Summary
Invasion Season 3 turns the tables in Episode 5 to solidify a more human-shaped threat, altering the simplistic us vs. them dynamic.
When you think about it, Invasion has always been an extremely simple story told in the most needlessly complex way possible. An alien invasion is simply “us” versus “them”. Season 3 has proceeded along these lines for the most part, with glimmers of WDC totalitarianism coming up but falling by the wayside in the face of the unifying objective. The aliens are the bad guys. The humans, despite their differences, are the good guys, or at least must pretend to be long enough to deal with the extraterrestrial threat. Episode 5, “Point of No Return”, changes that dynamic, which is the best thing about an otherwise fairly aggravating installment.
I say aggravating for the usual reasons. The pacing is weird, and the dialogue is rubbish, and we spend an inordinate amount of time watching Trevante get headaches. A significant plot turn hinges on a moment of such geographical good fortune that nothing about it rings true. And I’m not even entirely sure on the episode’s big twist, at least as far as its implications are concerned, though based on the dialogue, I think I’ve got a decent idea. And yet it does undeniably change the dynamics of the show in a more interesting way, which may well benefit it through the back half of the season.
Before all this, though, we have to endure a really lengthy-feeling sequence in the aftermath of the chopper crash. Naturally, all of the key characters survive, and Hollander orders the other chopper containing him and Nikhil to land and facilitate a rescue of his “assets”. But both Trevante and Mitsuki are useless here. The former keeps having debilitating headaches and memory flashes, while the latter discovers she can connect to the alien network by laying a hand on the new tendrils that smother the place, but one of the aliens she connects to is killed while she’s still tethered to it, which causes her to pass out for ages.
What we’re supposed to care about are the lives of the soldiers whose job is to ensure Trevante and Mitsuki’s safety, but we don’t since we’ve just met them. One of them dies because of Trevante’s indecision, and another three are ordered by Hollander to sacrifice themselves to serve as a distraction. None of this really takes, though, because our loyalties — such as they are — lie with Trevante and Mitsuki, and besides, “Point of No Return” backs out of the second one by having those three sacrificial soldiers miraculously survive.
We should make a note of the fact that Nikhil is able to bring Mitsuki around by implanting that device in her neck that closes her off from the alien network, but she’s not very happy about it. Nothing else comes of it in Invasion Season 2, Episode 5, but I’m certain it’ll crop up again later, so keep it in the back of your mind.
In the meantime, Infinitas. Invasion has been cagey about this group since its introduction in Episode 3, so it isn’t immediately clear whether Aneesha, Clark, and Jamila are safe in their company or not. They arrive at a safehouse in Shadow Lake, Washington, only to discover via the news that they’re cut off from their home and children in Idaho. They’re free to leave, or so they’re told, but it’s easier said than done, especially when a transmission from an Infinitas scout operating within the Dead Zone reveals the existence of a new type of alien, distinct from the usual Hunter-Killers.
Verna is pretty vague about how Infinitas has scouts operating in the Dead Zone, but the threat is nonetheless taken seriously, especially since Infinitas also knows that Trevante is leading a mission there looking for the mothership. Jamila, who was caught earwigging, suggests travelling a few miles north to the airfield where the WDC will be making a pitstop to warn Trevante of what’s out there, and Verna seems to be on board. She even convinces Aneesha and Clark to go with them on the promise of securing them air transport home. Since we’ve seen the WDC be awful and Infinitas be nothing but whistleblowing good guys fighting against their tyranny, it’s easy to buy into this plan as a heroic rescue effort.
But it turns out to be anything but. While Verna and Hollander are trying to make contact with the scout to verify her claims, Trevante realizes that there are hostiles stationed on the roof and tries to surreptitiously get everyone into the transport chopper. Naturally, it all kicks off. Verna slashes Hollander’s throat and, as he dies, says, “May our redeemers forgive you for your sins.” This is a familiar enough Christian prayer, but usually it’s “redeemer”, singular, as in Jesus Christ. The use of “redeemers”, plural, implies that Infinitas are a pro-alien group who have idealised the invaders as deities.
This would certainly explain why they’re so willing to die for the cause. Joel, Verna’s “nephew”, proves this point most exaggeratedly by jumping onto the departing chopper with a live grenade. Trevante is able to disarm him, and he’s taken along for the ride with everyone else. But it certainly seems like the aliens are now only one of the group’s problems. And with the shard bomb having been left behind in the chaos, I have no idea how they’re going to solve it.
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