Invasion’s Alien Inconsistencies Are Harming Its Narrative Impact

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Invasion episode 6!

The narrative impact of Invasion is being harmed by the continued inconsistencies its alien race brings up from episode to episode. The Apple TV+ original has continued to draw widespread criticism for so far not presenting as the harrowing extraterrestrial driven thriller that Invasion‘s previews led many audiences to believe it would be. While Invasion‘s more recent episodes have certainly expanded on the alien threat facing Earth, each alien image is presented as different from the last, leading to confusion among the show’s already restless audiences.

Invasion‘s episode 6, “Home Invasion,” finally granted a clear look at the physical alien threat in Invasion as the Malik family narrowly escapes a savage extraterrestrial creature. Yet the creature’s gaping maw and slithering movement are now seemingly at odds with Invasion’s latest episode, “Hope,” which sees Caspar (Billy Barratt) and Jamila (India Brown) come face to face with an angular, jagged creature that spits an acidic substance that melts the concrete paving London. These two images again clash with earlier alien depictions in Invasion, ranging from a starfish-like creature that towers over Kandahar to an incubating, sea anemone-type growth inside a patient’s chest cavity.

This wild variance in alien imagery is actively harming Invasion‘s storyline impact to date, making it difficult to accurately weigh the narrative stakes from one episode to the next. The same Invasion aliens that are shown to be decidedly deadly in both “Hope” and “Going Home” lose significant potency in “Home Invasion,” highlighting the inconsistent writing that has plagued this unknown species since Invasion‘s inaugural episode. Certain characters’ plot armor further plays into this indecisive framing, with creator Simon Kinberg and company seemingly happy to pick and choose which individuals’ lives are cut short by the aliens’ intangible sets of abilities to date.

A prime example here is the story of Ahmed (Firas Nassar) and Aneesha (Golshifteh Farahani) Malik, who both survive direct contact with an alien in “Home Invasion.” Aneesha repels the violent alien’s gaping maw and teeth, but not before the creature leaves Ahmed in critical condition and kills the War of the Worlds-inspired Mitchell family with whom they are seeking shelter. Despite their survival in “Hope,” Aneesha and Ahmed are both shown to have made prolonged physical contact with the alien, which is proven in “The King Is Dead” to be the host to a sea anemone-style parasite, as well as to spit concrete melting venom in “Hope.”

Yet Aneesha and Malik appear to have survived this experience completely unscathed simply because they are two of the primary characters in Invasion to date. The same alien mouth that drips acid in “Hope” leers through Aneesha’s windshield yet does not excrete any acid in “Home Invasion,” which is a decision left completely unexplained by the Invasion creators and showrunners. The same can be said for the alien incubation shown in “Going Home,” which seems as of yet not to have affected the Malik family despite several family members making skin-on-skin contact with the jet-black life form. Apple TV+’s Invasion may finally be unveiling its alien threat, but the inconsistencies that appear between episodes mean the survival of its characters so far feels very hollow indeed.

About The Author