Minutes into Invasion’s sophomore season, audiences are immersed in the action, as aliens overrun Osaka. The sequence re-introduces Mitsuki (Shioli Kutsuna) amongst a volley of gunfire, flying debris, and heavy artillery as the former communications specialist for the Japanese space agency channels all her anger toward the intergalactic threat by launching Molotov cocktails and helping her fellow citizens to safety. In that moment, like a phoenix from the ashes, marauding sea-urchin-like invaders reignite interest in this Apple original series.
Premiering in the fall of 2021, Invasion promised globetrotting extraterrestrial infiltration, hard-hitting character drama, and exotic locations, as a group of unrelated people came together across different continents to save humanity. Instead, what co-creators Simon Kinberg and David Weil gave viewers was 10 hours of backstory in a first season characterized by copious amounts of anticlimax and the occasional action sequence.
Despite emotional moments with Aneesha (Golshifteh Farahani) as she tries holding together a failing marriage opposite her husband Ahmed (Firas Nassar), or the incessant bullying of an introverted Casper (Billy Barratt) and the grief-stricken stories connecting Mitsuki and Trevante (Shamier Anderson), season 1 only ever felt like a warm-up act. As Invasion bounced from London to New York, then onto Tokyo and Yemen, the slow-burn drama consistently lacked momentum.
By comparison, the season 2 premiere reveals Mitsuki as someone who means business, even if her motivations are still driven by the loss of her partner Hinata (Rinko Kikuchi). Trevante, meanwhile, has returned to civilian life, still haunted by his time alongside Casper and Jamila (India Brown) in the UK. Clinging to those memories through the pages of a dog-eared journal that propels his story forward, Anderson is afforded the opportunity to elevate this second season through genuine character moments opposite Tamara Lawrance, as Trevante and his estranged partner Learah work through their differences. Elsewhere, Aneesha has also undergone an evolution over the four months that have passed between the events of seasons 1 and 2, having cast off any sense of civility and drilled a survival instinct into her children, Luke (Azhy Robertson) and Sarah (Tara Moayedi).
What also becomes apparent early on is how connected these characters suddenly feel. Gone is the jarring narrative style of season one, which is effortlessly replaced with a sense of solid storytelling. Events that play out for Mitsuki and Trevante on different continents may impact on a catatonic Casper, but also link back to Jamila under the ocean at Folkstone. Beyond the sense of cohesion that was sadly lacking the first time out, Invasion also seems to embrace homage with both hands. From the Terminator franchise to Aliens and Independence Day, an inescapable love of sci-fi is etched into every frame.
There is also no denying the similarities to Stranger Things in that central relationship between Casper and Jamila. The unconscious plays a big part in keeping those dramatic cogs moving, as does memory in connecting principal players in this superior second season. The pictures of his father Monty (Paddy Holland) finds in a Parisian hideout or Mitsuki’s dreamlike connection to Hinata give these episodes such poignancy. Invasion is also more adept at addressing the central themes of love and loss this time round, as well as identity: Indirect references to both Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris and its Steven Soderbergh-directed remake sit alongside season 1’s nods to The Man Who Fell to Earth.
For the eagle-eyed audience member, there is also a Jurassic Park throwback tossed into an episode opener featuring rugged new addition Clark Evans (Enver Gjokaj), who encounters Aneesha shortly after she is arrested by the military. In a Nathan Fillion/Andrew Lincoln kind of way, this leader of an underground militia ups the ante in dramatic terms and builds serious chemistry opposite Farahani – introducing a rogues’ gallery of supporting players for audiences to get behind including the nefarious Hanley (Craig Jackson), who discovers Aneesha’s biggest secret. Nedra Marie Taylor makes a tangible impression alongside Anderson as Rose, while newcomer Naian Gonzalez Norvind plays a pivotal role as a psychologist within the belly of Dharmax Technology, aiding and abetting Mitsuki as she tackles the alien threat from a different angle in her search for answers.
Any final words of praise should be reserved for the excellent Holland, who undergoes a seamless metamorphosis from school yard bully to compassionate protector over the course of this superior season. Exhibiting both heartfelt pathos and understated resolve in the face of adversity, Monty teams up with Jamila to seek out Casper in France. Holland not only embodies everything that makes this second season exceptional through word and deed, but he aids Invasion in delivering one of the most unexpected reinventions ever achieved by a sci-fi series.