Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Brian Richards | TV | July 14, 2023
Previously on Secret Invasion: Fury makes peace with Talos, and the two work together to stop Gravik and his Skrulls from infiltrating a British Royal Navy submarine and using it to attack a United Nations aircraft. Gravik meets up with Talos for a parley, and G'iah's loyalties to Gravik and his cause are soon questioned, which results in a confrontation between G'iah and Gravik that ends with him shooting her dead.
THE STORY SO FAR: Fury learns the truth about Priscilla's actual motivations, attempts to make peace with Rhodey after their last conversation, and fights alongside Talos in order to stop Gravik and his rebel Skrulls from unleashing hell on the President.
WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT THIS EPISODE?: The opening flashback to Paris in 2012, just shortly after The Battle of New York between The Avengers and Loki with the Chitauri, where Fury meets up with Priscilla/Varra, and discusses her appreciation of the late Raymond Carver's poetry, particularly "Late Fragment." Fury discovering the truth about the alliance between Priscilla and Rhodey, and that Rhodey is ordering her to kill Fury immediately. (I especially appreciated learning that Rhodey -- or the Skrull that is impersonating him -- is a fan of the classic WWF, judging from their references to Jake "The Snake" Roberts and to The Undertaker when admitting that he was the one who fired Fury.)
YOU MEAN WWE, DON'T YOU?: No, actually, I don't.
The kitchen conversation between Fury and Priscilla where they have each other at gunpoint, with Fury telling Priscilla that he knows about her planning to kill him, followed by Priscilla telling Fury all about the woman whose appearance and life she adopted for herself.
Fury and Priscilla not being able to actually kill each other, and shooting the walls behind each other instead of actually at each other. ("Would you have loved me if I'd never changed? If I'd been my true self?" "I guess we'll never know.") The revelation that Rhodey is not only a Skrull, but a female Skrull at that! Talos apologizing to G'iah for dragging her into his war and putting her in danger, and G'iah putting him in check by telling Talos that what she did was her choice and of her own free will. Fury sneaking into Not-Rhodey's apartment and attempting to make peace with him by offering some Pappy Van Winkle, only for Not-Rhodey get the drop on him when he reveals that he has every intention of ruining his life by showing the world video footage of Gravik-as-Fury killing Maria Hill. (It also gave us Not-Rhodey using the word "defenestrate." Which is such a great word, and I've been fond of it ever since I learned about it from reading the DC comic book series Hitman.) The ambush on President Ritson from Gravik and company (where they all speak in Russian to convince the Secret Service that Russia is behind this attack, and have the two of them at each other's throats, which was probably inspired by Gravik watching Terminator 2: Judgment Day) Talos taking a bullet from Gravik while attempting to retrieve the unconscious President Ritson from his overturned vehicle, and still pushing himself to use his super-strength to shatter the bulletproof glass, even when he slowly assumes his Skrull form and causes some of the military fighting alongside him to freak out. Fury bringing Ritson to safety, only for Gravik in disguise to grab hold of Talos, and stab him to death right in front of Fury, and then shake off Fury's bullets to the face like they're nothing, thanks to the Extremis DNA he has absorbed and made his own.
WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD ABOUT THIS EPISODE?: It made me rather thirsty for a brand of whiskey that my Black ass cannot afford. (I checked Google, and unless you're the billionaire CEO of a movie studio who likes to complain about actors and writers going on strike while you have $27 million in your bank account? Good luck in bringing home a bottle of 23-year-old Pappy Van Winkle to call your own.)
DO ANY OF THE AVENGERS APPEAR IN THIS EPISODE?: Just Rhodey, and a newspaper headline written in French about The Avengers (which referred to them as "Avengers" instead of "Vengeurs") and the Battle of New York.
EVERETT ROSS?: No. Still no sign of him.
WHERE ARE THE AVENGERS DURING ALL OF THIS? WHY DIDN'T ANY OF THEM SHOW UP TO HELP SAVE THE PRESIDENT FROM BEING ATTACKED BY GRAVIK?: Because The Avengers are busy living their own lives, and doing their own thing offscreen. Because the budget for this show is high enough already, and there's only so much that Marvel/Disney is willing to pay when it comes to guest appearances for their shows on Disney Plus. Because, much like how Hawkeye was a solo story about Clint Barton/Hawkeye, and what his life is like when he's not working and interacting with the rest of the Avengers, Secret Invasion is showing what life is like when Nick Fury has to fight his way out of trouble and keep the world safe when he doesn't have a superhero team to call on, and when he's given more reason to wonder who he can really trust to have his back, and not stab him in it.
ANY EASTER EGGS WE SHOULD WATCH OUT FOR?: All of the masks displayed on the wall behind Priscilla as she and Fury confront each other, which were also featured as she arrived home, and attempted to figure out what her next move would be when coming face-to-face with Fury. The spiritual that Priscilla and Not-Rhodey are listening to while conspiring to kill Fury is an African-American spiritual called "Deep River," about Black slaves yearning for freedom, and to be where they can live their lives, and truly be happy and blessed. Nisha Aaliya, the actress who plays Raava (the Skrull who is impersonating Rhodey) also appeared as one of Kingo's backup dancers in Eternals.
ANY FAN THEORIES SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE ACROSS THE INTERNET BECAUSE OF THIS EPISODE?: Sharon Carter is probably a Skrull as well, which would explain why she broke bad and became the Power Broker in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. With no one else to turn to, Fury is going to call Daisy Johnson, a.k.a. "Quake" from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (It's not as if Chloe Bennet has a live-action version of Powerpuff Girls that's keeping her busy at the moment) Ritson being attacked by Gravik will explain how Thunderbolt Ross (who was played by the late William Hurt, and is now being played by Harrison Ford) takes over as President in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World. The Fury we're seeing is actually a Skrull, and the real Fury is still in outer space with Maria Hill, who is actually still alive. (Don't look at me in that tone of voice! I'm not writing these theories, I'm just sharing them.)
ARE THERE ANY SCENES DURING THE CLOSING CREDITS?: No.
TO SUM IT ALL UP: A much stronger episode compared to what we got last week, though the series as a whole still feels like it's falling short of firing on all cylinders, and like it's trying to hit the very same 1970s-political-thriller-bull's eye that Captain America: The Winter Soldier once did, but failing to do so. Secret Invasion has its moments, and a lot of those moments are because of Samuel L. Jackson doing a great job of showing how his past is coming back to haunt him in the worst ways imaginable, and how the consequences are clearly taking a toll on him. But it's also easy to see how some fans (and I'm including most of the Pajiba staff in this, because they have not been kind to this show while I've lurked and eavesdropped on them talking about it) really aren't impressed by this show or its very existence, as much of what it's tackling could've and should've just been done as a movie.
Yes, we got to find out that Rhodey is actually a Skrull (which a lot of people, including those in the Comments section, already suspected and figured out, and not just because Don Cheadle's name was listed in the credits for last week's episode even though he didn't appear onscreen), but it wasn't even close to being the shocking gut-punch it deserved to be. Especially when there are no costumed superheroes appearing in this series to really make our jaws hit the ground upon finding out that they're actually Skrulls in disguise, so that just leaves Rhodey and not many other familiar faces to really care about in terms of the "Who can you trust?" and "Who is really a Skrull in the MCU?" that Marvel/Disney is hoping to grab our attention.
As for the rest of this episode, it was painful to see Talos and G'iah part on such bad terms, even though Talos claiming that his plan to find the Skrulls a place to call home was to sit down with the President and appeal to his kindness and humanity...really wasn't a good plan, and seemed way too reminiscent on how some Black people believe that respectability politics, and showing yet another cell phone video of another Black person being brutalized by cops, will make the rest of the world recognize our humanity, and realize that our lives matter just as much as theirs. So it was easy to see why G'iah wasn't impressed with what Talos had to say, and why Gravik's approach held a lot more appeal, even though we can expect to see G'iah overwhelmed with sorrow and regret once she learns about Talos being killed.
And yes, I do think that Talos is probably dead. Mostly because one main character dying and coming back to life right after another main character is thought to be dead and then comes back to life in the next episode would be corny and repetitive as hell, and would make viewers go, "Oh, come ON!" I'd like to hope this won't be the last we see of Ben Mendelsohn as Talos, and not just because his death at Gravik's hands was kind of f-cking weak.
Only two more episodes to go, and I sure do hope that Marvel stans are keeping their expectations in check about Daisy/Quake showing up to fight alongside Fury next week. The last thing this fanbase needs is another "But...Wandavision mentioned that one of the characters knows an aerospace engineer! That means we're gonna see Reed Richards! Why the hell didn't we get to see Reed Richards?" controversy to make them lose their sh-t over promitheth promitheth that were never made to them in the first place.
This episode of Secret Invasion has been brought to you by "(I'm Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over" by David Porter:
