The Book of Rannells: Invincible: Season 1, Episode 7 – “We Need to Talk” (2021)

Penultimate episode of season 1! Always a good bet that shit will go down in a major way at this point in a season, and the episode doesn’t disappoint on that front. On both a personal and superhero level, things in multiple plots are building to a fever pitch.

A lot of what’s happening here gets spoilery to talk about, so I’ll be as vague as I can. Mark is reeling after fallout from the last episode, questioning what he wants to do and who he wants to be. Unbeknownst to him, there’s a major situation going down with his parents at the same time, while over with the new Guardians, a game-changing move by one of the players shakes up the group dynamic in a big way.

I don’t want to get too much into the details of what’s going on, but it’s an exciting episode, one that features a lot of movement in the question of who’s on which side and who can be relied on. Secrets are revealed, people are betrayed, and long-game plans are realized. There’s a lot of action, but the character relationships don’t get lost in the melee, and that makes the set pieces hit harder. Some strong voice-acting here, especially from Sandra Oh and J.K. Simmons as Mark’s parents, and Ross Marquand does impressive work in his performance as a new character on the scene. As Mark, Steven Yeun continues to ground a larger-than-life story in emotions that feel very honest.

A lighter episode for William after he got more focus last week, but Andrew Rannells still delivers. Despite only being in a few scenes, William is closer to the action now and gets some good moments. As I said last week, I really like that he can take on that best-friend role without being a pushover. Mark’s a good kid at heart, but like a lot of main characters, he can also be myopic when it comes to his own problems. He needs a best friend who can give it to him straight, and that’s William all over. He takes the tough-love thing seriously and can give it to Mark when the guy needs to get his head out of his ass.

Also, Rannells and Yeun have some nice friend chemistry in their performances. We don’t get as much of it as I’d like, since William isn’t a super-prominent character on the show, but because, whenever we do see him, he’s usually with Mark, I’m reminded of it every time he’s onscreen. The two have good banter together and their friendship rings true despite its limited screentime. One moment I love between them here is this exchange, which follows a bit of harsh honesty from William: “What? Friends tell friends the truth.” “Not like that, they don’t!” Nice bit of levity in a heavy episode.