Invincible's second episode of Season 2, "In About Six Hours I Lose My Virginity to a Fish," struggles to find its footing after the devastating events of the season premiere. While the core story of Mark and Debbie dealing with Omni-Man's betrayal remains emotionally resonant, the supporting ensemble is often left floundering.
The episode opens with a Spider-Man-esque scenario, as Mark juggles his superhero duties with his graduation ceremony. This scene effectively highlights the scattered nature of Mark's life, but it also feels a bit uninspired, as it simply mirrors existing pop culture scenes without much insight or subversion. Mark is then ordered by Cecil to arrest Darkwing, a Batman parody, in the eerie Midnight City. This scene is also straightforward and lacks purpose, beyond depicting Mark's current crime-fighting routine. A trip to Atlantis, where Mark must battle an Aquaman stand-in, is at least slightly more tongue-in-cheek, but it's hardly novel, as Peter Parker has been struggling to balance his personal and superhero lives for decades.
The most compelling storyline of the episode involves Debbie, who is still reeling from Omni-Man's betrayal. When she shows a home to prospective buyers, the couple's argument takes on sinister undertones, as it's unclear whether Debbie is seeing things clearly or if her perspective is warped by trauma. This scene is a powerful example of the show's ability to blend emotional realism with its superhero premise.
Elsewhere, three intersecting subplots unfold, but only one is particularly interesting. At the USSA, astronaut Rus Livingston (Ben Schwartz), who is secretly a Martian disguised as Rus, struggles to fit in at his job and gorges on frozen pizzas. He is inspired to take action as The Shapesmith, a shapeshifting hero who tries to win the Guardians' favor by helping them fight the Lizard League. However, the episode doesn't give this subplot enough time to develop, and it's ultimately overshadowed by other concerns.
The Lizard League gets an entire sequence about their internal politics and power struggle, but this feels unnecessary, as the group is essentially a spoof of Marvel's Serpent Society. The Guardians' own drama also takes up a significant chunk of screen time, but it's mostly uninteresting, with the exception of a few funny moments from Jason Mantzoukas as Rex Splode.
Another subplot involves Atom Eve struggling to build a local park, but it's also underdeveloped and truncated. Eve's domestic frustrations with her short-tempered father mirror Mark and Debbie's story in some ways, but the episode simply doesn't have enough time to do justice to all of these storylines.
The second episode of Invincible is a bit of a mixed bag. The core story of Mark and Debbie dealing with Omni-Man's betrayal remains emotionally resonant, but the supporting ensemble is often left floundering. The subplots in this episode are underdeveloped and uninspired, except for a few interesting moments, such as the introduction of the Shapesmith and the hint at what happened to Angstrom Levy.
The episode also feels overstuffed, with too many different characters and storylines vying for attention. This prevents any of the subplots from developing fully. On the positive side, the episode does feature some strong emotional moments, particularly in the scenes involving Mark and Debbie. The animation is also excellent, and the voice acting is top-notch.
However, there are still a few reasons to be optimistic about the season ahead. The Shapesmith is a worthwhile addition to the cast, and Angstrom Levy's post-credit scene suggests that he's still a major player in the story.
I hope that the show can focus on its core characters and storylines in future episodes and that it can find a way to balance its humor and action with its more serious moments. If it can do that, then Invincible Season 2 has the potential to be a truly great season of television.
Final Score- [6.5/10]