Invincible: First half of Season 2 (Episodes 1-4) Show Only

November 23, 2023 10:05 AM - Season 2 (Full Season)

In the aftermath of his father's betrayal, Mark struggles with his responsibilities as Invincible and his feelings of guilt about his role in the devastation in Chicago.

He also goes to Atlantis and visits another planet.

Plus, a special (half) episode devoted to Allen the Alien.

Since the season is being broken into two halves and the mid-season finale premieres today, I figured I'd make a "full season" post for the first half rather than single episode posts.

posted by asnider (19 comments total)

I quite enjoyed Eve running afoul of local building ordinances deep in my engineer soul. I immediately sided with the construction worker who called her out for materializing a building without anyone checking to see if it was to code, or clearing it with the construction workers who were there. I also liked how her random park without planning permission turned out to be a bad idea. I think it is easy, in our every day world of uninformed hot takes, to attribute inaction to incompetence or indifference but often, in my experience, there is a real actual reason why things are done a certain way or why a building project didn't go through. It was just nice to see a TV show call that out. Not every problem can, or should, be solved by a single heroic individual swooping in.
posted by selenized at 1:28 PM on November 24, 2023 [7 favorites]

But she can analyze literally every molecule in the ground! There's no way she'd make that mistake with those powers.

But yes, all of your points are correct.
posted by Acari at 2:46 PM on November 24, 2023

Eve could essentially be a god if she wasn't an impulsive 18-year-old (or is she 19 now?). That, and the mental block that ensures she can't manipulate the atomic structure of people or animals.

But I think it's precisely because she is a fully human, impulsive young person raised in a dysfunctional home that she isn't as perfect or powerful as she potentially could be, given what her powers allow her to do.
posted by asnider at 3:07 PM on November 24, 2023

Eve didn't go on to college after high school, did she? Maybe she's discovering that the world is bigger and more complex than she thought, so if she wants to save the world, she'll need to study up. Mark and Amber may get a new classmate soon.
posted by SPrintF at 5:40 PM on November 24, 2023

After episode 3 I was wondering what the cliffhanger for episode 4 and the first half of the series would be and yeah that's a pretty big cliffhanger for Mark.

Having recently watched Pluto and Scott Pilgrim it just reinforced my feeling that they really need to step up the animation for Invincible. I guess it's too late for season 2 but if there is a season 3 maybe they can give the animators a bit more money.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:19 PM on November 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

they really need to step up the animation

I'm not so sure. Part of what gives Invincible its punch is that it looks a lot like cartoon series we've seen in the past, ie. Spectacular Spider-Man or Batman: The Animated Series. But damn, the show keeps telling stories that break your expectations. In the back of your mind, you always knew that "Evil Superman" would be horrifying, but somehow you never expected a show that reminds you of Saturday morning cartoons to go there. It's the familiarity of the imagery and the way the series keeps mercilessly deconstructing the superhero myth that makes it effective in a way that The Boys is not.
posted by SPrintF at 8:55 PM on November 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

Man, they went hard on Rick Sanchez in ep1, and Rick & Morty in general. Green interdimensional portals, Alt-rock backed montages, and the citadel of rick. Haven't read the comics so IDK how much Harmon's show ripped off there.
posted by pwnguin at 9:55 AM on November 27, 2023

I just want Debbie to find peace and happiness.
posted by ursus_comiter at 10:20 PM on November 29, 2023

And also, I really love Mauler(s).
posted by ursus_comiter at 10:20 PM on November 29, 2023

WHY DO THE FEMALE INSECT ALIENS HAVE BREASTS

WHY

DO THEY LACTATE
posted by kyrademon at 10:31 AM on November 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

Fish Queen too, kryademon
posted by jclarkin at 4:32 PM on November 30, 2023

WHY DO THE FEMALE INSECT ALIENS HAVE BREASTS

WHY

DO THEY LACTATE

They are obviously mammals, despite all appearances, which is why Omni-Man can have a child with them.

Which leads me to a less jokey comment: Omni-Man is still going by Nolan, which is presumably a name he chose when he came to Earth and not his actual, Viltruvian name (although, we do have Allen the Alien, so who knows). Is this another sign that, just maybe, he has actually changed for the better?
posted by asnider at 9:35 AM on December 5, 2023

asnider, I noticed that the Viltrumites who came after Omniman and to wipe out the Thraxans were calling him Nolan, so I think that's his actual Viltrumite name.
posted by ursus_comiter at 9:56 AM on December 5, 2023

I missed that but it doesn't super surprise me now that I'm thinking about it. It sounds less "foreign" than Lucan, Thula, or Vidor, but only slightly and all of those are real names that exist on Earth.
posted by asnider at 11:09 AM on December 5, 2023

First, I'll reiterate my earlier comment and squee over Optimus Prime as Thaedus.

Second, I dig that the TV series deviates so freely from the specifics of the comic but still feels so rooted in the same world. It reminds me a bit of Annihilation in telling what it on one level a completely different story, but on another level it's the same story just with a different focus.

That said, wow does it make me realize how often I just turn the page when the comic delves into the ultraviolence.
posted by bjrubble at 7:59 PM on December 11, 2023

I am invested in this show and it's characters, but I'm a little worried that it kind of made its narrative "point" in the first season and now it's just spinning its wheels on dimension-hopping sci-fi plots in the first season's idiom. It's okay, but the graphic violence that made the first season really distinctive feels like it's veering between slapstick and genuine peril for the characters, and I'm just not sure how to orient myself with it, or who to invest feelings in as a viewer, since so many characters seem subject to grisly demise.

I find it hard to account for why I like it. Maybe I just like engaging that unusual tension it's established? I don't know. I'm curious what other viewers are getting out of it.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 1:02 PM on March 18

I don't know what I got out of the show (certainly not the violence! I don't like that part!). I think the show has some entertaining character ideas, which almost scratches a Venture Bros itch, and... it seems to think a bit about what it's saying and doing.

I feel like maaaybe it has more to say. Not sure, and I won't be too disappointed if I end up watching the rest of this show someday and it's not worthwhile. I hear the most recent episode is quite grisly so I probably won't jump back in right away. I might end up waiting a few years and reading a plot synopsis on wikipedia or something first to see what I'm getting into.
posted by Acari at 2:07 PM on March 19 [1 favorite]

Hard to say where the TV series will go but the comic series came to a complete ending quite a while ago so you can get a full synopsis of everything that happens in that. The violence never goes away but it helps to show the stakes involved and there is a fair bit of character development that happens as a result.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:15 PM on March 19 [2 favorites]

I guess I knew that it was based on a comic, but I sure didn't remember! That's a great idea. Thanks!
posted by Acari at 11:51 AM on March 20