[DISCUSSION] Secret Invasion S01E02 - Promises

I know the show isn't perfect, but I really enjoyed the scene between Fury and Rhodey. The line about grasping power away from mediocre men who look different and ensuring it isn't held by mediocre men who look the same. Goddamn what a slap in the face to Fury.

And the closer: "I'm Nick Fury. Even when I'm out, I'm in."

I'm liking the slow burn of it. And the total paranoia that anybody could be a Skrill.

Not loving this show so far. The dialogue is clunky in a lot of places.

And the carpet bombing joke was tasteless. If Rhodey isn't a skrull, that America Police attitude is bullshit.

I enjoyed it. Thought it was better than the first episode and I’m happy to watch more.

Seems Ben Mendolsohn has the same accent affliction that Elizabeth Olsen had where he slowly reverts back to his native accent. He's just full on Australian now.

Also, do we think Fury knows his wife is a Skrull? On one hand she shifted before he could see her, but on the other she was the one who introduced him to Gravik. I think he does know which would explain why it's so personal to him to fight the war.

I did not see Nick Fury being married coming let alone to a Skrull.

And I love Sonya, I love Olivia Colman....is there anything wrong to say she's so delightfully sadistic and brutal? I love it when actors get to have fun.

I’m still upset Hill is dead. Although I like that they showed her at the beginning and then we meet her grieving mom just to drive it home that she’s really dead and it’s not a fake out. (Or is it…?)

In any case, I’m a bit confused by Fury’s actions here. Is he desperate? His confrontation with Rhodey seemed weird. He went AWOL for years and just expects Rhodey to do him a favor? After causing an international incident? He knows better right?! It just seems out of character. like Hill said, Fury used to be a few steps ahead, but this episode really showed that he’s just trying to catch up.

Also I’m not too happy with the villain just wanting world domination. They already have the cabinet with powerful members in powerful countries. I’d be more intrigued if we follow the political route instead of war.

I can't put a finger on the missing piece.. the cast are doing their best. The paranoia concept is great but it's never "shown". The time with Hill and the opening sequence were the only memorable times where the identity change had an impact.

I understand the undercurrent fear but it feels like there's no set up, just telling the changes. For example, everyone says Fury has changed but we never see the decline? Maybe the change is that he's becoming a tired, old, cranky man? I wanted to see Fury planning and shrewd and espionagey.

I've kept up with almost all MCU (for my sins) so maybe it's an "unexplored character" thing. Going to keep watching for hope of payoff of these relatively boring setups.

This ep was definitely better than the first.

Really like how serious it is.

Acting in scenes is still brilliant but i dont know about the plot.

The villian seems kinda boring and idk if it is the actor or the role he plays.

Still too early to tell where it all goes. Kinda like that in a series but let us hope it also wraps up neatly and does not end on a giant cliffhanger like loki did.

I think they may have used AI for more than just the opening credits, they probably used ChatGPT to write the script.

I’m feeling really underwhelmed by the show. I like Samuel L Jackson, Ben Mendelssohn, and Emilia Clarke, but there’s so much unwieldiness and awkwardness about the show.

Mostly it seems to suffer from Marvel’s #1 flaw: weak villains. It’s like a repeat of Falcon & Winter Soldier, but with none of the charm of Bucky & Falco BSing each other. The apparent main villain is just some guy and the Skrull “invasion” was already done in Capt Marvel, there hasn’t really been that feeling that “it could be anyone, trust nobody”.

If anything, Capt. Marvel is the real villain here because in 20 years she couldn't find another planet for the skrulls. Instead she seemed to be taking on extra sidequests like she was in a Bethesda game. What was Fury supposed to do, look through Hubble? The skrulls have more advanced tech than him, they're the ones that needed to help find another place, all Fury could do is just try to integrate them into Earth society as best he could. He even took a skrull as a lover, making it more of a personal mission for him, then Talos stabs him in the back by inviting an armada of skrulls in without consulting anybody.

The plot feels hacked together and things just sort of happen without reason. I get the overall scheme for the most part, but it just feels, blah.

The highlight of the episode was the British torture lady, everything else was meh.

I'm loving this show so far.

I hope they do more than Super Skrull. It's too obvious. I would certainly hope something relating to hulkling happens at least. At this point they're setting up Young Avengers so it's in the cards somewhere.

The show has been ok so far but I’m starting to lose interest in the skrulls. I’m hoping the show picks up and we get something more interesting than another world domination story.

Big John Wick vibes from Gravik in the butcher shop

How is this show so bad? I don’t get it. The scene between Rhodey and Fury was supposed to be tense and consequential, but it felt the complete opposite. It was dull and void of any stake. The plot is so shallow that nothing that’s happening in the show has any footing. The council of Skrull was terribly acted and written as well. I can’t wrap my head around how Marvel thought this was a good idea to release out in the wild in it’s current form?

Pacing has been all over the place and I just do not understand the motives.

When it releases, can anybody let me know if it’s as bad as the first episode or at least worth a watch?