Spoilers follow for Invincible Season 4, Episode 5, “Give Us a Moment,” which is available on Prime Video now.
If you’ve been wondering what creator Robert Kirkman has been calling Invincible’s most brutal scene to date, look no further than this week’s climax. The current season’s fifth episode proves the show works best when contrasting moments of quietly affecting drama with physically wince-inducing scenes. It doesn’t always get this balance right, but it most certainly does here in what proves to be a pivotal entry — not to mention a much needed step up from Episode 4’s meandering underworld detour.
Last week’s cliffhanger saw Nolan returning to Earth for the first time since leaving as a barbaric conqueror. And while he’s done plenty of introspecting in the meantime — thanks in part to Allen, without whom he would’ve gladly embraced dying — this doesn’t change much for the people who once knew and loved him. “Give Us a Moment” kicks off with the anticipated reunion between father and son, as Nolan tries to gently recruit Mark while laying out the stakes: He can stay behind if he wants, but the Viltrum empire will make its way to him eventually, leaving him without much of a choice. The timing of this recruitment couldn’t be worse, since Eve was just about to come clean about her pregnancy, but she decides not to after a family dinner with the Graysons.
Since Nolan and Mark crossed paths after his departure, perhaps even more anticipated is the uneasy reunion between Nolan and his ex-wife Debbie, who’s been desperately trying to rebuild a normal life. Their confrontation is impeccably staged, with Debbie avoiding eye contact, and actress Sandra Oh doing the heavy lifting through her shuddering voice performance, letting out her mounting frustrations in ways that call Nolan’s ongoing arc into question. He’s apologetic, sure, but who is he really apologizing for?
Shortly thereafter, he catches up with Art as well, who — in his own words, about only designing suits for heroes — turns down Nolan’s request for a new costume, while also letting him know what he thinks of his former friend. This new Nolan wouldn’t hurt his former pal, but Art doesn’t know that, and lets out a deeply-held breath the moment he leaves, as though he expected their reunion to go sideways. Without directly confronting it, this makes for a superb way to further highlight the dichotomy between Nolan’s soul-searching and making actual amends: People are still terrified of the villainous Omni-Man, and rightly so. On a secondary note, this chat also addresses a small but valuable change in design: Nolan’s new barefooted onesie, which he says keeps him grounded. And while that may be true, the reason it works in a visual sense is that it makes him appear more vulnerable. So, as much as he may receive well deserved dressings-down from former allies, he still occupies an empathetic presence on screen, à la Kill Bill’s the Bride or Die Hard’s John McClane.
As eager as Nolan is to make amends with Mark, Debbie and Art, he concocts seemingly altruistic reasons to stay away from Oliver, the only person who might actually want to see him. Spurned by his father’s rejection, the younger Grayson sibling decides to test his heroism by joining Mark on his interstellar journey to fight the Viltrumites, forcing an explanation out of Nolan in the process. He also insists on going in order to protect his mom, which is all kinds of heart-melting, and although it brings with it the realization that we don’t see much of what else is at stake for him, that we don’t really know much about his non-superhero life might just tragically suggest that, even at his tender age, he doesn’t really have one.
The Graysons are joined, on their weeks’ long voyage, by the Earthbound, mecha anime-inspired hero Tech Jacket, aka Zoe — a gender-bent version of Zach from Kirman’s Tech Jacket comics — who makes for a jovial presence, and whose transforming nanotech adds some interesting visual wrinkles to this week’s proceedings. But before we dive into any action, the show (as is its MO) presents us with another musical montage, this time set to the thoughtful sounds of Omar Apollo’s “Drifting.” The newfangled superhero troupe gets acquainted, but Nolan is left at an emotional distance, an image interspersed with a remorseful flashback of him first dating Debbie — which, in retrospect, is essentially him entrapping her for the purpose of breeding a genocidal heir.
However, before Nolan can deal with these emotional burdens, a crisis arises aboard their spaceship. The Grayson trio are separated from the rest of the team in outer space. It turns out a trio of Viltrum warriors have attacked, and among them is a ruthless, revenge-seeking Conquest, who Jeffrey Dean Morgan voices with a sinister snarl. This rematch with Mark breaks out quicker than expected, only now it comes with the added weight of Conquest having gravely injured Eve the last time they met, and having nearly killed Mark as well. He turns his sights on Oliver this time, nearly squashing his head like a grape, but this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the episode’s brutality.
While it’s not quite clear who the robotic figures shooting at the heroes are — more Viltrumites? Their alien slaves? Perhaps some kind of robots? — the fistfights themselves crackle with momentum and blood-curling impact, while emotionally charged character moments unfold between Nolan and his sons. The embattled characters eventually land on a desert planet, where Mark and Conquest engage in some of the most sickening violence on the show thus far, as our young hero tries to choke the life out of the aged soldier until his face turns gray and eyes fill up with blood. Conquest in turn spears his arm all the way through Mark’s torso before slowly disemboweling him, as the two remain locked in twitchy, squelching agony.
Jesus Christ.
By a hair, Mark emerges the victor before passing out. Even the most hardened viewers will likely find these images tough to swallow, and as an extension of both last season’s climax, and of Mark’s newfound commitment to doing whatever is necessary, it feels like the curling of a monkey’s paw. Sure, it’s the fight we might have wanted, but that it takes such barbaric form is sure to leave the season in a markedly different place next week.
Thankfully, the episode ends with a comedic button as Allen and Zoe, disguised together within the Tech Jacket suit, hide out on the surface of the Viltrumite ship (in Millenium Falcon fashion). Like Art letting out a sigh when Nolan finally leaves, it’s a much needed relief after some of the series’ most unrelenting, vicious intensity.
feedzy_import_tag
About the Author
