Invincible Season 3 Episode 5 Review
‘Invincible’ occasionally has these fun one off episodes that don’t advance the main arc of the season, and episode five of season three is certainly this. Mark and Eve decide to live together and start funding, and Mark’s previous decisions to help Titan come back to haunt him as the mob boss seeks to extricate himself out of a difficult situation. It’s a fun episode, though it is undercut by comic book moments that intrude, and provide another distraction from the narrative of the season.
Audiences see the return of some minor characters like Titan, Isotope Mr. Liu and Machine Head as their squabbles interfere with Mark’s and Eve’s attempts to make a bit of money to get a place together. Titan demands that Invincible keep him in power as Mr. Liu orders him to bend the knee, but Invincible isn’t so sure, especially as he nearly got killed the last time he helped Titan. The moral quandary though is thought provoking, as Titan is surely a lesser evil than whoever Mr. Liu would replace him with.
Outside of this, Eve humorously struggles to integrate into Mark’s home life, as they try to sneak around Debbie and Oliver. This leads to some awkward comedy that any young person without their own place can relate to, especially as Oliver doesn’t know what it means to be subtle. Speaking of the purple guy, he’s allowed to act just like a little kid again, him pantsing the older bullies was delightfully hilarious to see.
While the episode is overall surprisingly light for ‘Invincible’, that doesn’t mean it’s free from dark or gory aspects. Dupli-Kate’s and Multi-Paul’s origins are recapped with some sadness, and how Multi-Paul attempts to escape the prison is gruesome. This adds just enough to contrast with everything else that’s going on, which is great.
The highlight of this episode is certainly Mr. Liu’s dragon forms fighting Eve and Invincible. The duo together show how good they are, and the music kicks in and elevates the whole affair. It’s a standout moment, and shows just how good the times are. While it’s lighter on the gore than normal, it proves that this show doesn’t need to rely on it as a crutch for the spectacle the animators can create.
Machine Head gets what he wants, and becomes the head of The Order. Titan demands they leave him alone, and it’s somewhat surprising (and refreshing) that Machine Head relents quickly, though also makes sense given he’s just witnessed Titan execute a plan to kill Mr. Liu, but he’s also beaten Machine Head before.
This resolution is letdown by Mr. Liu’s servant somehow survived his long drop and sudden stop with only a broken arm, and revived his master. While this is certainly a common feature among all comic books from various publishers, this lack of finality cheapens what is otherwise a strong episode. It’s coupled with Titan’s supposed death earlier in the episode. It’s a minor gripe but it stops everything having stakes when no one will die, even when they should. Another downside to this episode is that it takes a further step back from the main narrative of season three, which loses all its forward momentum.
‘Invincible’ season three episode five was a fun and overall light entry, while still providing enjoyable humor and entertaining action and some thematic underpinnings in exploring what’s moral or not. It’s held back by small areas, such as resurrections that cheapen the resolution and the show still not exploring some of the more consequential aspects of the season so far, though hopefully the next episodes will be able to make good on this.
