REVIEW: Invincible, Season 1 Episode Five 'That Actually Hurt'

 REVIEW: Invincible, Season 1 Episode Five 'That Actually Hurt'

There comes a time in every superhero story where you get to witness the titular protagonist's struggles in juggling their personal life with their superhero life. It's a common theme across comic-book storylines, as applying vigilantism to a real world would logically cause these kind of personal issues. Superheroes, after all, are expected to be available to deal with threats pretty much all the time in these stories, and barely get any time to themselves.

Unlike, say, Peter Parker, this doesn't really seem to bother Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) that much. He seems to take situations such as being told he'll have to improve his punctuality if he wants to get into college and being reprimanded by his boss over his time-keeping in his stride. In fact, he even quits his job on the spot. This does a brilliant job at setting out just how different Mark is to other heroes we're familiar with. He doesn't have the same belief in responsibility as Peter Parker, and the influence from living under the same roof as his secretly villainous Dad Nolan (J.K. Simmons) means that some of his father's arrogance has inevitably rubbed off on him. He seems to genuinely believe he is 'invincible', and not just in regards to his superhero alter-ego.

It works so well here because he's called up on his behaviour. His girlfriend Amber (Zazie Beetz) stands up to Mark and tells him that he needs to treat her better instead of always turning up later than promised to meet her. She's the voice of reason to Mark, and the voice-piece for the audience, who are screaming for him to reveal his identity to her. We know that he has to start being honest, but Mark has to learn it the hard way.

It's clear that if he doesn't, Nolan is the man he will become. I really like how his antagonistic streak is starting to slowly seep through, such as when he drops the guy from a great height in the sky to make him confess what he is up to, and assures his son that he will catch him before he lands on the ground. You get a sense that the heroic act he puts on is starting to fade, and his true personality is beginning to shine through. It's a strong reminder that this is the same person who killed the original Guardians of the Globe, and that despite the pretence of being a superhero Nolan is anything but.

'That Actually Hurt' is essentially a tale of people not being who they seem. The main crux of the plot revolves around Titan (Mahershala Ali) recruiting Nolan to help him take down the big crime lord Machine Head (Jeffrey Donovan), who he owes a big debt. We get a more sympathetic side to Titan, as we learn he has a wife and daughter who he tries to provide for, before revealing that he didn't want to take down Machine Head because he wanted out of the criminal activities that he was making him do, but because he wanted to replace him. It's a really effective reflection of how Invincible is so new to the superhero game. He's effectively an amateur in all this, and so his judgement is not quite there, and it makes him an easy target for people like Titan to fool into believing they don't really want their life of crime.

This is further shown in the climatic fight between Machine Head and his allies, which goes very badly wrong. Invincible, Monster Girl (Grey Griffin) and Black Samson (Khary Payton) end up badly injured, despite mainly saving the day, and like the rest of this series it feels like a more realistic take on how superhero battles would actually go down. This isn't the Avengers or the Justice League, this is the harsh reality of what the actual outcomes would be. Especially in a situation such as this, with a new Guardians of the Globe still trying to find their feet.

It doesn't help that the man who should be their most useful ally, Nolan/Omni-Man, is actually a cold-blooded serial killer. He even sees his own son struggling to fight Machine Head as he hovers outside the building, and yet instead of getting involved himself he merely calls for the Guardians of the Globe. He's powerful enough to end the fight himself, and save his own son from being hospitalised, and yet he doesn't. This raises questions regarding just how much he really cares about his son. Does he even love him by this point?

His own wife Debbie (Sandra Oh) must surely be asking that very question, about both herself and Mark. For she discovers Nolan's ripped suit from when he murdered the Guardians of the Globe, which all but confirms her suspicions. This is going to be really interesting to see develop in the coming episodes, as she clearly seems very nervous around her husband already, and is only going to be more so in the next episodes that follow. 

Overall, 'That Actually Hurt' is an amazing instalment in Invincible's first season. It provides the show's most shocking moment since Nolan killed the Guardians of the Globe, with Invincible far from his namesake, and continues to provide more great scenes with Debbie's suspicions regarding her husband. Invincible proves that animated superhero series don't just have to be made for kids, they can be equally as compelling for adults, and it would be nice to see other studios inspired by Invincible's success. Surely we can't be too far off an animated Deadpool show, for instance? 

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What are your thoughts on Invincible's fifth episode? Let me know in the comments section.