Inhumans: Havoc in the Hidden Land review S1 E7
Havoc in the Hidden Land pulled off a rare feat for a show in its seventh episode. Inhumans managed to bring back two previously presumed dead characters and robbing the last bit of a suspense this season.
Granted, I had little doubt Gorgon was going to stay dead after his ‘sacrifice’ last episode. And if The Walking Dead has taught me anything is it’s no body means no death so there was no reason to suspect Triton was dead either. Both made their not so shocking returns in the penultimate episode of Inhumans’ challenged debut season.
After rounding up Maximus’ army on Earth, the Royal Family was ready to return to Attilan to settle scores with their turncoat cousin. But first, Karnak went gangster and snapped Auran’s neck as a spoiler for Maximus’ fate. And Triton returned from a previously arranged hiding spot per Black Bolt’s orders.
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I agreed with Medusa chewing out Black Bolt for keeping his plan with Triton a secret. It wasn’t like Triton turned the tide (pardon the pun) when things got bad for the Royal Family. Triton wasn’t working on some game-changing strategy or secretly helping his cousins behind the scene. Nope, he was literally just chilling in the ocean. What a terrible plan.
One area Havoc in the Hidden Land did very well was set up some legit tension among the Royal Family. Karnak wasn’t in the mood for Medusa reminiscing on the good old days — in fairness, the flashbacks have consistently been worthless –and wanted to take decisive action.
This episode’s MVPs were clearly Serenda Swan and Ken Leung. Both fully sold how Medusa and Karnak’s thinking has changed since being on Earth. While those adventures ranged from corny, silly to decent, it was nice to see the writers pay that off. Karnak isn’t paralyzed by waiting on the right plan any more and Medusa doesn’t want to return to the status quo monarchy. Their characters had the most evolution while others like Crystal just hung out with a dude named Dave and his jealous ex. It also explained why Karnak went against Black Bolt’s orders to resurrect Gorgon. Considering Black Bolt’s decision making, that wasn’t a bad idea.
Despite his brother already scheming to seize the throne and kill his family, Black Bolt idiotically trusts Maximus to abide by their peace treaty. What possible reason would Maximus have for turning over the throne after Black Bolt gives up Declan to perform the second Terragenesis?
The writing again got suspect when Auran had her fifth? sixth? resurrection and started questioning Maximus. Apparently he wasn’t worthy because he wanted to be Inhuman like everyone else. Karnak realized Auran would be helpful in resurrecting Gorgon and managed to get her to turn against Maximus and lend a hand … some of her DNA.
At least Triton got to have a semi nice moment when he went after Maximus. But the show constantly undercuts these action sequences with unnecessary slo-mo and awful music accompaniment. The way too quickly cancelled Constantine did a great job with its soundtrack, which actually helped set the mood instead of taking the viewer out of it.
Before Black Bolt can make good on his promise to kill Maximus, there’s a hint of crazy as Maximus reveals he’s set up a fail-safe. If he does, all of Attilan dies with him. It was a little annoying that it took this long to get a mention of the protective dome keeping the Inhumans safe on the moon.
While Declan is toiling away to help Maximus become Inhuman again, Gorgon returns from his episode nap. And he doesn’t look happy. Maybe he’s read the script for next week’s season finale?
Havoc in the Hidden Land had some great Royal Family interaction with Medusa and Karnak, but too often it frustrated instead of paying off season long story arcs.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Photo Credit: ABC