Marvel's Inhumans - Episodes 2-4 Review

Originally I planned to write reviews for each episode of Marvel's Inhumans. Needless to say, that hasn't happened, and I simply don't have the interest or energy to actually go back over each individual episode. I didn't watch Episode 2 - or at least, I didn't watch the TV version of Episode 2 - but given I've seen the IMAX 'movie' version, I didn't feel the need to. If there's any key differences to be found, I'd be interested to know, but I can't see myself finding the urge to watch it if I don't need to.

While re-watching the first episode of Marvel's Inhumans was interesting, I found watching the third and fourth installments to be utterly tedious. I originally found the 'movie' version to be an interesting launching pad for the show, if not an entirely successful one, but was interested to see what would happen next. Two episodes later and I can see exactly what people were moaning about with the first.

There is so little plot or any kind of development over the course of these two episodes that it was difficult to see much point in them. What happens? Crystal escapes Maximus (as expected) and on Earth meets a young guy who (what a surprise) she happens have an initially antagonistic relationship towards before noticing that the guy's probably a super-model so she'll fall in love with him. Karnark meanwhile meets some...interesting individuals who include a woman who actually sticks-up for him and shows him around, meaning that (what a surprise) they have a thing too...despite having no romantic chemistry whatsoever.

Medusa, meanwhile, is being incredibly rude and pompous (again, why are we meant to like her?) to a bubbly human sidekick character, and Black Bolt meets a nice, friendly prison inmate who helps him to escape not just one but two prisons...and then just buggers off. Thus, the former King and Queen are together...and Gorgon is being all brooding because he didn't save some guy, and decides to go it alone in fear of endangering some...other guys. No idea who they are. I've watched the show and I'm a bit stuck. They're...um...surfer/soldier guys?

The episodes feature no action - or at least, not interesting or worthy-of-note action - and of course feature hardly any superpowers because...budget. The cinematography is flat and dull, the direction lifeless and the acting stilted. There is basically nothing to really commend here because the show offers nothing up in the first place. Even the beautiful area of Hawaii they filmed on looks kinda grey, given the lack of actual colour grading. Did someone forget to turn up the saturation levels? Probably.

If there is a positive I have to throw out there, it's that Sean Callery's score is quite nice. Nothing incredible, but if a soundtrack is released, I'll certainly give it a listen. There's some good cues in there, even if nothing is actually happening on-screen.

Overall, Marvel's Inhumans is a tedious slog through a thin plot, dull characters and brief glimpses of Maximus - the show's MVP - wandering why on Earth he's the villain, considering he's the most likable and engaging character in the show. What positives there are have to be mined out of the series. This is worse than Iron Fist, and even worse than the opening two episodes. Maybe we're at some kind of mid-season dip in quality, but considering this is meant to be a big-budget, IMAX / Marvel miniseries that's so far failed to live up to any potential expectations, a dip in quality seems like the worst possible thing to happen so far.