Secret Invasion (Disney +) (2023)

I think it was equally good and bad. I am ultimately reserving judgment, but it was certainly an unusual opener for a Marvel Studios TV show. Generally for most of the TV output, the first episode is amazing and it quickly goes downhill in the ensuing weeks, until it's dreck. This was just so-so. And I also got the distinct feeling that like The Book Of Boba Fett, weekly episode drops are going to hurt it. This show strikes me as something that would be better received it it were able to be binged. As polarizing as The Book Of Boba Fett was, there is no doubt in my mind the entire thing would have been MUCH better received if all the episodes had been released at once. I think the same deal will probably be true for this show.

Let me offer a perspective you might not hear too much. The death of Maria Hill was not devastating or a way to raise the stakes. It was annoying. It was annoying how rarely that character has been used and how the show just wasted her as the cautionary tale. And here is where I differ from most of fiction. I do not believe killing off major characters for either shock value or to raise the stakes is a legitimate storytelling tactic. If you find yourself needing to do that to hold the viewer's interest, you literally have nothing else going on.

All these complaints being said, I imagine Marvel purists are unhappy about how Marvel Studios has portrayed the Skrulls in the Captain Marvel movie and here. Honestly? I don't like the comic book Skrulls. They are cheesy and their conquest jag is just pointless and stupid. Here, not only do the Skrulls have legitimate grievances, there are good Skrulls working for the heroes. I like Talos. I like him telling Gaia she has no business throwing bad judgment accusations at him while she was working for the people who killed her mother. He thought that would turn her but I think she's a lost cause.

I'll probably have a more solid opinion when the season is over. For now I can take it or leave it. ***.

I had the Ross thing ruined for me in a YouTube title and thumbnail.  That sucked.  Hoping that the real Ross is still out there somewhere...

The Hill-thing faked me out...  I was thinking the real Fury had offed a Skrull Hill...  Sucks to be wrong on that one...

Last week I sort of had a "wait and see" mentality, but I can now clearly see this isn't working. I mean, it's still early, and it COULD technically turn things around. But it won't. I can safely predict that. Pretty damn unlikely if you ask me.

I don't know WHAT the Hell they've done to Samuel L Jackson. Fury is played both damaged and understated now, which wrecks the entire appeal of Jackson hamming it up in the role. When he says "I'm Nick Fury, even when I'm out, I'm in," you should cheer. But it's the first type of line like that he's said on the series, so I cringe instead. Fury didn't make me believe he believed that. And I would understand making Fury quieter and more contemplative. On somebody's else's airtime. On his own damn show? It's inexcusable.

You forgot how old Jackson and Fury are until he reveals he lived through segregation. The characters in the MCU actually age in real time. Which is interesting.

That cheery British torturer woman alarms me. What frightens me most is that even though she appears to be on our side against the bad Skrulls, I am still certain she's a bad guy. I don't like much about the show. But it's refusal to take black and white stands about these kind of people is interesting.

Another Fury complaint. I can't believe he ordered Talos out of his traincar. Fury, Talos is the ONE ally you have left you cannot afford to alienate. You can lose Rhodey, you are still you. But pushing away the only shot humanity has, especially when it would actually simplify his life and his relationship with her daughter to betray you? That's crazy.

I thought it was interesting that when the show used Fury try to get solidarity for him and Rhodey for both being black men with power, for Rhodey to declare his power included firing those of their peer group not measuring up. I don't know if it feels like something a black man would say to another black man, which is why I'm iffy on it. But at least Rhodey is owning the fact that he's a d-word. I'll give him that much.

Fury is married to a Skrull? He must know. It would be more dramatically interesting if he did at any rate.

Are you like me? Do you not only dislike this show, but most of the projects, TV and film, in the current MCU? Do you think Kevin Feige has lost his touch? Do you want to commiserate over how much he sucks and what a failure he is?

Look elsewhere for that shoulder to cry on. Yes, I hate almost currently everything in the MCU right now. But I refuse to talk smack about Feige. It's amazing the whole thing held together for as long as it did. THAT is an accomplishment and nobody can take Endgame away from him The problem is there is too much stuff by too many different people now. No quality control. Too many cooks, so to speak. And I could blame Feige for that, but we got a string of awesome movies for awhile there, and just because the movies suck now doesn't stop the earlier movies from being awesome. I'd call that a win.

This isn't working. **1/2.

That got a little too graphic for my tastes... 🤢

It didn't really do anything wrong. But it also didn't do anything right.

That is one of the worst episode titles I have ever seen. It sets negative expectations for the audience and makes every part of the episode, even the good stuff, impossible to enjoy. I have rarely seen such an incompetent episode title as this one. And a TON of genre shows have episodes called "Betrayed" or "Betrayal". Not a one of them did as wrong by that title as this episode did.

I like Fury and Talos' buddy cop thing they got going on. And I kind of loved that Fury just sat and took his abuse. Because the truth is, Fury has been doing wrong by his friend the entire time. He is so bad at the friendship he actually thinks Talos must have actually been tempted by Gravic's offer.

Is Gaia dead? Doubtful. Too soon and they wouldn't have cast Emilia Clarke is that was the end of it.

More or less so-so, but the episode title made it impossible to enjoy. I would have been frustrated because of that even if the episode had been good. Since it was mediocre, it's really quite unforgivable. **1/2.

I was under the impression that the reason for two people with keys was so that the mechanisms could be placed far enough apart so that one person couldn't turn both keys at the same time instead of just having the key turns right next to each other...

This feels like the first episode where Nick Fury feels like Nick Fury. Or at least Samuel L. Jackson is allowed to be Samuel L. Jackson.

I did not get the deal with Fury's Skrull wife. I thought he knew she was a Skrull. If that was so why would she need to replace Fury's wife? The problem with the show (and Skrulls in general) is that it can get so damn confusing. It is very hard to keep straight.

Rhodey is a Skrull. Where is OUR Rhodey? And do we get him back by the end of the miniseries?

I don't think Talos is dead. However there was something about the scene I thought was good for both him and the good guys. A soldier actually saw his alien face, Fury said he was with him, and the soldier believed him. Not only does that suggest humanity will not as intractable to the Skrulls as feared. But when the smoke clears and they see he and Fury saved Ritson, it gives Fury's story credibility. Which is the last thing Skrull Rhodey wants and needs for him.

Talos is surprised G'iah walked off upon hearing his "plan". I'm not. Because it's a sucky plan. I had assumed he had something better cooking with Fury. The fact that he did not is damning.

I'll tell you what I like about Fury. When he learns his wife has betrayed him, he confronts her immediately. He doesn't string her along or manipulate her to get further intelligence. He talks to her frankly and honestly, which says he's a better husband than he is saying he is.

The show is not gonna set the Marvel Cinematic Universe on-fire. But as far as episodes go, it was above average. ***1 removed link

Posted by: @matt-zimmer

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Rhodey is a Skrull. Where is OUR Rhodey? And do we get him back by the end of the miniseries?

Last episode Rhodey was seen in one of the statis rigs at the Skrull compound.  We have to get him back, he's the star of Armor Wars (and I think he's in Iron Heart).  Wouldn't make sense to have a Skrull continue to pretend to be him for that.

While I'm not hating the show, I think the story is being heavily padded to get six episode out of it.  I imagine that once it's over some fan will pull an "Obi-Wan" on it and edit it down to 2 - 2 1/2 hours and "make it better".[/spoiler]