The Royal Family scrambles as Attilan crumbles under the weight of Maximus’ egocentricity.
Beware… The Spoilers
Fail-safe
Maximus weasels his way out of a much-needed beating after divulging Attilan’s dome will fail if he doesn’t place his palm at the control center every hour. Black Bolt and Triton lead Maximus through the tunnels to the palace’s control room. Triton is separated from the group to deal with a group of guards like a bad ass. Black Bolt loses Maximus after running into a group of his loyalists and only just manages to escape.
Maximus restarts the dome countdown and returns to the Terrigenesis chamber to find Declan dead (killed by the resurrected Gorgon). The self-made king barely spares a glance for his scientist, he has gotten what he needed. But the Terrigen crystals have disappeared.
Who’s the Boss?
Lockjaw teleports Crystal and Medusa back to Earth and Louise. Medusa entrusts her friend with the Terrigen crystals, save one, for safe keeping. The queen needs another favor and this time Louise needs more authority in order to help.
What Maximus doesn’t realize is his fail-safe is damaging the dome, even when he places his hand on the control panel in time. The Inhuman city will have to be evacuated to Earth (despite Black Bolt’s warning of another, bigger threat) before the protective dome collapses and the entire race of people are sucked into the vacuum of space.
The Inhumans need a new home and Louise’s boss is willing to give them such a place. This mysterious benefactor will require exclusive access to everyone in exchange for their safety. What that means and who’s the boss is not answered (and I doubt we will ever know). In return for her help, Medusa buries Louise’s father’s ashes in one of the temples on the moon.
Heart-to-Heart
With a Terrigen crystal in hand, Medusa makes one last play for peace with her brother-in-law. Maximus is still to bitter at her abandonment. Before her family was banished, the two were friends. Medusa was Maximus’ only friend, in fact. She genuinely apologizes for forsaking him and offers the crystal, but only if he steps away from the throne. The usurper refuses to negotiate, instead demands his chance to go through Terrigenesis again. Finally done, Medusa shatters the crystal leaving Maximus to unsuccessfully scrambling to inhale the gas.
“Not a place, it’s a people”
Medusa addresses the people after Black Bolt steps aside for his queen to take her place as a leader. She admits to her subjects the failings of the Royal family and does not lay blame on those who believed Maximus was actually on their side. Medusa exposes Maximus’ plan on destroying Attilan to keep Black Bolt from the throne and their subsequent evacuation to Earth. They will return to their homeland not as conquerors, but as refugees.
Maximus throws a fit to Auran upon hearing Medusa’s speech and orders his guard not to allow anyone to leave without his permission. Auran tries to tell Maximus she is done with him, but he is too wrapped up in his own belief of power to recognize the goodbye.
Everyone leaves through Eldrac, except Black Bolt who stays behind to deal with his brother. In the confrontation, Maximus reveals he was behind their parent’s death. The younger brother forged documents to fool Black Bolt into thinking his family surgically removed his gift. Maximus assumed his older brother would runaway to Earth, leaving Maximus to be king. But he didn’t’ and when Black Bolt asked his parents “why?”, well… you remember.
Black Bolt knocks his brother out and instead of killing him, leaves him in the bunker built to withstand the crumpling of the dome. He collapses the outside walls with a “goodbye brother,” leaving Maximus as the “King of Attilan.”
Black Bolt escapes through Eldrac before the city is destroyed. The restored king and queen address their people in their new home, but Black Bolt can’t help but feel as if they leaped out of the frying pan and into the fire. The finale closes with the Kree markings in the throne room glowing a bright blue.
Thoughts
Just as I figured, Gorgon was brought back as a mindless barbarian who immediately kills a white dude. I would be more frustrated if Inhumans hadn’t been a giant disappointment in the first place. Karnack was able to get through to his cousin and Gorgon started gain himself towards the end, but it feels like damage has been done.
We are all in agreement the Kree is the threat Black Bolt was worried about and thought to be the protector from, right? Any guesses if you don’t think it is the Kree?
There were many things wrong with Inhumans (several I’ve addressed in previous recaps), but the biggest problem is how close the season resembled the plot of Thor: Ragnarok. Not giving away spoilers, but compared to how great the Ragnarok was with the comedy and poignant emotional beats it hit, the plight of the Royal family couldn’t stack up. Too overly serious, too much time wasted on Earth with side plots that ended abruptly. The family was at its best when they were together. The show should have focused on them in Attilan dealing with Maximus the Mad before ending with a shocking exodus to Earth.
I don’t know if Inhumans will tie into Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It might be a while since the agents are in space and the Inhumans are on Earth. A part of me hopes the freshman series is ignored, then rebooted a few years down the road with a decent budget and better showrunner.
December 1st sees the return of those plucky agents and judging by the trailer, it is going to be a hell of a ride in space! Don’t forget to come back Monday’s after each episode for more recaps and thoughts on season five.
Till Then!
The Nerdling was born in the majestic land known as Texas and currently resides there after several years of journeying through Middle Earth in a failed attempt to steal the one Ring from that annoying hobbit, serving the Galactic Empire for a time, and then a short stint as a crew member on the Serenity. Since moving back to her homeland, Nerdling flirted with a hero reputation. Saving children from the dangers of adoring domineering, sparkly vampires (champions with souls are the only vampires worth loving) and teaching normals the value of nerdom, all while rooting for her beloved Dallas Stars. Then came the Sokovia Accords and her short spell of saving others came to an end. With Darth Vader’s reputation rightfully returning to badass status, Nerdling is making her way back to the Empire. They do have cookies, you know. You can find her on Twitter @nerdlingstale.
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