Invincible Season 2 Episode 2 Recap: Bad Fish Romance

Invincible Season 2 Episode 2 “In About Six Hours…” was chock-full of so much setup and character storylines that it arguably takes two viewings just to take it all in. Or, you could watch Invincible Episode 2 once and check out our breakdown below, which covers in full just how much we got in this ep! 

Be sure to also watch our Invincible Season 2 Recap Videos every Thursday when new eps drop – we’ll be talking about the biggest buzzworthy moments and dropping theories about what will happen next! 

Invincible Season 2 Episode 2 Recap: “In About Six Hours…” 

Graduation Day – The episode opens with an event many other shows would’ve treated as climactic: Mark Grayson and his friends graduated high school! 

While the dean gives a speech to the graduating class, Invincible is having a battle with his old foe Doc Seismic! In Season 1, Seismic was lost in the Earth but ended up discovering a race of Lava-Monsters (“Magmanites”) living near the core. Seismic returns with his twisted environmental terrorism goals in the form of destroying the Lincoln Memorial. Invincible stops him – but not without damaging the monument significantly. According to Cecil, Mark still has a lot to learn. Mark makes it back just in time to catch the tail end of his own graduation ceremony at school but tosses his cap too high into the air in his enthusiasm. 

Title Screen – The end of the speech has the class getting the instruction “Be Invincible,” which is a classic segue into the title screen, which shows a second crack appearing in the wall of the background.

Graduation Day Hangover – Mark (Steven Yeun), Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs), Mark’s girlfriend Amber (Zazie Beetz) and best friend William (Andrew Rannells) get together for some post-graduation beers, discussing the future. William is going to chill, Eve is helping rebuild Chicago, Amber is into activism… but Mark is resolute in his dedication to Cecil (Walton Goggins) and the GDA. 

Martians Among Us – Russ Livingston the Astronaut is a Martian who snuck back from Season 1’s Mars episode my shapeshifting into human form – but he’s not coping well. His superior at NASA starts to tell Russ he’s going on forcible leave – but the Martian fears it’s a matter of life and death, not understanding Earth customs. 

Community Service – Atom Eve is rebuilding Chicago using her powers. Her reconstruction efforts spark conflict with the local construction crew, who question if the work is up to code. A mom and her daughter side with Eve, for taking action to improve the neighborhood. Eve takes it a step further by turning a vacant lot into a lush and luxurious playground – before getting a call from her parents.

Mommy Issues – Mark and Debbie are still “raw” over Nolan’s betrayal, with Debbie angry at a loose counter door, repaired after Omni-Man’s fight with GDA forces in the house. Acknowledging their shared pain, Debbie tries to plan a beach trip for Mark’s graduation, but he’s helping Cecil instead. They argue about whether Mark has to be Invincible this much or if he can still be just an innocent kid. Debbie tries to convey Mark has nothing to prove about being better than Omni-Man, which only sets Mark off. Cecil breaks up the heart-to-heart with a mission assignment. 

Guardians In Training – The Guardians of the Globe are being trained hard by The Immortal, and Rex (Jason Mantzoukas) is over it. When Rex tries to hook up with Dupli-Kate (Malese Jow) again, he finds The Immortal is now in charge of that, too. Awkward! 

Russ Problems – Russ Livingston is seen living a pretty drab and schlubby life in a low-rent apartment, eating uncooked frozen pizzas. His landlady informs him he’s going to be evicted; however, a TV documentary commemorating the Guardians of the Globe and their fall, Russ gets the idea of becoming a superhero. 

Going to the Dark Side – Mark’s next mission is investigating a cursed space where there have been Darkwing sightings. Mark fights a Darkwing doppelganger who is actually Night Boy, Darkwing’s former sidekick gone mad. He transports Mark into his Cloak-style night realm, trapping him to spare the world the threat of another rogue Viltrumite; however, Invincible scares him by leaning into his identity as Omin-Man’s son and wins the psychological duel. 

Elsewhere, Debbie ambushes Cecil about stealing Mark’s childhood by forcing him into superhero service, and it breaks down into a fight about whether Cecil actually trusts Mark. Cecil promises no dangerous missions for Mark. Debbie sees Donald bring Cecil a file and is flabbergasted, as she saw him die fighting Nolan. Cecil tries to brush over it but Donald realizes something is off as Cecil ushers Debbie away. 

Atomic Envy – Atom Eve goes home and finds out her foster parents are having financial issues, with her dad working a fast-food job. Eve tries to help by creating various objects of wealth they can sell. Her father refuses to take the help; Eve accuses him of having too much pride and leaves a golden apple behind for them. 

Cross-Country Lunch Date – Mark sees Amber doing political work and decides to surprise her with lunch in Las Vegas, atop the Eiffel Tower at the Paris casino. Mark apologizes for not taking her to real Paris, as the flight speed would peel her skin off. The lunch is botched when Cecil calls Mark on yet another mission. Amber understands but warns Mark not to let ‘the voice in his ear’ be the only voice he listens to. 

Invincible of Atlantis – Cecil calls Mark to settle a debt to the hero Aquarus, one of the Guardians Omni-Man slaughtered. Mark learns that instead of war, it’s love the Atlanteans want – in the form of a marriage between Mark and the Queen. Mark tries to refuse by way of monogamy, but Cecil pushes him into it. 

Guardians vs Lizard League – Cecil has to deal with B-list villains The Lizard League while the Atlantis operation is in motion – so he sends in the Guardians (reluctantly). The team discovers a Rex impersonator on the scene fighting the Lizard League – but it’s really Russ, now masquerading as the shape-changing hero “The Shapesmith.” The Guardians team with him to beat up the villains. 

Undersea Challenge – Mark embarrasses himself by trying to tell the queen of Atlantis that he has a girlfriend – to which the queen informs him that she’s not looking for another king, after having ruled Atlantis for a decade while Aquarus was being a superhero. She’s offended he thought they were so savage and ancient – before revealing that it’s actually trial by combat against a giant Krakken monster. Fake-out! 

Domestic Issues – Debbie tries to get back into real estate with a broker-buddy (Paul). The first couple they show the house to includies a husband who is aggressive with his wife; Debbie lets out that the wife is “not a pet” and almost starts a fight. Paul sends her home, realizing she’s not yet psychologically healed enough to work. 

Monster Mayhem – Mark battles the Krakken, but it’s made of a tough shell and has a sonic attack that actually hurts Mark. Cecil and the GDA try to help Mark escape using torpedoes as cover, but the explosions break the monster’s chains and it starts rampaging against Atlantis. Mark is ordered to leave, but disobeys, to prove he’s not his dad. He knocks the Krakken into the depths of the ocean – but gets dragged down too. Mark eventually emerges onto a beach of happy vacationers, battered but victorious. 

Back at the GDA, Cecil admonishes Mark but admits saving the queen ended the feud with Atlantis. He orders Donald to take the sea monster’s sonic scream audio to develop as a possible weapon against Viltrumites. When Donald questions Debbie’s reaction to him, Cecil avoids the issue. 

Superhero Wake-Up Call – Atom Eve finds the valuables she made for her parents in the trash. She tries to give her dad a speech about not being a toxic male – only to have her dad actually educate her.  A news article reveals that the mother and daughter Eve made the luxury park for got injured when the park fell apart. The reason the project was never completed was because the ground foundations weren’t stable and up to code – details that Eve ignored by using her powers. The lesson: power is dangerous as it makes people do what they tend to want. 

Debbie Is Down – Back at the Grayson home, that kitchen cabinet won’t stay shut and Debbie finally flips out, wrecking the kitchen. Mark finds her sobbing on the floor and tries to comfort her – but she doesn’t want it from him (at first). 

New Guardian – Russ Gets a Tour of Guardians HQ as “The Shapesmith” but a montage of actual events reminds us that the Martian parasites the Sequids are still lurking in the galaxy and getting closer to Earth. 

Angstrom Lurking – In an end credits scene, Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) visits a Mark variant who explains how his Earth stopped Omni-Man and Invincible. After getting the intel, Levy leaves the Invincible variant to face justice, before heading off into the multiverse again.