Invincible review, Episode 205: "This Must Come As A Shock"

While the first four episodes of Invincible season 2 set the board, introducing such villains as Angstom Levy and reminding us about the Martian Sequids, the second half of the season begins to deliver on its promises of epic, all-out battles. First be warned: this review contains SPOILERS!

The midseason premiere of Invincible, "This Must Come As A Shock," tackles one of the biggest threats to Earth as revealed earlier in the season: the Sequids. Coming from Mars, they are a race of potentially world-destroying aliens. They operate as a hivemind, allowing them to take a host and quickly and efficiently cause utter destruction.

Previous episodes have teased the rise of the Sequids. It all started back in season 1, when Mark Grayson, aka Invincible, joined a group of astronauts on Earth's first-ever mission to Mars. While there, one of the Martians, who'd dreamt of living on Earth, shape-shifted into astronaut Rus Livingston. However, while he travelled to Earth to live as a human, the real Rus Livingston was left on Mars, where he became the host of the Sequids.

Fast-forward to now: the Sequids are traveling to Earth and the Guardians of the Globe must infiltrate their spaceship and prevent them from reaching their destination, lest they take over the planet. Meanwhile, Rex, Shrinking Rae, and Dupli-Kate remain on Earth as its sole protectors... just when the Lizard League decides to attack. These battles are the primary focus of the episode.

I really enjoyed the epic scope of the Sequid battle, where Invincible, Atom Eve, Black Samson, Robot, Monster Girl and the Immortal are all in way over their heads. However, I loved the fight against the Lizard League even more. It's smaller scale, sure, but so entertaining. The way the team uses their powers, it feels like a fight from The Boys. It's brutal, creative, and pretty hilarious -- thanks mainly to Rex's brilliant comedic quips. And the shock of seeing Dupli-Kate and Rae being killed so quickly... that really took me by surprise.

Invincible perfectly balances epic battles with an intimate, character-driven story

On a superhero show, we expect to get epic battles and great spectacle. However, Invincible shines equally as bright in the quieter, more intimate scenes. Each character is complex, and they have individual struggles in their personal lives. This is a superhero world where the heroes are flawed, morally ambiguous, and so on.

For instance, Invincible has to grapple with the fact that he now has a little brother, born on Thraxa to Nolan Grayson and Andressa. With Nolan being taken prisoner b the Viltrumites, Mark is asked to take his brother to Earth to live his life there. Of course, the people of Thraxa have drastically shorter life spans, so he would be better off on Earth.

Given Mark's status as a full-time superhero and failing college student, he has no choice but to ask his mother Debbie to care for his brother. Debbie has no relation to the child; he's the son of her evil ex-husband, whom she didn't even know was still alive. It's a complicated dilemma, but she seems to have an instant attachment to the child. Cecil Steadman would prefer that the government raise the super-baby, but Debbie and Mark are dead-set against this.

Seeing Mark return to college and reunite with his girlfriend Amber — still needing to hide is superpowers among her friends — really helps to keep the show feel grounded. He's still a teenager with relationship struggles and he still worries about getting bad grades.

Another slowly-moving story arc I'm finding myself invested in is Donald's realization that he is not a human, but an android. Seeing the gradual clues get revealed and how Donald reacts to his physical state is a really intriguing side-story.

Then there's the scenes with Atom Eve, who is still struggling with feeling ostracized by her family and trying to figure out who she really is. Having superpowers comes with a price, and she's having trouble coming to terms with it.

Verdict

Invincible continues to impress. The world is expanding beautifully. I liked the mid-battle cliffhanger as the Sequids seemed to be taking over; we rarely get these types of cliffhangers in this show. Plus, the post-credits scene with Allen the Alien being revealed to be alive is satisfying.

The best is yet to come, too. As a huge fan of the comics, I can't wait to see the multiverse-hopping Angstrom Levy return to our screens, and of course, how Omni-Man's story continues!

Episode Grade: A

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