REVIEW: ‘Invincible’ Season 2 Episode 3 — “This Missive, This Machination!”

In Invincible Season 2 Episode 3, “This Missive, This Machination,” Mark is off to college. Last episode, he shares his grief with his mother, confronts his fear of becoming his father, and shows that he can be a good boyfriend to Amber so long as he’s being honest. We’ve seen glimpses of Mark’s social life and relationships at the start of the season. With Amber and William in on his secret identity, he’s able to talk with them about his superhero escapades but also gets a chance just to be a college freshman. This is how Invincible Season 2 Episode 3 starts.

Things between Mark and Amber are heating up, and the audience gets a chance to see them just being college freshmen in love. But truthfully, Invincible Season 2 Episode 3 is about the people around Mark and not him specifically. More importantly, it’s effectively split into two episodes, the first focusing on Allen the Alien, the  Unopans, their colonization by the Viltrimites, and Allen’s role in the Coalition of Planets.

Don’t know who the Unopans are? Well, it’s Allen’s (Seth Rogen) people. Remember the guy who talked with Mark on the moon? Yup. The first section of the episode is about their resiliency and ultimately stands to build Viltrum into something more than just what we’ve seen with Nolan as Omni-Man. Through Allen, the audience gets the chance to see the brutality of the Viltrumites and how Nolan’s choice to flee at the end of Season One was one that went directly against his mission from Viltrum.

It would be easy for Invincible Season 2 Episode 3 to just be an exposition, but it isn’t in the least. Allen is charismatic, and the story around the Coalition is intriguing and tense, with large implications that will ripple forward through the season. Superhero origins, a dive into the Coalition and mission of the Viltrumites, some romance, and finally, betrayal are all on display in “This Missive, This Machination!”

It all amounts to a story within a story that adds context to the world of Invincible fantastically. Despite being shown through Allen and the Coalition, Mark is still at the center, and the hope he brings to destroying Viltrum and its control in the universe is undeniable. Not to mention, Allen’s place and fate in it all are surprisingly emotional.

The second part of the episode deals with the Guardians of the Globe and its growing pains and shows small romance blossom and acted upon by Rudy (Ross Marquand) and Monster Girl (Grey Griffin). But more importantly, Invincible Season 2 Episode 3 highlights Debbie and her struggle to find normalcy after Nolan’s crimes. This episode is astonishingly emotional.

Debbie joins a support group for those who have lost loved ones, and when she goes to a bar with one of them, she realizes that the reason he is a widower is because of Nolan. It’s hard to watch, and the moment plays out in an intimate way. You can feel the hole that that revelation blows in Debbie’s heart. Nolan disrupted Debbie’s life brutally, and now, she can’t even heal from it because of the harm those who would understand her to blame her for their pain.

In Invincible Season 2, Debbie is given such a huge role and burden to carry and Sandra Oh’s performance perfectly captures every emotion. She is vulnerable, she is lonely, and she is stuck perpetually thinking that she should have stopped Nolan, that she should have known, and because he is not dead, she can’t even grieve and move on.

With a tight 46-minute runtime, it’s amazing how much the series can pull off in so little time. We see science fiction and superheroes but we also see real human emotion and fear. It even ends with Mark flying to a new planet to save a race of bug people who have embraced a man they call the Monarch, his father. There is an astounding amount of ground covered in such a small amount of time that you have to commend the writers for pacing the developments and emotional crescendos perfectly.

Invincible Season 2 Episode 3 is a kick in the chest, but it also captures the superhero elements that the series has come to be known for. Adult animation at its best, Invincible is an emotional triumph as much as it’s a bloody good time.

Invincible Season 2 Episode 3 is streaming now exclusively on Prime Video.