Secret Invasion is in tension with itself in Episode 5, “Harvest”

It’s the penultimate episode of Secret Invasion! Betrayal! Action! Drama! Time to crank up the intensity and bring this baby home!

Okay, that’s enough hype: Secret Invasion Episode 5, “Harvest,” is fine, about in line with the middling energy we’ve gotten from the series so far. Did you know that Disney reportedly spent over $200 million to make this show? If that’s true…where did that money go? For real, where? Because despite being about an alien invasion that could wipe out humanity, the show feels so small sometimes.

And the writing twists itself to keep things this way. There are too many scenes in Secret Invasion where you think, “But why?” At the top of the episode, Nick Fury attacks James Rhodes (or rather, the Skrull pretending to be James Rhodes) in a hospital, where the president is recovering after surviving the Skrull attack at the end of Episode 4. A dozen dudes pull guns on Fury — he just assaulted a high-ranking government official, after all — and then Rhodes just lets him…walk away.

I know Rhodes is under orders not to kill Fury, since he has information that Gravik wants, but…I dunno, you could put him under arrest or something, man. Then you can you interrogate him and get the info and take over the planet and everything will be hunky-dory for you. But why?

Secret Invasion can’t find a reason for itself

And of course there’s the big question: why doesn’t Nick Fury call in some of his superhero buddies to help with this situation? He breaks it down in a scene with British secret agent Sonya: “This is personal. We can’t keep depending on these superheroes to swoop in and save our asses. None of them have lived the life I have. None of them can defend the world the way I can.”

That’s so dumb. People are dying by the truckload as Gravik and his followers try to incite World War III. If superheroes can help, call them.

There’s also the question of why Nick Fury doesn’t just tell everyone what’s happening with the rebel Skrulls so the nations of the world can at least be on their guard. I can’t think of a good reason he wouldn’t except that the plot wouldn’t work if he did. Gravik actually has a good idea to tell the president that the Skrulls tried to attack him, only Gravik frames it as the Skrulls helping the Russians, which would help inch the world closer to a global conflict. But again, if the real truth were out there, he couldn’t get away with that.

Look, I don’t want to do the Cinema Sins thing where we act like little niggling inconsistencies are evidence that a show is bad, but in the case of Secret Invasion, the oversights and inconsistencies go straight to the core of what this series is trying to do. The idiot plot looms too large to ignore.

Thank goodness for Emilia Clarke and Olivia Colman

It’s also weird that the show is dead set against involving superheroes (on a Marvel Comics series, I remind you), and yet it’s still put them at the center of the story: Gravik’s ultimate goal is to give his followers superpowers by using superhero DNA he picked up from the battlefield from Endgame. That’s what “the Harvest” refers to, and only Nick Fury knows where the good stuff is.

Gravik himself is becoming pretty dull. Like in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Marvel made a half-hearted attempt to give this villain legitimate grievances, but it’s starting to depict him as plainly evil and power-hungry, so much so that his own followers are starting to rebel.

The things I liked most about “The Harvest” were the performances from Emilia Clarke as G’iah and Olivia Colman as Sonya. Clarke holds down her one-on-one scene with Samuel L. Jackson, who honestly seems like he’s phoning it in some of the time. As G’iah, who just lost her father, Clarke is composed, intense and compelling. I can’t tell if it’s Game of Thrones nostalgia or just that Clarke is trying harder than some of the other people in this show, but I’m more attentive when she’s onscreen.

And Colman is having a damn blast. The script gives Sonya a few weird lines, but at least her scenes are fun. The bit where the one Skrull breaks free of his handcuffs and threatens to kill the other to keep her from talking, and Sonya merely looks mildly irritated rather than shocked or even worried? Hilarious. Colman is amazing.

Verdict

We’re one episode out from the end of Secret Invasion and I have a hard time imagining how it’s going to reconcile all of its disparate parts. Even the bits I like about this series are usually compromised in some way. Take the action scenes, which are well-choreographed and tightly shot. But there’s still something off about them. The fight between Gravik and his followers lacks stakes — like, who are these people? — and the one at Fury’s house goes from zero to 60 way too quickly. Give us some build-up. Give us some tension.

I’ve complained a lot, but ultimately Secret Invasion is still watchable. It’s fine. It’s just not particularly exciting or excellent in any way.

Secret Bullet Points

• “Gonna be alright, kid?” “Don’t worry about me, I’ll put on a good face.” Cute line.
• Who is the pilot who is cracking wise with Nick Fury in the one scene? Do we know him? Who gave you lines?
• “It’s time. Let’s finish this.” Yes, let’s.

Episode Grade: C

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