As a grim realisation begins to spread around the world that the ‘attacks’ are sustained and coordinated, news outlets begin to report the terrorist threat; ‘more deaths than 9/11’. And as the global impact of this conclusion is broadcast, the drama for the characters intensifies. In Kandahar, Trevante is waking up in the aftermath of a ‘close encounter’, and with his men missing he begins the – you suspect – futile search for signs of life. In New York, Aneesha tries to flee with her disjointed family but encounters only traffic jams and conflict as so many others do the same.
As with all stories about disaster, the best and worst of human nature begins to manifest.
Watching, you begin to identify regular foreshadowing within the structure of Invasion, but only just. Director Jamie Payne picks up where Jacob Verbruggen left off, following creator Simon Kinberg’s lead in only revealing tiny morsels of the true story. As a dramatic technique, this is nothing new, with the ‘cliff-hanger’ a common tool, but here it is the smallest drip of information that keeps you hooked. A moment from the previous episode, one you would think might instigate a raft of exposition is ignored as the emotional journey on screen is given priority.
The sense of something indescribably threatening remains, though, but this episode gives the characters some time to breathe, to allow us the audience to understand them a little more, to identify with their strengths and failings, and to further engage with their motivations.
The tension continues to build, that creeping dread established in Episode One, and something has got to give soon.
Invasion is available on AppleTV+