As always, spoilers for Inhumans lie ahead.
Well Inhumans fans, here we are. Seven episodes into the show’s first foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and we’re nearly there — the finale is now under seven days away.
Throughout the events of “Havoc In The Hidden Land,” I think the show took a small step back in terms of quality when compared to the previous two episodes.
They opened up a few more subplots in Triton’s (Mike Moh) return to the show, and Maximus’ (Iwan Rheon) suicide wish by potentially destroying Attilan as we know it. Let’s start with the return of Triton first.
Still mourning the loss of Gorgon (Eme Ikwuakor) in last week’s episode, Black Bolt (Anson Mount) gathered the living members of the Royal Family together and had Lockjaw transport them to a beach, presumably somewhere on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Once there, they looked out into the ocean and it’s then we realized that Triton was — in fact — still alive.
Once Triton surfaces on the beach, we find out that Black Bolt practically knew he was alive this entire time. Before the King sent Triton on his mission to Earth, the two decided on a rendezvous point should the mission go south, which it did. Did Black Bolt know that Maximus has sent guards after Triton, in an attempt to kill him or was deciding the rendezvous point just a precaution? Either way, it wasn’t really addressed all too much and with just one episode left, I’m not sure we’ll get exact clarification.
Moving on, Lockjaw brought the Royal Family back to Attilan, where we saw Maximus pull his best Loki, and scurry his way out of a peaceful negotiation to give the throne back to his brother and sister-in-law. Pissed off, rightfully so, Black Bolt eventually captured Maximus towards the end of the episode, when it was revealed that he rigged Attilan with a fail-safe. Should he die, the protective dome over Attilan was rigged to destroy itself, exposing Attilan and all of it’s residents to the vacuum of space.
In the previews for “…And Finally: Black Bolt,” we got a good sense that the final climax of the season will be the Royal Family trying to save Attilan from it’s demise because of a failed dome. Quite frankly, this might have been one of the most interesting developments this season, moreso when we think of the possibility for crossovers. If the dome fails on the Moon, the Inhumans would likely flee to Earth, setting up the foundation for New Attilan.
And in the episode’s closing moments, Gorgon came back to life, thanks to Karnak (Ken Leung) and Auran (Sonya Balmores) having him use the latter’s DNA to undergo Terrigensis for a second time. We never really heard too much more on Auran’s weakening powers even though they were still strong enough to bring Gorgon back but hey, that’s a story for another day.
The show is chugging right along and I think it’s still more watchable now than it was a month ago, for what it’s worth.
Final Verdict:
3 Misplaced Fight Sequence Songs out of 5. I didn’t feel “Havoc In The Hidden Land” wasn’t as strong as the past two episodes, but it was still a step up from what we saw at the first half of the season. With one episode left, I sure hope we end the first* season on a high note.
*hopefully not final
One-shots:
- Remember when I said last week that I wasn’t sweating the Gorgon death too much? Told you so.
- Thank God that Lockjaw is feeling better now. He’s doing a much better job teleporting the Royal Family around after taking some time for rest and relaxation.
- Triton’s return to the show was a welcome addition to this episode. His fight scene with Maximus — save for the awful music that accompanied it — was one of the best we’ve seen all season. It’s unfortunate that they couldn’t have come up with a better makeup look for the character, the poor quality was a bit distracting at times.
- Still no Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. crossover and nothing hinted at it in the preview for next week’s “…And Finally: Black Bolt.” Who knows, we could still be surprised.
- Can we start the #Inhumans2 hashtag for Season 2 yet?
