Secret Invasion S01E05 Review: Gravik Goes Nuts

Secret Invasion, Season 1, Episode 5: Harvest

Okay, yeah. We're one episode away from closing up this season and... I really don't want to say that I didn't enjoy at least some parts of it, because the performances of some of the actors were pretty fun. It's just that... I don't know. I was kind of promised a show about secret spy networks but with shapeshifting aliens on top, or perhaps something more akin to the comic-book inspiration... but the show hasn't really delivered on any of those fronts. It's not even a particularly good character focus on Nick Fury and Talos, honestly. 

Again, this episode has its moments. I do like that everything is traced back to a 'for the greater good' choice that Nick Fury made, making him just a bit more morally grey (though nowhere approaching what made him interesting in the comics) with the titular 'Harvest' -- a sample of the DNAs of all the superheroes that fought in Endgame. Fury had a bunch of Skrulls collect it in secret, and now Gravik wants it as his price for not escalating World War III. 

And on paper, there is a lot of exciting stuff in this episode. Gravik finally shows a bit more emotion beyond being a scheming twit. G'iah gets to send off Talos, and to bond with Priscilla/Vaara. Fury gets a confrontation with Skrull-Rhodey a bit, and then hangs out with the hammy Sonya Falsworth. A lot of these should either be emotional or exciting, but I truthfully only really felt "really, that's it?" in regards to the Talos stuff. Gravik is also reduced to honestly kind of a generic villain that starts killing his minions (recurring characters Pagon and Beto, who I knew existed but I didn't really care to comment about while doing these reviews) and his ultimate plan becomes unambiguously evil as he basically holds his own refugees in New Skrullos hostage for Nick Fury.

And I'm really not sure what would've worked here. More screentime? Less screentime? Just better plotting and more of a focus on what Fury feels instead of constant references to how Endgame changed him? It also really doesn't help that for all of the talks that Priscilla has with G'iah, her 'bond' with Fury really isn't explored properly beyond maybe half an episode's worth of screentime in this show. It'd be one thing if we saw their bond explored in the show, but the best I could say is that shootout scene last episode. 

Speaking of G'iah, this episode does follow her a lot and I also think she's a character that didn't really work out all that well. We do finally peel back the layers behind her a bit here, showing how conflicted she is between the drive for her people and her love for her father, but... I don't know. it just kind of rings flat. 

There are a couple of additional action scenes in this episode, but they all really felt like 'it happened'. Sonya Falsworth follows up on the lead she got from torturing that one Skrull and catches up with the doctor couple, and drops a bunch of fun one-liners. G'iah and Priscilla, after burying Talos, get into a talk about Fury and Priscilla's relationship before they are thrust into a firefight/ There's the aforementioned rebellion as Gravik uses his Groot-arm to stab -googles- Pagon, and later on Beto (the guy that G'iah recruited in episode 1) tries to rebel against Gravik, but he just kills everyone. And ultimately, the episode ends with Nick Fury flying to Finland (and we do get some MCU nods with Rick Mason reappearing to do really nothing) and then teaming up with Sonya to take the Harvest, and then Nick Fury puts on a leather jacket and his eyepatch again. 

....and I don't know. This episode just feels exhausting to watch. I don't really think it's the quality of the show's writing/pacing/characterization that puts me off, but the sheer amount of wasted potential that a plotline like this has, and the squandering of the talents of Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn and Cobie Smulders -- in a very underwhelming exit from the MCU for the latter two. 

Marvel Easter Eggs Corner:

• Skrull Rhodey's name is revealed to be Raava, another adaptation-in-name-only from a comics character. Comics Raava is a Skrull pirate! ...and out of all the Skrulls, could they not have chosen 'Raava' and 'Varra', literally the same syllables swapped, as the two major recurring ones? 
• Groot's species name, 'Flora Colossus', is name-dropped by G'iah. 
• The guy that brings Fury on the plane is Rick Mason, a.k.a. The Agent, previously debuting in the MCU in Black Widow. Yeah, no, even I had to look it up. It'd be nice to have a name-drop, y'know? 
• The Widow's Veil return, was first seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and would appear in other pieces of MCU-related media like Agents of SHIELD and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.