Secret Invasion Episode 3 Review - 6 Ups & 4 Downs
The halfway point of the series gives arguably the weakest entry yet.
Almost as quickly as Secret Invasion began on Disney+, the show is already halfway through its six-episode run. It feels like just yesterday that the MCU debuted its controversial AI intro and confirmed that Everett Ross was a Skrull, and it feels like we've arrived at this point far too quickly.
Part of that is because Secret Invasion is just a limited series, but the first half has also been an incredibly slow build. There have been some key action points, and some big revelations on the way, but by and large there hasn't actually been too much to happen. Just breadcrumbs at this point.
It was well known prior to its release that Secret Invasion would be unlike anything the MCU has done recently, and would feel closer to The Winter Soldier in tone. This has been refreshing, but now we're at the point where the series needs something more.
After the first two episodes had given Secret Invasion a slow yet solid start, you felt that episode three really needed to hit another gear. Unfortunately, in what was arguably the weakest episode out of the three so far, this didn't quite happen.
10. Down - Another Slow Build
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a series taking an episode away from the action of a story and using it to build the foundations of something bigger and better down the line. This was something that a show like Breaking Bad utilised to perfection.
This is true so much so that the fact that there was so little action in episode two earned it an Up last week. However, in just a six-episode series, it feels like there really isn't space for two out of the first three episodes to take this approach.
Granted, there was more action in Betrayed than in Promises, and it moved the story along to a degree in certain areas, but you would still have to class it as another slow build. Surely the series will have to kick it up a few notches in a very short space in the second half, as it feels more and more in danger of a rushed an potentially unsatisfying ending.