WOW! What an outstanding finale. They really went all out. The first 20 minutes of pure brutal action with Omni-Man and Invincible fighting, finally revealing his motives. You can tell they especially tried with the animation this episode. I love how expressive they made characters, obviously if it was in live-action the acting would've added a lot to it, but I just appreciated that they tried with the facial expressions, and of course, the voice acting from this amazing cast is great, really selling every line in this insane episode. Seriously I absolutely adored how brutal it was. There are so many things here I've always wanted to see from superhero content that they always shy away from. Omni-Man throwing Invincible through a city essentially using him as a weapon to kill so many people was incredibly devastating. When he tries to save the family from the collapsing building and comes out with one of their arms, it was dark perfection. These are the true consequences we don't get to see in most superhero content. The train scene where Omni-Man forces Invincible in place and shreds all the passengers was perfection. The animation is usually pretty good, but it shined in this sequence. I do have to say, there were times where the CGI crowds were noticeable and they look quite bad.
Sure, the action was amazing, but this isn't only about the action. The reveal of Omni-Man's motives and the Viltrumite's true history was excellent. I kinda expected it would be something like that, but that didn't detract any impact from me, as I was actually hoping it would be something like that. I've always thought "What if a planet became a perfect civilization and forced other planets to follow suit?" It's a very interesting concept, beautifully executed here. I do want to know, however, why the Viltrumite's population thinned out throughout their conquest. If Nolan had a kid, couldn't the other Viltrumite's do too? Especially considering he threatened Mark, saying he could just have another son, which must've been awful to hear. Hopefully, that's something that will be explained in the future. There were just so many impactful moments in the episode. Nolan calling Debbie a pet was honestly disturbing but wonderful for a spectator. Nolan's nihilism and lack of respect for human life is terrifying, but kind of logical from his point of view. I almost teared up when Nolan told Mark, "What will you have in 500 years?" and Mark replied with, "You, dad." So emotional, seriously gut wrenching stuff. Coupled with the flashback it was simply touching. I also like how Nolan isn't truly BAD like Homelander for example. There's definitely a lot more nuance to him than it may first appear, and I bet he'll eventually come around. Don't get me wrong, he is a horrible person for killing so many people mercilessly, but from his perspective, he was forced those beliefs, therefore I do think he will redeem himself.
After such brutality, the episode does slow down. I was surprised there was still almost half the episode left. I do like how they handled most of the other characters, like Debbie meeting up with Art. I feel like an alcoholism arc forming. I do think they could've waited a little bit more before Mark woke up after such a beating, he was almost deformed, and then he looks fine after a few days, but whatever. I appreciate how the episode still made time to see all of Mark's friends be there for him, and I thought Will almost exposing Invincible, and Eve revealing she's a hero was pretty funny. Though I have to say Amber is easily the worst character. For a show that often subverts common superhero tropes, the whole secret identity struggle with the relationship was pretty generic and not particularly well handled. It's later revealed that she knew for weeks, which contradicts how she acted in the previous episodes. It could be interpreted that maybe she was lying to make herself feel better for being tricked, but it doesn't seem like she was so she's just kind of a badly written character I guess. Hopefully she doesn't have too much to do in the next seasons, which I'm so glad it's been renewed for 2 more seasons already!
As for the other heroes, It's pretty nice to see the new Guardian of the Globe working together now. I hope Rex gets a bit of a redemption arc cause they leaned too far into him being a jerk. I think taking the initiative to clean the bloodstain on the wall was a sign of that. Robot is one of my favorite characters, and I loved his storyline with cloning Rex as a Teen and putting his consciousness in it for Monster girl. Brings up a lot of ethical questions for sure, but these are the types of uncomfortable things that might happen in a superhero world and I love that. Definitely something to chew on there. On a side note, I love the Mauler twins, they're a lot of fun. I hope to see the new Guardians of the Globe continue to be developed, I enjoy how odd of a team it is, especially considering they're the BIG team. Atom Eve finally joining in was nice too. Though another questionable thing I noticed are her powers. She literally built a treehouse almost effortlessly in the jungle. She could probably be a huge help rebuilding the city. Which makes me wonder, why didn't she use those subatomic powers before (i.e. The alien invasion in episode 2), and against Omni-Man? If she's able to manipulate organic matter, she's might be the most powerful character here. I just hope that it makes sense and it doesn't open up some plot holes in the future. The show has mostly been very well written, but there are some small inconsistencies here and there that could add up in a way that could begin to hurt the show.
The episode concludes by giving us a ton of teases for the rest of the show in the future, and it reminded me how vast the world has been expanded and effectively built. There are so many different interesting plot threads, and it's really exciting to see where they will all go. The world building in this series has been one of my favorite parts. Little things like bringing Allen the alien back, teasing the Viltrumite's invading, definitely sells this universe and is something to dread in the future. Overall, this finale was seriously outstanding, and the series as a whole has been amazing. It effectively developed a large cast of interesting characters, whilst building an interesting world, and storyline that shows a clear scope and direction. Many things weren't resolved this season, but it's fine because the sprawling story has so much to offer in the future, and they answered the main question we've had since that shocking premiere. I love the way this show tackles superhero tropes and flips them on their head, in a way it's a superhero deconstruction, and I appreciate that. Recently we've gotten a lot of these, but I think Invincible has proven itself with just 8 episodes to be among the best in the genre. I have actually read part of the comic, and I will say while there are a few changes here and there, a lot of stuff I'd even say are better adapted like Cecil (Another one of my favorite characters), but some things aren't that well adapted either. As a whole though, this is simply a very well written show, and it seems to be doing justice to the comic book. Perhaps I'm just biased because I love superheroes, and I tend to be more lenient with animation, but to me, this is seriously the start of one of the best TV shows I've watched. I really hope this show gets the popularity I believe it deserves and can be renewed enough times to where it's able to complete its story as intended. It'll be a long ride, but I'm ready to enjoy it all.
Episode Ratings: It's About Time: (9/10) Here Goes Nothing: (8.5/10) Who You Calling Ugly?: (8.5/10) Neil Armstrong, Eat Your Heart Out: (8/10) That Actually Hurt: (9.5/10) You Look Kinda Dead: (7/10) We Need to Talk: (9.5/10) Where I Really Come From: (9.7/10)
Season 1 Score: (9/10)
Sure, the action was amazing, but this isn't only about the action. The reveal of Omni-Man's motives and the Viltrumite's true history was excellent. I kinda expected it would be something like that, but that didn't detract any impact from me, as I was actually hoping it would be something like that. I've always thought "What if a planet became a perfect civilization and forced other planets to follow suit?" It's a very interesting concept, beautifully executed here. I do want to know, however, why the Viltrumite's population thinned out throughout their conquest. If Nolan had a kid, couldn't the other Viltrumite's do too? Especially considering he threatened Mark, saying he could just have another son, which must've been awful to hear. Hopefully, that's something that will be explained in the future. There were just so many impactful moments in the episode. Nolan calling Debbie a pet was honestly disturbing but wonderful for a spectator. Nolan's nihilism and lack of respect for human life is terrifying, but kind of logical from his point of view. I almost teared up when Nolan told Mark, "What will you have in 500 years?" and Mark replied with, "You, dad." So emotional, seriously gut wrenching stuff. Coupled with the flashback it was simply touching. I also like how Nolan isn't truly BAD like Homelander for example. There's definitely a lot more nuance to him than it may first appear, and I bet he'll eventually come around. Don't get me wrong, he is a horrible person for killing so many people mercilessly, but from his perspective, he was forced those beliefs, therefore I do think he will redeem himself.
After such brutality, the episode does slow down. I was surprised there was still almost half the episode left. I do like how they handled most of the other characters, like Debbie meeting up with Art. I feel like an alcoholism arc forming. I do think they could've waited a little bit more before Mark woke up after such a beating, he was almost deformed, and then he looks fine after a few days, but whatever. I appreciate how the episode still made time to see all of Mark's friends be there for him, and I thought Will almost exposing Invincible, and Eve revealing she's a hero was pretty funny. Though I have to say Amber is easily the worst character. For a show that often subverts common superhero tropes, the whole secret identity struggle with the relationship was pretty generic and not particularly well handled. It's later revealed that she knew for weeks, which contradicts how she acted in the previous episodes. It could be interpreted that maybe she was lying to make herself feel better for being tricked, but it doesn't seem like she was so she's just kind of a badly written character I guess. Hopefully she doesn't have too much to do in the next seasons, which I'm so glad it's been renewed for 2 more seasons already!
As for the other heroes, It's pretty nice to see the new Guardian of the Globe working together now. I hope Rex gets a bit of a redemption arc cause they leaned too far into him being a jerk. I think taking the initiative to clean the bloodstain on the wall was a sign of that. Robot is one of my favorite characters, and I loved his storyline with cloning Rex as a Teen and putting his consciousness in it for Monster girl. Brings up a lot of ethical questions for sure, but these are the types of uncomfortable things that might happen in a superhero world and I love that. Definitely something to chew on there. On a side note, I love the Mauler twins, they're a lot of fun. I hope to see the new Guardians of the Globe continue to be developed, I enjoy how odd of a team it is, especially considering they're the BIG team. Atom Eve finally joining in was nice too. Though another questionable thing I noticed are her powers. She literally built a treehouse almost effortlessly in the jungle. She could probably be a huge help rebuilding the city. Which makes me wonder, why didn't she use those subatomic powers before (i.e. The alien invasion in episode 2), and against Omni-Man? If she's able to manipulate organic matter, she's might be the most powerful character here. I just hope that it makes sense and it doesn't open up some plot holes in the future. The show has mostly been very well written, but there are some small inconsistencies here and there that could add up in a way that could begin to hurt the show.
The episode concludes by giving us a ton of teases for the rest of the show in the future, and it reminded me how vast the world has been expanded and effectively built. There are so many different interesting plot threads, and it's really exciting to see where they will all go. The world building in this series has been one of my favorite parts. Little things like bringing Allen the alien back, teasing the Viltrumite's invading, definitely sells this universe and is something to dread in the future. Overall, this finale was seriously outstanding, and the series as a whole has been amazing. It effectively developed a large cast of interesting characters, whilst building an interesting world, and storyline that shows a clear scope and direction. Many things weren't resolved this season, but it's fine because the sprawling story has so much to offer in the future, and they answered the main question we've had since that shocking premiere. I love the way this show tackles superhero tropes and flips them on their head, in a way it's a superhero deconstruction, and I appreciate that. Recently we've gotten a lot of these, but I think Invincible has proven itself with just 8 episodes to be among the best in the genre. I have actually read part of the comic, and I will say while there are a few changes here and there, a lot of stuff I'd even say are better adapted like Cecil (Another one of my favorite characters), but some things aren't that well adapted either. As a whole though, this is simply a very well written show, and it seems to be doing justice to the comic book. Perhaps I'm just biased because I love superheroes, and I tend to be more lenient with animation, but to me, this is seriously the start of one of the best TV shows I've watched. I really hope this show gets the popularity I believe it deserves and can be renewed enough times to where it's able to complete its story as intended. It'll be a long ride, but I'm ready to enjoy it all.
Episode Ratings: It's About Time: (9/10) Here Goes Nothing: (8.5/10) Who You Calling Ugly?: (8.5/10) Neil Armstrong, Eat Your Heart Out: (8/10) That Actually Hurt: (9.5/10) You Look Kinda Dead: (7/10) We Need to Talk: (9.5/10) Where I Really Come From: (9.7/10)
Season 1 Score: (9/10)
