InHumans, Havoc - Nov 4

This week’s ‘InHumans’ episode, ‘Havoc’, was a mixed bag: when it worked, it really worked, and when it did not, it really did not. To elaborate?

This penultimate episode of S1 was supposed to show the fall of Maximus and his regime. The problem is, we were never shown his regime and what it actually did to Attilan – rather we had Maximus walk around the royal palace, sometimes with an entourage of royal guards, sometimes with Tiber, in this episode – with Declan, etc. We had some glimpses in the first two episodes, but nothing more. Thus, it is hard to feel any emotions for the supposed plight of Attilan’s citizens, and it is hard to be impressed when Triton defeats Maximus in a fight.

Yes, Triton is back this episode – if he had more than 15 to 20 minutes from the first episode ever and nothing more, we might have cheered for him and his defeat of Maximus. But…the Royal Guard of Attilan make SW troopers look competent and good, (especially in SW7 and Rogue 1 films), and Maximus was never a fighter, so nothing impressive here, team Maximus and team Black Bolt are breaking even.

In part, this was intentional: Black Bolt has a secret bunker and he has supposedly outmaneuvered everyone, not just Maximus, but also even Medusa and the rest of his team. This didn’t endear him to Medusa, to Crystal and everyone else, but hey, this is Marvel’s take on GoT, right? There are no clear-cut heroes or villains, just regular people, albeit with supernatural powers.

…Actually, while GM’s novels are somewhat murky on this topic, the TV show – not so much, especially when it comes to Starks vs. Lannisters, which is probably the main plotline of the show. Secondly, as AoS have experienced with Grant Ward and Kara Palamas, creating a sympathetic villain for your show can be tricky: even these days the viewers and fans of AoS are divided on those characters; they do not get along with each other, and in general, character mismanagement caused AoS more harm than good.

Now, ‘InHumans’ don’t mismanage, or even disrespect their characters, so no problems here. The problem is in the plot, or the script, as well as the budget – for a TV show that was supposed to be an epos, it is surprisingly small-scale and tightly contained, just as AC was – but as it was said, AC was a very different Marvel show.

Back with ‘Havoc’ proper, one thing that stands out is not Karnak and Auran’s new relationship, (although Karnak did acquire a girlfriend back on Earth, remember?), but Gorgon’s resurrection. Seriously? As AoS, and even the movies, have shown, death and resurrection are a big deal in MCU, and here ‘InHumans’ just brought Gorgon back because…the audience needed to understand that Maximus isn’t that different from the good guys? Then who is to say that it is the good guys who are winning, and not the villains? Hopefully, this slippery moral slope will be addressed by Medusa in-universe and by the script in general in RL, because otherwise? The plot twist of the dead but resurrected Gorgon can backfire and ‘InHumans’ can get cancelled after the S1 ends, because this has happened to other shows…

…Well, this is for ‘Havoc’; see you all later!