Secret Invasion: Promises

 

Though this second episode still has all the faults of the first, it works quite well because it is a very well done character study of Nick Fury. 

Despite its faults, what I really like about the show is that it takes a deep look at who Nick Fury is. Though the character has been in many MCU movies, he has rarely been the main focus. Putting him directly in the spotlight makes it easy to recognize what a great character the MCU version of Nick Fury is. The fact that this show has a slower pace and a darker more mature tone than previous MCU projects, allows this character study to work even better. Not only do we get a closer look at who this character is, but this episode dives even deeper into the effects that not only Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) but also the first episode of this show has had on this character. What is so impressive is that it is completely visible that Nick Fury has changed a whole lot as a character, but it is still completely obvious that he is the same character, who we saw back in the earliest MCU films. We even see times where the old Nick Fury comes out. Even if those are small moments they are very effective. Of course so much of why this character study works is due to a wonderful performance by Samuel L. Jackson, but it is also due to being written by people who truly understand this character. This episode also benefits from some surprisingly intelligent dialogue, especially during the scene between Nick Fury and James Rhodes (AKA War Machine). There are also some surprisingly disturbing and well-made moments such as the integration scene in the meat cooler. 

The main problem in this episode is still that all the new characters are simply quite boring. There is not a whole lot to their personalities besides a few stereotypical character traits. Because of this often times (with the exception of the meat cooler scene), the episode can become kind of boring when it drifts away from Nick Fury. The premise of this show is still very interesting but still it doesn't live up to its full potential. Much of this is due to the bland supporting characters, making what should be suspenseful scenes, nowhere near as effective as they should be. It is also due to it feeling quite familiar at times and some scenes seeming like what we have seen in many shows and movies before this. There are some interesting social and political ideas brought up in this episode, but I don't feel they were explored as deeply as they should have been. However I admit that the ending is quite shocking and I am looking forward to seeing where this goes in the next episode. 

Again this is not the finest MCU moment but the stuff that works is very good.