Invincible S2 Ep 8 Review
People who said Invincible lost momentum in season two must be eating their words because the series cooked. After an entire season of being built up in the background, Angstrom Levy returned at the worst possible moment in Mark’s life. Driven insane by the memories of his alternate selves, Levy is convinced that Mark is a villain who needs to be stopped, even if that means threatening his family. While the fans know that Mark Grayson has the best intentions and hates the idea of becoming like his Dad, the events of this episode and Mark’s actions will make everyone question if that’s impossible to avoid.
The poor guy can’t seem to catch a break!
Angstrom, the Goblin to Mark’s Spider-Man
Left reeling from his fight with Anissa and Amber breaking up with him, Mark was already going through one of the worst days of his life. That day only got worse when he got a phone call from his Mom, only to hear her and his brother being held hostage by Angstrom Levy. And when Mark rushes home to save his family, he makes it clear that he barely remembers who Angstrom is, only calling him “that guy” who was with the Mauler Twins. And that sets the already unhinged Angstrom further off the deep end. However, Angstrom’s hatred goes beyond Invincible, considering him a “villain of the week.”
The season premiere implied Angstrom’s hatred is from the memories of one of his counterparts. That Angstrom came from a world where Mark joined his father in conquering Earth. However, this episode reveals that this wasn’t a one-off reality but a near-constant across the multiverse. Mark Grayson sided with his father in conquering Earth and making Angstrom suffer in almost every universe. Unable to tell the difference between their experiences and his own, Angstrom is convinced that Mark is the same when he isn’t.
Many superheroes have that one enemy that threatens them on a deeper, more personal level. Batman has the Joker, Spider-Man has the Green Goblin, and Invincible has Angstrom Levy. What makes Levy stand out from other examples, and even his counterpart in the comics, is how tragically misguided he is. He’s unable or unwilling to acknowledge that his universe’s Mark is different. That’s a significant improvement over the comic book Angstrom, whose hatred for Mark stems from blaming him for the accident and not remembering the truth.
It also makes what happens to Angstrom like a tragedy for everyone involved.
Mark Snaps and Kills Someone
For most of the episode, Mark finds himself at the mercy of Angstrom’s portal-making as he’s flung from universe to universe. This entire sequence is ripped almost panel-to-panel from the comics, and it’s one of the best parts of the episode if not the whole series. It is so great that several of the worlds he winds up in are popular franchises, like The Walking Dead, the DC Universe, and even Fortnite.
I now consider Angstrom sending Invincible to the Island in Fortnite my headcanon.
The one thing that they sadly couldn’t adapt was him getting sent to the Marvel Universe and meeting Spider-Man. However, that’s likely due to copyright issues rather than effort. They make up for it by having “Agent Spider” voiced by Josh Keaton, AKA The Spectacular Spider-Man.
Once Angstrom gets tired of messing with Mark and goes in for the kill, any humor left flies out the window. While Angstrom thinks he’s now strong enough to kill Invincible, he underestimates how strong a Viltrumite is. Nor did he consider that the Prime Mark had been holding himself back on purpose because he was trying to be excellent. But he snaps between everything Mark had to deal with and Angstrom threatening his Mom and brother. And the results…well, see for yourself.
In a series that’s already given us dark, violent, and bloody moments, this might be one of the darkest to date. Mark is left on the verge of a mental breakdown, and had a future version of the Guardians not found him, he might have gone insane from killing Angstrom. Mark refuses to justify his actions despite people like Atom Eve and Cecil trying to tell him that Angstrom brought it on himself. All season, Mark has tried to convince himself that he’s not like his Dad, that he’s a better person than most Viltrumites. When it came down to it, though, Mark could be just like Nolan. His beatdown of Angstrom mirrors the one he got from his Dad hammers that home.
Quick sidebar: I’m betting that “I thought you were Stronger” will become a meme like “Think, Mark, Think!”
Mark Has to Come to Terms With What He’s Done
This was the episode that fans of Invincible have been wanting to see. While not as high-stakes as Omni-Man trying to force Mark to join him, it was just as emotional, if not more so. And with his life already in shambles, the end of the season makes it clear that Mark will get worse before he gets better. He won’t have Amber, or maybe even Will, to help him this time.
One big decision Mark makes is quitting college, and while this seems for the best, it’s still bittersweet to watch. Leaving college represents him giving up on any attempts to have an everyday life. And if the show follows the comics, then Amber and Will will leave his life altogether. At least he still has Eve, though.
The Invincible+Eve shippers have all but won. Future Atom Eve tells Mark before he goes back that she loves him and that he should tell her something, anything, to help her move on. Mark doesn’t say anything, but given everything he’s gone through, it’s understandable he doesn’t want to start another relationship so soon.
Other plot threads are resolved in the season’s final moments, too. Immortal discovers that Dupli-Kate is alive and has been using her clones to live in her stead. In addition, Rudy and Monster Girl move their relationship forward a step. On the interstellar front, Allen’s plan to meet up with Omni-Man in prison worked. Much to his surprise, Omni-Man has embraced the human morality that his people consider a weakness. The irony that Omni-Man is becoming more human as his son fears he’s losing his is not lost on me.
All I have to say after seeing the season finale is this: when are we getting the next season? Because I don’t think people want to wait two years again!
