'Secret Invasion' Recap, 'Betrayed'

Previously on Secret Invasion: After the deaths of over 2,000 people, including Maria Hill, Fury and Talos’ friendship hits a serious roadblock when Talos reveals that he sent out a call to invite at least a million Skrulls to live on Earth, and that he did so without Fury’s knowledge or permission. The rest of the world not only blames America for the attack, but they suspect that Fury was responsible for it. Gravik attends a meeting with the Skrull Council, and makes it abundantly clear that he’s at war with humankind, and that he will not stop until he is the winner, and until Earth belongs to him. Fury and Rhodey meet up secretly for a conversation with one another, which ends with Fury being officially discharged by Rhodey over his failure to stop Grovik’s attack.

THE STORY SO FAR: 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.

WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT THIS EPISODE?: Fury’s reunion with Varra-as-Priscilla (which occurs in 1998 in a New York City diner), as she shows off her brand-new face and makes it clear that since their unit doesn’t officially exist, and she doesn’t work for him, there should be no problem if the two of them decide to start something and see where it leads. Gravil meeting once again with the Skrull Council, and informing them of his plan to make all Skrulls into Super-Skrulls, as part of his plan to take over the planet. The present-day conversation between Fury and Priscilla, and how Priscilla expresses her anger and frustration at Fury for running off to be in outer space instead of staying with her to rebuild their life and marriage after his return from The Snap (still not calling it The Blip, FYI). Talos refusing to work with Fury again until he apologizes and admits that he’s useless without his friend, which he does. Sonya locating the bug that Fury planted on her owl clock (which she originally named “Hoot” and has now renamed “Nicholas Fury”), and covering it up with a little eyepatch. The parley between Gravik and Talos, and how they each take turns in showing each other that they are still dangerous and not to be trifled with. (I especially appreciate that the “Let me take back my hand which is pined to the surface by this knife” scene between Talos and Gravik was a lot less painful and gruesome to watch than what we got between Shamier Anderson and Bill Skarsgård in John Wick: Chapter 4.) Talos kindly but firmly putting Fury in check by reminding him that without him and his fellow Skrulls, his career in S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn’t have been as successful and impactful as it was.

WHAT’S NOT SO GOOD ABOUT THIS EPISODE?: This episode has its moments, but it pales in comparison to the first two.

DO ANY OF THE AVENGERS APPEAR IN THIS EPISODE?: No.

NOT EVEN RHODEY?: No, he doesn’t appear in this episode.

CAPTAIN MARVEL?: No.

MONICA RAMBEAU?: No.

EVERETT ROSS?: Also no.

ANY EASTER EGGS WE SHOULD WATCH OUT FOR?: When Fury reunites with Varra-as-Priscilla, she provides with information to go after someone named Dreykov, who was played by Ray Winstone in Black Widow, and who was the mastermind in charge of the Red Room. When Gravik is stabbed in the hand by Talos, his injury is immediately healed by powers that look very similar to that of an Extremis, which is one of the DNA samples he has as part of his Super-Skrull program. And the older, gray-haired man impersonated by G’iah to pass along her burner phone to Talos can be seen talking into his cell phone on the sidewalk behind G’iah when Gravik returns to his vehicle.

ANY FAN THEORIES SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE ACROSS THE INTERNET BECAUSE OF THIS EPISODE?: Ever since Fury was fired by Rhodey in the previous episode, some fans are convinced that Rhodey is actually a Skrull, and that the real Rhodey is being held in captivity by Gravik and company. Especially since Fury insisted in this episode that no one refers to him by his first name, and yet, Rhodey — who stated how much of a long personal and professional history he has with Fury right before firing him — called him “Nick” instead of “Fury.”

ARE THERE ANY SCENES DURING THE CLOSING CREDITS?: No.

TO SUM IT ALL UP: A decent, but mostly predictable episode that wasn’t as impressive as it could’ve been. The ending, in which Gravik confronts G’iah over her duplicity and shoots her dead, is a bit of a Catch-22. On one hand, if G’iah really is dead, then it would be yet another puzzling and infuriating example of the Marvel Cinematic Universe killing off one of their female characters, and doing so in a way that isn’t entirely necessary or satisfying. On the other hand…if you’ve watched any of the trailers or commercials for Secret Invasion, you’ve seen footage of G’iah that hasn’t aired in any of these first three episodes yet. Which is proof that G’iah is still alive, and will be present through the rest of the series. (Also, G’iah is played by Emilia Clarke, and despite Marvel’s history of hiring legendary actresses and not giving them much to really sink their teeth into*, it would be silly to hire Emilia for only three episodes of a series and just kill her off in an anticlimactic manner.

Seriously, do you remember anything at all about Sigourney Weaver’s role in The Defenders, or Glenn Close’s role in Guardians of the Galaxy? Because I sure don’t.) Either way, the scene didn’t elicit more than a shrug from me upon watching it, which I’m sure is not the response that the makers of Secret Invasion were hoping to get.

We’re now at the halfway point of the series, and with Gravik leading the creation of Super-Skrulls, and Priscilla possibly betraying Fury by collaborating with Gravik behind his back (which Fury seems to possibly suspect, because he’s Fury and he has lots of trust issues), all that’s left to do is wait and see what will happen next as the series races to the finish line.

This episode of Secret Invasion has been brought to you by “I Shot the Sheriff” by Bob Marley and the Wailers…

And by “Redemption Song” also by Bob Marley and the Wailers.



And if you can’t get enough of Kingsley Ben-Adir as Gravik, you can soon see him as the legendary reggae artist Bob Marley in the biopic Bob Marley: One Love, in theaters next year.

This article was written during the 2023 WGA strike. Without the labor of the writers currently on strike, ‘Secret Invasion’ wouldn’t exist.

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Secret Invasion recaps

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