'Invasion' Episode 4 Review: Family drama ruins plot and aliens are still a no-show
Spoilers for 'Invasion' Episode 4 'The King Is Dead'
'Apple TV+' just dropped the fourth episode of its highly anticipated series 'Invasion' and we have mixed emotions. The sci-fi thriller has great production value but is lacking when it comes to storytelling with audiences yet not shown the extra-terrestrials that have arrived on Earth
'Invasion' will follow global events as they transpire from locations across the world. Central characters will show us their perspective as the happening vary in their countries. Locations will include London, Tokyo, New York, and the Kandahar Desert in Afghanistan. So far in the story, the invasion is still at its beginning as confused governments blame it on a terrorist attack. Read on to know more about what happened in Episode 4 of 'Invasion' and our thoughts on it.
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The episode opens as we see Casper( Billy Barratt )and the rest of the students wake up to the horrible realization that their teacher is dead. We then go to Aneesha (Golshifteh Farahani) and her family who are preparing to evacuate as Luke (Azhy Robertson) reveals the piece of foreign metal he's been carrying. This gave the hope for more alien-related happenings to follow. Cutting to Tokyo, Japan, Mitsuki (Shioli Kutsuna) is being apprehended and questioned by authorities as they try and blame the destruction of the HOSHI on space junk. After she's fired, Mitsuki leaves angrily as she questions the sketchy circumstances. As Kaito (Daisuke Tsuji) follows her she retorts that Hinata (Rinko Kikuchi) definitely said something which could be a clue and that maybe something or someone attacked the shuttle. This character is the most on track with her asking the right questions.
We then see Aneesha and her family driving north as she mockingly lists baby names after finding ultrasound pictures on Ahmed's (Firas Nassar) phone. Turns out he got the other woman in his life pregnant as the two get into a fight. Barely controlling her anger as Luke asks to stop the car to pee, she steps out for air. Luke in a twist of events disappears and the whole family sets out to look for the boy in the huge forest. Trevante(Shamier Anderson) meanwhile led by the shepherd finds an empty hospital and discovers one of his injured soldiers there.
Later, Aneesha ends up finding her son safe in a house in the forest as the kind owners ask them to spend the night. Transported back to the UK we see Casper and the rest of the class successfully climb out of the ravine as they set out to look for help. Getting back to Trevante we see him being hounded by local fighters as he tries to get him and his fellow soldier out when we see the pursuing gunman hear a chittering sound followed by something spindly and black jump at him in a split second of fast footage. Mitsuki pays a visit to Hinata's house with Mr. Murai, her father there. Events that unfold lead her to tell him about Hinata's message ' Wajo' as he asks to hear his daughter's last words. The man who was a radio engineer plays the sound file at a loud volume and we see the speaker vibrate. A nearby potted plant holding sand suddenly forms ripples. This was easily the most exciting thing that happened in the episode as Mr. Murai asks if JASA has a bigger sound system. The episode ends on a cliffhanger as we are shown the strange lines in the sand.
The latest episode was more focused on the family drama which is getting quite tiresome to watch now. We get that Ahmed cheated but please give us more on aliens. Four episodes in and we have been given the most meager glimpses at them. All we have received till date is one tiny claw in the sand in Episode 1 and half a second of the unknown and still vague creature in today's episode.
We hope we get to see the creatures which the show is supposed to revolve around soon. "The King Is Dead" was a decent yet disappointing watch as the show tries to pick up momentum but does so in tiny doses.
'Invasion' is now streaming on Apple TV+ with new episodes to be released every Friday.