The second episode of Secret Invasion is mostly about providing exposition, and while doing so gives us two great conversations, several not-as-great conversations, a bunch of clichés (including the perpetuation of a lie that really needs to stop being perpetuated), and a surprise ending that is, at least, not as annoying as the surprise ending last week.
THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR SECRET INVASION HERE!
Let’s start with the confirmation that all the wishful thinking in the comments last week was just that: Maria Hill isn’t just mostly dead, she’s all dead. We even get to see her body being flown out of Russia and into the care of her mother (played with steely piss-offedness by Juliet Stevenson). It was obvious last week when they lingered on her body and it didn’t change shape that it really was Hill and not a Skrull, and it’s confirmed this week.
The hope that it was going to be the thing that prompted Fury to get his mojo back is a forlorn one, at least this week, as Fury is still kind of stumbling around trying to figure out what to do. Along the way, he gets fired by Rhodey (that’s one of the great conversations), and in the end we find out that he has a Skrull wife. Yes, really.
We also find out that there are a lot more Skrulls on Earth than previously believed. Fury just thought there was the handful that he and Danvers rescued in 1995 in Captain Marvel, but it turns out that Talos invited a whole lot more Skrulls to Earth. When Fury expressed understandable outrage at this, Talos angrily counters that Fury has been faffing about on S.A.B.E.R. for ages (as seen in the post-credits scene in Spider-Man: Far from Home). Unfortunately, many of these Skrulls have been radicalized by Gravik and are working to take over the planet.
It also turns out that the Skrulls have infiltrated the planet pretty well: a high-ranking U.S. government official, the British Prime Minister, the Secretary-General of NATO, and a couple of others. They also all—with one exception—join Gravik in going for a more scorched-Earth action than the more passive roles they’ve been taking up until now.
Meanwhile, Fury asks Rhodey for a meeting, and to his surprise, it winds up being Rhodey firing his ass. Fury plays on their shared history, both in the superheroic end of things as well as being Black men who have clawed their way into positions of power despite the best efforts of mediocre white men. (Fury specifically cites Alexander Pierce, Robert Redford’s character from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.) Rhodey, however, has to play politics, because politics affect everything. Fury has been able to avoid them by working in the shadows, but Rhodey doesn’t have that luxury. And Fury’s presence at a bombing that killed at least 2000 people isn’t working in the shadows anymore.
For all that that conversation is excellent, and beautifully delivered by Samuel L. Jackson and Don Cheadle, it has one major flaw in it, and it’s a flaw the whole series has. Rhodey suggests bringing in the Avengers from, um, wherever they are (this is the second time, after Far From Home, that it’s been implied that they’re not readily available for some reason).
Here’s the biggest problem with doing a cinematic universe: plot is dictated, not by what makes sense, but by actor availability. When Rhodey suggests bringing in “our friends,” Fury may as well come out and say, “Sorry, man, but we can only afford to have one Avenger in this series, and you’re it.”
But this is a story that really requires at least some kind of superheroic presence. Even Rhodey is notably bereft of his armor, though it is mentioned twice, which just draws more attention to the fact that he hasn’t worn it at any point. But this is a story that cries out for someone on the superheroic end of things to be involved: the Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, the USAgent, the new versions of the Black Widow and Captain America, somebody. (Hell, this series would’ve worked beautifully as a companion piece/sequel to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.)
Instead, we have several conversations in this episode that reinforce the notion that Fury is alone. Because the story must be contorted to be the Nick Fury vehicle.
Which is fine up to a point, because watching Jackson is always a joy. In particular what I like about this series is that Fury is showing his age. The talk on the train between Fury and Talos in particular shines a light on this, as Fury opens up about his childhood, taking a train from Alabama to Detroit with his Mom, and having to ride in the colored car and have to use bathrooms that didn’t work, and having to bring their own food on board. That’s something that is mercifully in the past, indeed far enough in the past to not be something most of Secret Invasion’s viewership would have any memory of in their lifetimes. Which is a good thing, mind, but it also reminds viewers that Fury is not a young man. He’s slowing down—both physically (note how he stumbles as soon as he leaves the meet with Rhodey, the verbal confrontation having exhausted him) and mentally.
One friend of mine came out of last week’s episode assuming that Hill’s death was a fake and that Fury had a master plan, and I countered that Fury would never have executed a plan that got thousands of people killed. And the Fury of a decade ago (the one who assembled the Avengers, the one who helped bring Hydra down) would’ve had a plan. But this Fury is a shadow of his former self, and he may not be able to get it done.
Which, of course, is all the more reason why he should call in the big guns. Sigh.
Elsewhere in the plot, we have G’iah, whose alliances are still not entirely clear. If nothing else, she’s obviously conflicted, as Emilia Clarke’s facial expressions change subtly but dramatically when she’s alone as opposed to around her fellow Skrull revolutionaries. She’s obviously appalled by the carnage of the bombing, and she starts investigating what else is going on. For starters, there’s a scientist named Rosa (Katie Finneran) who is doing some manner of experiments that appear to involve harvesting alien and/or super-powered beings.
And then we have Olivia Colman’s Sonya Falsworth, whose role in the episode managed to piss me off even more than the death of Hill last week, because it perpetuates the dangerous lie that torture is an effective interrogation tool. One of Gravik’s Skrulls was captured by the FSB, and Falsworth interrupts FSB’s torture to come in with her own torture, injecting something that boils his blood and obviously causes great pain. This is enough to get the Skrull to talk, which is not how this has ever worked. Worse, the Skrull himself mentions why torture doesn’t work: to make the pain stop, people will say whatever they need to in order to get it to stop, including lie. When Gravik rescues his fellow Skrull, he tells Gravik that he lied to Falsworth. Indeed, the reason why torture doesn’t generally work is that the person being tortured will say anything to make the pain stop, which makes any intelligence they do provide suspect.
Of course, Gravik doesn’t believe him and has him shot and killed, because that’s what bad guys do. It’s a tired cliché from beginning to end, and the only thing that makes it watchable is Colman’s blunt not-giving-a-fuck, which is at least fun to watch. (Also Ventsislav Yankov’s FSB commander is hilarious. I particularly like him wiping his hands on one of his subordinates’ shirts before taking the phone from Falsworth to talk to his superior.)
It’s lazy storytelling, which is dogging this entire series so far, from the only-one-man-can-save-us nonsense to showing how nasty the bad guy is by having him shoot a loyal subordinate to the use of torture.
And then in the end we find out that Fury has apparently married a Skrull woman. That’s how the episode ends (over Otis Redding singing “Try a Little Tenderness”), and as much as the episode annoyed me in so many ways, that piqued my curiosity something fierce…
This and That
- The opening of the episode takes place in 1995 and uses footage of Fury and Talos from Captain Marvel to remind everyone about the Skrulls’ plight in that movie. Having said that, we see no actual footage of Carol Danvers, and she’s only mentioned briefly once in the second scene, which takes place in 1997, and has Fury recruiting Skrulls to be part of his fifth column.
- G’iah finds files on one of the computers Gravik and his people are using on Groot (of the Guardians of the Galaxy), the Extremis Project (from Iron Man 3), Frost Giants (from Thor), and Cull Obsidian (Thanos’ toady from Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame), all relating to whatever science project Rosa is involved with. Amusingly, because this is an abandoned Soviet nuclear plant, the computer is ancient, with a monochrome CRT monitor.
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The lack of Avengers actually makes sense to me in this context. Not just due to Fury’s excuse (that the Skrulls will start taking the faces of the Avengers and committing acts of terror with them) but due to the Avengers (Black Widow aside) being a blunt instrument and (at least right now) a scalpel is needed.
Let’s say you call in the Avengers. Who do you point them at to beat up? Where do you send them to raid? Even having Rhodey in the Iron Patriot suit isn’t really going to accomplish anything. Who/where should he be carpet-bombing?
At least at this point in the narrative, calling in the Avengers wouldn’t really help much.
Now, if they end up fighting a Super Skrull in the climax and there’s nary a super-being to be seen, that will be annoying (but I imagine it will be hand-waved by not knowing about the super-powered individual until it’s too late).
@moderators, one point – Gravik’s name is misspelled as Grivak in several locations in the post.
@2 – Fixed, thanks!
The rescued Skrull hostage wasn’t killed to show “how nasty the bad guy is by having him shoot a loyal subordinate”. He was killed because of Gi’ah.
She said she was going to check around back. When she was by herself, she made a phone call and was speaking Russian. After the rescue, the Skrulls were surprised to see their safe house being raided. Gravik assumed the hostage gave up that information under torture, then lied about it.
I pretty much agree — some good performances, but I could’ve done without the torture, especially after seeing an extended torture scene in Superman & Lois‘s finale just hours earlier (though at least that one wasn’t an interrogation). I’m so sick of film/TV makers thinking torture is something worth showing us.
I like it that they’re openly addressing the racial angles, and I like it that it’s not monolithic, that they let Fury and Rhodey come at it from different perspectives.
It’s notable that the Daltons’ computer files involve four different organisms or abilities — Groot, Frost Beast, Cull Obsidian, Extremis. I’d say it’s a good bet we’re going to see a Super-Skrull in the climax. The powers don’t quite map onto the Fantastic Four, but I’d guess Cull Obsidian’s strength and armor would correspond to the Thing, Extremis might correspond to the Human Torch, and Groot’s abilities might approximate Mister Fantastic’s. But there’s no mention on the wiki of Frost Beasts having invisibility, just enormous size and speed.
I realized today that Gravik, if I’m not mistaken, has a Liverpool accent. Interesting, since the actor is from London.
“Rhodey, however, has to play politics, because politics affect everything. Fury has been able to avoid them by working in the shadows…”
Pardon my copyediting, but “politics” is a singular noun. The “-ics” suffix is singular in Greek; terms for sciences or fields of study like physics, politics, civics, aesthetics, etc. are all singular.
Also, Christopher McDonald’s character is not a high-ranking US government official, but a news anchor, Chris Stearn.
@@@@@#5, if I may, being a classicist: politics, as we use the word today, is in fact not singular and plural. The (nominative singular) suffix you mentioned above, –ikos, does confer a meaning “of or pertaining to”, but for politics, we derive from Aristotle’s term ta politika, which is a plural phrase that translates in the neighborhood of ”matters of state”, much like the Latin res publica, though that phrase is indeed singular. Long story short (too late!), our word “politics” and the Latin word res have this much in common: there is no difference in spelling between the singular and plural versions of the word.
@6/Logan: Perhaps, but I think it’s still more standard to use a singular verb, as in “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” It’s not like you have one politic here and one politic there and you combine them to get politics; it’s a collective term for a field of study or activity.
Fury’s Skrull wife is intriguing…Fury being married is intriguing. I would like to know if *he* knows she’s a Skrull.
Fury’s exhaustion after the Rhodey meet wasn’t just the exchange, but Fury beating up the security guy. I also found it interesting that Fury has apparently been holding back on the Skrulls — and is shocked to get the news that at least the US government has known for decades. Who else knows? The Five Eyes, I’d think, and the Russians. Falsworth obviously knows, of course.
I’m expecting Falsworth to be revealed as a pink Kree by the end. One looking to finish the extermination job.
There were lots of subtle revelations, too. The Skrulls would appear to be not so innocent in terms of their war with the Kree. There’s a Skrull enclave off-Earth with an Emperor, which suggests a planet of sorts. And Talos’ very naïve Hail Mary has opened a can of worms by way of Skrull infiltration. I suspect Talos’ naïve pacifism actually covers a rather bad past. At least he timed things right — much easier to bring in a million illegal immigrants while civilization is in chaos due to 50% of everyone dusting. Which brings up another point: there’s at least another million+ who were blipped back.
it strikes me that Fury’s “intolerance” speech is one more step towards the full MCU introduction of the X-Men.
#5 CLB
The trailers show Gravik and a small group using such powers.
Is it Gi’ah or G’iah? The subtitles say the latter.
At any rate, my heart sank a little when I saw Olivia Colman pick up those pruning shears or whatever they were, both because I immediately knew what they’d be used for, and because I knew the forthcoming torture scene would really aggravate KRAD (for entirely justifiable reasons). As for the rest of the episode, it was alright. I quite enjoyed the fried chicken monologue, the scene between Fury and Hill’s mom, and the scene where Rhodey fires Fury.
I’m not really enjoying the villain very much so far, probably because he is so terse and soft-spoken. I like to see my comic book villains chew a little bit of the scenery. But I suppose the actor is doing a decent job. I did think it was a bit laughable when he complained about humanity destroying the planet when he’s trying to provoke a nucleat holocaust. What does he think that will do to the environment?
This episode is an improvement on the previous one as we’re getting a lot more sense of who the Skrulls are, how many there are, and what they’re doing. However, it also falls into some nasty conspiracy theories that admittedly were part of the Skrull backstory.
The Skulls are impoverished refugees! Except they’re plotting against the world and terrorists.
The Skrulls control the UN Secretary General, the head of NATO, and a Prime Minister yet they’re not doing anything for their people.
Gravik is also an environmentalist! So of course he’s part of the Jewish-Globalist-Lizard People conspiracy.
It’s interesting to guess at what exactly radicalized Fury and why they blame him.
Of course the issue with no Avengers being on call is the huge plot hole that is always going to be there in a shared cinematic universe, it dates back to Iron Man 3 where Tony Stark is trying to bring down the bad guys and his main assistance is coming from an 11 year old kid when in reality what he should be doing is getting on the phone to Steve Rogers. There has to be some willing suspension of disbelief here or the whole notion of there being a shared universe of super hero’s just collapses.
I personally thought this episode was better than episode one but there is still something about this series that is leaving me cold, I can’t put my finger on what it is, it’s got a stacked cast of some of the best actors around and the plot should be intriguing and tense but so far it’s just not grabbing me.
My favourite character so far is Falsworth, despite the issues of the torture scene perfectly described in the main review I think Olivia Colman is walking the line perfectly between humour and sinister and clearly enjoying herself enormously.
I hope the series steps up more in the next couple of episodes as this cast deserves it and there were signs of life this week.
last week I gave 6 out of 10 I’d Mybe go to a 7 this week.
I did not get the line from the NATO Skrull about “What if the Avengers return?” Never mind the in-universe wisdom and real-world logistics of using those characters; it was just bizarrely worded unless there’s something big I’m forgetting (and/or yet to be revealed).
The glimpse of that computer screen was quite cool, not only for the the general shared-world aspect of it but for the specific references being interesting, varied, and rather deep cuts, which is an approach I’ve always enjoyed.
Gravik et al. leaving a dead Skrull body in the woods to possibly be uncovered by who-knows-whom seemed like a bad move. While that location may be remote, apart from the whole underground / infiltration deal on its face (so to speak) you’d figure the prospect of Skrull corpses out in the wild to be dissected and experimented upon by governments or rogue actors would be top of mind.
I thought Fury and Talos’ conversation on the train was very well done, but even if the Russian police are stretched thin it’s hard to buy them arguing so loudly, then seeing Fury take a window seat and finding that, off-screen, he successfully debarked and got out of the country because, I guess, that fedora gives him the Shadow’s power to cloud minds.
We just got a lot of stuff presented to us that has to be taken in stride, it felt like, from how these characters got from here to there and when stuff was happening. I was glad to hear at one point, somewhat late in the episode I believe, reference to the Moscow incident having occurred the day before the line was spoken, although I find that a pretty short timeframe to cram in Fury making his way surreptitiously from Russia back Stateside (assuming that’s where Hill’s casket was being greeted by her mother) then overseas again to Great Britain where Rhodey fails to get him in hand despite Fury having been at a U.S. airbase no more than a day earlier and obviously after the incident albeit before we see Rhodey taking heat from international partners. There are explanations for a lot of that either implicit story-wise or fairly easily imagined, sure, but it all came off as scattershot.
As Rhodes and Fury have split on this can we say that
“where we’re going we don’t need Rhodes”
… sorry… sorry…
@8/StevenE: “Fury’s Skrull wife is intriguing…Fury being married is intriguing. I would like to know if *he* knows she’s a Skrull.”
The fact that she changed to human form when he returned implies he doesn’t know. Although I suppose it could just be her version of dressing up to look nice for her husband, but that carries some disquieting implications in itself.
@13/Arben: I took it to mean that the Avengers don’t currently exist as an active group. They lost several of their founding members against Thanos or soon thereafter, and it seems they’ve all gone their separate ways since then. I think the concern is, “What if the various heroes who’ve been Avengers in the past, and maybe some of the newer ones, revive the organization?”
“I find that a pretty short timeframe to cram in Fury making his way surreptitiously from Russia back Stateside (assuming that’s where Hill’s casket was being greeted by her mother)”
The opening caption said that sequence was in London.
Oh, I knew there would be issues with the torture scene. And yeah, there were parts of this episode that just…optics wise, don’t age well. I agree with C.T. Phipps in that while I agree it all makes an engaging story, there just are a few too many tropes it’s leaning into regarding conspiracy theories about refugees/immigrants, infiltration, etc. I guess it’s just a little harder to enjoy when there are people that legitimately believe some of these things (even if they don’t literally believe in lizard people).
Especially as I still am not really sold on Gravik’s motivations. Obviously Nick Fury did them a bit dirty by using them and not being able to find them a home, but I still find it to be a leap from that to ‘the entire planet’s human population basically just deserves to be annihilated because humans aren’t good enough for it.’ Not to mention the implication from one of the Skrull council members that Skrull culture/history has its own history of aggression…so Gravik appears to in some ways just be a more straightforward villain. Talos, for example, I can understand his going behind Fury’s back out of desperation and trying to do the right thing.
I did really enjoy the conversation between Talos and Fury – both actors, I think, played up the betrayal/anger/vulnerability they were both feeling. Plus Fury’s declaration that humans certainly aren’t going to accept another species (en masse) as they can’t even get along with each other hits a little harder after his own tale of segregation (I definitely had to do a bit of mental math to figure out when in time we ere, and how old he might be, and what year he may have been traveling; it’s sometimes shocking how relatively recent civil rights are). Plus the concept of his mom being the one who helped him understand how to see through lies.
And on the other side of the coin you have Rhodey, who I think presents an interesting counterpoint. In some ways he represents the worst of American exceptionalism and swagger; joking about carpet bombing, throwing his weight as a military power around, etc. I do kinda wonder if firing Fury was ‘on purpose’ in that they WANT him to be a rogue but it was also a pretty meaty conversation. And he’s not totally wrong that the politics aspect DOES matter, and keeping some semblance of balance of power among parties.
However, one thing I did appreciate is that he’s clearly pissed at Fury for getting Maria killed and recognizes that she was one of their top agents. As opposed to Fury who’s all, ‘oh, they just wanted to get to me’, which I realize is kind of the definition of fridging from a narrative standpoint (they needed a plot point to raise the stakes) but it’s not as if within universe they would not recognize she is a legitimate threat and want to take her out for that.
Also, they just gonna leave that Skrull body in the woods? Okay then.
Oh! And regarding Nick Fury’s Skrull wife – I assumed he knew, and that her changing was just more for the benefit of the viewers/actress getting face time. In story perhaps it’s just part of their cover that she pretty much always appears as human whenever they are together/somebody comes in because it is safer that way. I thought it was the same Skrull that was talking to Nick Fury in the 1997 flashback, so I presume they were close.
Also, does anybody know what/who Emperor Drogge is? I actually thought that Talos was referring to somebody who had captured Skrulls and was keeping them as slaves in a colony, but I’ve seen a lot of people assume it’s just a Skrull colony on some other planet. Maybe there just isn’t enough room for all of them there?
I’m glad this one filled some of the blanks and questions from the first episode. However, that otherwise excellent train scene between Fury and Talos raised one big question for me:
Fury promised the Skrulls a world of their own in return for helping S.W.O.R.D. out. The Skrulls – both Talos and Gravik for that matter – claim Fury didn’t live up to that promise since he spent most of recent years hiding out in space. But Fury’s response to Talos’s request for sharing Earth between humanity and Skrulls on that train is that humans aren’t able to co-exist on their own (racism, colonialism, Cold Wars and whatnot) let alone embrace a new alien race living alongside them. That’s his point, one I can understand. But that wasn’t the original arrangement now, was it? He and Carol Danvers were tasked to find a NEW habitable world, not help them live amongst humanity. What happened to that search in-between 1995-2025? Did Fury and Danvers forget that promise? Such an explanation would go a long way towards explaining why Gravik is such a fundamentalist extremist SOB.
Otherwise, I have little problem with an episode that had such a stellar scene between Fury and War Machine. Talk about turning the tables and really reinforcing Fury’s current state of being.
As for the torture scene, I agree that it’s about time movies and shows dropped that notion that it produces any credible intel. Over 20 years since 24 debuted, and that trope still pertains. However, I have less of an issue with it when it’s a character like Sonya Falsworth doing it. I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to sympathize with her. Fury may be a paranoid former head of S.H.I.E.L.D. with his own set of problems, but this woman is NOT a good person, and if anything she’s the polar opposite of Fury. I seriously doubt he’d resort to petty torture with the same easy consciousness the way she did.
As for calling the Avengers, I can see the issue. But of the people you pointed could pop up, I could see Captain America and Winter Soldier appearing in a story like this. And maybe some others, but NOT Hawkeye. As far as I know, he pretty much retired at the end of his own show, almost two years ago now. Right? Wasn’t that the point of mentoring Kate Bishop? Besides, as pointed out, actor availability is an issue. As it is, I’m pretty sure Renner’s unfortunate accident makes it pretty much impossible for him to resume playing Clint Barton for the foreseeable future.
@19/Eduardo: The plan was to find a different world for the Skrull. Talos and Fury were talking about settling Earth as an alternative possibility since Plan A hadn’t worked out, one that Talos pursued on his own without Fury’s knowledge and was only telling him about now.
“However, I have less of an issue with it when it’s a character like Sonya Falsworth doing it. I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to sympathize with her.”
Sure, but the issue is not whether we like the torturer or not. The problem is that the story depicts torture working at obtaining accurate intelligence, and that is the dangerous lie, the one that lets people argue “Well, sometimes it’s necessary when there’s no other way to get information in time.”
@21/Christopher: I know settling on Earth was always a possibility for the Skrulls. The point is we never saw the moment where they declared the failure of Plan A. There’s a near 30 year gap between the events of Captain Marvel and this show. I can see setbacks to the plan like Thanos’ snap getting in the way, but no other point or event where Fury decides to give up on finding a new planet.
So far, this series gets a solid “meh” from me; by the numbers spy stuff with a convoluted connection to the MCU. The Moscow bombs were billed as dirty bombs, but there was no mention of radiation after the fact. Jut what has Fury been doing in space, and why won’t he even give a progress report on Skrull homeland efforts? I thought Marvel put their scripts through layers of scutiny, but this one seems thrown together. It can only get better from here, I am sorry to say.
@21/Eduardo: I don’t think Fury ever officially gave up; it’s just that the search dragged on for decades without result, then the Blip happened, then Fury was a broken man when he returned, and eventually Gravik just lost patience and decided he was done waiting.
I think the first bit of torture with the shears is actually a clever bit of worldbuilding – dead flesh can’t be shapeshifted and once cut it dies. Easy reveal he’s a Skrull, and makes her look more competent. And now she knows that, she injects him with magic torture juice which is clearly specific to Skrulls. Heat human blood much over 40 and the person dies. She’s talking 160 degrees, which even if it was in Fahrenheit – though why would a Russian use that?! – It’s still 71c, and a human would be parboiled. The names on the other hand, yeah, not going to believe that.
I’ve gone partway back on the opening titles this week – the AI influence gives it a bit of uncanny valley at times, which is perfect for the shape shifting theme. Still mediocre though.
I really liked the dissenting member of the council, good actress, good lines. And I especially liked Gravik letting her leave – his war is with humanity after all, not her.
I was also surprised re the lack of follow-up on them having been referred to as dirty bombs.
@15. chadefallstar — They’ll join forces against Black Bolt’s brother in Maximus the Mad: Fury + Rhodes.
16. ChristopherLBennett: “I took it to mean that the Avengers don’t currently exist as an active group.” — Yeah. Still bizarrely worded vs. a more dialogue-oriented version of your “What if the various heroes who’ve been Avengers in the past, and maybe some of the newer ones, revive the organization?” I should’ve known that scene with Hill’s mother took place in London because I remember going back to check the on-screen year and place markers at one point.
Even if Gravik’s plans were put together fairly recently it’s clear from the council meeting that a faction of Skrulls has been infiltrating the planet’s governing institutions and other areas of influence for some time. Not an ideologically monolithic faction, perhaps, but still one willing if not eager to go that route as opposed to settling for an existence amongst humanity without challenging or commandeering its power structures.
Huh, I wonder why my comment didn’t get approved. Oh well, not like I want to type it all out again. TLDR; Torture scene was bad and cliché.
@8: Pretty sure his wife is the Skrull from the beginning who introduced Gravik to him, so I assumed that’s how they started their relationship.
@24/Mayhem: “And I especially liked Gravik letting her leave – his war is with humanity after all, not her.”
I kept expecting him to send someone to kill her later, so I’m glad he didn’t.
@27/Arben: “Even if Gravik’s plans were put together fairly recently it’s clear from the council meeting that a faction of Skrulls has been infiltrating the planet’s governing institutions and other areas of influence for some time.”
Well, the MCU wiki says this show is set in the MCU “present day” of 2026, so it’s eight years after the Blip. That’s enough time for those infiltrations to happen, and the post-Blip chaos and confusion would certainly have made infiltration easier. (Although presumably roughly half the Skrulls were dusted too.)
I understand what Carol Danvers was supposed to do to find the Skrulls a new planet, but what exactly was Nick Fury supposed to do? Was humanity already capable of interstellar travel in the mid-90s MCU? Other than the fact that is the Nick Fury show and not the Carol Danvers show, she should be the one who Gravik is mad at.
Also, who exactly has Nick Fury been working for? The MCU has always been somewhat ambiguous as to who exactly SHIELD answered to (the World Security Council, however that works), but I have no idea what Fury’s actual job currently is – something for the U.S. government, apparently, since Rhodes can fire him.
@28 As I recall, at its inception in the 60s, SHIELD was an arm of the UN. An idea that feels rather naive in retrospect. That got fuzzier as time went by, but the organization mostly had an international feel to it. And in the MCU, it clearly had an international board in charge, an organization with the authority to order the nuking of New York during the Avengers movie. But SHIELD as we know it collapsed when the Hydra infiltration was revealed, although Fury seems to be in charge of some shadowy remnant, which operates a rather large space station. Answerable to who is a question that has never been answered. So how does a USAF colonel have the authority to fire Fury? Just another thing about this show that doesn’t make sense.
@29/AlanBrown: Fury now works for SABER, an MCU-exclusive space-defense organization that we know will be featured in The Marvels. I’d guess that Rhodey is a higher-up in SABER.