'Another Life' season 1 introduces the Achaia, the evil galactic conquerors attempting to invade Earth
Spoilers for ‘Another Life’ ahead
Netflix’s brand new sci-fi series ‘Another Life’ made its debut July 25. The show, starring Katee Sackhoff (‘Battlestar Galactica’) in the lead role, follows the adventures of a team of astronauts who traverse the galaxy trying to find the source of a mysterious alien artifact that landed on Earth for purposes unknown.
Most of the show’s first season was occupied with the crew of the exploratory vessel the Salvare as they tried to trace a signal being sent by the artifact back to what they hope is the aliens’ home planet. Of course, things don’t exactly go as planned and what they discover in the course of their quest could mean terrible things for the loved ones they left behind on Earth.
‘Another Life’ season 1 revealed that the Artifact was sent by a race of aliens called the Achaia. While we were initially led to believe these aliens may be friendly, things take a much darker turn towards the end of the season.
The malevolent nature of the Achaia first becomes clear when the Salvare's government representative, Sasha Harrison (Jake Abel) gets pulled into an artifact on a different planet and gets an alien spider implant attached to his brain. Mind-controlled by the implant, Sasha tries to sabotage the Salvare after finding out the ship can convert gathered energy into a beam that can destroy planets.
When the crew finally arrive at their destination, any vestige of doubt about the Achaia’s evil nature vanishes when they find out that the planet they’re on, Zakir, is not the homeworld of the Achaia. Instead, they find the bones of the planet’s actual inhabitants and another Artifact, suggesting that what happened on Zakir is the fate awaiting Earth.
The Salvare’s Commander Niko Breckinridge (Sackhoff) and her second-in-command Cas Isakovic (Elizabeth Faith Ludlow) find an alien AI on Zakir who gives them some information about the alien invaders. For starters, they find out that the Achaia's home planet is another 427 light-years away.
What’s worse, the Achaians have already invaded more than 300 other star systems, seeking only one thing in their rampage across the galaxy - destruction. After studying the alien implant used on Sasha, the crew discovers it is powered by a fusion reactor with more power than even the ship, confirming what we already know - the Achaia have far more advanced technology than humanity.
The invaders have already found an agent on Earth, having infected journalist Harper Glass (Selma Blair). Niko’s husband Erik Wallace and their daughter Jana Breckinridge-Wallace (who was afflicted with severe leukemia by the artifact on Earth) are lured inside the artifact by Glass with the promise that the Achaia are humanity’s friends.
Glass also puts out a broadcast telling all of humanity the Achaia are friendly, setting the stage for a secret invasion in the coming season. Now, Niko must attempt to marshal the forces of all the planets enslaved by the Achaia and take the battle to the invaders but their attempt at freeing Zakir is foiled when the Achaia blow up the whole planet, suggesting they may be an enemy humanity cannot hope to defeat.
'Another Life' premiered July 25 on Netflix.