Secret Invasion: Betrayed

 

The 3rd episode of this Marvel series becomes more conventional than the previous episodes but there is still some stuff that works very well. 

My favorite part of this episode is the scenes between Nick Fury and his wife. Marvel (whether in movies, comics or shows) is usually at its best when it focuses on the drama between the characters and their relationships with each other. These scenes are Marvel doing what it does best. These are two well written characters having intelligent dialogue about how the effects of what has happened in the MCU movies and TV shows. As I watched these scenes, I grew a strong emotional connection. This is the most important ingredient to any form of science fiction. Because if we are emotionally connected than the fantasy seems more real to us. 

I have the exact opposite reaction to the scenes with the main villain. He was bland in the previous two episodes, but he only becomes blander here. We spend more time with him in this episode and get a good peak at what his master plan is. His master plan by the way is incredibly cliché and something we have seen many times before with no twist to it at all. His dialogue is also cliché and there is little of it that we haven't heard a million times before. All this brings the show into the same fault that happens to most of these Marvel streaming series. What starts off as something different from the average MCU project turns into something very conventional as the series goes along (this is especially true of Wanda Vision). There are quite a few scenes here that not only feel incredibly conventional but feel like lesser versions of scenes we have already seen in previous MCU movies. 

Besides just the main villain some of the other supporting characters here are also quite bland and most of them, you kind of forget about them when they aren't on screen. This even makes what is supposed to be an emotional twist fall completely flat. 

This episode does however benefit from a well-done sense of atmosphere, a couple good comic moments and of course the pure tough guy charisma of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. There is also a good sense of suspense, as unlike in many MCU projects we feel that any character can die at any moment. 

In this episode this series' flaws are becoming all the more apparent but there is still quite a bit to really like.