Invasion 1.13: "Redemption"

Written by Shaun Cassidy and Michael Alaimo
Directed by Bill Eagles

In which Underlay is shot by an unknown assailant, taking him back to the moments after the plane crash, while Russell gets a very clear picture of what is happening…


The writers for “Invasion” must have been taking lessons from the writing staff from “Lost”, because they certainly found an interesting way to reveal some of Underlay’s secrets. As it turns out, it wasn’t so much an alien secret as it was something completely and perfectly human. The writers pull off an interesting philosophical trick in revealing one possible reason why Underlay’s conversion didn’t result in violence: Underlay had his newfound hope in Mariel to keep him focused.

All right, I don’t completely buy it either, but at least they were going for something worthy in the process. One thing I liked about the episode, even as it continued to show too many people being far too calm about the invasion, was how well it took everything revealed to this point and gave it a clear direction.

In essence, Russell now has a mission: to figure out what made the “alien” invasion so successful and how to keep it from spreading. Apparently the military knows all about the “aliens”, and they have their own reasons for letting the process continue in a limited capacity. Of course, that explains why Underlay has been working with the military. And there’s someone else out there who has survived about as long as Underlay, but he’s turned into a killer.

Other interesting items are put on the table. If the human is sick in some way, the “alien” process doesn’t take. That doesn’t account for mental instability, but it does give Russell something to work with. What if a human were to purposefully infect themselves with a disease in order to become immune to the process?

The writers are trying very hard to suggest that Lewis was the one who shot Underlay, but I’m thinking it was Missouri, or whatever the hell Mr. Ex-CIA called him. I think this represents a power struggle between Underlay’s more balanced approach and a the self-destructive and aggressive version of the “hybrids”. But it does reinforce one thing: if the converted human believes in something strongly enough, that can override the self-destruct part of the process.

Which makes me think that Underlay’s plan for an “alien” army is actually meant to be one of defense, not offense. If he expects the military to turn on him and his people, he may be looking to defend his turf and create a mini-nation of his own. It all comes down to protecting family, which is one of the themes of the series. It’s remarkable how the writers continually place Russell and Underlay in opposite corners, only to bring them into common cause when it comes to protecting the ones they love.

I’m baring scratching the surface on this episode, which is the sign of a strong and dense plot structure. Sure, some of the exposition doesn’t quite click, and Larkin continues to be a bit annoying in some of her scenes, but overall, this was a solid episode that kept my interest throughout. If the writers can keep this up, this series could end up being stronger than anyone had anticipated.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10