We’re now a third of the way through “Secret Invasion”, and after having watched the second episode, I can see why those that got the early press screeners thought episodes one and two should’ve come out the same. Episode one had a lot of set-up and fast paced action, while episode two, a much quieter episode, is no less intense with dramatic scenes serving as both exposition and revealing information about the characters, while also hinting at Gravik’s Avengers contingency plan.

Spoilers for episode one to follow, and potential minor spoilers for episode two.

Final warning. The episode starts with a flashback to 1997 (two years after the events of “Captain Marvel”) where learn more about our central antagonist, namely, that Gravik’s parents were killed in the Skrulls’ last stand against the Kree, and that he was amongst the Skrull immigrants to whom Fury promised he’d find a new home for.

The episode then picks up immediately following the end of the first after Gravik, disguised as Nick Fury, shot Maria Hill and seemingly confirms that she is indeed dead (barring any unforeseen bait-and-switches). Fury and Talos part ways after the former learns that there are one million Skrulls currently living on Earth, and that this information was kept from him.

We also see the fallout from the bombings carried out in the episode, namely, the mounting tension between the USA and other international powers, something that results in a dressing down and military discharge for Fury courtesy of Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) due to his presence at the bombing.

This episode was much more engaging I think than the first episode. Not as much action, but several dialogue heavy scenes that had me hanging on every word. Particularly, I found the scene between Fury and Rhodey to be really good.

“The reason we wrestle this power from mediocre men who don’t look like us, was not simply to turn around and hand it to mediocre men who do.”

Not only is that a good line, Don Cheadle gives a really good performance to boot, but it is also an excellent dressing down of Fury by someone he called friend, and I think it helps to show how isolated Fury is especially with Hill’s death and the falling out with Talos. I’ve seen some people say this was out of character for Rhodey, but he’s done stuff like this before in “Iron Man 2”. And once again, let’s be honest, Rhodey being a Skrull feels like the most obvious thing to do since every fan has been speculating that since before the Skrulls were even introduced in the MCU. Honestly at this point, I’m more inclined to to suspect President Ritson is a Skrull than Rhodey.

I also really loved Olivia Colman this episode. I wasn’t initially sure what type of character we’d get from Sonya Falsworth, but gleeful torturer was not something I predicted. I loved the bait-and-switch that we were in for a PG-13 MCU interrogation scene, that was then revealed to be a bit more violent than expected. All the while, Falsworth seems to be having the time of her life. I definitely look forward to seeing more of her as the show goes on.

I have fewer nice things to say about Gravik. From his mannerisms, to his backstory, and his very “I’m an angsty teenager that skimmed a history book” approach to human history, all seem like things I’ve seen in a million other movies and shows. Especially since this is not too unlike what we got in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”, although, Gravik has been more interesting than Karli Morgenthau (mostly by virtue of being a shapeshifting space reptilian).

I’m also kicking myself for not sharing a predication I had last week in the first episode’s review, especially since that prediction as a) come true, and b) is now a spoiler if I talk about it at length. What I can say is that it looks like we’re getting a reimagining of a classic Fantastic Four villain that normally relies very heavily on the Four’s involvement, but is instead making use of past elements of the MCU.

The ending scene is another thing I suspected would happen (the signs were literally everywhere), but I can understand how those that aren’t as deeply into critical analysis of media could miss the signs.

Overall, a solid episode that sets up a lot of potentially fun stuff elements for future episodes.