Apple TV+ 'Invasion' Episode 1 Review: Intriguing start to the beginning of an end
'Invasion' is finally here and sci-fi lovers can rejoice. ' Invasion' is set in an apocalyptic timeline on Earth as we see aliens land and unexplained incidents occur with humans struggling to make sense of this new situation.
The Apple TV+ show takes the fresh route of showing the invasion through the eyes of a few ordinary people scattered around the globe as they are forced to adapt and survive in the new circumstances. The unknown creatures lay nestled among mankind slowly but surely making their moves. The thriller series looks promising with a stellar cast and great production. Read on to know what we thought of the Apple TV+ show Season premiere.
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The episode begins in the Arabian Desert, Yemen on Earth as we see a man herding his camels. A sudden loud noise in the distance catches his attention as he sees the sand get raised with something tunneling beneath. Animals are great at sensing danger which is aptly shown with the camels running helter-skelter as the man looks on. In a thrilling moment, he suddenly gets blasted. The scene location shifts to Idabel, Oklahoma, USA on Earth where we are introduced to Sheriff John Bell Tyson ( Sam Neill) as he prepares for the last day at his job before retiring. We are then introduced to Aneesha Malik (Golshifteh Farahani) a mother of two and happily married in Long Island, NY, USA as she goes about her day. The next destination on Earth is Tokyo, Japan where we meet the astronaut Hinata Murai (Rinko Kikuch) who will be going to the ISS for a year. Alongside her, we meet Shiori Kutsuna (Mitsuki Yamato) an engineer at JASA and the secret lover of Murai.
Finishing off with character introductions we see the episode slowly slip in signs of the invasion. Sherrif John finds what looks like a crop circle while he investigates a case, with strange occurrences like a group of crows circling the spot and being suddenly attacked by swarms of insects occur. In Long Island, a classroom suddenly gets a shock as all the kids' noses start bleeding heavily with the exception of Aneesha's son Luke (Azhy Robertson). This planted a theory that some humans are maybe immune to whatever power the aliens have. Power outages follow at night with minor earthquakes and fires igniting as Aneesha and her husband Ahmed (Firas Nassar) take the kids and run out. We cut to Space where in a gasp-inducing moment we see Murai and her crew sucked out of the Space Station as it suddenly breaks apart. Coming back to Sheriff Neil, the man who thinks something is fishy investigating the crop circle at night we are finally treated to a glimpse of an alien as a pincer stabs his next in a split second only to disappear underground. The episode ends on a cliffhanger as we see John lay lifeless on the ground.
The season premiere had a slow yet intriguing start. It focused mostly on introductions with just a handful of thrilling moments thrown in to hold your attention. Sam Neill does a good job as usual with Golshifteh Farahani also displaying a good emotional range. Not a lot went down in Episode one but we can expect better to come as hopefully the story picks up faster from here onwards. "Love of My Life" introduced the disaster's warning signs and did a decent job setting up the series.
'Invasion' is now streaming on Apple TV +.
