Invincible may never have a better episode

Here's a controversial opinion: Invincible has already peaked. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't watch the rest of the series: if you've enjoyed it so far, you'd be robbing yourself to miss out on the already-teased arrival of Thragg and return of Battle Beast, not to mention other comic book storylines we can expect to see in future seasons. Even with that being said, though, it'll be hard for any future episode, no matter how epic in scale, gratuitous in violence, or shocking in plot twists to compete.

The reason for this is actually surprisingly simple: the character writing. Unless you are simply just here for the heightened comic book violence, it'll be difficult to top this episode's character moments. From Omni-Man's tense reunion with his family and friends after the unmitigated monstrosity of the Season 1 Finale, to the introduction of a gender-flipped Tech Jacket (more on that in a bit), to the final meal our main cast shares on Earth before heading into space for a Viltrumite War, this episode really covers the whole gamut of what you could want from a long-running television series.

This isn't to say that the comics don't promise yet more epic battles or heartfelt character moments—they do—but the whiplash blind or even pre-informed viewers will experience in this episode is unlikely to be matched. From heart-wrenching, excellently-written-and-acted drama between Nolan and Debbie to the innocent meet cute between Oliver and Tech Jacket (Zoe Thompson here, instead of the comics' Zack Thompson), the episode really has something for everyone.

Honestly, it's an audacious move on part of both the show and the original comics run. A lesser series would have dragged out the frantic rematch with Conquest for the later, larger conflict or left it as a daunting cliffhanger for the next episode. But doing this would diminish the impact of one of Mark Grayson's most desperate battles. The character growth exhibited by all of its participants besides the sadistic Conquest is cathartic to see and sets the stage for the series' future sci-fi space battles perfectly.

If you have not seen the episode yet, I simply cannot spoil its most shocking moments for you. It is vital that they be experienced personally, even for the kind of reader who would check reviews before watching. If you've already watched it, this is by far one of (if not the) most rewatchable episodes of the series, with the dramatic irony only enhancing the coziest, most wholesome moments the show has to offer. Even writing from the perspective of someone who knows exactly how the story will end and how the characters will get there, it's hard to identify another junction where the series will ever hit this hard on all fronts.

There will be better fights. There will be better character moments, more elaborate twists, and so on. The brilliance of tonight's Invincible episode isn't simply that it offers the peak of both the "human" and "super" sides of the show—it's that the series did not hesitate to fire on all cylinders and expect you to come back for the rest of it. It's that it struck an impossible balance between character and action that the rest of the series can never hope to match—and that like its titular character, Invincible will never stop trying to surpass it. Barring some truly egregious production mishaps, the rest of the series promises to be an unmatchable ride for its fans.

As for why Tech Jacket is a girl now—as it turns out, it's just that the Invincible showrunners deemed the original Tech Jacket character design too similar to Mark Grayson's own. Without the context of his own Image Comics series, which actually predates Invincible, Zack Thompson's Tech Jacket could more easily be mistaken for just another superhero with an uncannily familiar design. As stated by Robert Kirkman, the creator of the original Invincible and Tech Jacket comics, "The vibrancy of that character and the energy that she brings is so much more affecting coming from Zoey Deutch. She's just a really, really cool character that we're having a lot of fun with."

Thus far the show's changes from the comics have been splendid, especially for characters like Debbie or Amber. I even agree that last week's "filler" episode knocked it out of the park. Robert Kirkman is really using the Invincible TV series as a chance to trim the fat from his original comic run and create the definitive version of his baby, similar to how Kubo's supervision of the Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War anime builds upon its final-arc-manga source material. To conclude my thoughts, it's not that you shouldn't watch the rest of the show. It's just that this episode is one fans will be sure to return to for years to come, and may even serve to create life-long fans in its own right.