…And Finally Black Bolt marked the end of one of the most dismal Marvel Studios projects. It also finally wraps the longest gaps in between TV reviews for me. I’ve made no secret of my loathing of this horrendously awful series, which seemingly had no clue how to make sense of the Inhumans. In the final hours of my Disney+ subscription, I decided now was the time to finally cross this review off my list.
Narrator: This would prove to be a bad decision.
Since the series aired in 2017 (!), the recap was actually helpful… in reminding me why I never felt the need to continue the series. Most of the season focused on separating the Royal Family, which definitely was an odd choice. These aren’t the characters who stand on their own particularly well. Their best use has always been as part of a group whether the Avengers, Frightful Four or even the Illuminati, they’re not great standalone characters.
…And Finally Black Bolt sees most of the family reuniting, which was clearly the best decision. They’re rallying to deal with Maximus, who has established himself as the ruler of Attilan.
Louise is busy stressing Medusa out over wanting to go to the moon and Attilan. Read the room, Louise. The resurrected Gorgon is in a state of madness, which happens after undergoing a second Terragenesis. It’s annoying that the series has the one black guy turn into the angry black guy for the final few episodes. It’s not like we get to see thoughtful Gorgon again…
Gorgon gets caught by Maximus’ soldiers after killing Declan. That was a fairly understated death for a character who was such a player at least for a show like The Inhumans.
Elsewhere in …And Finally Black Bolt, Karnak, Triton and Black Bolt have Maximus in their custody and are skulking around the poorly designed set. It really just looks like a set of columns with some papier mache walls and moderately creative overhead lighting. Karnak breaks away to take down some of the guards and manages to get himself captured. Triton also breaks off to fight another guard platoon.
…And Finally Black Bolt shows that making Inhumans a very pale impersonation of Agents of Shield was a terrible idea. There’s absolutely nothing Inhumans does well, but reducing these characters who actually have powers to just punching and kicking acrobats completely misses the point.
Karnak gets placed in the same containment cell as Gorgon. Just in case there was any concern about any interesting drama playing out with an enraged Gorgon not remembering his cousin, a very quick conversation dismisses that notion. Gorgon then uses his enhanced hooves to break the trap, which Karnak just developed to neutralize Black Bolt’s power.
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With tensions high, Medusa reaches out to Auran to hold a peaceful summit with Maximus. …And Finally Black Bolt again stumbles as the big series finale has Medusa apologizing for not being a better friend to Maximus. Poor Serinda Swan did such a commendable job of trying to make this horrible dialogue sound better. That’s a huge ask though and Swan can only do so much.
Maximus was wanted to undergo Terrigenesis to get powers like the rest of his cousins and Medusa just so happens to have a Terran Crystal. Since Maximus won’t stop his plans to destroy Attilan, she destroys the crystal. Auran won’t arrest Medusa since she assured her safety for this summit. With her family by her side, Medusa addresses the Inhumans, which looks to be about 40 people at best. Hardly a massive crowd to hear from the queen.
Medusa does take the time to place Louise’s father’s ashes under some rocks so he can see the moon.
Black Bolt orders an evacuation of Attilan via Eldrac as Lockjaw takes the royal family away. Black Bolt goes to confront Maximus, who explains that he forged their parents’ signature so Black Bolt would have brain surgery. Maximus assumed Black Bolt would just run off and was shocked to see his brother ask them “why?” before realizing he’d killed them with one word. “You killed our parents for absolutely no reason.”
Black Bolt punches Maximus and takes him to the bunker that can survive any calamity with food that would last them for centuries. Better check some of those expiration dates.
…And Finally Black Bolt has one final twist up its sleeve as Black Bolt slams the bunker door and says, “Goodbye brother.” That’s enough to collapse the walls around the bunker and effectively bury Maximus for all time. Black Bolt runs through yet another awfully designed set with seemingly no plan for escape as he’s surprised Eldrac tells him to go through to escape.
There’s no time for a dramatic reunion as time is running out on …And Finally Black Bolt. The Royal Family is standing on a platform in their Sunday best all set to address their people, which look to be in the thousands give or take 950 done via CGI. Medusa makes a quick speech explaining how humans and Inhumans can work past their differences as they settle onto their new home…on Earth.
And that’s a wrap for The Inhumans. The series finale showed all of the issues with The Inhumans. At least Anson Mount got to revisit Black Bolt in a more comic book accurate look for a moment in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. For all the good that did him.
…And Finally Black Bolt felt like everyone associated with The Inhumans had a pretty good sense there was no going to be a second season as it ended with such a whimper that it barely registered.
Rating: 3 out of 10
Photo Credit: Disney
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