Invincible returned to us last week but it did leave us off on one of the most insane cliffhangers that we’ve gotten yet in this show.
Previously On Invincible
Mark finally returns home after discovering his father has made a new life for himself and that he has a half-brother whom he has brought with him back home. Mark attempts to catch up on life while also trying to still deal with the guilt of Thraxxa’s cities getting destroyed. Donald finds out the tragic truth from Cecil about his past and current identity. The Guardians of the Globe split up as half the team go to space to deal with the oncoming invasion of Sequids while the rest deal with an attack from the Lizard Squad. The question to be asked is: who survives? Oh, and Allen is alive and better than ever, with the revelation that Thadeus is a Viltrumite who rebelled and requires Mark’s assistance.
Death Follows
In good old Invincible fashion, it wastes no time at all, and we instantly resume where we last left off, and that’s with King Lizard holding a gun to Rex’s head. Rex taunts him one last time before ultimately getting shot in the head, leaving all three Guardians of the Globe members who were left on Earth dead. But wait, while King Lizard is too focused on the phone, trying to get his demands met, it seems like Rex somehow survived the bullet to the head. He manages to get up with the strength he has and begins to have a hand-to-hand fight, eventually overcoming him and beating him to death before collapsing on the floor. Rex isn’t the only Guardians of the Globe member who seems to have survived their encounter. Shrinking Rae manages to break her way out of Komodo Dragon’s deceased body before also collapsing. It’s a surprise to see Shrinking Rae and Rex Splode survive their encounters, with Dupli-Kate being the only actual member who died, but it showcases how anything is possible in Invincible and proves again and again that it isn’t a predictable show and that it’s one to keep you on your toes at all times.
Back in space, the remaining Guardians of the Globe members, along with Invincible and Atom Eve, continue to fight off the Sequids. Robot manages to finish making a device that must make its way to Russ to be effective. Immortal begins to take it over, but Invincible stops him, stating that he’s “stronger and faster” than him, making him the right person for the job. Immortal doesn’t argue against this point and instead helps him get the job done. Invincible makes it to Russ and activates the device, which takes out all the sequids except for the ones that have attached themselves to Robot and Eve. Luckily for Invincible, there’s still some juice left in the device, and he’s able to free the both of them from the Sequids grasp.
While heading for the hanger, they’re stopped by the Martians, who want to take Shapesmith captive and kill him for putting them in this predicament, but they escape in a ship while still getting chased down by the Martians. Invincible disables their ships with ease and gets praised for it by Atom Eve as she goes to hug him but quickly pulls away. Invincible is still dating Amber, but it’s clear that there is some unspoken romantic tension between him and Eve that they can’t avoid, and though we love Amber, it’s clear they’re not right for each other and that Mark needs someone who can understand both aspects of his life.
With Russ safely back on Earth, you’d assume that everything is alright, but of course, because this is Invincible, it isn’t. Russ ends up puking up a Sequid, which once again takes control of him. For comic readers like myself, we know what to expect from this, but as Invincible adapts the comics out of order, who knows when we’ll see the continuation of this storyline? Best bets say it’ll be during Season 4.
Upon their return to Earth, they learn about the tragic incident that took place and find out the fate of their friends. Though Eve can be seen crying while watching Rex be operated on, Immortal is taking it the hardest as he sits in a room with several deceased bodies of Dupli-Kate. Immortal doesn’t share any words here as he silently mourns her death, but later in the episode, there’s a funeral service for Dupli-Kate, where he continues to mourn but also honour her life. Immortal questions himself about the way he’s currently feeling over Dupli-Kate’s death, as he has loved many people before her, but this time it felt different. Immortal’s past relationships aren’t known, but we do know that Dupli-Kate loved him back, and maybe this is what was missing from those prior relationships—real love.
Revelations
In the last episode, Mark warned Cecil not to worry about his new half brother, and though he was warned, of course he still ends up turning up at the house. Cecil makes an attempt to still take Mark’s half brother into his hands and talks it out with Debbie, but fails as Debbie explains that she was able to mother Mark, who has continuously saved the world, proving that she’s very capable of also looking after Mark’s younger brother. Cecil continues to show the type of character he is, not having any real care for people’s feelings or having any boundaries, especially as he later sends a nanny over to Debbie’s to help with the kid, refusing to take no for an answer and making it still work his way.
Donald once again takes the spotlight as it’s revealed that Rick has returned and will be able to go back to Upstate University again with William. Mark is shocked to see Rick back and says how it looks like nothing changed but Donald reveals that we went through intensive body reconstruction which is the same body reconstruction that Donald went through and is fighting with at the moment. Knowing how it can affect someone mentally, he’s worried about how Rick will react and urges that he’ll be keeping a close eye on him. It’s nice to see this sub-story be developed and though it doesn’t get much runtime in each episode, it’s handled really well with some great character writing for Donald that you wouldn’t expect to see from such a character.
One of the best scenes that takes place in this episode is Mark going to Art to talk about Amber while Amber is with Eve talking about Mark. They parralell each other extremely well but it never does give a clear answer to their relationship. Is it one that will continue and thrive or one that will end in heartbreak. During Mark’s talk with Art, he brings up Nolan’s books, which fortunately, Art seems to have some copies of his Sci-Fi books. Mark reads through them and discovers that his father is telling him how to defeat Viltruimites and its empire, though not completely sure of this discovery, he’s able to get a second opinion from Allen who thankfully arives in time to confirm Mark’s suspicions.
Though Allen failed with bringing Mark to his boss, Thadeus, he was able to take copies of the books which will provide useful information. Allen also promises to look for Mark’s father who he suspects in a Viltruimite prison and while Allen begins to hunt for Nolan, Nolan is refusing oppertunities to redeem himself. We all know how strong Nolan is but how long can he last against his own people?
Just as you think the episode is going to end with the credits rolling, they pull as back to show that our old friend Angstrom has returned with a whole brand new look which isn’t worth bragging about. With two episodes left, what is Angstrom going to plot and how is he going to take his revenge against Mark who he blames for his disfigurement?
Final Thoughts
Invincible Season 2 Part 2 Episode 6 isn’t as strong of an episode as episode 5 and takes things at a slower pace. The episode still manages to develop sub-stories such as the one with Donald while also trying to build upon the bigger picture. Though some moments slow down the episode for the worst, it still manages to stand strong with it’s character writing.
