With season 3 of Invincible ending not too long ago, I wanted to put my thoughts down on what was the strongest season of the show thematically but fell short in some other regards. I reviewed the first 3 episodes of the season, and although many of my thoughts have persisted, I figured it was worth looking at the season as a whole.

Point 1: Morality is a Double-Edged Sword

The first three episodes of the season set the stage for a story of moral quandaries and self-reflection. The faster pace of the past two seasons’ stories didn’t allow for as much exploration of such themes but with a slower pace, the writers took the time to really explore the various elements of morality this season and how it cuts both ways. 

I won’t dwell on the Cecil stuff as I covered that in my first 3 episodes review, but this theme has permeated through the whole season and throughout different characters’ arcs. Mark of course being the primary target for the exploration of the consequences of a rigid moral code as he is unable to compromise on whether bad guys should be killed while almost oxymoronically being unwilling to forgive those who want to do better. 

I felt that the writing to fully bring this arc home from beginning to end was perfect. From inciting the strong stance to forcing Mark to face the extremes of the dilemma in order to realize how difficult that balance is was done so well and better than many other shows and movies that have tried to cover the same thing. I legitimately give the writers very high praise on this element. 

It was also nice to see them put the other superheroes through the same dilemma with the guardians losing many members over the same philosophical difference. They really chose one theme they wanted to nail and that focus does not go unnoticed this season.

Point 2: We’re All In This Together

The secondary theme to me was how we need others to lean on and how just having another person, whether as a partner, as a family member or even just a friend of convenience can change your whole outlook.

This was present in Mark’s story with his mom and Oliver evolving in their roles in his life as both he and they grow older. To add to it, Mark and Eve get together, forming a new dynamic with both of them being superheroes. Elsewhere, Rex also finds a new person to be his other half while far far away, Alan becomes the inciting force for Nolan to change his outlook on the ongoings of the greater plot.

I’m always a sucker for this sort of theme where people are empowered by the presence of others around them and how they become a better version of themselves simply because of that. I thought this season succeeded well in that regard too, especially in their portrayal of relationships, whether that was Debbie trying to find normalcy in her life or Mark trying to find someone who can understand his superpowered issues. It’s always nice to have someone, and I’m glad the show handled it maturely.

Another kudos specifically to the Powerplex episode, which I thought was fantastic and also played into the theme of how we are affected when those we love and rely on are threatened. As much as it was a little difficult to get past Aaron Paul’s very distinctive voice, the heart of that episode and story in general broke through that. 

Point 3: Plot or Plod? 

Does a slow plot give you time to explore themes at a deeper level? Sure. Does that mean that the plot was great? Not necessarily… Although this was a great season of character development for many of the characters, it’s hard to argue that the actual overarching plot has advanced all that much. 

Mark and Earth still await the Viltrumite invasion – we just now have one less person to deal with after an out of nowhere appearance in the finale and being promptly taken down. Nolan and Alan are still out somewhere in space and will at some point help Earth fight the Viltrumites. The Viltrumites remain a looming threat in general, but outside of one fight in the space prison and one in the finale, haven’t really shown up. 

I’m all for character deep dives and themes, but at some point, a whole season’s worth of a show has to push the plot forward more than this season has. This will be a very “your mileage may vary” opinion and I know many have been very happy with this season. I acknowledge that there were lots of returning characters from previous seasons that led to episode-contained plots which were great in their own right, but personally, I’m not in it for a villain of the week type show.

Point 4: Cheap, Not Economical

This will be a bit of a redux of my final point from my review of the first three episodes, but unfortunately to me this is such a glaring issue that it is difficult to not belabour the point. In a show with this much quality in its story and themes and set up for big action sequences, it is imperative to have better animation quality than this. There are some action scenes where it’s downright embarrassing to see the lack of juice in the animation.

Many other shows are made on lower budgets where they take economical approaches. Talking scenes may be very static and cost very little to save the budget for more impactful scenes. You can see this particularly in the new season of Castlevania: Nocturne where many of the quieter scenes have low details and the background is static. But when they need to crank it up, they REALLY crank it up. 

See below some examples of economical usages of animation with static vs dynamic screencap differences in the show Pluto and Castlevania: Nocturne.

Of course not every animated show needs to take on these styles. My comment is really not about style – it’s about giving big action scenes the impact they deserve. It’s about elevating your art form to something that hits hard and makes you actually react to the hits. It just feels like such a missed opportunity for a show that I otherwise think is legitimately great. 

Although I didn’t think it was a perfect season, I still really enjoyed it. And honestly, the positives from this season are much harder to nail than the negatives are to correct. Fingers crossed that the negatives get addressed next season and I can enjoy a show that ends up being more than the sum of its parts.