ORBzine - Invasion (2005) TV Review
Season 1
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 1]
Pilot
Shown 8th January 2006 [Sunday]
A hurricane wreaks havoc in the Florida everglades.
Afterwards, a few people realise something unworldly has happened. A wee girl saw mysterious lights in the sky. Dave disovers what appears to be a humanoid skeleton.
Have pod people taken over some of the locals? The sheriff [William Fichtner - Armagedon ] and Doctor [ Kari Matchett ] are acting stangely ...
This is very slow-moving ep. Good production values, though. Shaun Cassidy [ American Gothic ] is the creator, which gives this an unflattering comparison. How the mighty have fallen!
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 2]
Lights Out
Shown 8th January 2006 [Sunday]
Russell discovers a USAF frogman, who has evidently been attacked by the same thing that got Dave. He warns them Don't let them in!
The Doc discovers a strange thorn embedded in the frogman's head. She's uncertain of what it is, so she hands it over to Russell. Almost as if she doesn't realise its link to her.
The wee girl still has suspicions about mommy, but feels that she's changed rather than been replaced. The good old super-mature kiddie.
Veronica Cartright has been done as well. Turns out she's boss of the local TV news!
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 3]
Watershed
Shown 8th January 2006 [Sunday]
Dave visits a jeweller [Armin Shimerman - Deep Space 9 ] and shows him the clue.
Jesse, the Lady Doc's son, fals foul of something unpleasant in the swamps. Worse, her blood is no longer compatible with his!
The lady reporter sees USAF MIBs up to something suspicious. She blackmails the Sheriff into telling her what happened. Funny how everyone trusts him, when we're supposed to think he's a villain ...
All in all, very slow-moving. First 3 eps, and nothing's really happened. It's better than Threshold - better characterisation, and a less formulaic plot. But still, that's damning by faint praise!
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 4]
Alpha Male
Shown 15th January 2006 [Sunday]
Some Baboons bust out of their cages. When people start falling ill of a mystery plague, it turns out the apes are infected. The hero and the Sheriff must go out into the swamps and capture them.
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 5]
Unnatural Selection
Shown 22nd January 2006 [Sunday]
The girl reporter and her Park Ranger husband compare what they know about the mysterious goings-on. She goes to question her ex-BF, who works for the USAF.
The sheriff shoots someone dead. However, the stories the witnesses give are conflicting ...
The Sheriff's daughter and her BF hang out with other teens at a waterside party.
The lady doc attends a survivors' meeting. The other attendees are suspicious characters ...
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 6]
The Hunt
Shown 29th January 2006 [Sunday]
The girl reporter and her Park Ranger husband compare what they know about the mysterious goings-on again. The ranger, his chubby buddy and son head off in a boat to catch a glowing fish.
The Sheriff's daughter's BF is recovering from his underwater adventure last ep. The Sheriff [not exactly Lucas Buck, unfortunately] warns him off her. She's not your type.
Unfortunately, teen-boy goes for Stacey's Mom, the lady doc.
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 7]
Fish Story
Shown 5th February 2006 [Sunday]
Larkin, the female reporter, gets lost in the swamp. She hitches a lift with a Jamaican fellow, but suspects he is not what he seems to be.
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 8]
The Cradle
Shown 12th February 2006 [Sunday]
A baby is abandoned. The girl suspected of being its mother denies it. She's one of the survivors, and seems to know more about her condition than even the Sheriff does!
The Lady Doc discovers something strange in the swamp. Finally we get some character exploration and development. It's shocking to consider how much the survivors don't seem to know about themselves. I mean, why do they do the things ... ?
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 9]
The Dredge
Shown 19th February 2006 [Sunday]
The Lady Doc is still upset about what she saw, so she has the sheriff dredge the water. Of course, the sheriff has altered the evidence first.
The UFO-hunter bonds with the lady doc, and attends a Survivor meeting.
Larkin, the journo-girl, discovers her BF's criminal past. Yes, mister Park Ranger has a bad-boy side. He shows it when someone poisons his favourite picnic spot.
A necropsy on a dead alligator reveals ... it swallowed an alien fish?
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 10]
Origin of Species
Shown 26th February 2006 [Sunday]
The UFO-hunter gets kidnapped by a couple who knows a lot more about aliens than anyone else does. The Park Ranger tries to rescue him.
The sheriff sends his crippled deputy to get infected, but is actually shocked when it happens. Worse, when the cripple returns he has been healed, and assumes it was a Jesus-inspired miracle.
The kidnappers know a lot more about the aliens than anyone, including the aliens themselves. The fish from last ep is examined, and we find out what happened to the skeleton from the first ep.
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 11]
Us or Them
Shown 5th March 2006 [Sunday]
The crippled deputy has a lot of trouble re-adjusting to life. His religious fanaticism spirals out of control.
The Lady Doc becomes paranoid. Especially after the Park Ranger and the UFO-hunter tell her what they know.
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 12]
Power
Shown 12th March 2006 [Sunday]
The Sheriff takes the kids for an unannounced holiday.
The Lady Doc and the Park Ranger try to piece things together.
We get to see a few characters who haven't been around for a few eps. They're planning something. Something big ...
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 13]
Redemption
Shown 19th March 2006 [Sunday]
The Sheriff is shot. As he lingers in the ICU, the town nears meltdown. The female Journo wants to do an expose, and tell the world There are aliens among us!
It seems that the Sheriff is the stabilising force among the Hybrids. But there is a rival for control, a CIA assassin who got converted in Cuba.
The Sheriff spends most of the time in flashbacks to the plane crash and the events after it..
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 14]
All God's Creatures
Shown 26th March 2006 [Sunday]
The Sheriff conducts his investigation into who shot him.
The deputy is friends with the Sheriff's daughter.
The Park Ranger tells the sheriff what he knows.
The Sheriff finds the shooter - someone unexpected. As is the final revelation of the ep ...
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 15]
The Nest
Shown 2nd April 2006 [Sunday]
The crazy teens have met up at the hybrid camp, and now decide to go on a crime spree. The Sheriff's daughter tags along with them.
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 16]
The Fittest
Shown 9th April 2006 [Sunday]
The crazy teens are still on the loose. The Sheriff anbd Ranger hunt them through the everglades. The crazy girl is pregnant ... with an inhuman mutant ...
The lady doc, journalist and conspiracy freak try to explain everything to the Ranger's kids.
The Ranger finally sees a photo of the ex-CIA villain. It's a shock for him ...
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 17]
The Key
Shown 16th April 2006 [Sunday]
The crazy girl hold the lady Doc at gunpoint, and forces her to give an ultrasound scan.
The sheriff begins to realise that his silent partner has his own agenda.
The Park Ranger and the UFO nut borrow a boat, and go looking for the hybrids' secret island.
The teenage boy goes to school, which has re-started after the Hurricane. He befriends an African-American guy in his class, who has also noted that a lot of the other kids are acting very weird ...
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 18]
Re-Evolution
Shown 23rd April 2006 [Sunday]
The intro now gives some background info, and names the principle characters.
The Park Ranger and the UFO nut explore the hybrids' secret island. They meet the town clergyman, and discover what happened to the teenage tearaways. They also get a tiny insight into the hybrids' plan, and how far their power has spread.
The Sheriff meets the USAF, and discovers how much they know about the hybrids.
The schoolkid hybrids start picking on the real people. The teacher hybrids side with their own kind.
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 19]
Riders On The Storm
AKA
The Son Also Rises
Shown 30th April 2006 [Sunday]
The teenage boy who's out to get the sheriff finds that things have a tendency to get out of control. Especially when they involve teenagers, guns, alcohol and the sheriff.
The Ranger is suspended from his job. Looks like everyone's against him.
The Sheriff discovers that his associate on the island may not be trustworthy.
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 20]
Shown 7th May 2006 [Sunday] Run and Gun
The sheriff has the villain in jail. Of course, the villain has a lot of support. The daughter goes missing ...
The Ranger tries to convince the town bosses to evacuate. The sheriff and reporter help, but the beardy Ranger interferes.
The conspiracy theorist bonds with the kindergarten teacher.
Will the family evacuate, or hunt down the villain?
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 21]
Round-Up
AKA
Riders On The Storm
Shown 14th May 2006 [Sunday]
The UFO-hunter is held hostage by the cripple and a couple of hybrid deputies. They want to get even with the Sheriff for what he did to their pal.
The women and kids drive off to safety. Unfortunately they are stopped by the National Guard, and taken to a holding centre.
The Sheriff and the Ranger find the Hybrid base. They try to sabotage it. But it it was easy, there'd be no story.
The villain's plan becomes a lot clearer. He could afford to sacrifice the psycho girl because she wasn't the only pregnant one. And we discover where the glowing fish come from!
Invasion (2005) [Season 1, Episode 22]
The Last Wave Goodbye
Shown 21st May 2006 [Sunday]
The Sheriff and the Ranger take on the villain's men. Unfortunately the villain gets away - with the pregnant women and the lady doc. Our heroes go after him.
The teenage black guy falls in with a thug, who talks him into taking the sheriff's family hostage. Didn't they learn that this was a bad idea a couple of eps ago?
The ending is not exactly a cliffhanger - the show was cancelled, and this is the last ep.
