As we march toward next week’s finale of Secret Invasion, I’m left wondering about this show. Not so much pondering the nuance and characters, but more what its purpose is. The comic book crossover event had huge ramifications as multiple heroes were revealed to be Skrulls, but heading into the finale, the Skrulls just seem like another threat, albeit one that can change its appearance. But I’m not buying into the threat, as there’s no urgency to the threat of nuclear annihilation from World War III and in a spy thriller, that’s the problem.

We do get further insight into Gravik’s plan, who seem to be diving off the deep end a bit here, killing one of his top lieutenants, which in turn created a mutiny amongst some of the Skrulls. This prompts Gravik to alter his plan, he tells Rhodey to inform the President, who has survived, that Skrulls exist and they’re camped in Russia. With the green light from NATO and England (who are both run by Skrulls), the US should prepare for a missile strike on Russia to neutralize the threat. I’m not sure in what world the US would attack Russian soil, he was told that the Russians are in league with the group, but I didn’t buy Rhodey’s justification of it’s better to face war than face extinction from an alien invasion. Nuclear war is a much faster route to that outcome.

We also learn that Gravik is out for the DNA of the Avengers, who all spilled blood when fighting Thanos. Taking bits of them, he’d be able to create unstopped Skrulls, as he’s already increased his strength and powers from the DNA of the likes of Cull Obsidian and Groot. When asked by Sonya why doesn’t Nick just call in some of his special friends, any of the dozens of super people he knows, he says we can’t always rely on them. Sorry Nick, you brought the band together for that exact reason in The Avengers. In fact, they were brought together to stop an alien invasion, which is what’s happening now. World War III is being threatened, I’m sure Sam Wilson would pick up the phone at the very least. Of course, the real reason is budget, so maybe this should’ve been a movie as it feels like the writers have been boxed in by monetary red tape.

While there’s been a lack of tension in the plot, the show has been delivering some great action, even if sometimes they feel like action for action’s sake. I’m always surprised by this show over how violent it can be. Blood streaks down walls, blades penetrate, gunshots leave holes and blood flies out. Sonya shoots a guy in the head and instead of cutting away, Secret Invasion shows the bullet ripping through his skull. I don’t think Marvel would be able to do that on the big screen and keep their PG-13 rating, so it’s nice to see the show take more risks in streaming.

I talked earlier on in the show about how there was his great sense of intrigue and that seems to be entirely absent in the latter half of the show. There was also a surprising lack of empathy towards the death of Talos. While he did stay dead, it felt almost like an afterthought and there was no emotional connection or impact to the loss of the co-lead on this show. Likewise, Fury is a fugitive thanks to Rhodey now and I didn’t feel any tension in this revelation, no sense of danger.

So we have one more episode to go and I’ve kind of gone from super intrigued to feeling indifferent about the show. I hope the finale has some consequences for the MCU as a whole, but I’m not holding my breath.