With the third episode of Invincible Season 4, we returned from outer space and back down onto Earth, reeling from the events that previously took place. Mark’s (Steven Yeun) actions of killing Rus Livingston (Ben Schwartz) have not only had a large effect on him but are even putting every other hero into question about their actions, morals and how they deal with these destructive villains.
Invincible isn’t like any other superhero show or film; every villain that they encounter destroys blocks of cities, and half the time it always becomes a global fight. I’m genuinely surprised that the Earth hasn’t been destroyed at the rate these villains keep popping up, but as we all know, the Viltrumites are their biggest worry, but after witnessing Allen (Seth Rogen) and Nolan’s (J.K. Simmons) first steps to taking them down, we now come back to a few characters we have yet to return to in a while.
Titan (Mahershala Ali) has some personal problems on his hands as Machine Head (Jeffrey Donovan) warns him that Mister Liu (Tzi Ma) has survived and will be pursuing him. Immediately, we see that Mister Liu isn’t playing around, as he’s sent an assassin after Titan while he’s hanging out with his family at the park. If there’s one thing that Invincible has taught me, it’s don’t mess with someone’s family if they have superpowers. Titan is able to shift into stone, just in time to protect himself from the magnetic blades that are being hurled his way by Magnattack (Eric Bauza).
With his wife, Vanessa (Nicole Byer), almost getting caught in the crossfire, Titan lets all hell loose and pummels Magnattack to his brutal death. Isotope (Chris Diamantopoulos) still tries convincing them to rejoin The Order in hopes of staying protected from Liu, but Titan takes the approach of contacting Invincible Inc., but to his surprise, Oliver (Christian Convery) arrives instead of Mark.
Oliver continues to push that he’s capable of handling any fight that Mark would be able to. They make it to Liu, who has seen worse for wear but summons a dragon to fight both Oliver and Titan. Oliver quickly realises that this battle is too much to handle, calling Eve (Gillian Jacobs) for help and saying that he needs Mark’s assistance.
Meanwhile, the Flaxans return to Earth, killing anyone in their way and also kidnapping humans as they go along. The Guardians of the Globe join the fight with the help of Invincible, trying to find a way to stop these fast aging creatures once again. This time, the Flaxans have come prepared with mechs that have been constructed to take on Omni-Man, making the fight slightly harder for Mark. Monster Girl (Grey DeLisle) and Robot (Zachary Quinto) end up going into the Flaxan portal in hopes of being able to finally stop them. The Guardians of the Globe, including Invincible, try to follow, but it gets shut down, trapping Monster Girl and Robot indefinitely.
Mark finally arrives after dealing with the Flaxans, but unfortunately, Mr Liu manages to escape before they can finish the fight. Mark catches the eyes of Titan and immediately lets out all his uncontrollable rage on him, warning him not to hurt his family, but Oliver urges him to stop, which causes Mark to leave. Titan has no other choice but to rejoin The Order to gain protection, but little does he know, Liu has also joined with Titan, being duped by Machine Head.
Mark’s rage is a constant theme that has been seen through these first three episodes. Earlier in the episode, Cecil (Walton Goggins) and Donald (Chris Diamantopoulos) have a discussion about how Mark has been dealing with his enemies by providing them with “absolute situations“. It’s an interesting conversation topic because, as Donald notices, Mark isn’t simply just killing people for the sake of it; he’s doing what he believes is right and, by taking out his enemies permanently, is making the world a better place.
The Guardians of the Globe also begin to have a discussion surrounding Mark’s methods and the outcome of Rus Livingston, with Bulletproof (Jay Pharoah) supporting what Mark did. Rex initially disagrees but, after discovering that a Sequid was hidden inside him, comes to the realisation that every enemy they’ve dealt with always comes back and they haven’t been dealing with these threats permanently.
Amanda’s final line in that scene, “Maybe Mark was right,” really sets into stone how we might be seeing a new age in Invincible of how heroes deal with enemies, but like with Mark himself, this might prove to be a problem because how do you choose who deserves to live and die? When heroes begin to play God, it starts to become a little scary, and the chance of more Omni-Mans being born becomes a reality.
Donald grabs Mark to have a discussion with Cecil at the Pentagon. While Cecil agrees that what Mark is doing is the correct choice and also the same one he’d make, it’s not who Mark is, and he doesn’t want to see him go down a path that he can’t come back from. We’ve seen from these first three episodes how these decisions have already been taking a mental effect on Mark, and Cecil (surprisingly) is only coming from a good place, trying to stop him from becoming like him or his father. D.A. Sinclair (Eric Bauza) is working on his reanimen and is told by Donald to go take a break; obviously, he decides not to follow protocol.
Interrupting Mark and Cecil’s conversation, he arrives to apologise to Mark about what he did in the past, but this only angers Mark, who doesn’t care for an apology or anything else for that matter from him. This little incident causes him to believe that Cecil has purposefully set this up, but Mark doesn’t stand for any of it and leaves abruptly; alas, not through the ceiling.
Eve’s powers are still on the fritz. It’s affecting her emotionally, and although Mark has promised to be there for her so they can get through it together, she’s chosen to go to Rex as advised by Mark as he helped out with Amanda’s Monster Girl situation.
In the midst of everything that’s been going on, we also get the discussions of Debbie (Sandra Oh) and Paul (Cliff Curtis) talking about selling their houses to buy a new one that they can move into with the boys, but it’s a tough decision, as Debbie has a lot of memories in her house with both Mark and Oliver. We see her reminiscing with all their pictures and a height chart drawn on the wall. I’ve never gone through moving houses myself, but I can imagine moving from the house you’ve spent most of your life in is a huge decision, even if it also holds some trauma.
As the credits roll, we get the huge reveal that Eve is pregnant, and this is the likely cause of her powers failing her. She doesn’t yet tell Mark, as she’s still shocked by the news.
Invincible Season 4, Episode 3, continues the themes of Mark’s decisions, which are now taking a wider effect on the people surrounding him as we come off the death of Rus Livingston and the Guardians, who change some of their methods as yet another old enemy returns in this episode.
This episode ultimately moves at a slower pace than the last episode, and when watching all three back to back, you begin to realise why they decided to drop all three in one week.
