IR TV Review: SECRET INVASION - EPISODE 4 [Marvel/Disney+]

The conceit of trust and perspective usually has to do with experience. However with expectation comes a responsibility of what certain narrative choices mean to the overall story. With Episode 4 of "Secret Invasion", the idea of where that path takes Nick Fury is one both of betrayal and heartbreak (and not necessarily in that order). This episode understands the importance of stakes but also to let the audience draw their own conclusions in terms of why characters do certain things in the overall meaning not of the narrative but of their own journey. This is not just true of Fury but of his wife (a breakfast table scene in some of the best work of this series --- and of Marvel series in general -- because of the layers of inflection going on).

It also just as high of stakes with Talos (though we have to understand more where this unfathomed trust comes from). An earlier scene in the scene in the series does not quite fully explain it. Rhodey (as that storyline continues to evolve) requires some more information (even if it does serve as the MacGuffin). It runs the risk of making the story strands too complex in a way. However the climax of the episode does stay true and inflective of the truth of the story (which is Nick Fury's instinct versus his perspective of his own mortality after the blip). The series hasn't fully emcompassed that existential moment for him in specific detail (but hopefully it does). The aspect of Talos' daughter G'aia (Emilia Clarke) remains to be seen but this episode does create an interesting motivation in many ways. Episode 4 is the best of "Secret Invasion" since it is getting closer to truth of what it is trying to explore. A-

By Tim Wassberg