Secret Invasion Episode 5 Review - 5 Ups & 4 Downs
"Harvest" was the most action-packed episode of Secret Invasion yet.
Episode five was always going to be critical for Secret Invasion, as it has been for all of the six-episode series Marvel Studios has put to Disney+ so far. At the beginning of "Harvest", the show had just barely crossed the halfway point, and yet by the end, it's now heading straight into the series finale.
From the very beginning, Secret Invasion has been a slow build, and while that has its advantages, it means nothing without a satisfying conclusion. There's been a feeling that change needs to happen soon, with the series' fifth chapter a pivotal moment to build some serious momentum before the finale.
Despite the fact that this was another shorter episode, clocking in at around the same time as the fourth episode of Secret Invasion at 39 minutes, the narrative was moved forward a lot more in "Harvest". This week's episode picked up straight from where "Beloved" left off, and it moved at a much swifter pace toward the upcoming conclusion.
This week's Secret Invasion was a strong episode in some regards, but it certainly had its drawbacks.
9. Down - How Many Characters Does One Man Need To Play?
Over the 15 year history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, across 30+ movies and nine Disney+ series (and counting), the Defenders over on Netflix and other TV series surrounding SHIELD agents, Runaways, Inhumans, and more, there have been literally countless characters introduced.
In this time there have been several actors who have ended up playing more than one of them. Gemma Chan, Mahershala Ali, and even Benedict Cumberbatch among others have played multiple roles, but Secret Invasion may have just introduced the first actor to play three completely separate MCU characters.
In Thor: The Dark World, Tony Curran portrayed Odin's father Bor, in the flashback scene at the start of the movie. Two years later he appeared in an episode of Daredevil as Finn. Now in 2023, the actor played Derrik, the secret Skrull posing as Sonya's boss who was ultimately outed when he was shot in the leg.
This was a small role granted, but surely someone could have been found who hadn't already been in the MCU, let alone twice.