# Invasion (2021 TV series)

Invasion is an American science fiction television series created by Simon Kinberg and David Weil that premiered on Apple TV+ on October 22, 2021. It is shown in English, Japanese, and Pashto. It has received a mixed critical response, praising the acting, music and pacing, but criticizing the underuse of the aliens. In Germany, the show is called Infiltration. It was renewed for a second season in December 2021, which premiered on August 23, 2023. It was renewed for a third season in February 2024.

## Premise

Earth is visited by an alien species that threatens humanity's existence. Events unfold in real time through the eyes of a handful of ordinary people across the globe as they struggle to make sense of the increasing chaos around them.

## Cast
### Main

* Golshifteh Farahani as Aneesha Malik
* Shamier Anderson as Trevante Cole
* Shioli Kutsuna as Mitsuki Yamato
* Firas Nassar as Ahmed "Manny" Malik (season 1)
* Billy Barratt as Caspar Morrow
* Azhy Robertson as Luke Malik
* Tara Moayedi as Sarah Malik
* Daisuke Tsuji as Kaito Kawaguchi (season 1)
* Sam Neill as Jim Bell Tyson (pilot: "Last Day")
* India Brown as Jamila Huston (season 2; recurring season 1)
* Paddy Holland as Monty Cuttermill (season 2; recurring season 1)
* Enver Gjokaj as Clark Evans (season 2)
* Nedra Marie Taylor as Rose Callaway (season 2)
* Naian González Norvind as Maya Castillo (season 2)

### Recurring

* Alex Hernandez as Chavez (season 1)
* Olivia-Mai Barrett as Ryder Evans
* Rinko Kikuchi as Hinata
* Togo Igawa as Ikuro Murai
* Tamara Lawrance as Learah
* Louis Toghill as Darwin Charles
* Cache Vanderpuye as Alfie Ademura

## Episodes

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released |
| 1 | 10 | 10 | October 22, 2021 (2021-10-22) | December 10, 2021 (2021-12-10) |
| 2 | 10 | 10 | August 23, 2023 (2023-08-23) | October 25, 2023 (2023-10-25) |

### Season 1 (2021)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "Last Day" | Jakob Verbruggen | Simon Kinberg & David Weil | October 22, 2021 (2021-10-22) |
| Strange global phenomena unfold, stirring a small-town sheriff's suspicion of larger forces at play. ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Crash" | Jakob Verbruggen | Simon Kinberg & David Weil | October 22, 2021 (2021-10-22) |
| Aneesha's family drives her to a tough choice amidst chaos; Trevante's SEAL team investigates a distress signal. ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Orion" | Jamie Payne | Simon Kinberg & David Weil | October 22, 2021 (2021-10-22) |
| Mitsuki resorts to drastic measures in her quest for truth; Caspar and Jamila confront the severity of their predicament. ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "The King Is Dead" | Jamie Payne | Simon Kinberg | October 29, 2021 (2021-10-29) |
| Trevante's dread dissipates with a glimmer of hope from a locator beacon; Mitsuki finds an unlikely ally. ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Going Home" | Amanda Marsalis | Simon Kinberg | November 5, 2021 (2021-11-05) |
| Urgency grips the globe as the US President delivers a crucial address, bracing humanity for imminent challenges. ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Home Invasion" | Amanda Marsalis | Andrew Baldwin | November 12, 2021 (2021-11-12) |
| Aneesha, stunned by the President's message, rushes home to find safety threatened, prompting a fight for survival. ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Hope" | Amanda Marsalis | Story by : Simon Kinberg and David J. Rosen Teleplay by : Simon Kinberg & Andrew Baldwin | November 19, 2021 (2021-11-19) |
| Mitsuki takes over a satellite station, reaching for extraterrestrial contact; Caspar shares a mysterious revelation tied to the invasion. ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Contact" | Amanda Marsalis | Story by : Andrew Baldwin & Simon Kinberg and Gursimran Sandhu Teleplay by : Andrew Baldwin & Simon Kinberg | November 25, 2021 (2021-11-25) |
| Trevante's plane touches down, marking the start of his journey home; Caspar and Jamila navigate London's streets amid secrets. ||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Full of Stars" | Jakob Verbruggen | Andrew Baldwin & Simon Kinberg | December 3, 2021 (2021-12-03) |
| Mitsuki races against time to reach the Hoshi 12; the military detains the Maliks, and Caspar takes a perilous gamble. ||||||
| 10 | 10 | "First Day" | Jakob Verbruggen | Andrew Baldwin & Simon Kinberg | December 10, 2021 (2021-12-10) |
| A shattered world confronts an unforeseen dawn, grappling with the aftermath of global devastation. ||||||

### Season 2 (2023)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 11 | 1 | "Something's Changed" | Alik Sakharov | Simon Kinberg | August 23, 2023 (2023-08-23) |
| 12 | 2 | "Chasing Ghosts" | Alik Sakharov | Tatiana Suarez-Pico | August 30, 2023 (2023-08-30) |
| 13 | 3 | "Fireworks" | Alik Sakharov | Aditi Brennan Kapil | September 6, 2023 (2023-09-06) |
| 14 | 4 | "The Tunnel" | Brad Anderson | Dan Dietz | September 13, 2023 (2023-09-13) |
| 15 | 5 | "A Voice From the Other Side" | Alik Sakharov | Donald Joh | September 20, 2023 (2023-09-20) |
| 16 | 6 | "Pressure Points" | Brad Anderson | Story by : Uzoamaka Maduka and Donald Joh Teleplay by : Donald Joh | September 27, 2023 (2023-09-27) |
| 17 | 7 | "Down the Rabbit Hole" | Brad Anderson | Dan Dietz | October 4, 2023 (2023-10-04) |
| 18 | 8 | "Cosmic Ocean" | Claudia Llosa | Aditi Brennan Kapil | October 11, 2023 (2023-10-11) |
| 19 | 9 | "Breakthrough" | Mathias Herndl | Tatiana Suarez-Pico | October 18, 2023 (2023-10-18) |
| 20 | 10 | "Old Friends, New Frontiers" | Mathias Herndl | Simon Kinberg & Dan Dietz | October 25, 2023 (2023-10-25) |

### Season 3

The ten episodes are written by Simon Kinberg, Dan Dietz, Aditi Brennan Kapil, Glenise Mullins, Donald Joh, Vivian Barnes, Aditi Brennan Kapil, Dan Dietz, Vivian Barnes & Glenise Mullins, and Simon Kinberg & Demetrios Cokinos.

## Production
### Development

Apple gave an order for ten episodes in January 2019 with Simon Kinberg and David Weil creating and writing, as well as executive-producing with Audrey Chon. Deadline reported that Chad Feehan was briefly brought in as a showrunner "out of necessity" but soon departed the series in September 2019. When the resumption of filming was announced, Jakob Verbruggen was listed as director and executive producer with Amy Kaufman, Andrew Baldwin and Elisa Ellis also executive producers; however, it was subsequently reported that Amanda Marsalis had also directed some episodes. The first season was reported to have a $200 million budget. On December 8, 2021, Apple renewed the series for a second season. The show was renewed for a third season on February 13, 2024.

### Casting

Deadline revealed in August 2020 that Neill, Anderson, Farahani, Nassar, and Kutsuna were all to be part of the cast.

### Filming

Filming was originally planned to start in mid-2019, with Kinberg directing, but was delayed due to his work on the feature film The 355. According to a report by Deadline, Invasion planned to film in New York, Manchester, Morocco and Japan. "Portions of the series had been shot in New York and Morocco, and producers were prepping for the UK shoot when the coronavirus-related industry shutdown started in mid-March." In February 2021, filming occurred in Greenwich, one of the series' last filming locations. Filming for the first season concluded on March 15, 2021.

## Release

The series premiered on Apple TV+ on October 22, 2021, with the release of its first three episodes; the first season concluded on December 10, 2021. Its second season premiered on August 23, 2023.

## Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 48% approval rating with an average rating of 5.6/10, based on 42 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Invasion attempts a slow burn but inadvertently lets its tension completely fizzle out with leaden pacing that will leave viewers impatient for the alien apocalypse to finally arrive." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 51 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
RogerEbert.com reviewer Nick Allen called the series "a thrilling series about people, not aliens", adding that the series "is a refreshing and often thrilling juggling of plot-threads that involve incredibly flawed or hurtful decisions made in the name of survival".
Andrew Webster, writing for The Verge, said that "Apple's Invasion feels like the first chapter of a sci-fi epic", adding "This all means that when the aliens do finally appear, it’s a huge deal."
Daniel Fienberg, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, said that "Invasion verges on 10 episodes of setup so pure and unfulfilling that a better title would be Evasion". He called the series, "amusing at first, then annoying, and finally, simply confusing", but praised Sam Neill's single-episode performance in the pilot.
For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 64% approval rating with an average rating of 6.1/10, based on 11 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "A marked improvement if not a wholehearted vindication, Invasion's second season explores the fallout of an alien takeover with impressive scope." Metacritic gave it a score of 63 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Chase Hutchinson, writing for Collider, said "In its ten-episode return, the science fiction series makes its first season more like a prologue for the story it really wanted to tell."

### Accolades

Invasion was nominated in the category of Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, Game Cinematic or Real-Time Project at the 22nd Visual Effects Society Awards.