WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Invincible Season 1, Episode 5, "That Actually Hurt," available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
While high schooler Mark Grayson may appear to be getting the ropes down on becoming his own superhero, the pressures of his double life begin to wear on him and his commitments in the latest episode of Invincible, "That Actually Hurt." And as Mark decides to put his trust in a morally compromised figure, he faces his first real superhero test when one mission disastrously goes off-the-rails.
In Invincible Season 1, Episode 5, "That Actually Hurt," begins, a drug syndicate is single-handedly taken by the vigilante Titan, a super-powered figure capable of transforming his skin into stone and quickly regenerating any of this rocky exterior that's blasted off. After brutally dispatching the drug runners, Titan is revealed to be an enforcer working for the local crime lord Machine Head, a robotic mobster that wants to eliminate the competition. Titan, though, is bothered by the more morally-complicated nature of his work. Meanwhile, Mark runs late for another date with Amber Bennett due to his superhero responsibilities. This boils over to other aspects of Mark's life, with the boy quitting his fast-food job after being late several times and missing a lot of school.
As Mark fumbles with balancing his life and time management skills, Titan is revealed to be a family man with a young daughter, forced to work for Machine Head for fear of reprisals from the crime lord. As he contemplates his life choices, Titan notes Invincible busting a robbery and begins to formulate a plan. Titan introduces himself to a skeptical Invincible, asking him to help get him out from Machine Head's control. In the process, Titan shows Invincible both Machine Head's effect on the city and his own family. Confiding in his family over getting involved with Titan's business, Mark gets advice from his parents. Omni-Man feels the job is below his son, while Debbie reminds Mark that his powers are meant to help people.
Soon after, Debbie discovers Damien Darkblood's casebook in the closet and begins reading his notes investigating Omni-Man's links to the Guardians of the Globe's murders. In an argument with her husband, Debbie points out that she taught Nolan about the values of humanity. Later, Debbie has Nolan go on a seemingly routine grocery run around the world. While he's gone, she takes the opportunity to scour the house for clues that her husband might be hiding something. Just as she runs out of time, Debbie discovers the bloody costume Omni-Man wore when he murdered the original Guardians.
Elsewhere, Atom Eve has an argument with her parents over breaking up with Rex Splode. This results in her forming a bond with Amber and tagging along with her and Mark for a volunteer event at the local community center. Throughout the episode, Amber and Mark's relationship deteriorates as a result of his constant lateness, and she sees the community center volunteering opportunity as his last chance. Still, after what happens next, Eve assures Amber that Mark truly loves her and simply has terrible time management skills.
As for the new Guardians of the Globe, Black Samson berates the group for failing to work together as a team, which resulted in unintentional casualties. However, Rex Splode brushes off the criticism. Sometime after, Mauler Prime completes crafting a new clone duplicate, replicating his consciousness in the clone's body. However, As the Mauler Twins argue over who is the original, they are approached by Robot, who asks them for the key to their genetic technology for undisclosed reasons.
Launching an attack on Machine Head's penthouse, Invincible and Titan are shocked to discover the crime lord has hired a group of supervillains to ambush them, having predicted their plan of attack thanks to a chip that Titan stole earlier in the episode. While Invincible loses his cool at the sight of Titan being brutalized, the ferocious Battle Beast beats Mark within an inch of his life. In response, Cecil Stedman sends the Guardians to rescue Invincible, but they similarly find themselves outmatched and fail to work together. As the battle continues, Black Samson attempts to fight Battle Beast without his signature armor but is viciously defeated, as is Monster Girl when she comes to his aid.
As the Guardians regroup and begin working together, the supervillains are forced to retreat, and Cecil disables Machine Head. The Global Defense Agency brings the badly injured Mark and the rest of his fallen teammates for emergency medical care, with Eve and Debbie both visibly distraught after discovering what occurred. And as the Guardians confront their losses, Titan reveals the entire skirmish was secretly a plot to replace Machine Head as the city's new crime lord, ending Invincible's first true test on a physical and moral defeat. However, things get even worse when, at the very end of the episode, GDA operative Donald Ferguson begins secretly running experiments on Mark's half-Viltrumite blood, presumably to get a weapon in case he goes rogue.
Invincible stars Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs, Andrew Rannells, Zazie Beetz, Mark Hamill, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Mae Whitman, Chris Diamantopoulos, Melise, Kevin Michael Richardson, Khary Payton, Grey Griffin and Max Burkholder. The series is produced by Skybound, and executive produced by Robert Kirkman, Simon Racioppa, David Alpert and Catherine Winder. New episodes premiere Fridays on Amazon Prime Video.