Secret Invasion: Betrayed

 "Well, I never cared much for golf, so,,, I'm thinking I might as well take up revenge,"

And with that, it suddenly clicks. I can see what Secret Invasion is trying to do, and why not everyone gets it. But I think I do: it's the MCU does the spy genre. But not as in James Bond... well, a bit... but far more in the sense of John Le Carre.

So many lies, so many games, so many betrayals, as per the title. Indeed, so many layers of betrayal. Gi'ah to Gravik. The rebel Skrulls to humanity. Priscilla to Fury, as we suspect from early on and is confirmed at the end. Yet... didn't he betray her through neglect, too? Heartbreakingly, we get to see them young and in love in 1998.

But what's so very Le Carre is how sordid it all seems, despite Sonya being there, on purpose, to represent a more fun side of the genre. What Fury and Talos do is not fun or glamorous; it grinds them down right into old age. And the scene in which Talos points out how him and his mates have guided Fury's career is quietly devastating... but not as devastating as Gravik catching and shooting Gi'ah, having suspected her all along. It was all a trap. Yes, Gravik want to engineer human nuclear extinction while a new race of "Super Skrulls" (hah, of course- harbinger of a certain quartet?) takes over what's left... but today's nuclear gambit was all to flush out Gi'ah. So she gives her life, on her father's say so, to save humanity. Has Talos thus been betrayed?

Brilliant telly.