Invincible Season 4 Episode Officially Sets Record Low IMDb Rating For Prime Video's Superhero Series

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Invincible season 4, episode 4, “Hurm.”Invincible has been hit with an all-time low IMDb rating for an episode.

The animated Prime Video series based on Robert Kirkman’s comics has been well-received since it first debuted in 2021 and holds a near-perfect 99% critics’ score and a 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Invincible season 4’s overall reviews have been outstanding, leading to a 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes for the third season in a row. The new season’s three-episode premiere also fared well on IMDb, with respective ratings of 8.3, 9.3, and 8.2. The second episode with a 9.3 rating is the fifth highest rating across the entire series.

Invincible season 4, episode 4, “Hurm” did not keep the streak going, though, as it has a 6.9/10 score based on 11,000 user reviews as of this writing, which is the show’s lowest rating yet for an episode. It takes the place of season 2, episode 2, “In About Six Hours I Lose My Virginity to a Fish,” which previously had the show’s lowest episode rating with a score of 7.2, and is now the second lowest for the series.

While the Prime Video show has generally followed the source material, with some changes along the way, Invincible season 4, episode 4 tells a brand-new story that never appears in the comics. This involves Mark Grayson/Invincible (Steven Yeun) being summoned to Hell by Damien Darkblood (Clancy Brown) to restore Satan (Bruce Campbell) and fight Volcanikka (Indira Varma). The episode adds new lore to the canon that is new even to readers of the comics.

Such a different approach has elicited mixed reviews, culminating in the 6.9 rating. Some users appreciate the new story, the moral questions Mark wrestles with during his time in Hell, the high quality of the animation, and the cliffhanger that comes with Nolan Grayson/Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons) finally returning to Earth. Other users express frustration with how the episode diverges from the show’s overarching plot and argue that it was unnecessary to revisit Damien Darkblood after he was banished to Hell in season 1, especially when each season only has eight episodes.

Despite the somewhat divisive reaction and the series’ lowest IMDb rating yet, the episode does move the plot forward in several pivotal ways. Mark’s time in Hell and his conversations with Damien Darkblood help him come to terms with some of the inner moral conflicts he has been struggling with since Invincible season 3’s ending. Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs) also decides to tell Mark about her pregnancy, though she doesn’t get the chance to because of Omni-Man’s cliffhanger return to Earth.

In addition to how this will impact Mark and the fight against the Viltrum Empire, Omni-Man is coming back right as Debbie Grayson (Sandra Oh) is happily moving on with Paul (Cliff Curtis). The Hell storyline also proves it wasn’t a standalone story, since Damien Darkblood is back on the surface and working on a new mission from Satan.

It was announced last July that Invincible season 5 was renewed and that the cast had completed recording for it. Kirkman has also spoken about wanting to ultimately do around seven to nine seasons, meaning there is still plenty of story left to tell after the split reaction to season 4, episode 4.