'Secret Invasion' Episode 2 Recap: It's All Fury's Fault
After a remarkably bleak first episode that ended in an unexpected death, Secret Invasion continues the story of the Skrull rebellion with a much better and much more intriguing Episode 2. The second episode of the MCU Disney+ miniseries reveals the fallout of the terrorist attack at the end of Episode 1, exploring how this international incident leads to war between humans and Skrulls. But while the majority of the episode deals with the quickly-escalating conflict, we also get a hint that there's far worse to come.
Written by series creator Kyle Bradstreet and directed by Ali Selim, Episode 2 features more of Olivia Colman's Sonya Falsworth and reveals more elements of Gravik's (Kingsley Ben-Adir) master plan, which may involve the creation of the Skrull Super-Soldiers — known as Super-Skrulls in the comics. But even as the narrative picks up and marches steadily towards the battlefield, the episode also makes one thing crystal clear: this is all Nick Fury's (Samuel L. Jackson) fault.
'Secret Invasion' Episode 2 Shows the Cost of Nick Fury's Broken Promises
The episode begins in 1995, with a recap of how Fury first encountered the Skrulls, met Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), and promised to find the aliens their own home. The show then cuts to Brixton, London in 1997, where Fury is building his first network of Skrull agents. A female Skrull called Varra introduces Fury to a young Gravik, a Skrull child whose parents were killed by the Kree. Escaping from behind enemy lines, Gravik piloted a ship on his own and made it to Earth. Varra thinks he could be a good fit for their network and asks Fury to talk to him. Fury forms a bond with Gravik, bringing him into the fold. Later, Talos addresses the Skrulls, reiterating his faith in Fury, and Fury in turn promises the Skrulls that in exchange for their help working as his spies, he and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) will find them a new home. The Skrulls agree and wholeheartedly join him. Back in the present day, Gravik and Talos' daughter G'iah (Emilia Clarke) leave the site of their terrorist attack. The Skrull Brogan (Ben Peel), pretending to be an American, is arrested by the Russians just as Talos manages to get Fury away.
After the opening credits, we find ourselves on a train from Moscow to Warsaw, where Russian soldiers are looking for Nick Fury. They knock on a compartment and ask the woman inside whether she's seen him, but she laughs and says that they're more likely to find an alien on the train rather than a Black American. The soldiers leave and the woman turns into Talos, with Fury coming out of the bathroom. As they talk, Fury reminisces about his childhood, telling Talos how he would ride on the train from Alabama to Detroit with his mother and referencing a game they used to play called "Tell Me Somethin' I Don't Know." One time, Fury's mother asked him to tell her something she didn't know about him and a girl called Suzie, whom he was seeing at the time. He obviously lied to her, but just the fact that he'd lied was enough to tell her everything she needed to know. It's another scene along the lines of Fury's story about his grandfather in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is a nice touch for the fans.
Fury asks Talos about the destruction of Skrullos (the Skrull homeworld), and Talos shares how they were under attack, and how, once they realized that they couldn't win, the million Skrulls who were left fled for their lives. Fury then asks about the Skrulls that fled and Talos admits that they are on Earth, all one million of them. This shocks Fury, who says that Talos lied to him, but Talos argues that his people were being hunted across the universe. Summoning them to Earth was the only way to keep them safe. Talos hopes that with Fury's help, humans and Skrulls could co-exist on Earth, but Fury doesn't think that's even remotely possible. "Humans can't coexist with each other," says Fury, making it clear that there is no room for the Skrulls on Earth. He orders Talos to get off the train and the Skrull does so, leaving Fury to deal with the enormity of what he's learned. In London, Maria Hill's (Cobie Smulders) mother Elizabeth, played by Juliet Stevenson, collects her daughter's casket, as the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. is given a full military sendoff. Elizabeth meets Fury there, and he tells her that Maria died because someone was trying to hurt him. Angry that he's the reason Maria is dead, Elizabeth asks Fury to make sure her daughter didn't die for nothing.
Gravik Faces the Skrull Council in 'Secret Invasion' Episode 2
A series of news clips illustrate the fallout of the Skrulls' terrorist attack. Over 2,000 people have been killed and the suspect in custody has been identified as an American. The Prime Minister of the UK (Anna Madeley) has condemned the attack and the NATO secretary-general (Giampiero Judica) claims they are gathering intelligence about the bombing. Russia looks poised to declare war with the US but American authorities insist that they have no involvement. G'iah drives Gravik to a meeting of the Skrull Council. On the way, she asks him how he knew Fury would show up. Gravik didn't know for sure, but he hoped he would. He makes it clear that he doesn't think Fury will be a threat, saying that he could have killed him right then if he wanted to. At the council meeting, Gravik goes in without G'iah, giving her a gun and telling her to shoot the guard if he isn't back in an hour. As Gravik enters the meeting, both the Prime Minister and the secretary-general are revealed to be Skrulls and members of the council.
The Skrull Council, led by a Skrull called Shirley (Seeta Indrani), makes it clear that they want to punish Gravik. The young Skrull leader, on the other hand, argues that they were abandoned by Fury and the humans. He sees no way forward except a war, one that they will win. The secretary-general asks him what he'll do if the Avengers return, but Gravik says he's thought of that already, asking the council to put their faith in him. The Prime Minister is revealed to be working with Gravik and turns the Council over to his side, naming him General and giving him complete, unchecked power. Shirley refuses to submit to Gravik, but he allows her to go free, appearing impressed by her principles. Shirley leaves the meeting and calls Talos, letting him know about Gravik's new promotion. Talos asks Shirley to set up a meeting between him and Gravik in a public place to talk about G'iah. At New Skrullos, the rebellion celebrates Gravik's elevation but G'iah notices Gravik telling Pagon (Killian Scott) something. She follows Pagon to a secret lab where two scientists are working with mysterious DNA samples to make some sort of machine. From the conversation between Pagon and one of them, Dr. Rosa Dalton (Katie Finneran), we find out that Gravik and Pagon are looking for something called "the Harvest," which the scientists need for their work. So far, they have been unsuccessful.
'Secret Invasion' Episode 2 Has War Machine Fighting the Political Machine
The European Union heads of state and the UK Prime Minister call an emergency security summit in London, which James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) attends as a representative of the United States. The other nations question Rhodey about Fury and Hill's presence at the site of the terror attack in Moscow. He insists that while he is aware of "allegations" that Fury and Hill were there, if they actually were in Moscow it would have been as private citizens. He also tells them that while the US is "sensitive" to their concerns, the President doesn't care about what they have to say unless they can bring up some credible evidence that the US was involved in the attack. After the summit, Rhodey gets a call from Fury and agrees to meet him for a drink.
They meet up at a tavern and Fury admits to Rhodey that he was trying to stop the attack, which does nothing to calm Rhodey down. Fury then divulges the Skrull threat. Rhodey suggests calling in the Avengers, but Fury insists that that would be too dangerous. If the Skrulls could duplicate the Avengers and their powers, that would be game over for humanity. Fury wants to fight this war on his own, but he wants Rhodey to back him up, which the former Avenger refuses to do. Rhodey then fires Fury. However, finally showing himself to still be the old spymaster we all know and love, Fury tells Rhodey, "I'm Nick Fury. Even when I'm out, I'm in."
Sonya Tortures a Skrull in 'Secret Invasion' Episode 2
While Fury comes to terms with being an agent of nothing, Sonya Falsworth visits the place where the Russians are questioning the captured Skrull terrorist. She takes over, sending the Russians out of the room, and starts her "interrogation" by cutting off a finger to check whether the prisoner is a Skrull or not. Back at New Skrullos, G'iah looks up Rosa Dalton on the computer, finding a list of DNA samples the Skrulls have collected from all sorts of people and creatures, ranging from Groot to Cull Obsidian of the Black Order to Iron Man's Extremis technology. She is interrupted by Gravik, but she hides what she was doing. They have a conversation, and he talks about how he initially thought G'iah might have been a spy for Talos, back when she first joined him. He then reveals that they've found Brogan's location and takes her with him to go free the captured rebel.
Meanwhile, Brogan does the usual posturing, refusing to reveal anything to Sonya, but she injects him with a chemical that causes his blood to boil. The excruciating pain is more than enough to loosen Brogan's tongue. While the Skrull prisoner doesn't know where Gravik is, he does drop a detail about the machine they're building, saying that he thinks it will make the Skrulls stronger. She asks who's helping them and, after some more pain, Brogan confesses that it's a married couple named Dalton.
G'iah and Gravik, along with Pagon and Beto (Samuel Adewunmi), make it to Brogan's location. Gravik and Pagon go in, leaving G'iah and Beto in the car, and kill all the Russians standing guard. G'iah leaves Beto, saying she's going to go around the back and check on things. Gravik and Pagon rescue Brogan, but Sonya escapes through a secret hatch. G'iah hides and makes a call, talking in Russian. Gravik asks Brogan what he told the authorities, but Brogan lies and says he said nothing. Gravik notices the escape hatch Sonya used. After driving away, the Skrulls find the police waiting for them at their safe house (we can probably assume that's the call G'iah was making). Gravik has them drive out into the woods, where Pagon executes Brogan.
'Secret Invasion' Episode 2 Introduces Nick Fury's Wife
In the final moments of the episode, Fury heads to a storage facility where he picks up a vehicle and drives out into the countryside. We are then shown a house, where a female Skrull is working in the kitchen. Fury walks in and meets the Skrull, now in human form (played by Charlayne Woodard). She asks him, "Aren't you forgetting something?" and Fury steps out of the kitchen, returning with a wedding ring, which he then puts on his finger before kissing her — and that, dear readers, is how we're introduced to Priscilla Fury, Nick's wife and possibly a Skrull agent (but on which side?).
Episode 2 is a definite step up from the premiere episode, with the plot getting far more interesting and ending in a cliffhanger we genuinely didn't see coming. The first episode already made it quite clear that the show could have repercussions for the whole MCU but with the tease of Gravik's secret weapon, it's starting to show us just how important Secret Invasion could prove to be for the franchise's story, at least on the Earthbound side of things. One can only hope that the show continues to improve over the course of its remaining episodes.
New episodes of Secret Invasion arrive weekly on Wednesdays on Disney+.
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