REVIEW: ‘Secret Invasion’ Episode 5 — “Harvest”

Secret Invasion Episode 5 decides, with only one episode left, to finally drop Gravick’s main objective as well as Fury’s place in the ongoing mess. As is the case with the rest of the series, these plot developments are devoid of grace and nuance, hobbled together to give us a big, “reveal” moment that doesn’t startle or shock but rather, irritates. It was enough that the Skrulls, feeling displaced and with the right leadership, would want to take the earth as their own. It was enough that Fury, having been gone for so many years after having made protecting the plant his life’s mission, would feel responsible for the tension with his direct work with the Skrulls in the past. We didn’t need more super serums, secret vials, and “The Harvest.” The addition of these elements, plus Fury’s sense of culpability, only convolutes the show. 

And the show can’t take any more baggage. Watching the show is going through multiple mental exercises as we ask what on earth was the purpose of this series. The strain of the writing is felt most noticeably with Gravick. He’s getting pushback after having so publically killed Talos, and goes on a rant about how all of the Skrull who have been helping him are “faceless,” and “nameless.” Another show would’ve infused power in the moment, especially as it uses terminology that strikes emotional blows into Skrull who have, for so long, hidden their true identities in order to sneak by the notice of earth’s human inhabitants. 

In Secret Invasion Episode 5, however, the moment is rendered over the top, even silly, as Kingsley Ben-Adir goes for broke with a broad performance. His introduction in the series set up a suave leader whose extremist values enticed others like him as well as his promise to protect them unlike their former ambassador — Talos — did. Now, he’s attacking any who question his actions, and mustering them publically. He’s attacked later by another frustrated group of his followers and does the same. He’s gone, full mustache-twirling villain. That level of cartoonish energy would be fine if the show realize that this isn’t the prestige drama it thinks it is and instead allowed for an ounce of self-aware playfulness to inject itself into the scripts. 

The writing benefits no one but Fury (to a degree) and Sonya, a character deeply aided by Olivia Colman’s sly performance. Priscilla and G’iah get a scene together with the former helping to bury Talos and it culminates in a hollow example of what happens when characters are built off suggestions rather than actual content. The scene is meant to be meaningful as Priscilla passes on her wisdom of what it meant to be able to live with Fury in a house she loves but how can we feel anything when we don’t know anything about them beyond their relationships with the men in the series? G’iah has baseline anger at her father, and Pricilla loves poetry. These are thin characters from which the show is trying to bleed emotion from. 

I’d have argued Fury was the best part of the show up until this episode which all of a sudden has decided he’s a self-righteous idiot. When Sonya asks him why he doesn’t call down some of his superhuman friends, he tells him he can’t because it’s personal. Because this is something that he has to do as there are things he can do that the Avengers can’t. It’s a weak, expected development on a show that couldn’t guarantee bigger names to jump in but it succeeds in lessening Fury’s intelligence. There’s no logical, character-based belief that he would look at the threat before him — worldwide extinction as Gravick plays the puppet master of war — and think that he, a guy with a gun, could save the day single-handedly. He’s been written to be much more shrewd than that and few things irk as much as when writers purposefully dumb their characters down for the sake of plot continence. 

The upcoming finale has a lot to cover. From The Harvest — a collection of superbeing’s DNA that the Skrulls can use to become Super Skrulls —, to the impending war, the loose ends are to be expected. Sure, there are some Easter Eggs, and it’s all likely set up for whatever is to come next in the MCU, but it doesn’t matter if the story being told in the present isn’t executed well. 

Like the rest of the series, Secret Invasion Episode 5 dulls the vibrancy of its characters for the sake of a middling, self-serious piece of storytelling. Beyond Coleman’s committed, witty performance, there’s little else worth engaging with. Unless you’re a completionist for MCU films and television, Episode 5, “Harvest” is going to do little to convince you the show is worth catching up on. There are plenty of other better superhero shows out there, old and new, that are worthwhile. 

Secret Invasion Season 1 is available now on Disney+