Recommending Secret Invasion to anyone other than Marvel Studios completionists has been a bit hard. Last week's episode felt much more solid and sincere than the premiere, yet the show as a whole has been struggling to justify its existence beyond serving as a well-deserved star vehicle for Samuel L. Jackson. The basic premise sounded like the perfect fit for a cinematic universe that had already hit a home run with paranoid action thrillers in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. However, Secret Invasion just doesn't have the same level of talent behind it and probably needed more time in the oven too.
Episode 3, titled 'Betrayed,' wraps up the season's first half by raising the stakes and erasing almost every chance of a peaceful resolution to the Skrull rebellion. The action simply isn't there, and jarring transitions between locations and characters persist, but there's something to chew on here for those who are okay with a cheaper spy thriller that happens to have sci-fi elements.
