Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
The Avengers lineup highlighted in the title sequence became more pitiful than ever this week, as the team is down to two active members and a Skrull impostor. But "Prisoner of War" didn't concern itself much with Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Instead, this episode showed us what became of Captain America after being kidnapped by the Skrulls at the end of Season 1. But the Skrulls learned what Hydra and the Nazis did before them - Steve Rogers is a hard man to break.
The early portion of the episode focused on the attempts of the Skrulls to break Captain America's will, and by extension, learn how best to subjugate humanity. But Cap routinely proved that there's more to him than enhanced strength and a patriotic costume. He had plenty of moments to shine as he resisted the Skrulls' (mostly off-camera) attempts to torture him. One area of disappointment, however, was the Skrulls botched attempt to trick Cap with the staged Avengers rescue. Yes, it was cool to see Cap wipe the floor with Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor. But this scene could have worked better if Cap were at least momentary fooled and showed some evidence of his two months of emotional strain.
Things picked up from there as Cap escaped and began leading a Hogan’s Heroes-style prison breakout. The appeal however, was in seeing the eclectic bunch of heroes and villains at his side. A.I.M., Hydra, and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents fighting alongside superheroes? War makes strange bedfellows, indeed. Easily the strongest material here was the tense but palpable bond between Cap and Viper. The episode did a great job of humanizing the Hydra villainess (even revealing her facial scars in a rare lapse in vanity), without diminishing her deadly aura. I hope we continue to see this relationship develop as the Skrull invasion unfolds.
The episode culminated in a battle between Rogers’ Heroes and Kl’rt, the original Super-Skrull. I’m glad the show took the time to showcase the villain before Super-Skrulls of all types and combinations become as commonplace as they surely will in the next couple episodes. And while Cap using a random piece of debris as a de facto shield was about as silly and on the nose as it is every time it happens in the comics, the fight further cemented the bond between him and Viper. I only wish Invisible Woman could have been put to better use rather than spending 95% of the episode unconscious.
“Prisoners of War” didn’t introduce as many new faces as the last few chapters, which at this point is a good thing. But we did get a nice little Galactus cameo and the first appearance of Henry Peter Gyrich as Director of S.W.O.R.D. Why the writers chose Gyrich for the role instead of Agent Brand from the comics is unclear, but maybe Viper maxed out the quota on angry, green-haired women. I also suspect Gyrich’s emergence will play into the Dell Rusk conspiracy introduced last week.
All in all, this episode was a memorable start to the Skrull invasion conflict, one that will continue to play out for several more chapters. Despite having its fair share of action, “Prisoner of War” also offered some surprisingly effective character work. We’ll see if the Skrulls have any better luck next week when they begin their invasion of Wakanda (not bloody likely).
Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and various other IGN channels. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.
Source : ign[dot]com
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