This review contains spoilers for Invincible and episode 6 “You Look Kinda Dead”.
“You Look Kinda Dead” is the season’s sixth episode. Episode five, “That Actually Hurt”, left many of the show’s characters in a rough place. Mark had teamed up with Titan (voiced by the marvelous Mahershala Ali, who’s appeared in the MCU and will again) to take on local crime kingpin Machine Head. The fight didn’t go as smoothly as planned. The new Guardians of the Globe jumped in to save the day, but the battle left Mark, Monster Girl, and Black Samson in critical condition.
From there, the episode shifts back to Mark and the Guardians. They are hospitalized, and while doctors struggle to find the best means of helping them, Robot takes a particular interest in Monster Girl’s well-being. The show lingers in the hospital long enough to show the impact of the battle with Machine Head’s goons but briefly enough that no one seems in real danger of dying. Mark is quickly back up on his feet. Black Samson’s suit manages to resuscitate him. With some extra assistance from Robot, the hospital staff discovers a treatment that heals Monster Girl. Black Samson notes the special attention Robot gives Monster Girl. Fractures within the new Guardians have been widening over the course of the season. It seems likely there will be some kind of intra-team confrontation before the season’s end.
The A-plot in “You Look Kinda Dead” revolves around a college visit Mark makes with his best friend William and girlfriend Amber. After being told Mark got hit by a bus, Amber is willing to give him another chance despite their arguments in “That Actually Hurt”. William wants to visit the campus his crush Rick (voiced by Jonathan Groff) attends. The three of them travel to Upstate University, hoping to ignite romances of various kinds.
In the background of “You Look Kinda Dead”, characters are trying to piece together their future, much as Mark is. Atom Eve decides that she wants to really help people. She moves out to the woods and starts acting as an independent agent, saving the world from natural disasters. Debbie finally confirms that her husband did kill the Guardians of the Globe. Her confrontation with Omni-Man at the end of the episode lands them in an angry stalemate.
Back at Upstate University, cyborg Doug Cheston attacks the campus. Mark suits up as Invincible to save the day. This time William figures out Mark’s secret identity. Amber, however, doesn’t. She believes Mark abandoned his friends in the fight, and the two of them break up. Again.
Romance isn’t in the cards for anyone, it seems. After the campus fight, the same evil genius who took Doug Cheston kidnaps Rick. William and Mark end up stopping the bad guy, but not before he turns Rick into a cyborg. Cecil takes the scientist into custody and promises to try to help Rick. How William and Mark explain the disappearance of their host to Amber without revealing Mark’s identity remains to be seen.
The romantic drama between Mark and Amber remains the weakest part of the show. Invincible has done little to establish any real stakes for a superhero keeping their identity a secret. The first episode was unclear about whether or not secret identities even exist in this world. Heroes in Invincible are an overwhelmingly public presence. It’s hard to believe, for example, that Mark’s classmates don’t know he’s the son of Omni-Man. Likewise, there really doesn’t seem to be a reason (aside from creating romantic conflict) for Mark to keep his identity as Invincible a secret from Amber. Atom Eve encouraged Mark to tell Amber if he was “serious about her.” In this episode, Mark uses those exact words to describe his feelings for Amber, so it really seemed he’d let her in on the secret soon. As always, though, there must be drama.
Despite the lackluster romantic tension, “You Look Kinda Dead” is still a great example of what makes Invincible unique among superhero shows. Invincible is set up to be every superhero story anyone could want. It’s got an up-and-coming hero learning about their abilities and struggling to have a personal life, there’s super-teams fighting against global threats, and there’s intrigue, secret plots from heroes, villains, and governments alike, all vying for power.
