Invasion – Recap – Episode 1-22

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As many of you may already be aware, ABC announced it’s Fall Line-up this week and ‘Invasion’ is nowhere to be seen. Given the way ABC has treated the show (with the frequent hiatuses and airing very few repeats (most of the time they just aired something else if there wasn’t a new episode) I can’t say it’s much of a surprise that ‘Invasion’ has been canceled. There has been some talk of the CW network picking up the show next season but more likely than not, this week’s episode will be the last one that we get.

The only other Shaun Cassidy show I have seen, ‘American Gothic’ was also canceled after a single season to the surprise of very few (as CBS treated the show far worse than ABC has treated ‘Invasion’). In that case, the season finale was tailored in such a way that it would make a good series finale in the event the show was not picked up for another season. Hopefully ‘Invasion’ will follow that template and wrap the show up in a decisive fashion (as opposed to ending on a big cliffhanger which will probably never see a resolution).

As I write this pre-ample about 10 minutes before ‘Invasion’ actually airs so I don’t know how the series will come to a close. I’m going to predict right now that if we end on a non-cliffhanger, Szura will end up very dead before the credits roll.

As was the case at the end of last week’s episode, everyone is being herded toward the water. There’s a lot of general panicking as the falling lights and being forced into the water seem to have disagreed with the humans.

Mariel and Russ are watching the carnage from a window in the building there were locked into by Szura. Russ is determined to escape to help the people who are being forced into the water. He gets his gun back from Mariel, shoots the padlock and rushes to help.

Lewis and Dave are driving somewhere. Lewis is using his radio to reach the Airforce and Colonel Lopez. Lewis tells her there’s an emergency at the wharf and there’ll will be many deaths of the air force doesn’t get there as soon as possible. Lopez claims they simply do not have the manpower to help. Frustrated, Dave grabs the radio and tells her to look out the window. When Lopez does so, she realizes there’s a whole lot of lights falling from the sky.

Still hiding out in the truck, Kira is reunited with Tom. He tells her to lie down on the seat and keep down while he drives the truck.

Larkin is trying to keep the kids safe. After some initial struggling she is able to get first Rose and then Jesse out of the throng of people and under some stairs.

The other humans aren’t doing so well though as the hybrids starting throwing people into the water. Amongst the struggling people are Brett and his mom. Brett’s mom is getting dragged steadily towards the water and Brett is unable to get to her, no matter how he struggles.

Elsewhere Mariel goes to check on the pregnant women. A few of them, including Alma, are coming down the hall to meet her. They want Mariel to take them to the hospital. Mariel doesn’t think they can get to the hospital but she agrees to help them.

Somehow, despite having been hidden under the stairs when last we saw her, Rose gets grabbed. Jesse, who was supposed to be looking after her, isn’t grabbed however and he lets Larkin know what happened. The two try to make it to Rose but they are unable to do so.

Fortunately Tom shows up with the truck. He blocks the path from the warehouse to the water and leaps out of the truck. He quickly kills a couple of hybrids and uses the truck for cover to fire at the rest.

Larkin is able to rescue Rose in the panic and Russ shows up to help Tom behind the truck. We get a reaction shot of Szura while the gunfight is going on. He does not seem too pleased with this turn of events.

And Szura has even less reason to be pleased when the air force shows up on the scene. They point a spotlight on the hybrids from a helicopter while some other vehicles converge on the scene. The hybrids are well covered and have no choice but to lay down their weapons.

The military orders all the civilians to stay in the warehouse. Szura takes advantage of this by blending in with the crowd and slipping out the back.

With the situation in hand, Tom goes to find Mariel while the rest of the family (and Lewis) have a big reunion scene with much hugging and happiness all around.

Szura, for his part, has found Mariel and the pregnant women with her and is forcing them into his truck. Mariel hears Tom calling and she calls for him as well before being forced into the truck. Tom runs after the speeding truck but unfortunately for him when it comes to speed, truck > human.

The morning after, Dave surveys the aftermath with his trusty video camera. Helpfully, he is narrating the footage which lets us know that there are many people who are missing and even more who were killed. The military has rounded up the hybrids for questioning and Tom is apparently getting the most intense questioning. Dave also lets us know that the non-hybrids seem to be having a really tough time dealing with friends and family trying to kill them.

Brett is sitting on some stairs and looking rather unhappy. Some guy is talking to him and encouraging Brett to help him do something about the sheriff. Brett kinda resists but the guy pins all the problems of late, including what happened to Brett’s mom, on Tom. He tells Brett they need to do something to take back the town.

There are many questions being asked of Tom. He tells Colonel Lopez that Szura was behind what happened and that he wants to make a hybrid majority. Lopez questions if that isn’t what Tom also wants. Tom pleads to be released so he can try to find his wife before Szura kills her.

Everyone else has been cleared to leave the warehouse. Russ is going to try and find Mariel while the rest of the family goes home.

It seems that Tom was successful in convincing Lopez to let him go as he is going with Russ in the search for Mariel. Tom didn’t tell the military but he has a pretty good idea of where Szura’s hiding out.

It seems that Szura’s still got a couple of hybrids left to help him (either they managed to escape when the military sealed the area or they had been left at the hideout). Szura orders them to secure the area while he takes Mariel and the pregnant women inside.

Mariel pleads with Szura to take the women to a hospital as she needs the resources of the hospital to help save their lives. Szura says he does not care if they live, implying that only their offspring are a concern for him.

One of the women is bleeding and in a lot of pain. When Mariel goes to her, she begs to be taken to the water. The other women think this is a very good idea and they all want to go to the water now.

Back at the dock, Lewis is loading the kids into his squad car while Dave and Larkin plan to take Dave’s car. Dave notices the presence of a PETTIS van and wonders why they are here. All the other rescue agencies are to the north, where the storm was expected to hit, but not these guys.

Before we can get any additional speculation on that front, the guy who was talking to Brett earlier (I didn’t catch a name if he gave one so hereafter he shall be known as Angry Dude) asks Dave and Larkin for a lift. Dave agrees to help but when he asks where they are going Brett turns up with a gun in hand and tells Dave they are going to the sheriff’s house. As they have no choice, Dave and Larkin drive away with Brett and Angry Dude. Larkin has cleverly left her radio on though and it is beside her on the seat.

Mariel tries to convince Szura to take the women to the water. When he doesn’t leap at the idea she tells him it may be the only way to save the offspring as well. As Szura tries to make a decision there’s gunfire.

Szura runs outside where Tom and Russ are making short work of Szura’s guards. Szura himself is shot a couple times but he manages to escape. After briefly hugging Mariel and making sure she’s okay, Tom chases after Szura.

Russ tells Mariel that they have to leave in case any more of Szura’s followers turn up. Mariel says they have to help the women give birth. Russ isn’t so sure that they really want these women to give birth as nobody knows what exactly they are carrying inside them. Mariel still refuses to leave them however.

Tom is following the trial of Szura into a tunnel like region. He is looking forward cautiously but then spins around and fires at a tank of something (presumably something not overly dangerous given the lack of resulting explosions). Being a hybrid may have given him spider-like senses as Szura was behind the tank and he falls to the floor with several fresh bullet holes. Szura also manages to drop his gun as he falls leaving him in a rather precarious situation.

Szura says that Tom can’t kill him. There were thousands of new hybrids created and they’ll be compelled to change their family members, like Tom did to Mariel. As he crawls over to his gun, he claims they are the majority. Once Szura reaches his gun, he tries to shoot Tom. Tom’s not an idiot however so he just shoots Szura again, finishing the job.

Angry Dude, Brett and hostages are at Tom’s house. They ring the doorbell but nobody answers. The door is not locked however so Angry Dude thinks someone must be home. He makes them call out but nobody responds. After questioning about the layout of the house, they say they’re going to go to the sheriff’s room.

It turns out that the reason the door wasn’t locked is that Lewis heard what was happening thanks to Larkin’s radio. So he and the kids are hiding out in Tom’s closet (the one that very recently was filled with batteries and water) while Brett and Angry Dude discuss their plans.

Once the noise dies down Lewis tells the kids to stay where they are while he goes out to deal with the situation. Apparently Brett and Angry Dude knew they were in the closet (or suspected it, at least) as they are waiting on the level above. They force Lewis to give up his gun and say that they just want to talk to the sheriff.

The kids are still in the closet and Jesse uses the radio to contact Tom. Jesse says there are some guys in the house and he’s worried they are going to kill everyone. Before Jesse can give any more information, Brett goes into the closet, pointing a gun at him.

Meanwhile Russ and Mariel are on their way to the water. Russ still has reservations about the birthing process. He wonders if the hybrids are a bridge species and the offspring are something entirely different and therefore fearful. Mariel says that just because they are different it does not make them fearful, only different. Russ apparently accepts Mariel’s argument as he agrees to go along with her plan.

Once they get to the beach, three of the four immediately go into the water. As soon as they enter, some hybrid creatures swim up to the women. The creatures circle around and one by one the women submerge themselves in the water where they are carried away by the hybrids.

Alma tries to make her way to the water as well but she collapses at the water’s edge. Mariel checks for a pulse and is unable to find one. One of the creatures however swims up to the edge of the water and, easing itself out of the water, gently pulls Alma under and swims away.

Brett is keeping a gun trained on Jesse, Rose and Kira while the others are nowhere to be seen. Jesse asks why Brett is doing this when they are on the same side. Kira tells Brett that her father saved them. Brett says that Tom didn’t save his mom however.

Tom, meanwhile, arrives at home. He points a gun at Angry Dude, who is lounging around, waiting for him. Lewis yells that he, Larkin and Dave are tied up in the closet. The kids are with Brett and they have Lewis’ gun. Angry Dude tells Tom to give up his gun or else the kids will die. Not really having any other choice, Tom complies.

Brett is apparently bored with hostage taking and is looking around the room. He finds a picture and asks Kira if it is her mother. Kira confirms it is and lets him know that her mother is dead. Brett says his mother is dead now as well. Rose says she might come back like her mommy did. Brett asks Rose if she’s the same person she was before she became a hybrid. Rose concedes that she’s different now but that she is still her mom.

Angry Dude is demanding Tom give him more guns but Tom claims he does not have any other guns. Brett comes out and wonders why Angry Dude didn’t let him know Tom had shown up. Brett seems to have changed his mind about the whole killing thing and so now he has decided to leave. Angry Dude doesn’t like this so he tries to shoot Brett. Tom tackles Angry Dude to the ground before Angry Dude can shoot Brett (though he does still manage to fire his gun before he hits the ground).

Jesse runs out at the sound of gunfire to see if everyone is okay. Everyone seems to be but then Tom notices a bullet hole in the closet door. Inside the closet everyone is still alive but when Dave asks Larkin if she’s okay, she doesn’t answer and after a few seconds she slumps over.

Lewis attempts to radio for help but the signal is jammed for some reason (though it seemed to work just fine earlier and there’s no longer a hurricane to impede communications or anything).

Larkin is worrying about her baby while everyone is tending to her. Tom thinks the bullet hit her lung and when he rolls her over there’s a large hole and a lot of blood coming out a hole in her back.

Tom says her lung is collapsing and says there’s no time to get her to the hospital. He orders everyone to stay there while he leaves with Larkin.

Mariel and Russ return to the compound. They don’t find any sign of Tom but Russ does confirm for us that Szura is definitely dead.

As they drive back to the house, Mariel thanks Russ for what he did today. She says that today reminded her of all the good things that were between them and that he’s a good man.

Tom, to the surprise of the very slow-witted, has arrived at a beach and is carrying Larkin to the water. She seems to be completely unconscious at best.

Back to the exes, Russ returns the compliments Mariel gave him, telling her that she is a good mother. Mariel notices Tom’s car parked at the beach and they pull over to investigate.

They get out of the car and approach Tom. When Tom turns around at the water’s edge, he’s covered in blood but Larkin is gone. Russ repeatedly asks Tom what happened but Tom is unable to answer.

And that’s (most likely) how we end the series. Not quite the conclusive wrap-up I was hoping for but still an excellent episode.

I’m curious as to what happens with Larkin now. We know that it’s not difficult for a human to be replaced by a hybrid but the baby is another story. Does the baby end up being duplicated as well (which would presumably make Larkin the first hybrid to have a baby without having a litter)? Or does end up in hybrid Larkin without being a hybrid itself? Another possibility of course is that the hybrid Larkin would simply lose the baby and come out of the water no longer pregnant. Unfortunately we’ll probably never get to find out the answer.

And I imagine whatever the result this will open up tensions between Russ and Tom again. Even though he did it to save Larkin’s life, I have a feeling Russ won’t be completely accepting of that.

As much as I enjoyed the finale there were a few negatives to be had. Rose’s getting grabbed near the opening seemed a bit contrived. There were hundreds of panicking people struggling to stay away from the water, I seriously doubt any of the hybrids would be searching hiding places for stragglers until the large throng of people had already been thrown into the water.

I was also somewhat disappointed in how easily Szura was defeated. A distress call to the military brings a quick end to his army and then Tom takes him out in the tunnel with little difficulty. This leaves Angry Dude to take over the top antagonist role. I do enjoy seeing humans doing bad things as well as it muddies the morality waters nicely but I would have preferred Szura to put up a bit more of a fight.

I also would have liked the series to end on a more conclusive note but that’s not really their fault. This episode is meant to be a season finale (not a series finale) and thus I will judge it as such.

So I guess that’s it for ‘Invasion’. On a plus note, the show will be coming out on DVD in August so if you’ve enjoyed the series (or missed any episodes) you’ll have a chance to relive it.

As for myself, I guess I’ll have to find something else to review now that it looks like ‘Invasion’ is done but that probably won’t happen until the fall (given how few shows start over the summer). I’ll probably few DVD reviews between now and then though (perhaps even one of ‘Invasion’) so you aren’t likely to be rid of me completely.