Secret Invasion Promises Review: Raising the stakes

Episode two of Secret Invasion, Promises, amps up the serious tone and measured pacing established in the premiere.

**Spoiler Warning for Episode 1 of Secret Invasion**

Creating an intriguing mystery full of conspiracy is difficult to balance. New information needs to be added to move the story along, but if you divulge too much information, the game of who’s who can become predictable. Once a conspiracy thriller is predictable, then you end up in boredom territory. Secret Invasian succeeds by delving into Fury’s past, moving the villain (Gravik) plot along, delivering one of the best dialogue scenes in an MCU property and another intriguing twist ending.

The episode begins by flashing back to 1995 and revealing Nick Fury’s promise to find the Skrulls a new world. From this point on episode 2 serves as a reminder of Fury’s failure to keep his promise. Talos and Colonel James Rhodes serve as reminders to Fury of his failures.

Gravik’s attack and Fury’s presence in Russia are cause for concern. The world is looking to blame the United States for the attack and has set its sight on Fury as the scapegoat due to his proximity. Gravik’s contingency plans for an Avengers-level threat and the widespread hold he has over world leaders become clearer in Promises. He’s a formidable villain who’s more than willing to get his hands dirty as evidenced by a shockingly violent, but well-shot action sequence.

Don Cheadle reprises his role as Rhodes once again. Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson have a scene that ranks as one of the best acting performances in an MCU property. Systemic racism, professional courtesy and responsibility all coalesce into a powerful scene that ends with Rhodes firing and trying to detain Fury.

Similar to the Everett Ross reveal in the premiere, not enough time is given to deal with the aftermath of Maria Hill’s apparent death. There’s a surprising lack of emotion or reflection on this singular event from Fury. He does visit Hill’s mother, but outside of another promise, there’s not much going on beneath Fury’s surface. However, the terrific twist ending could explain the emotional disconnect.

Outside of the emotionally stunting nature in some scenes, Secret Invasion is brimming with confidence heading into episode three.

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

Failed Promises

There are two flashback sequences in Promises. Both feature return to the ’90s.

The first returns to 1995. Fury promises to find a new world for the Skrulls to live on. Then, Promises skips two years and delivers a 1997 flashback. Talos introduces Fury to a teenage Gravik. The young Skrull is a warrior who is a survivor but distrustful. Gravik eventually gives in a little bit.

Promises shift things back to the present. Talos gets Fury out of dodge and they board a train out of Russia. After some prodding, Talos reveals there are a million Skrulls living on Earth. Fury is shocked and angry at the revelation. Talos believes humans and Skrulls can coexist peacefully on Earth. Fury explains humanity can barely tolerate people from different cultures let alone accept another species. Talos is still unhappy about Fury abandoning Earth for S.A.B.E.R.

Talos leaves the train, while Fury heads to London. He apologizes to Maria Hill’s mother. She doesn’t suffer fools. When Fury tries to sugarcoat Hill’s death by saying “It happened quickly,” Hill’s mother tells him not to provide her with empty platitudes. It’s a short scene that does a good job of showing where Maria’s toughness came from. However, there’s simply not enough focus on Hill’s death given how important she is to Fury.

Cat and mouse

Gravik and G’iah return to the Russian compound. Gravik is treated like a hero for the bombing, but he’s a general with a purpose. He asks G’iah to drive him to a meeting. Throughout the world, news broadcasters and political leaders are trying to paint the United States as the responsible party. Gravik’s meeting is with these same broadcasters and political leaders. This is the current Skrull council. They are initially against Gravik’s plan, but after a short disagreement, the council agrees to follow Gravik’s lead. There is one holdout, but Gravik lets her leave.

Gravik’s goal is to start World War III between Russia and the United States. With humanity weakened, Gravik and the Skrulls will be able to take over the planet. If The Avengers intervene, then Gravik has a contingency in place.

Humanity’s not out of the fight. After the bombing, one of the Skrull bombers posing as an American is captured by agents. They’re attempting to get information from him at a black site located in a butcher shop. Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Coleman) finds the location. She is much more successful at getting some answers. The Skrull divulges the safehouse location and reveals there’s a machine being developed to make Skrulls stronger.

Before Falsworth can get more information out of the Skrull, Gravik arrives and forces her to escape. Gravik dispenses the agents with shocking ease and violence.

Coleman is terrific once again. She is making a meal out of Brian Tucker‘s dialogue. Kingsley Ben-Adir is also sensational as Gravik. He’s a captivating presence on screen and a formidable villain who seems cut from a similar cloth as Fury.

Fury Rhodes

In the premiere, Rhodes was sent by President Ritson to deal with Fury. After the explosion in Russia, Rhodes is in Europe doing political cleanup duty. He shows up to a hearing of sorts but makes it clear showing up is the only courtesy he’s offering.

Before he can leave the building, he receives a call from Fury. They need to talk. The conversation starts somewhat cordial, but there’s palpable tension throughout the scene.

Fury tries several angles to try to win Rhodes’s support. The reveal of Skrulls while shocking to Rhodes doesn’t deter him. Rhodes brings up The Avengers. Fury doesn’t want to jump the gun as the Skrulls could turn into an Avenger.

Having Fury in a seat of power gave Rhodes a career path that now has the ear of the President of the United States. Rhodes doesn’t budge. Rhodes is sending Fury home. Fury believes Rhodes didn’t hear him right. Fury’s wrong.

Rhodes regurgitates Fury’s words with a different spin. The Skrulls are a bigger threat than Hydra, but only the hubris of Fury can stop it. Rhodes also throws Fury’s request to “help a brother out” back at Rhodes. The reason Fury and Rhoades were able to reach their stations and take control from weaker men is so they have hard conversations with people they admire. In short, Rhodes fires Fury, but Fury is able to escape the situation and is on the run again.

Cheadle may have earned another guest star Emmy nomination with his performance in this scene. Jackson matches Cheadle blow for blow in the best one-on-one acting scene in an MCU show since Florence Pugh and Hailee Steinfeld in Hawkeye.

Promises final thoughts

The conversation between Fury and Rhodes by itself makes Promises one of the better episodes in an MCU series. Add in the intriguing villain plot, consistent tone and terrific twist ending and you have one of the best episodes of any show this year.

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