Some fans believe this new Marvel series from Disney Plus as a spy version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Actually, it’s Marvel’s version of The Invaders, where it’s one man against an alien race out to take over Earth. The only difference is that the one man, Nick Fury, is a tougher guy than Roy Thinnes.

The stakes are still the same, as the shape-shifting Skrulls are the invaders who want our world. Nick has to figure out who’s on his side, even some familiar faces. The episode will end with two major catastrophes.

SPOILERS BELOW

The episode begins with Earth in peril. An agent named Prescod (Richard Dormer) says several terrorist attacks have threatened the planet. He discusses it with CIA agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman). Prescod says that Skrulls are to blame, hoping to cause enough chaos to take over the Earth. He attacks Ross before he’s shot by someone. Talos from Captain Marvel (Ben Mendelsohn) suddenly arrives and shoots Ross. Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) also shows up, thinking she’s helping Ross get away.
It’s not Ross, though. It’s a Skrull. That sets up the “trust no one” theme in a hurry.

Talos isn’t in favor of taking over the Earth, which is why he’s in exile. He also reveals his daughter G’iah (Emilia Clark) is with the rebel leader Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir). She’s in a base where the Skrulls plan out their attacks. She and others hate the fact that they don’t have a home, although their base is as close to their original planet as it gets. It’s just interesting the Skrulls have to act like their enemy, the Kree, to get what they want. It’s also interesting it’s tearing one family apart, and maybe more. It also shows how the Skrulls used people to take over their identities and minds. It’s so good some may not know the difference, which may or may not backfire.

The episode also comments about whether Nick Fury has lost a step or two, and that the Blip may be why. The MCU is making a wise choice explaining how the Blip has affected people, and maybe not for the better. It could also apply to Yelena in Hawkeye, and Monica Rambeau in WandaVision. Others like Dr. Strange, Peter Parker, and Shuri seem to be fine for now. It’s a subject the MCU should examine in the future.
Others aren’t sure about Fury, who’s left a space station to battle the Skrulls. They include “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle), who has met with the President.

Anyway, after Fury gets back to Earth and meets Maria and Talos, he’s kidnapped by Special Agent Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman), who seems to be up to speed. She wonders why it was so easy to kidnap him, but he denies it. He does find out a Russian who knows a lot about art and making bombs may be helping the Skrulls.

G’iah gets the bombs they need. Her dad and Fury find the Russian, who turns out to be another Skrull. Then Talos tries to convince her to abandon Gravik, but she won’t. She does shed a tear when she finds out her mom is dead, and Gravik may be responsible.
While she isn’t switching sides, she does warn Talos how the bombing will happen the next day. Meanwhile, Nick and Maria discuss why he was away from Earth for so long. He says it was a crisis of faith, maybe related to the Blip. She thinks maybe can’t handle this, like in the old days. That won’t stop him, though. Then again, has the Blip affected her, too?

The Skrulls, led by Gravik, do accomplish the bombing, thanks to decoys and his ability to shape-shift on the fly, even imitating Fury.
Not only that, a major loss….

Yes, Maria Hill is dead, and the last thing she sees is the real Fury, thinking he did it.
This is a major loss in the MCU, and fans will really miss Cobie’s dry wit and strong support as part of SHIELD.
At this point, Nick Fury is thinking maybe he isn’t what he used to be, back when he was recruiting Avengers. One thing is for sure: his determination to stop the Skrulls is getting stronger, since he’s an Avenger, too.
He still needs more allies, while Talos wonders if he can convince G’iah to come back to him.

The latest show from Marvel TV is more grounded than recent ones. It might make people wish SHIELD was back on duty. It’s got the right amount of paranoia, action and drama for a summer show. It’ll keep fans on the edge of their seats though July.

One more thing:

The opening titles were designed by artificial intelligence, and that upset a lot of fans. An article in The AV Club talks about it, but it could be seen as a metaphor about how invaders are becoming a threat. It’s easy to expect the Writers’ Guild will use it as a reason why they don’t want AI to take away their jobs.

Secret Invasion airs every Wednesday through the month of July on Disney Plus