Secret Invasion Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Resurrection

Secret Invasion will divide fans on its merits, but it will also struggle to conquer its ambitious premise.

Secret Invasion Season 1 Episode 1, “Resurrection,” navigates a surprisingly subdued toe-dip into the thriller genre. It wants to be a slow burn, grounded in serious performances and upended by heart-pounding global espionage.

Yet, the pilot’s lack of conviction is underwhelming, and its pacing breaks little ground. This clunky introduction could right itself. But we have gone down this aimless road before, and I am tired of being strung along as I wait for the story to begin.

What Works

The choice to have Nick Fury lead Secret Invasion is rather genius. After all, this man has established time again he is not trustworthy. But when faced with the concept that no one is who they say they are, we have no choice but to rely on Fury.

If that element of this series can be managed well enough, the payoff will be fantastic.

Also, Secret Invasion‘s attempts to execute a global espionage element are going over better than in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It lays roots in Russia before venturing out to different factions, establishing how events in one city affect other countries.

The Power Broker storyline was notorious for sidelining Bucky and Sam’s seasonal trajectory, so it’s good to see Fury’s history and agendas baked into the Skrull’s global plan from the jump.

The show also boasts a star-studded cast, and that means that any character/actor we can dream of could potentially appear in this project. Dermot Mulroney is the president, for god sake.

Newcomer Olivia Colman is a standout in the pilot.

Sonya is meant to encompass the “who can you trust?” tagline of the show, and her mobster antics will hopefully keep this show’s slow pace from flatlining. She also seems to be the one exception to sidelining the cheeky banter for a more serious, somber tone.

It is also lovely to have Cobie Smulders back as Maria Hill. She has been with us since The Avengers. Plus, she is a legacy character we know nothing about because she is closely tied to Fury’s secret agendas — making her a perfect fit for this series.

When you think about it, this project is also the perfect time to dive into that partnership and weave an exploration of why Fury trusts Hill as the show itself explores themes of mistrust.

That dynamic is alive with potential as Hill plunges her metaphorical hands into Fury’s chest and puts everything unsaid on the table. She tells him the truth, he is not the man he once was, and his refusal to accept that will get someone hurt. In a poetic (yet dumb) move, that someone is her.

What Doesn’t Work

Secret Invasion is attempting a slow, methodical, political thriller. That tone is exciting but withholds too much to suggest it will differ from what came before.

The storytelling is disjointed, meandering for an hour, and unsure if it wants to be a TV show or a glorified promo for an upcoming movie. The rogue Skrulls come off as the typical cut-and-paste bad guys, their mission statement underwhelming in its delivery.

The slow pace is counterproductive, grinding the story to a near halt with its lack of developments. In wanting to give nothing away, this simmering mystery doesn’t give us much to work with, reducing characters to hollow shells and tiring monologues.

That uninspired villain agenda is more agonizing than gripping, and unfortunately, Secret Invasion forgets it still has to tell us why we should care about these people.

All these issues feel more in tune with past projects than the mature rebrand this series promises.

What Really Doesn’t Work

Secret Invasion is fine. It’s not groundbreaking — really, it’s not much of anything because it does not want to tell us what it is.

But one decision tells me more than I want to know about this show.

The most ironic thing about killing Maria Hill off for shock value is that the decision isn’t all that shocking. We have seen this dynamic enough to know she would be the collateral damage regardless of what actual value she brings to the series.

But only two women were allowed to take up space in The Avengers all those years ago, and now they have both been sacrificed to further a man’s story. It is a pattern I am tired of witnessing from a franchise that claims its storytelling is evolving.

Reducing Maria to a motive for Fury might seem like the creative, emotional linchpin this series needs to kick things off.

However, the brief moments we see of the retired S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives reunited are the most fascinating of the pilot. That tells me the series never considered an alternative to squandering ten years of developments for a few shocking moments.

Everyone wants Secret Invasion to be a reincarnation of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but it shows a desire to go against what worked for the original espionage drama.

Because one show recognized it would be a waste to let Phil Coulson’s potential rot in a grave. Yet, the other ignores the goldmine of dynamics with Hill and chooses to cling to the trappings of a Tom Clancy novel rather than those successes with Coulson.

That decision alone tells me this show isn’t nearly as smart as it wants us to believe it is. But there is still plenty of time for Secret Invasion to prove us wrong and make this sacrifice mean something.

Will it, though? That’s the question.

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New episodes of Secret Invasion stream Wednesdays on Disney+.

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