Review: Invincible “Where I Really Come From”

 

 

Overview:

It is all out on the table as Mark discovers the truth about his father, their heritage, and the inevitable. 

But he must also make a stance between standing up for what he believes in or making his father proud. The results are a bloodbath, and Mark will have to hold true to his superhero alias and be Invincible if he hopes to survive.

 

Our Take:

This show started out so lightheartedly. But the humble beginning of a young man gaining his powers quickly developed into something much grittier than the flashy colours let on. Throughout the season, the optimistic and bright superhero saga revealed itself to be much different from the other content in its genre. 

While we anticipated the direction that the plot was headed, there is not much that can prepare you for this dark season finale.  Amazon Prime’s Invincible never once hid the fact that the story was leading to a direct confrontation between super-powered father and son. And like good little viewers, we anticipated the climax week-in-and-week-out waiting for the chance to see Omni-Man and Invincible throw punches. But the reality of the situation – mixed with the gruesome boldness of the animation – made this a more difficult pill to swallow.

It goes to show the power of Invincible as a television series. The plot laid out all its cards from the beginning and allowed things to unfold in front of us, but still maintained our attention from start to finish. It was a wise choice to reveal the true villain earlier than the source material allowed. And it paid off. Robert Kirkman may have beat the MCU at their own game by blatantly handing audiences everything that they want to see.

Additionally, the talent behind this series continued to warn us throughout the marketing campaign, and the shows run that Invincible is bloodier than anyone could expect. Even when we thought we saw the worst of it, Kirkman and company told us to wait.

There is no doubt about it; the finale is the most gruesome edition to the eight-episode collection. 

Gut-wrenching on multiple levels. The single 45-minute episode has a body count somewhere in the millions, if not more. But if you think watching a dad smack his son after a bad football game is hard to watch, try seeing a father use his sons head to slaughter a train full of civilians.

Invincible has broken the mold. The series flips the superhero genre in a way that features the true vulnerability of humans. It shatters expectations of animation by showing violence and destruction in a way that has never been done before in North America. And it delivers in storytelling through well-established simplicity.

Thankfully, this day started out with the comforting news that Invincible has been picked up for another two seasons, at least. This finale lays the groundwork for the show to have a much longer run than this (too short) season. It would have been a much harder pill to take watching had we not had the comfort of knowing there is much more to come.

As an episode, there is not much to this finale. Like the famous Death of Superman comic run, this was nothing more than a beat-down, action-packed thrill ride, with lots to unfold in the aftermath. But it did the job perfectly. The groundwork of what Invincible is as a franchise has been established. Fans know what to expect with upcoming seasons, and part of that is knowing that there will be plenty of surprises.

Until then, I look forward to re-watching this entire season repeatedly.