SECRET INVASION: Episode 1.4: “Beloved”

Name: SECRET INVASION: Episode 1.4: “Beloved”
Item: SECRET INVASION: Episode 1.4: “Beloved”
Author: Cooper Dowd

"Saving the President"

Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

In the fourth episode of Marvel’s SECRET INVASION series on Disney Plus, a group of evil shapeshifting aliens have infiltrated the United States government. Nick Fury discovers that their genocidal leader’s next plan is to assassinate President Ritson and pin the blame on the Russians. Meanwhile, Nick’s wife, Priscilla, reveals the truth about their partnership. She was a shapeshifting alien all along. Can Fury save the President while saving his shattered marriage?

“Beloved,” the fourth episode of SECRET INVASION, rejuvenates the digital corpse of this Marvel series featuring Nick Fury. The dramatic dialogue and performances are superb, and the action is exciting and suspenseful. The episode also has a strong moral, patriotic worldview with strong Christian, redemptive content. There’s a brief church scene with some heavenly hymn singing. It supports the virtues of pursuing one’s marriage, serving and protecting the United States president, and sacrificing one’s life to protect others. Episode Four of SECRET INVASION has an intense gunfight between government agents and shapeshifting aliens trying to kill the President. It also has seven obscenities. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.

Content:

(BB, CC, PP, L, VV, A, M)

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong moral worldview with strong Christian, redemptive elements and strong Pro-American, patriotic values in this episode where the hero learns of two betrayals engineered by two alien shapeshifters but does his patriotic duty to protect the president of the United States, a good alien shapeshifter risks his life and disguise to save the President, a woman sits in church hearing a choir singing the hymn “Deep River,” and a man spares killing his wife, who hid her identity from him, to pursue the greater good, and she disobeys orders from a faction of evil aliens she’s sided with to kill her husband

Foul Language:

Seven obscenities (six “h”

Violence:

Strong action violence throughout, an alien woman injects herself with a super serum and survives a lethal gun wound, a husband and his wife shoot pistols at each other but intentionally miss their aim, the evil group of aliens launch missiles at a presidential transport envoy and a violent battle ensues, RPG explosions take out helicopters and two cars that roll over, the President is knocked unconscious in one of the cars that rolls over, an alien villain turns his arm into a thick green vines to knock out a soldier defending the President, several Secret Service agents and aliens disguised as Russians are shot during the gunbattle, and a villainous alien is shot several times but his wounds heal because he’s injected himself with a super soldier serum that heals the body

Sex:

No sex, but a female alien reveals she took the place of a dying woman to become the main hero’s wife for more than 30 years

Nudity:

A brief scene shows a female alien taking a shower, but no explicit parts are shown

Alcohol Use:

Two men drink 23-year-old liquor inside a hotel room, one of the men keeps the bottle, and it’s implied he had another drink or two, and the man’s superior takes notice of the man’s alcohol breath

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs;

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Hero learns he’s been betrayed, and it’s revealed that a female shapeshifting alien with evil intentions has been posing as a male Air Force colonel and a top aide to the President of the United States.

More Detail:

In the fourth episode of Marvel’s SECRET INVASION on Disney+, the evil alien Gravik and his Skrull spies have infiltrated the United States government. Nick Fury discovers Gravik’s next plan is to assassinate President Ritson and pin the blame on the Russians. Meanwhile, Fury’s wife Priscilla reveals the truth about their partnership. She was a Skrull all along. Can Fury and his alien friend Talos stop Gravik’s plot while saving his shattered marriage?

The episode begins with G’iah, Talos’ daughter, surviving her execution from Gravik. In a flashback, it’s revealed she took a Skrull super serum before her last encounter with Gravik. G’iah’s wounds heal, and she escapes the vicinity.

Rewind to 2012 in Paris. Priscilla convenes with her beloved husband Nick Fury at a bar. Priscilla congratulates Fury for his work on bringing the Avengers together in the Battle of New York from the first AVENGERS movie. Without his righteousness and heroism, humanity would have been wiped out totally. The two mingle as they recite Priscilla’s favorite poem. Fury asks, “And, what did you want?” Priscilla replies, “To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth.”

Fast forward to 2025. Priscilla stages a secret meeting at the local church. In previous episodes, it was revealed that Priscilla is really a Skrull agent working for Gravik. Colonel Rhodey (War Machine from IRON MAN 3), also a Skrull agent working for Gravik, tells her that Gravik is moving forward with his plans to cause world chaos. Rhodey orders Priscilla to kill Fury or else face death herself. However, Fury has bugged Priscilla’s clothes and eavesdrops on their conversation, frustrated and angry about his wife betraying him.

Priscilla returns home, and the two sit down at the kitchen table over tea. Nick confronts his wife, and Priscilla admits the truth, with both of them laying their pistols on the table. Thirty years ago, the Skrull had met with the real Doctor Priscilla on her deathbed. The doctor agreed to let her take her place, so long as she promised not to hurt Nick.

Nick and Priscilla pick up their guns and pull the trigger, but they miss their shots on purpose. Before he leaves, Priscilla asks him if he would have loved her if she had shown him her alien face. As he leaves, Nick tells her they’ll never know the answer to that question now.

Talos reunites with his revived daughter, G’iah. He promises her that once Gravik is defeated, he and Nick will negotiate with the President to make it safe for a million Skrulls to live on Earth with their true, non-human forms. G’iah doesn’t believe that will be possible, however, and she leaves her father on a sour note.

Meanwhile, Nick breaks into Rhodey’s hotel room. Knowing that Rhodey is a double agent working with Gravik, he tells Rhodey he believes there’s a Skrull agent working close with the President. Rhodey overconfidently believes Nick doesn’t think it’s him. Making matters worse, he shows a video of Nick killing Agent Hill in Moscow and threatens to release that video, knowing full well that the murderer was actually Gravik posing as Nick. Nick doesn’t go further with his case, but he convinces imposter Rhodey to share a drink of a rare bottle of bourbon. Rhodey takes the whole bottle before Nick leaves. Unknown to the Skrull, Nick has implanted a liquid tracker in the bottle.

Later that day, Nick and Talos track Rhodey as he meets the President’s motor blockade at the airport. The fake Rhodey gives the secret signal for an ambush. Posing as Russians, Gravik and his men launch RPG missiles at the President’s car. A big fight ensues. Can Nick and Talos save the President’s life?

“Beloved,” the fourth episode of SECRET INVASION, rejuvenates the digital corpse of this Disney series. The dramatic dialogue and performances are superb, and the action is exciting, stirring and suspenseful.

Even better, the episode has a strong moral, patriotic, redemptive worldview. There’s a scene set in a church with a choir singing the hymn “Deep River,” a famous Negro spiritual about crossing over the River Jordan into Heaven and sitting at the feet of Jesus where all is peace. The episode also promotes the virtues of valuing one’s marriage, serving and protecting the United States President, and sacrificing one’s life to protect others. That said, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children because of seven obscenities and the action violence in Episode 4 of SECRET INVASION.