An Underrated Sci-Fi Series Just Became a Streaming Hit on Apple TV +

Although it doesn’t have any big names in the cast, that hasn’t stopped the Apple TV+ sci-fi series Invasion from invading the platform’s streaming charts. The show, which chronicles an alien invasion of Earth from the viewpoints of five ordinary people, had its third season premiere last month and thus has claimed one of the top spots worldwide on Apple TV+’s most-watched series. At the time of publication, it ranks No. 2 on Apple’s list of Top 10 TV shows, behind only fellow sci-fi series Foundation (which has bigger actors like Lee Pace and Jared Harris in its cast). Impressively, Invasion has topped Jason Momoa’s historical war epic Chief of War, seemingly confirming the new season really is that gripping.

What Invasion lacks in star power in front of the camera, it makes up for with its creative team. The series is created by Simon Kinberg, the screenwriter responsible for sci-fi space drama The Martian and the time-bending X-Men: Days of Future Past. Invasion‘s grounded and incredibly human exploration of what the fallout of a hostile alien invasion of Earth could look like put Kinberg square in his wheelhouse. And while the first season of the show floundered, with critics criticizing its stilted execution of the season’s attempted slow burn, Invasion‘s second season found praise for its exploration of the much-anticipated extraterrestrial arrival, with some saying it fully vindicated its previous pacing problems.

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Invasion Season 3 Builds on Previous Seasons’ Momentum

Given its performance on the platform, Season 3 of Invasion clearly seems to be building on last season’s momentum. The finale saw several of its main characters make connections with the invading species alien hive mind, yet it remained uncertain whether characters like Mitsuki (Shioli Kutsuna) and Caspar (Billy Barratt) could control the aliens, or if it was the other way around. This new season starts two years later, and takes some bold swings by killing off a major character while centering on others like Trevante (Shamir Anderson) and Jamila (India Brown), facilitating series-best performances from both actors.

Where Invasion shines in past seasons and beyond is by melding its human complexity with the classic question that’s spawned an innumerable amount of sci-fi media: “What if aliens tried to take over Earth?” While some may find the series slow, Kinberg’s focus on the psyche of its characters and how they navigate the kaleidoscopic effects of such a major event is what makes the Invasion so compelling. Compelling enough to edge out series with more cachet and major stars.

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