"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Thursday, April 25, 2024

The Book of Rannells: Invincible: Season 2, Episode 6 – “It’s Not That Simple” (2024)

*Spoilers from episode 5.*

I’ll be honest, this one had a little trouble holding my attention. Much like episode 5, it doesn’t seem to fulfill the potential of its preceding cliffhanger. As a result, it’s fine but feels kind of anti-climactic.

Mark, Shapesmith, and a handful of other Guardians have flown to intercept a Martian ship taken over by Sequids, a parasitic hive mind race looking to hijack humanity. They fight to stop the invasion and then deal with intervening fallout back on Earth. As Debbie considers logistics for raising Nolan’s son, who she’s christened Oliver, she’s determined to keep Cecil and the Global Defense Agency out of it.

Toward the tail end of episode 5, the characters learned about the Sequid invasion force, and the episode ended with them on the ropes, fighting for their lives. As such, it surprised me that this part of the story wraps up fairly quickly, and even a personal crisis in the middle of the fight is addressed without too much fuss. Maybe it’s me, being supremely creeped out by the Sequids, but I thought more time would be spent on this.

There’s quite a bit of heaviness here. While Mark and co. were dealing with the Sequids, major stuff was going down with the rest of the Guardians on Earth. No one’s really in a good place mentally right now, and they’re all dealing with a lot.

As I said last week, it’s hard for Debbie to wrap her head around the idea of raising Nolan’s alien baby, but once she decides to take in Oliver, she’s serious about it. She’s already concerned about Cecil’s influence over Mark, and she doesn’t want him getting anywhere near the baby. There’s a guest star in this plotline, a nanny applicant named April, who’s played by Calista Flockhart, so that’s cool!

We get a little more of William than we have in previous episodes this season, although Andrew Rannells still doesn’t really have anything of substance to do. There’s an intriguing loose thread brought back today in the form of Rick, William’s crush from season 1 who was brutalized in a supervillain attack. When he returns in this episode looking pretty much unscathed, Mark’s spidey senses start tingling, but William is too thrilled to suspect anything could be amiss.

Other than that, I smiled at this line, in which Mark gets his signals crossed while seeking privacy in the dorms. After an intense discussion with Allen the Alien, we hear knocking at the door and William calling, “Hey Mark, are you and Amber done yet? That sock’s been on the door for hours, and I really need to go to bed!” Hee!

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