Disney Plus’s Marvel original series Secret Invasion, Season 1 Episode 5, called “Harvest,” explores the story of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his mission to defeat Skrull General Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) and to stop his plan to divide and conquer Earth via starting World War III for the Skrulls. The episode begins with Fury escorting U.S. President Ritson (Dermot Mulroney) for surgery in a hospital. During the escort, Fury warns the unconscious Ritson that the Russians are not responsible for the attack on the President’s convoy. Fury also warns the President to distrust Colonel Rhodes (Don Cheadle), secretly the Skrull Warrior Raava (Nisha Aaliya). After the warning, Fury pulls out his gun and guards Ritson’s operating room as the President takes his blood transfusion treatment and surgery.
In New Skrullos, Gravik returns with the surviving Skrull Warriors from the Presidential convoy attack. The news of humanity’s discovery that shapeshifting aliens live among them on Earth scared New Skrullos’ Skrull residents. Gravik notices the fear and decides to have an assembly with his Skrull Warriors and operatives. During the Skrull Warrior meeting, Skrull Warrior Pagon (Killian Scott) turns against Gravik by telling the Skrull General that the Skrulls’ failed missions are on him and that Gravik should’ve killed Fury when he had the chance at the presidential convoy. Pagon even adds his confusion about why Gravik ordered Varra (Charlayne Woodard) to kill Fury even though every Skrull Warrior knew Varra would not do it. Gravik calmy tells Pagon that he knew Varra would not take the order and that he needs Fury alive to tell them where the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. hid the Avengers’ DNA. The answer does not satisfy Pagon as he realizes Gravik’s crusade will fail and questions Gravik’s leadership.
Gravik furiously kills Pagon by impaling the latter with his Flora Colossus powers. The Skrull Warriors at the assembly became frightened of what happened and began to fear their Skrull General. Skrull Warrior Beto (Samuel Adewunmi) reacts in fear, turning his emotion to disgust, and realizes that Gravik is a tyrant instead of a leader the Skrulls need. Gravik calls Raava and orders her to lie to U.S. President that the Skrulls are working with the Russians. The Skrull General also commands Raava to show Ritson footage of New Skrullos and plan a U.S. military strike on the Skrulls’ home as leverage against Fury as well as invigorate the Skrulls’ desire to destroy humanity and conquer Earth. Gravik says that he is making the new plan as a sacrifice for the betterment of Skrullkind. Raava does not take the news well but complies with the order.
“Rhodey” arrives at the hospital and is confronted by Fury. The colonel tries to calm Fury until the latter reveals he already knew “Rhodey” was a Skrull. Dropping the act, Raava menacingly tells Fury that the only way to stop him is if Fury kills her. Raava also tells Fury that the footage of Gravik, disguised as Fury, killing Maria Hill will release into every world news program in sixty seconds. In other words, in sixty seconds, Fury will be on a global watchlist and be hunted. Fury leaves the hospital not before being threatened by Raava not to come close to the U.S. President or else she will order the Secret Service to kill Fury. Fury ignores the threat and calmly leaves the hospital to continue fighting Gravik.
In London, high-ranking MI6 Agent Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman) makes her move by confronting Director of MI6 Derrik Weatherby, secretly a Skrull Warrior. Falsworth shoots “Weatherby” in the leg, causing “Weatherby”’s hand to turn green, proving to the MI6 that “Weatherby” is a Skrull. Following that, Falsworth continues to press “Weatherby” on the location of Dr. Rosa Dalton (Katie Finneran), or else she will kill him, as “the SIS has no official policy of killing Skrulls.” Off-Screen, “Weatherby,” tells Falsworth Dalton’s location.
In New Skrullos, Gravik gets a call from Raava that Ritson is out of surgery and that she will handle her mission of convincing Ritson to attack New Skrullos. After the call, Beto and some Skrull Warriors attempt to assassinate Gravik for becoming a tyrant and murdering Pagon in cold blood. The assassination attempt fails, and Gravik kills Beto and Beto’s accomplices in front of other Skrull Warriors as an example of what happens if they defy their Skrull General.
Later, Fury meets with Gi’ah (Emilia Clarke) in Brixton, London, at the same hideout where Fury promised the Skrulls that he would help them find a new home decades ago. The conversation begins with Gi’ah telling Fury she is disgusted with how her father, Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), died. She says that her father died “on a foreign planet” and “on a foreign road,” and “nothing will come of it.” Gi’ah says these words in disgust because her father died believing that humanity would accept the Skrulls when they most likely would not. Gi’ah then reveals she left her father because Talos would have lost if he continued leading the Skrulls. Fury rebuts that her father did not die in defeat, and Gi’ah must take up on her deceased father’s cause.
The conversation topic then changes to the alien and metahuman DNA used for Gravik’s Super Skrull project: Cull Obsidian, Flora Colossus, Frost Beast, and Extremis. Gi’ah tells Fury that Gravik’s goal is obtaining the Harvest, the Avengers’ DNA. With the new intel, Fury allows Gi’ah to bury her father with Varra’s help while he goes to Finland to retrieve the Harvest and keep it as leverage against Gravik.
Later, Falsworth confronts Skrull Warrior “Dr. Rosa Dalton” and the husband “Dr. Victor Dalton” (Mark Bazeley) on information on Gravik’s Super Skrull machine. Falsworth and her MI6 agents collect the intel on Gravik’s Super Skrull machine in the Dalton laboratory. However, “Dr. Victor Dalton” steals a gun and threatens to kill “Rosa” for their release. Falsworth sees “Victor”’s action as an empty threat and kills him in response. “Rosa” is frightened by the event and is taken away by Falsworth for further interrogation under MI6 custody.
Back in the hospital, “Rhodey” tells Ritson that U.S. intelligence, as well as MI6 thanks to Sonya Falsworth’s work, have corroborating evidence of the Skrulls’ existence. With the U.S. President shocked at the revelation of the Skrulls, “Rhodey” manipulates Ritson to launch a military strike on New Skrullos by lying to the U.S. President that the Russians are working with the Skrulls and denying their involvement in the President convoy attack.
Fury heads to an airfield via car to take a jet to Finland. During the ride, Fury talks with Gravik on the phone. Gravik gives Fury an ultimatum: hand over the Harvest, or he will allow Ritson to order a military strike on New Skrullos, which is on Russian soil. Therefore, if the military strike on New Skrullos happens, World War III starts. Gravik ends the call, and Fury enters his jet and greets Rick Mason (O-T Fagbenle), the international smuggler and independent contractor that helped Natasha Romanoff hide from Thaddeus Ross before the Infinity War. In other words, Mason is Fury’s jet pilot who will take Fury to Finland to retrieve the Harvest.
At the Fury Residence, Gi’ah and Varra cremate and bury Talos. Both perform the cremation with a small yet respectful and cultural Skrull funeral ceremony. Later, Varra and Gi’ah discuss Varra’s past love life with Fury fifteen years ago and what Fury values as a permanent home: lots of privacy, security, and light. The conversation transitions into a scolding as Varra scolds Gi’ah for being young, naive, and not knowing how to build and sustain a life. Varra stops the scolding after seeing how it discomforts a grieving Gi’ah and changes the topic to revealing how Varra wants to fight Gravik’s Skrull Warriors in her home, her realm of happiness, after the Skrull General issued her execution for defying orders by not killing Fury. Before continuing the conversation, the Skrull Warriors attack Gi’ah and Varra. Both arm themselves with weaponry, fight and kill their attackers. Following the attack, Varra takes Gi’ah to a drop-off location, where the latter leaves to continue her mission to defeat Gravik.
In Finland, Fury meets with Falsworth, promoted to Director of MI6 after exposing her predecessor as a Skrull. They drive to a hidden graveyard where Fury hid the Harvest. During the ride, Fury tells Falsworth that the Harvest contained all the Avengers and their allies’ blood during the Battle of Earth, the final battle and endgame against Thanos at the Avengers Compound. Only Fury, Gravik, and Gravik’s DNA collectors knew about the Harvest, likely when Gravik got the idea for the Super Skrull machine. Falsworth questions why Fury didn’t contact the Avengers for help, with the latter replying the Skrull situation is personal and that he has to clean up the mess he made. Fury adds that Earth and humanity cannot always rely on the Avengers to save them. Soon, Fury and Falsworth arrive at the graveyard, head to Fury’s false grave, and retrieve the Harvest. Fury also retrieves his eye patch, black coat, and gun. After he gets everything he needs for the final battle, Fury leaves the graveyard with Falsworth to continue the mission of defeating Gravik and preventing World War III.
Fury Retrieves The Harvest
In Secret Invasion, Director Ali Selim and writers Michael Bhim and Brian Tucker created a fifth episode with many stakes in the new Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series. The fifth episode brought in suspense, tension, loyalty, and betrayal. There was so much intensity in the stakes of Gravik’s crusade of starting World War III to divide and conquer humanity, making Earth a world only inhabited by Skrulls. World War III is near when Raava, as Rhodes, manipulated Ritson to start a military strike on New Skrullos, on Russian soil, to begin a war with the Russians and force the Skrulls to see Gravik’s crusade as the only solution for their salvation. Gravik’s plan is foolproof, and Fury needs to defeat Gravik and find a solution to ensure the Skrulls will not be persecuted and prevent World War III from happening.
Fury had a lot of help even without the aid of Talos and Gi’ah due to Talos’ death. However, Fury found an ally in Sonya Falsworth, the new Director of MI6 and Fury’s friend. Sonya’s deep sense of loyalty to Fury is somewhat confusing. However, Sonya’s devotion to Fury would make sense if her grandfather was James Montgomery Falsworth, a British operative in Captain America’s Howling Commandos during World War II. The Howling Commandos were loyal operatives to the SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve) and later S.H.I.E.L.D., founded by Colonel Chester Phillips, Agent Peggy Carter, and Howard Stark. If James Falsworth was Sonya’s grandfather, then James Montogomery Falsworth’s loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s early ideals likely inspired Sonya to become a high-ranking MI6 agent and have a good working relationship with Nick Fury, former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. The possible Falsworth lineage from James to Sonya was very emotional as it showed how much Captain America inspired people, such as Sonya Falsworth, to become heroes and genuine protectors.
In the episode, Gravik is gradually losing the support of the Skrull Warriors and other Skrulls because he is becoming a ruthless tyrant. An example of Gravik losing power is when Skrull Warriors, led by Beto, attempted to assassinate Gravik but failed due to the Skrull General’s Super Skrull abilities. The failure to start World War III much early, with the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ritson, forced Gravik to use his own home as leverage to start World War III and obtain the Harvest, the Avengers’ DNA. In addition, the revelation that the Battle of Earth inspired Gravik to use the Avengers’ DNA to transform Skrullkind into Super Skrulls and conquer Earth felt dark and scary. In other words, the final achievement of the Avengers in stopping Thanos and how the battle inspired a Skrull to start World War III is very dark. Overall, Gravik is a powerful Super Skrull, and how Fury will kill him is questionable.
Rating: 9/10