Before we get too much into it, this is a gripe I have with both the comics & the show, but I’m going to keep this discussion as show only.

So in episode 3, Eve is going around Chicago helping to rebuild. She’s using her powers to remake buildings, clean up rubble, build the park, etc.

The conflict presented to us is that when she’s a building things, it’s not up to code. When she’s building the park, there’s a sinkhole beneath it & that’s why it wasn’t being built. It’s being used as a way to write off “why can’t eve just fix everything”, and is trying to work as an explanation of that.

These reasons feel so hamfisted & act like she couldn’t fix the above problems. Without going into the comics & getting into the full capability of her powers, we’ve already been presented as her being able to rearrange things at the subatomic level. She can create LITERALLY anything if she understands the molecular make up of it.

Invincible has been an incredible show in terms of looking at what real life people would do & react to these people with super powers, and it feels like the solution to every one of Eve’s problems is just either 1) have someone with the knowledge of a problem tell her the solution/what needs to be done or 2) tell her the full picture so she can do the right thing

With the building/construction scene- there’s no reason based on what we’ve seen that Eve couldn’t just bring the inspector/construction crew up with her while rebuilding to guide her on how to make the building safe & up to code. She could make the entire building & then just adjust things afterwards to ensure safety.

For the park that later collapsed underneath the sinkhole, she was told along the lines of “if you’re not well off/in a good area they leave your projects for last, that was supposed to be a park” when looking at the empty lot. That was all of the information presented to Eve.

At no point does it sound like anyone 1) told her there was a sinkhole or 2) told that lady/the residents of that community that there was a sinkhole & that’s why they aren’t building there, versus it being an economic discrimination thing. If Eve knew about the sinkhole she could have fixed it with her powers with literally no effort.

So for the show to then put this on Eve, as if there wasn’t a simple solution to the problem, is a little hamfisted to me. It feels like an effort to give her a plot line even though it doesn’t really make sense.

Idk, let me know if I missed something because Eve is basically god with her powers, and it seems like it’s an idiot plot (aka the conflict is only there because people aren’t talking to each other)

TLDR: Eve has unlimited abilities to fix literally any issue presented to her in terms of material/building, and the only reason there’s conflict in that story is because the writers are purposefully handicapping her from making an informed decision that she could easily fix with these powers.

  • Tristain7@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    It’s not hamfisted, it’s demonstrating a divide between being a superhero and being a skilled tradesperson. They are completely different skillsets, and the allure of being a superhero is flying in to save the day and then going home… but designing and constructing a building is a long and tedious process for good reason: because lives are involved, which means tons of liability.

    Having an architect come with you isn’t going to solve the problem. The architect designs the building, but they don’t tell you how it’s built… at least not entirely. You need the engineers to figure out what specific parts and pieces you need in order for the structure to be safe for the long term. Bringing the engineers isn’t going to solve the problem either though, because they aren’t builders… they can tell you what parts and pieces you need, what welds should go where, but they aren’t privy to the nuances of construction and adapting design to reality.

    Even if she had all the knowledge, it still wouldn’t matter… because a contractor was hired to build that thing, and they (along with the architect and engineers) are liable for it. They aren’t going to want some unaffiliated and unaccountable superhero coming in and doing their jobs for them… double if they are a union company. She would need to become a licensed contractor, and bid the projects herself… get the designs approved, then build it to those designs, then have it inspected and signed off. That’s not superhero work though.

    (I’ve worked in architecture/construction modeling for 20 years)