Warning: full episode spoilers follow.
We've been seeing Earth's Mightiest Heroes transition towards a slightly more standalone format lately, rather than the episodic approach of the first half of Season 2. But if "Assault on 42" proved anything, it's that this done-in-one storytelling can yield impressive results. "Assault on 42" saw Cap lead a truncated band of Avengers into the Negative Zone to visit Prison 42. S.H.IE.L.D. is convinced that the Negative Zone is an empty realm devoid of any life, but naturally, that isn't the case at all. The showdown between the prison's residents and the savage, almost mindless bugs of the Negative Zone was inevitable.
Last week I noted how "Behold... the Vision!" seemed to be paying homage to Predator during the jungle hunt sequence. The EMH writers must have '80s sci-fi classics on the brains, because this episode gave off a clear Aliens vibe throughout. Early on, our heroes were hounded in dark corridors by an unseen enemy. Later, as the battle intensified, the creeping sense of horror exploded into all-out war between man and bug. For what is largely an all-ages show, this episode did a nice job of maintaining a grim, foreboding tone. The fact that the Avengers and their temporary allies were battling mindless bugs also allowed the episode to be more straightforward in its depiction of violence.
Speaking of temporary allies, the decision to include a number of past Avengers rogues in the battle lent a but of fun to the otherwise dark series of events. Some of these villains, like Leader and Abomination, haven't really been seen since the early episodes. Cap's decision to exclude Baron Zemo from the festivities was a nice touch. We saw Skurge the Executioner take a major step from simple villain to heroic warrior as he silently acknowledged Thor as a comrade and embraced his new mission. I was beginning to think the writers were going to borrow from the classic comic The Mighty Thor #362 and depict Skurge's iconic moment of sacrifice in slightly different surroundings. However, Thor's reference to Enchantress' current plight may suggest that big moment is coming down the pipeline.
On the other side of the battle, Annihilus had a memorable debut as this episode's central villain. The series is 2 for 2 so far when it comes to borrowing major Fantastic Four foes. The writers offered a cool take on Annihilus by rendering him entirely mute and only conveying his rage and motivations through the Leader's psychic probing. It helped emphasize Annihilus' inhuman, otherworldly qualities. I do wish there had been a bit more variety in Annihilus' drones. If anything, the bugs looked more like the Brood aliens from the X-Men franchise than the usual Negative Zone creatures on display in the comics. But given how much the Brood resemble the Xenomorphs from the Alien movies in form and function, that may have been an intentional design choice.
"Assault on 42" was necessarily that important in terms of advancing the currently open conflicts of the series. It was, however, a very well executed chapter that managed to go a little darker and more violent than the series usually strives for. Hopefully this level of quality is a sign of what we can expect as the series moves through the second half of Season 2.
Source : feeds.ign.com
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