‘Secret Invasion’s penultimate episode gears up for the final showdown, but the runtime leaves good things unsettled

Towards the end of Secret Invasion’s fifth episode, “Harvest,” Nick Fury and the sadly underutilized Sonya Falsworth have a conversation where she asks him why he hasn’t called The Avengers to help out in this Skrull invasion. In his answer, where the audience learns the apparent answer, this limited series has been telling us thematically to begin with. Fury wants to save the world on his own to fly in the face of everybody telling him that he’s lost a step – the old hero trying to prove to himself and the world that he’s still got it.

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But I also feel that the information dropped in the scene personifies a big issue encompassing the run time of the last two episodes – running a little over 30+ minutes. It’s not enough time to unpack the bigger revelations or themes the story suddenly drops in and wants to uncover. While preparing for the final showdown, we discover a vial of Avenger DNA called “The Harvest.” Fury and his secret network of Skrulls (including Gravik) gathered the blood of all the Avengers after the Battle of New York.

That could be another reason Fury hesitates calling on his super friends. I can’t imagine the likes of Thor and Hawkeye would be happy to see that Fury has been playing around with their DNA – let alone possibly letting this get into the hands of a shape-shifting alien race. It’s not only that Fury has a revelation about his own legacy, it’s also about covering his underhandedness. This experimentation might be more damaging than the footage of Fury shooting Maria Hill playing on every news station.

Speaking of Gravik, a mini rebellion caused by Pagon and Beto's attempts to take him down to no avail. But before his quick demise, Pagon brings up some good points. Gravik has numerous times to kill Fury and chooses the one person they know won’t kill him. Come to find out later; Fury has everything Gravik needs to finish the Super Skrull program. But given Gravik’s power set with what he has now, does he even need it? We’ve only seen Gravik use the Groot branch now, but is he after something different? His call to Fury to set up will presumably be the showdown, hints at something more profound, but the series has given his character little to work with in that regard.

It’s nice to see other Skrulls attempt to push back on his reign of terror, but why is this the breaking point? They just watched an attempt on the life of the U.S. President with no long-term plan other than ensure mass destruction. “Harvest’s” run time also doesn’t help the weight of Talos’s death and how Gi’ah deals with it. Given how essential his character has been to the entire Captain Marvel universe, the story moves on quickly outside of a short funeral.

There’s a deeper conversation Gi’ah and Varra go into about identity, which gets interrupted by an entertaining piece of action. I hope they circle back to some part of this in the finale. Previously, Gi’ah has shown that she’s resentful of the Skrulls not having to walk on Earth in their skin. When she pushes back on the notion about how in love Varra is without it, Varra snaps back at her. Secret Invasion has touched on the real viciousness of prejudice and the fact of humans not accepting each other – let alone alien beings who can assume their identities.

This is an instance where I feel a more extended episode was needed. It’s a lesson Gi’ah will have to learn, but there may not be enough time to reach her conclusion adequately. Olivia Colman’s comedic styling within Sonya is a much-needed highlight as Fury gears up to fight Gravik one more time. There was also a nice spot with Rick Mason’s return. The stakes are high, but given the false deaths and The Marvels being a direct sequel, are we really to believe Fury will perish here? I personally will say no. With all this build-up in this series, fingers crossed there is a satisfying conclusion given the ramifications happening at-large.