Secret Invasion Harvest Review: Fury rises, Gravik fades in solid penulitimate episode

Harvest succeeds in building up Nick Fury and G’iah. Unfortunately, the Skrulls out of nowhere mutiny against Gravik prevents Harvest from matching the heights of the first two episodes. Thankfully the return of Olivia Coleman as Sonya Falsworth and intense straight-to-the-point action sequences raise Harvest above the last couple of Secret Invasion episodes.

Samuel L. Jackson, Emilia Clarke, Charlayne Woodard and Coleman deliver terrific performances. Both Gravik and Fury are looking to rebound following the assault on the presidential convoy in the last episode. Fury was able to save President Ritson, while Gravik killed Talos.

There’s a weird emotional disconnect throughout the series after character deaths. Talos’s death should feel more significant than it does. However, I thought the reveal of Fury’s reason for returning was well done and gives his return more of a purpose. Coleman and Jackson are fantastic together.

G’iah connecting with Priscilla shines more light on each of their characters while providing room for a tense, well-constructed action sequence.

Where Harvest falls short is Gravik’s storyline. After starting so strong and seemingly in control, it feels like Fury has the upper hand on Gravik. After failing to kill the president, Pagan leads an insurrection against Gravik. Pagan lays out some good arguments. However, the discontent should have been building throughout the series. In Harvest, the situation is taken care of too quickly.

In spite of The Skrulls storyline faltering, Harvest does succeed in setting the stage for the season finale.

Secret Invasion Harvest Review Score: 7.5

Very Good

With the overview out of the way, let’s look deeper at Harvest. There may be some spoilers. Secret Invasion is streaming on Disney Plus.

Nick Fury’s Harvest

Fury finally reveals why he returned to Earth. After the battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame, Avenger DNA was left behind. Fury assigned a group to collect the DNA. Gravik led the group, which turned into his inspiration for Super Skrulls. Fury returned to clean this particular mess.

Sonya is also working on the Super Skrull problem. Her investigation leads her to the head of the MI-6. She reveals his Skrull identity. Then talks to the head scientist responsible for the Super Skrulls experiment. Coleman combines a light, comedic touch for a cutthroat approach that somehow continues to work.

After meeting with G’iah, Gravik bargains with Fury to bring him the DNA sample. Fury flies to Finland and meets up with Sonya. The pair head to Fury’s headstone (one of many around the worked) where he has stashed the sample. Fury recalls going on a honeymoon with Priscilla in Finland and reveals his wife is a Skrull to Sonya. Fury ends the episode by donning his eye patch and saying “Let’s finish this.”

As much as I enjoy the bond shared between Ben Mendelsohn as Talso and Jackson as Fury, there’s a special kind of energy generated whenever Coleman and Jackson share the screen that is unmatched in the series.

Skin Deep

Speaking of great pairings, seeing Clarke finally share the screen opposite Jackson was great. Fury tries to get G’iah to grieve in a healthy manner. However, G’iah is still in flight mode and not ready to deal with the grief head-on. She does ask for her father’s body so he can have a proper burial.

Fury tells G’iah where to find his wife. G’iah doesn’t know the Skrull burial customs. Priscilla recites the prayer and tries to console her.

Priscilla chooses to stay at the house rather than run from Gravik’s execution squad. She chose this home because of what it could provide Fury, but ended up finding warmth in the place. In short, Priscilla would rather die in an area that brought profound happiness than die in an area with no memories or connection. In some ways, this is reminiscent of Bill and Frank in The Last of Us.

One of the best moments in the episode involves G’iah questioning whether Fury finds Priscilla’s Skrull form attractive. Priscilla cuts her off. As a young person, G’iah is commenting on a long-term relationship she knows nothing about. Woodard is incredible in this scene and Clarke matches her in subtle ways. In trying to reveal or punch holes in Priscilla and Fury’s marriage, G’iah actually reveals her own insecurities. She wants to feel comfortable in her own skin but doesn’t see how humanity can perceive Skrulls as equals.

Mutiny

Meanwhile, Gravik is having issues at the Skrullos base in Russia. Pagon and several other Skrulls are rightfully questioning Gravik’s leadership. Gravik responds by quickly killing Pagon.

Later, several more Skrulls attack Gravik. He defeats all of them with ease and kills Beto, the new recruit brought in by G’iah.

After fending off the insurrection, Gravik orders fake Rhodey to convince President Ritson to launch on missile strike on the Skrull compound. A United State attack on Russian soil would kick off World War III.

Gravik finally calls Fury. He asks Fury to bring the serum to prevent the strike from happening.

After a promising start, Gravik’s menace as a villain gets weaker with every episode. Kingsley Ben-Adir is doing everything he can to make the character stand out. However, the story just isn’t particularly interesting. The Harvest reveal does wonders for Fury, but has the opposite effect on Gravik. The spark of Gravik’s rebellion started off of one simple idea to create Super Skrulls using Avengers DNA.

Unfortunately, turning the world powers against each other approach has too many logistics for Gravik to manage.

Harvest final thoughts

When Fury, G’iah and Sonya are driving the story forward, Secret Invasion shines. Unfortunately, when the focus shifts back to Gravik, the series struggles to maintain a sense of urgency. The villain issues are similar to Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Both series feature captivating actors delivering layered performances. Unfortunately, the same level of care doesn’t carry over to the villain plots.

If the series can deliver a satisfying finale next week, then Secret Invasion can be a successful series for the MCU.

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