When a show has as much going for it as Invasion does, you want to see it succeed, and it does…for a while, anyway. Its ultimate destination is yet to come—season three just went into production—but so far its lavish, engaging journey has been rocky.
Invasion is, well, about an invasion—specifically, an alien invasion. Mysterious extraterrestrials with sophisticated cloaking technology have launched a far-reaching, multipronged assault on Earth, creating worldwide chaos and destruction. Information about the enemy comes piecemeal, as numerous viewpoint protagonists react to localized threats. Ground zero is in Oklahoma, where retiring small-town sheriff Jim Bell Tyson (Sam Neill) uncovers early evidence of the alien presence, just before the conflict begins in earnest. Tokyo-based JASA communications expert Mitsuki Yamato (Shioli Kutsuna) gets involved when an incident on a Japanese shuttle imperils her astronaut girlfriend Hinata (Rinko Kikuchi). In New York, Syrian-American housewife Aneesha Malik (Golshifteh Farahani) finds a new well of resolve when attacks on the city threaten her family. In Afghanistan, Navy SEAL Trevante Cole (Shamier Anderson) experiences a traumatic confrontation with an alien craft that irrevocably shapes his destiny. Finally, in England, a busload of children—including bullied epileptic Caspar Morrow (Billy Barratt) and his secret crush Jamila Huston (India Brown)—find their field trip beset by tragedy, which forces them into a fight for survival in a newly dangerous British countryside. As these isolated heroes continue their individual journeys, the big picture increasingly comes into focus—revealing the aliens’ devious intentions, their mindbending nature, and eventually a means for humanity to fight back against them.
One really can’t fault Invasion for its ambitious global scope, first-rate production values, or excellent performances. Season one, while it stumbles in its pacing occasionally, is nonetheless an absorbing slow-burn as its appealing characters try to make sense of the chaos embroiling them. What connects these disparate people and makes them crucial to the story isn’t at all clear through the first ten episodes, but that’s by design, and it’s refreshing; the show appears to be challenging the tired “chosen one” narrative so often marring this type of genre adventure. Everyone thinks they’re special, of course, but they also frequently face the likely reality that they’re just one of millions facing potential extinction. Centering capable but ordinary people runs counter to genre storytelling doctrine, but it gives Invasion a unique thematic angle.
Season one is less a science fiction show than a mosaic disaster epic fueled by exciting action, survival ethics, and life-and-death struggle, all while the characters attempt to make sense of their disordered circumstances. Everyone comes off well, especially Farahani, whose obedient housewife finds her nerve in a crisis, even as her entitled, cowardly husband Ahmed (Firas Nassar) reveals his true colors. Anderson is also noteworthy, especially during the Afghanistan sequences, which often leave his character isolated, coping single-handedly with inexplicable, dire situations. The alien threats are largely offscreen, but when the creatures and their ships do appear, the effects are convincing, adding considerably to the horrific atmosphere and ramping the stakes nicely.
While the wheels don’t exactly come off in season two, they do start to steer in more expected directions. The results may be more energetic, but it comes at the expense of earlier, enticing mystique. Like many shows, Invasion starts with the cast it needs only to continue with the cast it has—in some cases, bending over backwards to drive them into the action. Undermining its earlier thematic approach, the characters in fact do end up being exceptional figures in the global conflict, which makes for more rousing involvement. Unfortunately, to facilitate this, the show metamorphoses into more of a mystery-box genre serial. Like Lost, to which it bears a superficial resemblance, it manufactures contentious teamwork and conflicting factions with hidden agendas, all to keep the players dancing. The writers strain logistics to the breaking point to keep everyone involved, even though only Mitsuki’s continued presences seems logical. This isn’t a knock on any of the returning characters, abetted in season two by effective newcomers like Enver Gjokaj, Naian Gonzalez Norvind, and Nedra Marie Taylor. But as everyone gets more actively involved in defending the Earth, the show increasingly relies on handwavey, quasi-scientific nonsense to justify their participation. By the end of the second season, I was definitely ready for a break , but Invasion still has enough assets that I’m curious to see it continue. Overall, it’s extremely polished and professional, and its street crew for perilous action, disaster trope, and horror vibes is rock solid. Hopefully it can get its act together on science fiction mythology and chart an effective exit strategy.
