Amazon’s Invincible season 1, episode 5 review: That Actually Hurt

Invincible gets a beating like you won’t believe, learns a lesson he won’t forget, and his love life suffers.

Previously on Amazon Prime’s Invincible, Mark took a trip to Mars. It was his first superhero gig where he saved the day without the assistance of anyone else, so it was a big moment for him.

Back on Earth, Mark’s father Nolan (Omni-Man) and mother Debbie were trying to fix their relationship. While all of this was going on, Cecil Stedman grew wary of Nolan. He knows that he killed the Guardians of the Globe; he just can’t prove it yet.

As the search for proof went on, Cecil got annoyed with Damien Darkblood not dropping his investigation. The only way to stop Darkblood was to send back to Hell. What’s going to happen now? Let’s find out.

Invincible learns while Titan fights

Invincible starts with a tale of two people. On one side, you have Mark Grayson. He’s getting used to being Invincible and becoming a better hero – and a good one at that. But his personal life is suffering. He’s constantly late for school, work, and meeting his girlfriend.

On the flip side, you have Titan – who is doing illegal jobs for his boss. The sad part is Titan hates it because he’s really a kind person. He let a couple of people off the hook and paid for them to have a place to stay after he burned their building down.

If imitation is the biggest form of flattery, then the creators behind Amazon Prime’s Invincible must have loved Luke Cage on Netflix. Starting off with Titan running through drug dealers in a building while getting shot looked like a scene from the first season of the Netflix TV series. Granted, it was bloodier than Luke Cage, but you could see the similarities.

The biggest takeaway from it, however, is finding out Titan isn’t a bad guy. After he pays his debt to his boss Machine Head, he’s told that he’s not leaving. If he does, he’ll kill his family. Standard bad guy threats. It makes sense that he’d go to Invincible – especially after he sees Mark fly away with a villain. This story actually makes more sense than the storyline used in the comic book.

Invincible sees the other side

Invincible is used to saving more than just a few people. The problem with flying so high and only doing the big things is it leaves the little problems falling through the cracks. Machine Head isn’t small potatoes. He’s just made his fortune jerking a bunch of regular people, burning down buildings and collecting the insurance money. He doesn’t even care if there are people in the building when they burn.

This is the first time Mark saw a new side of things. During dinner, Nolan told him that helping Titan would be a huge mistake; that he’s too big to do small things like this. Mark’s mother Debbie, on the other hand, disagreed. Debbie is truly seeing who her husband is. She already found Darkblood’s book with his notes on Omni-Man. All that Nolan’s doing now is only confirming what she knows.

Lesson learned?

No other way to put this other than Invincible, Titan, and the Guardians of the Globe got their butts handed to them by Battle Beast. Sure, they came back and won in the end, but only because Battle Beast felt the fight was beneath him. They were very lucky. Mark, not so much however. Not only was he beaten worse than anyone else was, he was played. Titan used this opportunity to take over Machine Head’s empire. And after all of that, his father could have stopped it and didn’t.

Yeah, Mark learned a valuable lesson but not the one his father wanted him to. He found out that he’s not as strong or invincible as he thought. Normally, he can keep on fighting. He did try, beating all of Machine Head’s men. He just couldn’t beat the biggest of them all. This probably won’t be the last time Mark is beaten like this but it’s definitely the one that changes things for him.

Invincible pace

This writer can’t say enough about this episode of Invincible. It was perfect from beginning to end. We were hit with a bunch of action scenes, comedy, and more character development. With all of that, there was still time to introduce some new characters and plot threads to the story.

Another thing that’s important to say is that the action scenes continue to be bloody. However, the show is not constantly throwing it in our faces. The Omni-Man fight against the Guardians of the Globe in the first episode was one thing. It was needed to let the viewers know this wasn’t their normal animated show. Now, however, it’s more spaced out, sparse well and remains creative.

Invincible rumination

• The jokes about flying other people is hilarious. A nod to the comics because, let’s be honest, there’s no cool way to be carried by someone.
• The clone bit between the Mauler Twins never gets old. It’s funny how they’re goofy, big, and still incredibly intelligent.
• Machine Head’s voice is creative. Jeffrey Donovan’s voice with the auto-tune worked perfectly.
• Battle Beast was awe-inspiring. And, guess what, he gets better.
• How long until Mark finds out his dad is a jerk? Will he remember his dad watching him get carted away and not bothering to check on him?
• Will Mark tell Amber his secret in the next episode? This writer votes yes.

What are your thoughts on this week’s episode of Amazon Prime’s Invincible? What do you want to see next? Let us know in the comments below!