When the hero isn’t challenged, you don’t have much of a show. That certainly hasn’t been the case with Secret Invasion. Fury has seemed to be behind, outnumbered, and haunted since he came back to Earth from SABER, losing assorted friends and allies along the way as he tries to defeat Gravik and his militant faction of the Skrulls. Things keep looking bad for our hero and humans in general as we deal with the secrets of “The Harvest.”

Fury opens things up roughly where we saw him last, in the hospital where the President has been taken, standing guard no matter who approves or not. That, in a nutshell, is Fury. At the New Skrullos compound, Gravik and company return to a much more subdued greeting than they have gotten in the past. Gravik shows that he is descending into generic supervillainy as he deals with some dissent and showcases a stolen power. He gives what amounts to an anti-morale speech, then sends agents off to deal with some loose ends and makes a call to inform a follower of a new plan that’s even more deranged than the last one.

Fury has a confrontation with “Rhodey,” and it’s an unfriendly one. Rhodey is taunting, smug, and really makes me wish I could reach into the screen and smack him around a little. Rhodey ups the stakes with a new threat to Fury, which is going to make everything much more complicated for the former director of SHIELD. While things start getting worse for Fury almost immediately, Sonya goes to have a chat with someone in her agency and once again steals the show. I’m really, really hoping we see more of her after this short series. She takes a very direct approach to proving what she knows and demonstrating it to her fellow agents.

Beto, the new recruit we saw join the Skrulls at the start of the series, is shaken by what he’s seen. Gravik has a chat with him, and seems oddly detached and uncaring as to whether any of his followers actually like him, which isn’t the best trait for a leader. Soon enough, the people make their feelings known, and Gravik goes on another killing spree. If it wasn’t for the imminent threat, Fury’s best bet might be letting Gravik just kill off his own followers. Meanwhile, Fury meets up with G’iah and shares some local history as they debate her father’s legacy. G’Iah delivers some more important intel, and Fury looks even more worried than he was before. They part company after a few decent lines from both of them, off on new missions.

Acting on what she’s learned most recently, Sonya pays a house call on one of the supporting characters we’ve seen off and on throughout the series. She manages to confuse one of her enemies, get more information, and carry out a mission of destruction and gaining control while getting a new source of valuable information. Sonya is a very dangerous woman. G’iah makes a sad journey to see Priscilla, bringing a grim burden. After they talk for a few moments, Pricilla agrees to help the younger Skrull with an important duty.

Rhodey whispers insidiously in the wounded President’s ear, trying to spin the newest story that Gravik wants getting out. Things are definitely getting more and more tense as move closer to a global war. Keeping himself busy, Fury has a chat with Gravik as he moves to his next location. Unexpectedly, Fury gets help from someone we haven’t seen in a while, but who has close ties with one of Fury’s fallen allies. There’s a passing reference to the helicarrier, and a joke that runs along the lines of the old Indiana Jones bit about “It belongs in a museum. So do you!” While Fury is on the move, G’Iah and Pricilla do their duty and honor a fallen friend. They don’t really get time to grieve as the pair comes under attack, and we see that they make a really impressive team. If Fury ever tries to rebuild SHIELD, these two would be a great place to start.

As the episode starts working towards the end, Fury defeats border security with another trick we’ve seen before. Outside, he gets a ride from a surprising ally, who seems to move around the world with impressive ease. They update each other on a few important things, and Fury visits a supply cache to pick up a few important items. There’s some question about what he’s doing, but the man has a plan, or at least says he does. The episode ends on the ominous line of “Time to finish this.”

What I Liked: Oliva Colman is amazing as Sonya Falsworth, and I really, really want to see more of her. Don Cheadle is doing a great job as someone else pretending to be Rhodey, a somewhat layered performance. Samuel L Jackson is always fun to watch, and I really enjoy him as Nick Fury. What Graivk is after makes perfect sense, and is a very bad thing for pretty much everyone, everywhere. We won’t be seeing it, and don’t have the people to man it anyway, but I was glad to hear the helicarrier still exists.

What I Didn’t: I don’t think we’ve seen a strong American President anywhere in the MCU, and this is no exception. I get the writers in general don’t seem to care for politicians (neither do I, by and large) but this is a trend I’d like to see get at least some variation. It’s believable, with everything that’s happened in the MCU, but I still don’t like that all this is arguably Fury’s fault to start with.

I really enjoyed this, and will give this episode a 4 out of 5. One last chapter in this story, and we’ll see where they end things and what may happen next.