Secret Invasion: Beloved

 

The best episode of the show yet. 

As this episode starts we have just the right type of moments. These are the little character moments that makes the MCU more than the bland action movies and shows that its critics often say it is. A scene with Nick Fury and his wife in a restaurant and a scene with Fury's wife talking to Rhodes in a church. These are slower paced and dialogue heavy scenes, but the dialogue is in fact excellent. It doesn't hurt that Fury's wife is turning out to be a great character in her own right and her relationship with her husband brings a good sense of emotion to this show. The scenes between these two characters are fantastic and what I wish this whole show could be like. The scenes with Rhodes are also truly excellent and also shine with some truly great dialogue and a truly wonderful twist that is actually really shocking. This episode also has some really good success with making this feel completely different than anything else in the MCU. Though the last episode made me worry that this was going in an all too conventional direction, this episode (with the exception of one big action scene (which strangely wasn't as exciting as the scenes with characters just talking)) feels more like a spy thriller than a typical MCU entry. 

This episode does have some pretty major flaws though. The biggest involves the aftermath of what was supposed to be a shocking scene in the previous episode. This episode completely undoes that whole important moment, and the result simply feels like a complete and utter cop-out. This was simply a horrible idea, and it is strange that what I consider the best episode of this show yet, has the worst and most horribly written twist yet. I truly hated this cop-out. The villain also still comes off as completely bland. Sure, he is a major threat, but he doesn't have much in the way of personality and has little to no screen presence. 

Despite some major faults, this episode has some truly great moments and this proves to be the show's best episode yet.