Secret Invasion Recap: Murder Plots Aplenty! But Who Really Died?
Episode 4 of Disney+'s Secret Invasion put crosshairs on the backs of two very important men. But once the dust settled, who actually wound up dead?
Speaking of dead folk, G'iah (as predicted) ain't one of them. Episode 4, titled "Beloved," opened with a montage of G'iah's bullet wound healing, as she lay on the ground outside New Skrullos, and flashbacks to establish that she had "mind-melded" with the real, podded Dr. Rosa Dalton and then imbued herself with Extremis healing ability.
Next up was a flashback to Paris circa 2012, post-Battle of New York, where Priscilla commended Fury on his successful assembling of the Avengers. That teed up the present-day meet-up between Priscilla and Rhodey, where the latter made clear that the former had orders to kill Fury — or be killed. Fury, having eavesdropped on the convo, later had an intense heart-to-heart with the missus back at home, saying that of all the bone-headed things he has done over the ages, she was his "biggest mistake," that he "lost all reason" in the name of being a husband.
Fury prompted Priscilla, again, to finally tell the story of how she chose her human form, and she explained how she had bonded with a woman who was quietly dying of a congenital heart defect. Once the woman's fate became clear, Varra flatly asked to take on her form — and the woman agreed, so long as, among other things, Varra promised to "never hurt" the man she falls in love with.
Still, pistols are drawn and fired across the breakfast table by Fury and Priscilla — and they both miss. "They'll be coming for you," Fury warns, but Priscilla is good with her choice to defy Gravik's orders.
Meanwhile, G'iah covertly-ish meets up with her father, to reveal the attempt on her life and wave off his apology for "forcing" her into being a mole. That said, G'iah would very much like to hear an actual "plan" from Dad to find them a new home, and he lays out a two-step agenda: End the insurgency led by Gravik, then leverage that "saving of the day" to secure from the U.S. government some amnesty and a place here on Earth. G'iah deems her father "delusional" for seeing such a future, and walks off.
After a sequence that revealed a showering (female?) Skrull to be the one posing as Rhodey, the character unexpectedly found Fury waiting in his living room. Fury, pouring them some Pappy Van Winkle bourbon ($1,000 a bottle!), says he is there to 1) squash their beef and 2) relay his working theory that Skrulls are embedded in the U.S. government, including one very close to POTUS! "Rhodey" again scoffs at such theorizing, then urges Fury to get gone — lest a video of "Fury" gunning down Maria Hill in Moscow get leaked. Fury obliges, having laced the pricey booze with a "liquid location tracker," as later revealed to Talos.
Said nanotech leads Fury and Talos to the site of a "kill zone" ambush on President Ritson's motorcade, led by Gravik and other Skrulls posing as Russians. Here, Gravik briefly employs his Groot-like Super Skrull power, which was long-ago spoiled by trailers. Amid the explosions, ground-to-helo missiles and ground firefight, Talos uses his Skrull strength to bust through the window of POTUS' overturned SUV, though he takes a bullet along the way and begins reverting to his Skrull form — which takes onlooking soldiers by surprise. Fury assures the soldiers that Talos is "with me," and they proceed to rescue POTUS.
A soldier starts to lug wounded Talos away, but when Fury draws a gun on the man, he reveals himself to be Gravik. The rebel Skrull general then stabs Talos in the chest, dropping the lifeless body to the ground. Fury, while shocked/devastated, nonetheless must choose to drive Ritson away to safety, and leave his slain longtime friend behind, as Episode 4 cuts to black....
What did you think of Episode 4, and what are your predictions for the final two episodes?