Review: Invincible “You Were My Hero”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Invincible is taken into the future to face a former friend gone bad, and Allen and Nolan finally break out!

OUR TAKE

Crazy to think how we’re already halfway through the season, isn’t it? Well, no, not really, since this is the first episode of the season that’s released on its own instead of grouped with a couple more, so I get to just deal with analyzing that and not three times the content! And I got to shave off a few words just describing this, so hooray for me! Anyway, with the new status quo in full effect and signified with Mark’s new darker costume, what better time to make it EVEN DARKER by making him kill the Immortal in another timeline (or “kill” him as much as you can, so it’s kind of a cheat but whatever). Interesting timing to have this right after he and Debbie gave Oliver that lecture about valuing life and now Mark is placed in a situation where killing (again, asterisk on that for the Immortal) is the only option. Many people who have been familiar with the comic book media discourse over the past decade will remember the hubbub surrounding the movie Man of Steel and its ending that forced Superman to snap Zod’s neck. THIS is how you do that kind of scenario, REALLY giving the character involved no choice and THEN making them REALLY DEAL with the consequences.

Meanwhile, out in space, this episode decides to take a page from last season and use a conveniently placed sex scene to transition to what Allen the Alien is doing! And as we’ve seen since the beginning of the season, he’s currently in prison waiting for Nolan to get over himself and join the resistance against the Viltrumites. And it seems Allen almost getting killed was enough to dig up those heroic instincts he thought he had buried. Nolan’s journey from hero facade, to killer in hiding, to exiled villain, to hero again has been a surprisingly packed one for dozen and some change episodes, but it’s still remained compelling about showing that, while it’s good that he’s taking these steps to redeem himself, the impact of his wrongs are still present for many people, including Debbie and Mark. One day he might be able to do right by his sons and ex-wife, but that will take a lot of time and a lot of work. And perhaps we will see more of that work next time! Also did you know that The Immortal was Abraham Lincoln?