil fighting.

Turns out that the Immortal wants to quit the Guardians, which Cecil refuses to accept — especially with how beaten down the team is right now. The Immortal points out how disastrous his behavior/decisions have been lately before heading to wherever he calls home. Once he’s gone, Cecil calls Robot in and says that he can be the leader of the Guardians again.

Waking Up

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

Rick awakens from a nightmare about D.A. Sinclair. Will tries to comfort him, but the pain Rick’s going through is much more than the physical trauma he endured. As far as he’s concerned, being rebuilt like he has is just as terrifying.

The next day, Donald tells Cecil that he’s retiring for what the GDA did to him. In response, Cecil shows Donald footage of him dying over and over again while heroically saving others — the memories of which were erased each time at his request. In response, Donald requests Cecil to erase the memories of his most recent death. Before that can happen, however, he receives an urgent call from Will.

Back at Upstate University, Mark has to meet with the dean about his massive number of absences. He’s surprised to discover that the dean is B.N. Winslow, his old high school principal. Winslow says he understands how painful losing his father must have been, but that he has to make a decision about what he wants to do next. Mark insists he wants to stay at Upstate. Winslow tells Mark he has one month to prove it.

Meanwhile, Deborah gets asked out to dinner by her co-worker, Paul. She’s hesitant at first, but decides to accept. After arriving home, she’s greeted happily by Oliver (who calls her mama) and informed by April (his new nanny) about how fast he’s developing mentally. When she leaves and Mark comes downstairs, it doesn’t take long for her to figure out that things between him and Amber aren’t going well.

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

That evening, Mark goes into more detail about his relationship issues. This leads to a discussion about Deborah’s courtship with Nolan, which she admits was wonderful at the time. She also points out that his frequent absences made her lonely. Mark then asks his mother if she would’ve been happier without ever meeting Nolan. Deborah responds their relationship (as terribly flawed as it was) still gave her Mark and Oliver.

Over at Upstate University, Donald arrives to find Will drinking and standing on the edge of a building. When he discusses how he’s still missing parts of himself, Donald is able to genuinely empathize. He also admits that having his memories erased after every death was a mistake. At the end of the day, the people they help and love are what make them who they are — not their bodies.

Upon hearing this, Rick steps off the ledge and breaks down in Will’s arms.

Monstrous Options

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

Mark tells Amber that he’s made a deal with Cecil to have two nights a week where he can’t be disturbed while he’s spending time with her. Amber isn’t sure it’s the right thing to do, but can’t deny how good it feels to have him make a decision that puts their relationship first. The pair then embark on a wonderfully romantic evening. Everything is going great until a Viltrumite named Anissa shows up and threatens to kill Amber unless Mark comes with her.

After comforting his shaken girlfriend, Invincible gets into his suit and calls Cecil for backup. He then flies up to meet Anissa, who claims she only wants to talk.

The Viltrumite warrior explains how Earth’s people (particularly its most powerful) are destroying the planet. Because of this, the human race has a very low chance of survival past the next two centuries. If Earth submitted to Viltrum rule, their technology could save millions of lives…lives that Anissa claims will be on Mark’s head if they’re lost because he won’t allow Earth to be taken over.

While all this is going on, Cecil contacts D.A. Sinclair to ask if his army of Reanimen are prepared to go into the field. Sinclair emphatically states that they’re not.

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

As if all this chaos wasn’t enough, the GDA gets a report of a kaiju attacking a ship in the Pacific. Cecil tells Invincible to help — both to save lives and to see if Anissa actually means what she says about wanting to help save people. Anissa says that she does want to accompany Invincible, but only to see how strong the son of Omini-Man truly is. When Mark struggles to defeat the creature, Anissa steps in and takes it out almost immediately.

After the pair take the ship and its passengers to a nearby island, Anissa points out that the Viltrumites would make events like this a thing of the past. She once again implores Invincible to support Viltrumite occupation. When Mark refuses, she proceeds to beat the snot of him. Cecil tells Invincible to say he’ll help just to get her to leave. He instead holds firm on Earth’s right to govern itself, resulting in an even more severe ass-kicking. Anissa nearly kills him, but decides to leave with a final warning to change his mind before the next Viltrumite check-in.

Once Anissa leaves Earth, Cecil teleports to Invincible’s location to check on him. When the GDA director points out that he nearly died over his refusal to say some empty words, Invincible responds that refusing to back down meant more. Cecil gives a wry smile before informing Mark that the nights off he requested were no longer going to be possible.

Mark then goes back to visit Amber, who’s understandably traumatized by what happened. After an emotional conversation, the pair realize that their vastly different worlds make a normal relationship impossible and break up. He then goes off to be by himself and receives a phone call from Angstrom Levy, who is holding Deborah and Oliver hostage at their home.

In a mid-credits scene, Anissa returns to the Viltrumite command ship to report on Invincible’s refusal to join their cause. She’s interrupted by the arrival of Allen, who holds his own in a fight with her before being captured and taken to prison…which was his plan all along.

The Verdict

Invincible (Amazon Studios)

You know a series has a lot of great action sequences when an episode with a giant kaiju fight seems light compared to what came before.

“I’m Not Going Anywhere” still packs a punch, but its primary impact comes from the emotional beats between Mark and Amber. There are a million ways that Invincible could have made their breakup feel cliched or cheap. Instead, we got a truly heartbreaking separation that makes sense for both of them despite how much it hurts.

Right on the heels of that powerful dynamic was Donald’s epiphany, which was buttressed by Will and Rick’s struggle. Although we don’t have nearly the same attachment to Rick as the other characters, his moment stepping off that ledge still grabs you like Donald’s bionic arms.

Donald’s acceptance of what he’d done before felt a little compressed (and absurdly timed), but not enough to diminish the moment. It also felt like Rex Splode and Atom Even’s stories got shortchanged a bit, although it’s hard to juggle so many plotlines without letting a few sit on the sidelines occasionally.

If you’ve read the comics, then you already know how bad things could potentially get with Anissa. Even without that foreknowledge, however, she’s still a chilling character. The small amount of empathy she shows makes her brutal nature somehow seem even worse once it’s unleashed. Her presence would rightfully take up everyone’s headspace for the entire episode if it wasn’t for Angstrom Levy’s appearance at the end. We all knew it was coming, but seeing him in such a ruthless state makes next week’s season finale even harder to wait for.

Next Episode: ‘I Thought You Were Stronger’