Episode Grade: (7.7/10)
Fury outsmarts Gravik in the final stretch thanks to an effective divide-and-conquer strategy that utilizes both G’iah and Sonya to their strengths.
Plot (37/50)
Gravik may have been defeated, but his defeat wasn’t exactly Fury’s victory. The Skrull rebellion was subdued and a serious global conflict was avoided, but there are consequences even for unsuccessful plans. Gravik’s actions not only revealed the existence of Skrulls on Earth, they also proved that Skrulls can be dangerous to the human race. Those actions can not be undone. As a result, Fury and co. must come to terms with a world where Skrulls are considered enemies to the human race.
Gravik’s Demise
The episode opens with Fury making his way to Gravik’s base in New Skrullos on his own. The deeper he goes into New Skrullos, the more he’s affected by the radiation. He passes through the pile of dead Skrulls on his way to the Super Skrull lab where he comes face to face with Gravik. The two have a heated discussion about how this whole situation came to be. Fury admits that he failed Gravik and the Skrulls. And to right his wrongs, he decides to hand over the Harvest. In exchange, he wants Gravik to take the Skrulls and leave Earth.
Of course, Fury has no bargaining power, so Gravik has no intention of making any sort of deal. He takes the Harvest and confirms that the Avengers’ DNA is pure. He then proceeds to infuse his with that of the Harvest using the Super Skrull machine. Crucially, Fury was left in the machine during the process as well. Regardless, the infusion was successful.
Gravik wastes no time. His first objective is to eliminate Fury, but he is quickly met with an unpleasant surprise. Fury was G’iah in disguise all along, so she too gained the Super Skrull abilities. The two fight it out using a variety of their new abilities. Eventually, they tap into the powers of Carol Danvers. G’iah then proceeds to blast a hole through Gravik’s torso to end his life.
Preventing WWIII
Meanwhile, Sonya and Fury team up to prevent a US nuclear strike on the Skrull compound. Sonya, still pretending that she doesn’t know of Rhodes’ true identity, warns him of Fury’s impending arrival at the hospital. Rhodes panics as he tries to relocate President Ritson to a safer floor. This allows Sonya and Fury to immobilize all the agents on site using tranquilizer darts. When Fury finally makes an appearance, it’s just him, Sonya, Rhodes, and Ritson.
Fury immediately reveals that Rhodes is a Skrull, but despite Sonya’s corroboration, Ritson isn’t convinced. After some more attempted convincing, Skrull Rhodes does them a favor by trying to eliminate Fury. Fortunately, Fury’s quicker to the punch. He shoots Skrull Rhodes in the head, thus revealing that he is in fact a Skrull. Ritson quickly calls off the strike.
The Aftermath
While Gravik was defeated and a nuclear war was avoided, it’s hard to call this a clear-cut win for Fury and co due to the stance Ritson takes in response to recent events. He addresses the American public with a stern message: Skrulls are our enemies. In fact, he goes so far as to propose a bill to Congress that would designate all aliens as enemies. This sets off a spree of assassinations by vigilante groups who were inspired by Ritson’s speech to go after suspected Skrulls. Unfortunately, some of the suspected Skrulls turned out to be human, most notably the Prime Minister of England. And of course, some vigilantes got themselves killed.
Fury tries to talk some sense into Ritson, once again, but he’s having none of it. He wants the Skrulls off the face of the Earth. Fury returns to S.A.B.E.R., and Varra decides to join him after he reveals that the Kree are willing to open peace talks. This leaves Sonya and G’iah to clean up the mess. G’iah is hesitant to team up with Sonya, but she is quickly persuaded to do so after Sonya makes it clear that she wants to build a win-win relationship. G’iah releases some notable figures, including Rhodes and Ross, from the Skrull pods. However, she and Sonya quickly discover the scope of Gravik’s operation when they find a basement full of pods.
Final Thoughts
This was a solid finale that wrapped up this story while leaving key issues unresolved for future MCU releases. The reveal that Fury was actually G’iah was a nice surprise, as was the fact that Gravik and G’iah were allowed to turn into Super Skrulls. Gravik is obviously gone, but G’iah remains. Given her newfound abilities, she will be a force to be reckoned with. However, I wasn’t particularly thrilled with how quickly she trusted Sonya. She obviously needs allies as the de facto Skrull leader if she wants to protect the Skrulls from the war Ritson declared on them, but this felt rushed.
It doesn’t help that Fury immediately retreated back to S.A.B.E.R. I get that he wants to pursue the peace treaty with the Krees as it would send the Skrulls back to their planet, but he could’ve stuck around until things stabilized around G’iah. The Kree peace talks were very much deus ex machina, but that wasn’t as bad as some of the other inconsistencies. Assuming the audience knows nothing about radiation, they established that exposure would cause near-immediate harm to humans, so what about the humans that were in the pods? How come they weren’t affected?
Also, how did Gravik and G’iah get so familiar with their Skrull abilities so quickly? I thought there would be some learning curve, but G’iah was out there phasing like she’d been doing it her whole life. In any case, this was the first episode that actually felt like a spy thriller. Better late than never, I suppose. Overall, this was a mediocre series that won’t be missed. With that said, I look forward to seeing how it impacts the MCU.
Character Development (12/15)
This was a mostly straightforward finale when it came to the development of key characters. No one’s behavior was out of the ordinary, but there were some important moments for the likes of G’iah, Gravik, and Ritson.
Fury
Fury’s been frustratingly slow to react at times over the course of the season. They stuck to the narrative that he wasn’t as capable as he used to be, but when it mattered, he was at the top of his game. He absolutely played Gravik in the endgame to avoid a nuclear war and dodge what would have almost certainly been a fatal confrontation. Skrull Rhodes was never a worthy match, and it showed. This was all typical Nick Fury.
With that said, his retreat to S.A.B.E.R. suggests that his feelings post-Blip have not changed. It appears unlikely that he’ll ever fully recover from that loss. Nonetheless, he’s found a way to contribute. His focus is firmly set on resolving the Skrull issue, and with Varra by his side, he might be able to broker a peace with the Kree that would send the Skrulls back to their planet. In the meantime, he’s putting a lot of faith in G’iah.
G’iah
Speaking of G’iah, the writers have done a good job distinguishing her from the others. She’s learned valuable lessons from Fury, Talos, and even Gravik. Her willingness to work with Fury and Sonya demonstrates her diplomatic side. Talos’ influence is obvious, but so is Gravik’s. This was especially clear in her negotiations, for a lack of a better word, with Sonya. She’s not as trusting as her father, but she doesn’t hate the humans either. Her newfound abilities make her one of the most powerful individuals in play. Fury is hoping that his commitment to protecting Earth rubs onto G’iah. That seems to be the case, but time will tell.
Others
Fury was probably also banking on Ritson’s support, but that didn’t pan out the way he wanted it to. Ritson, having experienced the various strengths of the Skrulls, feels threatened. His decision to declare war on the Skrulls and on all aliens, for that matter, was impulsive yet understandable.
Sonya, on the other hand, sees the value in Skrulls as allies, much like Fury. Unlike Fury, however, she knows that any relationship with the Skrulls should be mutually beneficial. Her honesty strikes a cord with G’iah, and the two begin what should be a fruitful alliance.
Finally, I have a couple thoughts on how Gravik’s situation turned out. He felt aggrieved, used, and betrayed by a man he looked up to in admiration. He allowed those feelings, justified as they may be, to cloud his judgement. The negativity turned into desperation, and that ultimately led to his demise. However, in that scene when he thought he was talking to Fury, G’iah got a chance to see how hurt Gravik was by Fury’s actions. Might that have a lasting impact on her?
Theme/Messages (3/5)
- “It’s easier to save the lives of 8 billion people than it is to change their hearts and minds.”
- Actions have consequences. There is no undo button.
Acting (13/15)
Kingsley Ben-Adir (Gravik) absolutely crushed it in his final outing. He delivered what was by far the greatest performance of the series. Too bad he doesn’t get to stick around. Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Emilia Clarke (G’iah), Don Cheadle (Rhodes), and Olivia Colman (Sonya) had solid performances.
Cinematography (12/15)
- Shot of Fury in the shadows (1:48)
- Shot of Gravik and Fury sitting across from eachother on the edges of the Super Skrull machine (13:30)
- Some of the shots of G’iah and Gravik with their various abilities were not pretty.
- Shot of Fury and Varra’s silhouettes as the light from S.A.B.E.R. shines through behind them (31:19)