Erik Adams
The biggest strengths and weaknesses of Invincible season 3 collide in “What Have I Done?” Thus far, it’s had to choose between plot momentum and character development, and nowhere is that more apparent than when a team of alt-universe Invincibles invade Chicago, wreaking havoc and forcing the Mark we know to fight them off. It’s a major turn, resulting in a handful of powerful moments, but it doesn’t have the necessary grounding to fully connect.
“What Have I Done?”’s main issue is its lopsided setups and payoffs. Angstrom Levy unleashing a multiversal squadron of evil Marks is a huge conceit, but it’s one that’s been relegated to a handful of post-credit stingers thus far. To defend against these invading villains, the GDA and the Guardians seek the help of some classic, Silver Age-style heroes who play a major part in the episode (and even die along the way, in scenes meant to generate sympathy), but these are characters we’ve never seen before, whose names and personalities we never learn.
Rank these past and current members of the Guardians of the Globe
Rank these past and current members of the Guardians of the Globe
Still, so much happens in “What Have I Done?” (and so much of it is downright vicious and intense) that it’s hard to discount it, despite all the missteps. A flashback shows us how Angstrom survived despite being beaten to a literal pulp by Invincible – he had a legion of tech-savvy surgeons at the ready in a pocket dimension, and just enough life in him to conjure a portal – leading to his multi-Mark incursion all these months later.
While the Mark we know (let’s call him Mark Prime) has an awkward chat with Eve about meeting her superhero-averse parents, all hell breaks loose across the globe, as up to 18 Invincible variants wreak havoc on suburbs and metropolitan landmarks alike (as well as one pesky Mummy’s tomb, a gag whose refusal to pay off after three seasons is actually absurdly funny). Each invading Invincible has a slightly different design – a Mohawk, an old-school bandit mask, a more Omni-Man-like costume – but each is still recognizably Invincible, and Steven Yeun provides just enough variation in each vocal performance to sell the illusion.
Mark Prime being so vastly outgunned is a fun setup in the vein of Dragon Ball Z. However, the way this plot unfolds is less exciting, given that the three primary Guardians killed by the evil Invincibles are Dupli-Kate (of whom there are multiple copies, so she can’t really die), Immortal (whose name says it all), and Shapesmith (whose survival, despite being torn in two, has a convenient explanation). There’s plenty of onscreen carnage this week, but it’s hard to get invested in most of it, since a reversal always seems to be right around the corner. Rex appears to spontaneously explode in order to take out one of the Invincibles, but whether or not he’s truly dead – and thus, whether or not his romantic arc with Rae has concluded – remains uncertain. Similarly, Donald appears to have reconciled his status as a resurrected android entirely offscreen, but who knows how long this acceptance will last. It often feels like “What Have I Done?” pulls at existing threads with too much force, if only for the sake of convenience, and having supporting players join the fight.
Eve, on the other hand, is gravely injured (it’s rare to see such a visceral fracture on the show, so kudos on that front), forcing Mark Prime to choose between looking after her and tracking down his numerous variants. Lucky for him, this debate is easily resolved when the evil Marks all turn on Levy and the genius supervillain simply sends them all packing to another dimension. It’s a bit too expedient, given the numerous all-is-lost moments in the episode’s second act, and too easily clears the path for Mark’s confrontation with Levy, which feels truncated too.
Despite Oliver’s insistence that Mark kill Levy – it seems his arc about rejecting murder hasn’t been resolved after all – our hero hesitates, letting him escape in the process. At the very least, this poses a further complication for Mark if Levy returns, since that would be a direct outcome of Mark avoiding lethal force. He’s damned if he does (by way of Powerplex showing up again to seek revenge for his past destruction), and it would seem he’s also going to be damned if or when he doesn’t.
However, we may not have to wait all that long to find out the answer, not only because next week’s episode is the season finale, but because of the note on which “What Have I Done?” ends. For all its structural wonkiness and wheel-spinning, it ends with Mark in a more complicated position, torn between a rock and a hard place as a new Viltrumite envoy named Conquest shows up to confront him. In that moment, he’s so emotionally beaten down that it puts him in a fighting mood, and poised to make rash decisions. That’s one hell of a hook for next week.
Source link
ranzware
Add comment