‘Invincible’ Season 2 Part 1 review: A slimmer, stronger sophomore outing

Invincible Season 2 Part 1 has the meat and bones for a great run as we, with Invincible, learn about the tears and responsibilities that come with special abilities

Just as Gen Vdrew to a diabolical close, comes the long-awaited Season 2 of Invincible, with four episodes dropping now and four next year (sigh).

When not helping his home planet Viltrum’s intergalactic expansion plans, Omni-Man is a well-heeled travel writer, Nolan Grayson. He lives quietly with his wife, Debbie (Sandra Oh), who is a real estate agent, and mentors his son, Mark (Steven Yeun), who came into his powers at age 17 to become Invincible.

Invincible is based on Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley’s comic series of the same name. Created by Kirkman (The Walking Dead), the first season ended with the erstwhile defender of the meek, Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons), revealing himself to be not very nice. Chicago and countless human lives pay for the battle royale between Omni-Man and his son.

One of the most touching aspects of the second season is Debbie, in a downward spiral of depression and alcohol abuse where even Olga’s (Grey Griffin) well-intentioned suggestion of seeking a support group ends in disaster. The complaints against season that there was just too much going on has been addressed with more focussed storytelling.

The thread running through the series is that superpowers do not make heroes, they create danger, and also the fact that good intentions often pave the path to hell. The multi-dimensional portal-opening person, Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown), is proof of that.

The Lizard League is as bumbling as ever while the Mauler Twins/clones (Kevin Michael Richardson) are unadulterated fun as they try in vain to establish who is the original and who is the copy in the midst of carrying out many a dastardly plan.

The eccentric Doc Seismic (Chris Diamantopoulos) tells Mark that rather than fall into a pool of lava, he fell into a new realm of understanding. The Atlanteans are furious with Omni-Man for killing their king and Mark might have done more than he hoped to smoothen the troubled waters.