Invasion

It is sad to say, but the demise of Invasion was pretty much clear after just two episodes. Presenting a thrilling sci-fi thriller and serving up a pure interhuman drama with a light (often too light) mystery backdrop is simply commercial suicide. And so, even though it is not possible to fall in love with Larkin or Rose, it still pulls you more towards Tom and towards progressing that mysterious superior story a little further. In later episodes, however, even that is not enough, and Invasion becomes an interesting experiment, disproportionately stretched out into an entire season. The second one actually never should have been created. This kind of (although relatively open-ended) conclusion saves a lot, and thanks to it, the overall impressions are mainly favorable. (11/07/2008)

The events in a small town and its surroundings during the clean-up in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane... Although Invasion grabs your attention right from the start, it has a significant ascending tendency — thus while it starts slowly, it gains unstoppable momentum. It is relatively calm and it isn’t the kind of series where each episode is overflowing with twists and revelations, but it can surprise, manage to captivate, and, above all, it gradually builds up the atmosphere perfectly. The characters here are quite typical in terms of characterization, but there are a few very pleasing exceptions - especially the ambiguous Sheriff Underlay, played by William Fichtner, who carries some of the relatively weaker episodes. Invasion takes its own specific yet definitely high quality path. And that's a good thing. (04/03/2006)