Invincible (TV Series) It's Not That Simple (2024) User Reviews

Good, But...

[MamadNobari97 · 7/10 · 21 March 2024]

This is a pretty decent episode and the lesser of the two new episodes of this second part of season 2. But why does the stuff with Mark and Amber feel like should've been in episode 4 or 5? Especially when there are only 2 episodes left and God knows how long we have to wait for the next seasons.

Am I wrong for thinking it's weird that 80% of the episode feels like something that would've been in the middle of the season of any other show, and the important scenes of the main story feel like post-credit scenes. Not just this episode, but a lot of episodes this season.

Don't get me wrong, I like seeing Mark finally moving on from Amber, they're setting that up and I'm glad. And they're doing a good job of showing they're both being adult about it, especially funny with Amber with all the nonsense she pulled last season. But it feels like a lot of the runtime is dedicated to this storyline, and I'm sure most people aren't gonna vibe with that much. They do a good job of editing the scenes together to make it more engaging, but I think they should've condensed it a little.

It threw off the pacing of the story. Not asking for more action, we already got a lot of brutal action in these past two episodes. I'm just asking for the plot to move a little bit more than this.

The pacing of the storytelling of this show is really weird. They introduce so many new villains and characters in one episode and kill them in the next or forget about them and then show them again 3 episodes later that makes it overwhelming with how many plotlines are happening at the same time.

I appreciate how this show handles its characters though. Like they introduce a group of goofy characters you think are gonna be a walk in the park for the Guardians of the Globe, and next thing you know they absolutely annihilate the Guardians and they may even die in the process themselves. So I like the unpredictability of this show and how it handles its bad guys. They're not your typical villain of the week. You don't know if this villain is gonna instantly die, or if he is gonna kill one of the main characters and become a regular villain, or maybe kill someone and die himself too.

The problem I have is just how many characters and storylines are set up in every episode. It's all too overwhelming. And with how important this show makes each and every character feel, even the characters you thought were one-offs and nothing, and they dedicate a good amount of time to every one of them, it makes you wonder why this show isn't 1-hour per episode if there are so many characters and so much story to tell. And why the hell do these seasons only have 8 episodes?

Like I said, I appreciate the fact that this show makes even the minor characters feel important and has character arcs and storylines for them, this show is unique in that way, and also shows how brutal and savage this world is that even the villains of the week can do real damage to our "protagonists". But at the same time, it's just too much. Too many characters are introduced and too many storylines are moving at the same time.

So, all in all, I think I repeated myself a lot here, so I won't say more, except that it's a decent episode that shouldn't've been put as the second to penultimate episode. With this pacing, I'm not sure if they can wrap up any storyline before season 8 or something.

Great first half, decent second half

[choiproductionsyt · 8/10 · 21 March 2024]

This episode is good. The first half is a good payoff to the things set up last episode and the second half seems to be tying up some loose ends. The first ten minutes or so is phenomenal and has high stakes and tensions. However, once those plotlines are resolved, the rest of the episode feels like setup. It's good stuff and it kept me in my seat the entire time, but I think naturally these episodes building up to the finale are bound to be a little weaker. Again, I must stress, this episode is good. I just feel like it's building up to something FAR greater in the finale. I cannot be more excited.

Great episode

[uzaircfc-52641 · 9/10 · 21 March 2024]

This season started off decent but since Episode 4 it has picked up. Rex is alive! I love Allen and Mark's dynamic so much and I'm so happy to see them together again. We see Omni-Man again briefly and find out his books contain the secrets to defeating the viltrumites, or atleast Mark seems to think so, which I thought was really cool. I can't wait for the next 2 episodes, I haven't read the comics so I genuinely have no idea of what to expect. Also I don't know why this episode was given a 5/10 by one of the other user reviews, judging by their reasoning I don't think they saw the mid credit scene of last weeks episode....

Consequences Explored Unlike Many Comic Book Adaptations

[anonymous_Tigraway · 9/10 · 22 March 2024]

Invincible is a standout comic book show for a reason - while keeping all the physics bending fantasy and other worldly creatures of a comic book, it feels grounded in our human reality - here on Earth. So many scenes this episode are based on feelings of conflict, trauma, disappointment, and regrets that humans will experience in their lifetime.

In this episode, Mark's journey continues as he balances his responsibility as a superhero, evermore needed by the world, with life in college, relationships with Amber and Debby, and his newfound brother - Oliver. After "dealing" with the Sequid threat, Mark and the Guardians crew on the Mars mission find the wreckage from the Lizard League's attack. Rex miraculously made it out alive along with Shrink Rae leaving the team to deal with DupliKate's shocking departure. (At least they did not get to see how she died haha.) But the team is rightfully distraught, none more so than the Immortal, who I thought had a short-time fling with Kate, delivering her eulogy and describing her as "a kindred soul." No thread is left unexplored in Invincible and the Immortal's unusually unmoored and emotional state following Kate's death erupts in an altercation with our friendly alien - Allen - near the episode's end.

Allen - incredibly voiced and brought to life by Seth Rogen and among the wholesome characters of the show - is back on earth on a mission to bring Mark to Talescria - home base to the Coalition of Planets in resisting the Viltrumites. Mark, understandably, rejects this proposal and instead shares with Allen what could be the Kryptonite in defeating the Viltrum empire - Nolan's "fictional" books of his adventures in the galaxy and the threats he knew abt and faced. The threat of the Viltrum empire looms large and after no updates during last week's episodes, Nolan's whereabouts are revealed. Nolan's arc remains the moat of Invincible and I am looking forward to what the show has in store for his incredible character - if not on earth where he - ahem- destroyed a train full of people with his kid - somewhere far far away.

Episode 6 ends with two tantalizing threats/treats - Angstrom Levy is looking fly (except for the dread-like deformity of the shape of his head) and he is back on the home reality of our show's Invincible - wonder what he discovered in hid journey across the parallel universes.

The Sequids are now the Sequid - singular. One made it back to earth inside the host astronaut and is back in control. Can it duplicate and enslave more of humanity? We'll find out soon!

Episode 7 - please be here sooner!

It just keeps getting better and better

[kalelwhistler · 10/10 · 22 March 2024]

I'd like to start by saying that while I understand the frustration felt by people for the 4 month break. But I still don't take it out on the ratings I give the episodes and neither should you. I'm sure Amazon realised their mistake, and I'm sure they won't do it again cause they know that if they might as well just cancel the show cause people will give up on it and so will I.

That being said,I usually don't like when comic adaptations change things from the source material, but this is one of those very rare instances where I'm actually fine with it. I won't mention the changes in question in case anyone reading this is planning on reading the comics ( as they definitely should) but I'll just say that most of the changes were good changes.

I have some thoughts...

[Trey_Trebuchet · 9/10 · 22 March 2024]

Okay so I never really cared for Mark and Amber's relationship in the comics. It just wasn't all that interesting in the comics and it isn't the best part of the series either. I think they've certainly done a better job with it here, but I still don't love her character, so when a lot of this episode was about them, you can probably imagine how I felt. They have potential to at least close off that relationship better than in the comics.

Everything else slapped though! I loved the exchanges between Invincible and the Immortal, a character who is just as good here as he was in the comic run as well.

Rex is way better here though. He's way funnier and likable in this series. They've done a great job with his character, and his opening scene in this was just so entertaining and insane.

I also enjoyed all of Debbie's screen time yet again! She's by far one of the best parts of this season.

And I'm not typically one to cheer if a character ends up "not actually being dead even though if certainly like it", but the Shrinking Ray death was so horrifying that I'm glad they decided not to go that route.

Once again, great cliffhanger, great soundtrack, great animation, great voice work and character progression. If they go by the comics, I'm anxious and scared and excited for the last two episodes.

Solid quiet episode beset by plot overload and schmuck bait

[thegreendrinker · 6/10 · 25 March 2024]

Much of this episode is dedicated to characters dealing with the fallout of the last encounter in space and much of it is solid. Mark and Amber's relationship hits a very real wall that many couples have had to deal with. Both still really like each other but it just isn't working. Their struggle kind of mirrors the challenges of a long distance relationship. I feel like Amber is being given more depth which is something I appreciate given that it would be far easier for the show to just have her unceremoniously exit the story. I think it shows integrity as a storyteller to satisfyingly wrap up a storyline even if that storyline is past its expiration date.

We also get Immortal lashing out due to grief, Rex becoming a little reflective, and William consoling his traumatized boyfriend. Not as much attention is given to these as Mark and Amber's storyline but they are solid additions, even if they do feel like they are adding to the bloat of the season.

One of my issues with the episode is it feels like there just isn't enough time for everything. This is even reflected in a meta way. Allen wants Mark to come with him to help fight Viltrumites but Mark is exhausted and needs a break. Angstrom Levy being re-introduced or another sequid storyline being set up after so little time to let the story breathe feels a little desperate. I know that might be part of the point- that superheroes are run ragged with endless duty- but it doesn't feel wholly satisfying. The first season felt like it had a better balance of plot progression and character development and this one's scale feels far too tipped towards the former.

My other issue with the episode is that there were two death fake outs. In my review of the previous episode, I mentioned that I really liked the commitment to following through with the consequences of the character's actions. This episode does deal with some of the fallout but it leads us to believe two characters are dead and then later reveals that they were alive all along. The sequids cliffhanger implied there would be a heavier cost to the battle, but then there wasn't. Like I said, characters don't have to die but I expect consequences when the story suggests there will be some. I am also tired of stories leading us to believe a character was killed and then revealing they weren't dead all along. Unless you have a really good reason for doing so, it is usually just a lazy way to string the audience along. You get to have the shocking moment but also get to not take the risk of actually having there be consequences that shake the current paradigm.

Weaker episode, but still solid

[tdsearles25 · 7/10 · 25 March 2024]

I have thoroughly enjoyed the quality of this show. It has had an excellent balance of story, world building, action, character progression and the management of multiple plot lines.

I do feel this episode dragged a little. I just don't know that this amount of time dedicated to Mark and Ambers relationship was necessary. We all know Mark ends up with Atom Eve but still.

Also, the story has been unique enough that I haven't really noticed parallels but... a lot of characters really do parallel DC. Omni-Man = evil superman from Viltrim/Krypton. Mark = Supermans son, half human. No Batman parallel because he would have put an end to the nonsense, Darkwing was a batman amateur. Eve = Green Lantern in abilities. Guardians of the Globe = Justice League, etc.

But I think they do enough to separate and tell their own story. I am looking forward to the continued story and to see how it all ends up.

what a bait

[gustabtc · 1/10 · 6 April 2024]

Nobody I know likes even remotely Mark's relationship. It consistently makes every scene uncomfortable and boring. And then the writers pretend you'll make them break up, get us cheering up and they're suddenly back more awkward than ever on the next episode.

Also, the way Rex was brought back was pretty stupid. Scenes like that make fights lose.the feeling of risk.

The Martian plot was one of the most boring so far, the fight between the hive mind and the heroes was very bad both narratively and animation/emotion wise.

In short, this episode was the worst of the series so far, even though the series as a whole is pretty good.

Repetitive and empty episode

[fferidd · 3/10 · 22 March 2024]

I don't like how this series is starting to become the next TWD series drag to keep milking money and empty episodes with no actual impact. Last episode they showed 3 guardians dead and no we find it was fake, only one died, so sick of Amber and Mark getting storyline, It's just same thing happening over and over, they get good, mark leaves, she's sad, mark apologizes, they're good now and again mark leaves and it repeats. Also the writing is getting more and more lazy, the lines are so dumb and conversations that try to show their agenda through our throats. The quality drop is insane compared to first season.

Filler episode with no stakes

[knoxfan2008 · 4/10 · 21 March 2024]

This season of Invincible has been good, but compared to the gravity and transgressiveness of season 1, it's way below form. This episode in particular is just a filler episode where none of the characters seem in any real danger.

The opening fight scene starts from where the last episode left off, and the "overwhelming" threat of the Martian tentacle aliens attacking the heroes, but every time there's a huge swarm of them, in the next shot, it just cuts away to a hero only fighting a few of them. It does this so often. The size of the room and the geography changes constantly. It's convenient editing so we don't have to wonder the whole time why Rudy isn't taken sooner.

Most of this episode relies on relationship stuff between Amber and Mark, the least interesting relationship in the show. Amber is the 'Invincible' version of Tom, from 'Daria'. Every scene with them feels obligatory.

The biggest issue however, is that there aren't any stakes. I never believed that any of the guardians were ever in actual danger. The last episode where we saw the shrinking supe (Rae) "die", I was shocked, Kate's death was also brutal, and I was thinking "how are they gonna make it so Rex gets the upper hand on the lizard guy?". But the shrinking lady's death is downgraded to her being knocked unconscious, Rex gets shot right through the head and survives easily with seemingly no brain damage, (thank god the lizard guy didn't shoot Rex, a superhuman, in the head a few more times to be safe, did he read the script?). The lizard king is intelligent when the plot needs him to be, then a complete moron when the plot needs him to be.

I remember how shocking the deaths in the first and last episodes of s1 were. The fact that these characters could die at a moments notice was pretty tense and scary. But now, it's obvious all these characters will easily survive things they should have died. The show doesn't even kill off lame side characters with no personality.

Also, on that point, Kate will be back. Apparently in the books, she always has a duplicate of herself safe at home anyway. So no, where it looked like we got 3 shocking deaths, there was actually none. It took game of thrones 5 seasons for characters to gain tension-ruining plot armour, in Invincible, it only took 2.

Lastly, the Allen subplot also reeks of this. It was shocking earlier when it seemed Allen was obviously dead, I mean, the viltrumites aren't so stupid that they'd leave one of their biggest threats any chance of living right? Nope, he's back and stronger than ever. And conveniently, almost dying for Allen is like getting the Captain America serum.

Also, it's a little pet peeve of mine when characters randomly pick up a book in a show or movie, and just happen to land on the right page with the info they need. Why not have Mark read more than one sentence of Nolan's book before stumbling onto the exact info he needs. Allen is even worse, he looks for 2 seconds and is instantly like "oh wow, the book is about this famous legend". If you picked up any book, you'd never just randomly open it to a page that explains the whole story in one sentence. Just have the characters spend more time looking at this stuff, it doesn't even take time, just fade out and back in. Lazy.

Also, for the last scene, it seems extremely weird that the overly careful and paranoid Cecil would just let the saved astronaut go home when he had an alien monster in his digestive system. Cecil has crazy alien technology, but he doesn't have a complex x-ray of some kind? He doesn't keep the astronaut contained for a month or two to make sure he's okay after being infected by a hive mind for like a year? Cecil didn't think there'd be residual effects? Season 1 Cecil would have to be talked out of just nuking the mars ship and killing the astronaut. But he never even has a thought even close to that. Suddenly his pragmatism is replaced by extreme, dumb patriotism.

So, bad episode. I'm rooting for this show more than any other. But god dam, this episode was so frustrating. It lacked everything that makes Invincible a special and subversive show. This episode felt like a marvel tv episode. So disappointing...

Wasted Potential

[nharzhool · 4/10 · 25 March 2024]

Unfortunately another example of the writers not knowing how to handle their characters' super-powered abilities.

There is no sense of tension in the fights because Atom Eve can literally control molecules and atoms which makes her the most powerful being in the universe, and Invincible and The Immortal are literally faster than their enemies can react.

Seriously, canonically Atom Eve is practically a god. There is no challenge for someone that can break the bonds between molecules.

The interpersonal conflicts are pretty decent for the most part, but some characters are tolerated in-world with no good reason, namely Rexplode. Monster Girl is an idiot, and The Immortal is careless.

Fortunately, Amber continues to become a better character than in season 1: more relatable and understanding. Mark takes on responsibilities and shows that he is maturing and isn't petulant anymore.

This show would be served better with more intelligent writers who understand their characters and can write adversaries that might actually be able to challenge them. Even their most intelligent characters (Cecil and Rudy) seem to be omniscient instead of actually just being intelligent.

Unfortunately this show has little to offer for anyone looking for something more than mediocre action and over-dramatized interpersonal conflicts.

What the hell happened

[thekingmanx · 5/10 · 21 March 2024]

I swear it's like I'm not watching the same show anymore at all. I feel like the writing has just taken a complete nosedive since this new season debuted. Something I was able to overlook during the first half of the season, expecting it to pick up during the second half, but this episode really just broke my optimism. For one, why is the voice acting so stiff? It's painfully obvious that none of the voice actors actually recorded their lines together, every conversation between characters in this episode feels off. It really deflates any attempt to try and build relationships between these characters. And on the subject of characters I want to talk about the Immortal, cause he is being handled so poorly. He has had essentially no development as a character, and it makes every scene with him all the more frustrating when the writers try to imply depth to his character despite us not witnessing anything of that sort. At first I thought the Immortal was going to be more of an antagonistic force to Invincible, but now I really have no idea what they are doing with him, and he just feels like some random superhero, rather than the team leader and only survivor of the original guardians of the globe. But what I think really pissed me off the most about this episode is the ending. Allen returns for like the last 5 minutes of the episode and just drops a ton of exposition. Remember Thaddeus, Allen's boss from like episode 3, well turns out he's actually a viltrumite. Is there any like reveal or anything, no we (the audience) just get told this by Allen. Also wait, how is Allen alive??? Oh, he just is. I kid you not the reasoning was pretty much, Oh when I get killed I actually get stronger. Idk, maybe I'm being nitpicky and overly critical, but I can't help but feel that everything about this show just feels lazier this season, and I honestly doubt the last two episodes can save the rest of this show for me personally.