It’s always nice when a new TV show drops, and it does more than just entertain. Sometimes we need shows that demand we look deeper beneath the surface, and Apple TV’s “Invasion” is one of them. When it was released in 2021, critics were split on just how good it was, with Season 1 garnering a critic score of 48% and an audience score of 47%. Despite that lackluster beginning, Apple stuck with the show, and it continues to ask some really intriguing questions with its story, even earning its way into the global top 10. At its core, the show is less about the alien invasion and more about humans trying to survive the invasion. “Invasion” centers around five primary people while the events of the story play out around them. The kicker here, though, is that each of these “ordinary” people are aliens in their own ways.
Aneesha has just found out her husband is cheating on her, making her feel like an alien in her relationship. She’s also an immigrant facing some harsh glares from those around her. Meanwhile, Casper is a young boy who suffers under the hands of a bully, whom he has to deal with consistently throughout the first season’s narrative — after he and a bunch of other kids are stranded in a massive quarry. The other characters face similar situations, like a space technician named Mitsuki who is hiding her true LGBTQ+ identity from those around her and a soldier confronting his role as an invader in another country.
The alienation of other humans on full display
Instead of focusing on the heavy-hitting blockbuster specials that you might expect from a show about aliens invading, “Invasion” instead asks us to step out of our own comfort zones and question the alienation of other humans. Because, despite what Earth is going through in the show, it’s clear that many of the characters here are not part of the “whole.” And that is a big part of the storytelling on display here.
Can people with such fundamentally different morals come together to survive a world-ending event? How many other people are we alienating each day simply for thinking differently or for making different choices than we do? These are the kind of questions that “Invasion” asks as we watch characters like Trevante wander through the desert, seeking help before he eventually runs into an Afghan man. Despite the two of them being so different and not speaking the same language, the two share a very human moment. Asking viewers yet another fascinating question that still rings true to the end of Season 3: Even when you can’t communicate directly, will you still hear others?
An underrated gem
To call “Invasion” underrated is, honestly, a bit of an understatement. Despite the heavy topics that it hits on, the show has received a lot of negative feedback from vocal critics and audiences alike, but there are people who love it. Moreover, Apple has given it enough time to shine in season 3, allowing the writers to bring all of the work they put into the previous two seasons together in a cascading way that not only helps answer some of our lingering questions but also leaves us asking the deeper questions we have been asking since the beginning.
Obviously, we won’t get into spoiler territory here, as we don’t want to ruin the show for those who haven’t given it a chance yet. But, if you’ve been looking for more Apple TV shows to binge, here’s another great reminder that Apple TV sci-fi shows are absolute bangers. Because even if the show doesn’t always deliver on the idea of aliens invading the planet and causing chaos, it does give us a very real and extremely deep look into humanity and how sometimes we view those around us as aliens, too.
