There’s a war being fought on Earth, and, for the most part, the armies and even the superheroes have no idea that it’s happening. It’s a war being fought in the shadows that’s already claimed a beloved MCU character, and at least implied that some others may have already met a dark fate. The Secret Invasion is continuing, and “Betrayed” could apply to a few developments in this episode.

Like they haven’t caused enough chaos already, the Skrulls start things off. They’re organized, armed, and have another mission to follow up on the explosions in Moscow. So far, they seem to be on a roll of unopposed successes, and it’s a fair question to ask if anyone’s really in a position to stop them. As the soldiers are dispatched to their new target, Gravik brings the Skrull council to one of his ongoing projects, and talks about how he is prepared for the Avengers or other heroes, should they interfere. As I have said before, they did a great job of making Gravik’s motivations completely understandable. He’s actually reminding me a lot of Karli from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

From Gravik’s well-laid plans, we flashback to 1998 in New York City. Fury ducks into a diner to meet up with a contact, and there’s some interesting, not entirely professional, banter between him and his agent. Then we skip ahead to the surprising revelation that Fury is married, although, as someone pointed out online, we knew this. Back in Winter Soldier, when Fury showed up at Cap’s place, one of the first things he said was that his wife kicked him out. At any rate, he’s married, and she’s a Skrull. Whether or not Fury knows this is a hotly debated point. I don’t see how he couldn’t, but then, they seem to be trying to show him as beat up and off his game, so who knows? They have a very tense talk that covers his long absences, both understandable and those a bit less so. All is not well in the casa de Fury.

Elsewhere, G’iah wakes up in a car, which is where she seems to spend a lot of time. Gravik is there (he’s everywhere; I’m starting to wonder if he has several shapeshifted standins all over the place) and talks to her about their recent failed mission, and then moves on to a new one. They fly somewhere else, and he lets a few details slip about the next target, which G’iah is very interested in. I said a moment ago that Gravik is everywhere, and that trend continues. He has a meeting with Talos in an art museum and they argue philosophy and family relationships. We’ve seen before that Talos is very protective of/sensitive about his daughter, and Gravik underestimates this. The talk leads to an attack and demonstration of a power that should look familiar to those who have seen the Iron Man movies.

In a surprising development, Gravik is not in the next scene. Fury goes to see Talos, interrupting the poor man’s breakfast. They bicker some more, and their long friendship is clearly under a lot of strain. Following some leads, Fury contacts one of his few remaining allies, the entertaining Sonya Falsworth, played brilliantly by Olivia Colman. She and Fury end up fencing a bit, but she eventually helps. Maybe she realizes that letting the Skrulls continue their mayhem and murder isn’t really good for anyone who isn’t green and alien.

As Nick and Talos head for their next target, they debate dogs, Fury’s career, and the contributions of the Skrulls to Fury, SHIELD, and the world in general. Their conversation ends on a humorous note as they start trying to prevent the newest Skrull operation. Bickering all the way, Fury and Talos get in position and start working their way to their target. Things don’t go smoothly, but eventually they find who and what they need to, doing some very questionable things along the way. With some help from another contact, they barely manage to avert another disastrous win for the Skrulls. We also get reminded, again, of how touchy Talos is about G’iah.

The one they reached out to for help has a bad run of things and, while successful in getting crucial information where it needed to be, is less successful at getting away. It very much appears the show might have lost another cast member. While that’s going on, we get a few more surprises to close out the episode. After sniping at each other all episode, Talos actually says something nice to Fury. Pricilla, Fury’s wife, goes out to run some errands. A few of those are not at all what I’d expect, and then she ends things with a phone call to someone I wouldn’t at all have expected, dropping another name in the process that’s worrying at best.

What I Liked: As I said, I understand Gravik’s motivations. I don’t sympathize with what he’s doing at all, but I get where he’s coming from. Fury’s current anger at Gravik also makes sense, as does Pricilla’s with Fury. It’s interesting seeing Talos be such an overprotective father. Olivia Colman’s Sonya is fantastic in every scene she’s in (although I wish they’d reveal if she’s related to the other Falsworths).

What I Didn’t: I get you can’t really make a show about someone who is perfect and never makes a mistake, but I really don’t like how Fury is being shown. I know it was all rumor, but I keep hoping some of the cast of Agents of SHIELD will show up. Gravik seems to be everywhere at once, a nice trick even for an alien shapeshifter. And I really hope they clear up Agent Ross’ status.

This well written and acted, but very dark and depressing. We know Fury survives, as he’s in the next movie, but everyone else is on the target list. I’ll give this one a 3.5 out of 5.