Full Of Stars
Episode 9 of Invasion Season 1 begins with a flashback. Mitsuki and Hinata start to grow closer together, with the latter claiming that Mitsuki is “full of stars.” As Hinata continues to throw these space references out, the pair start kissing. However, this then paves way for a scene that literally defies physics and our understanding of space.
Hinata *checks notes* swims through space. She manages to propel off nothing to move her forward, swimming breast stroke back into the spaceship again. Once there, she manages to communicate with Mistuki.
Meanwhile, Trev heads to the hospital with Casper. Trev, Casper and Jamila threaten a neurologist and demand she give Casper a seizure in order to communicate with the aliens.
Casper is hooked up to an MRI machine and, with a headset on, starts having a seizure. In doing so, Casper see flashes of different visuals that appear to be an overriding pattern, which allows him to see what the aliens are seeing. When Jamila flashes up in his vision, Casper bolts upright as he realizes the aliens have arrived. And just like that, a rogue alien enters the hospital.
The trio work together, desperate to escape. The trouble is, the aliens seem to know where Casper is and begin chasing him. Locking him in a closet, Trev faces the alien head-on and grabs a gas canister. Twisting the seal, he manages to burn the creature with a massive jet of fire.
The flames are mighty powerful too, continuing to burn brightly despite the sprinkler system soaking the hallway with water. (*edit* thank you to those in the comments re. The cannister. It makes sense that this was filled with oxygen, which can burn despite water. Many thanks for the massively helpful correction!)
Meanwhile, tests are conducted on the alien specimen using the shard of metal Luke had. With Aneesa holding it close, the scientist uses hydrochloride and watches as the entire specimen completely disintegrates. How this works though is unclear but one thing’s for sure – the Malik family are going to the Pentagon.
On the way though, several rogue bandit transports show up and begin firing on them, tipping over the truck. Thankfully the family are okay and they rush into the woods, charging away to safety. The bandits appear again with guns though. Ahmed decides to stall for time, allowing the others to leave.
Unfortunately a gunshot pierces the air (we don’t actually see Ahmed die though, so it could be another fake-out) as Ahmed is shot. Aneesha meanwhile, tumbles down a hill and finds an entire sea of black goo before her. Using the shard of metal, she manages to navigate across with the kids.
After swimming back into her ship, Hinata communicates with Mitsuki and asks her to “help us.” But who could the “us” be referencing? Well, it seems that the aliens are using synthesized speech and with no breathing patterns, it seems Hinata is being controlled by the alien. They haven’t got long to find a solution though, as the US general has plans to send a nuke into space.
Still unsure whether this is really Hinata or not though, Mitsuki decides to test that theory and communicate directly. “What did you say the first time you came home?” She asks. In return, David Bowie blasts through the speakers. It’s a momentary segment, one that catches Mitsuki off-guard, before it disappears completely.
As we cut across to Casper again, he manages to telepathically communicate with the aliens, demanding they stop. And just like that, they agree to his terms and freeze in place. It seems Luke is the key to this now and he could well stop the invasion. However, he passes out as Trev takes him out the hospital.
A blinding flash sees all of our characters look to the sky as the nuke is detonated. The brilliant flashes of the missile hitting the remnants of this shuttle pave way for a dramatic finale to come.
The Episode Review
So what do the aliens actually want? If they’ve already started their invasion, why are they asking for help? It’s certainly a bit of a puzzling inclusion but more alarming than that, this episode throws logic and physics completely out the window.
Even if Hinata was being controlled by an alien, seeing her change direction and swim through space, using her hands to propel her forward, is just absolutely ridiculous and defies everything we know about space. (*edit* 3/12: many have theorized in the comments that Hinata was being controlled by the alien, which does make sense but doesn’t quite explain how the aliens managed to move through space or potentially infect and control hosts. Thank you so much for your comments!)
It’s moments like this though that completely take away from the increased action this time. Normally I wouldn’t nitpick over this but given how meticulous this show is over talking about science and chemistry – especially the emphasis on Mitsuki’s work – it just feels clumsy to include these moments.
Everything is building up to a dramatic final episode though, in what’s otherwise been a pretty indifferent and disappointing series so far. Let’s hope this one picks up and sends us off with a grand finale.
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Episode Rating
(2.5)
It baffles me how many people are hung up on the “swimming through space” of it all. All of the impossible stuff happening in this show and THAT’S where you draw the line? Get a grip!
CASPAR. CASPAR. CASPAR! Stop writing his name wrong!
Every time I see the father of the Japanese astronaut, I think of Dr Zaius from the 1969 Planet of the Apes film.
I just saw the last episode ….anyone care to explain it to me?
How did the aliens get into Casper’s mind way before they even arrived? Why him? (The epilepsy maybe?) And the piece of space ship Luke picked up after the crash, every house in the street was trashed except theirs. He didn’t pick up the piece until AFTER the space ship crashed, so why was their house protected? FYI I’m just watching the series now……..
Why is everyone still asking for Sam Neil? Can we have a story not centered on the same demographic we have seen in almost every sci fi film? We haven’t seen him for eight episodes. I was a little surprised they killed him off so quickly but I like the other storylines. He’s dead. We saw him die, quickly. I think it’s way past time to have a storyline feature women/people of color/LGBTQ for a change. They’re unique for sci fi films and way overdue.
A note: She’s a neurologist, not a nurse.
I don’t recall Hinayana wearing a space suit when the space station was ripped open, if I’m right, then clearly this is symbolism for her consciousness or something, as others have posited.
Over all, I think this show is really good. I hear some people talking about mundane conversation and what not. I think it is mundane and allows us to grasp at who these people are. Further, I think it’s really great world building and an attempt at realism. This isn’t independence day, or war of the worlds, or any number of blockbuster alien movies, it’s a show about people and how the invasion is affecting them. I really hope the writers are given 2-3 more seasons to really flesh all of this out.
Oxygen isn’t flammable, it is necessary for oxidation. “Burning” is oxidation, just at a very rapid pace. Rusting of iron is burning at a very slow pace, so that flames aren’t produced.
Regardless, I am fine with lots of character development and deliberately slow pacing, BUT THEY MUST BE WITH A PURPOSE. Not ONE of these characters’ stories, dialogues, interactions, or thoughts was even REMOTELY interesting or original. My partner and I kept turning to each other and saying “Why are they taking time to talk about NOTHING?!?” There was nothing beautiful or revealing about the hackneyed dialogue. It was all boring, pedestrian telling, not showing. Yawn after yawn. I don’t know anything more about these characters after the interminable time I was forced to spend with them.
Even if the last episode and any future ones become interesting, it will still be unforgiveable to have wasted 8 episodes basically talking about PTA meetings, grocery lists and mundane, cliche nonsense. How did they rope otherwise good actors into this Dialogue Workshop Fail?
Also: If there is even one more shot of Aneesha looking wide eyed and worried into the distance while not saying doing or thinking ANYTHING, I’m going to puke. They could have just taken a picture of her with that facial expression and saved the actor having to show up on set. SAY SOMETHING, WOMAN!
Her ‘swimming’ thru space could be what’s happening in her subconscious.
Perhaps her body has been taken over by the aliens and this is her conscious fighting its way back to the forefront and reclaiming her mind.
It is 2 different aliens. One trying to invade, the other trying to help earth fight them off.
Hinata is dead, this is her consciousness…spirit maybe?…preserved by the non invading aliens as a bridge for communication.
It was a metaphor for her consciousness coming back into play after being preserved by the terrible driver aliens.
The black goo and spikey balls are trying to soften up humanity while scouting us out.
The black shard is from the object that hit the shuttle in space.
It is kryptonite to the black goo aliens.
Sam Neil is dead and gone sadly.
A shame he isn’t brought back as a black goo communication conduit.
Those are my thoughts.
what if she is INSIDE the spaceship? swimming through some form of fluid? idk but i am LOVING this series
In all honesty, I’ve watched ALL top series released this year on all platforms and for me Invasion is easily my top 3 for the year, it’s new and different, it absolutely has me hooked, I love the pacing and the story telling, the mystery..the horror and tension build ups, I’m thankful to have been able to watch a show like this! Gosh I hate kids tho in movies and series like this.
(Possible spoiler)
If you don’t know already this is basically a season long premise to the actual heavy invasion planned for 3 seasons out by the shows writers, I love the fact it isn’t being rushed and we are getting these close shot sequences, I think we’ve had enough of classic alien invasions. And this is a fresh pleasant taste for me!
(Regarding episode 9)
And yes just like everyone else, that space swimming still has an odd taste, I don’t think she was in space, I think she was inside the ship itself, as you saw there were no stars in sight and no planets, just pure darkness and her space station.
I’m also starting to believe there’s two different aliens /motive possibly, and the nuke was a bad move. I definitely believe the aliens on earth are just minions tho.
I think that if you over analyse it can detract from just enjoying the series. Nevertheless, for the record, oxygen is not combustable by itself. It has to be combined with something else to burn. It is the oxidation of the other the substance that generates the heat/flame through an exothermic reaction. So perhaps it was something like propane in the cylinder though you would not expect to find that in a hospital!😀
Why is no one talking about how suddenly fire can kill the aliens? I thought nothing but Aneesha’s rock could kill them but somehow the soldier blasts fire for 10 seconds and one of them dies? The military is doing all these experiments and they haven’t tried… fire..?
What the track playing in background at US Combat outpost Kandahar province?
Episode 2 crash – Duration at 19:26
Oxygen doesn’t burn. It causes things to burn. It wouldn’t come roaring out of that cylinder like a flame thrower. Maybe it was nitrous oxide or something. The swimming in space boggled me. Why were those people trying to get Angela? How was the kid able to talk to them and stop them? Where the heck is Sam Neill?
I swear, when Invasion ends, the meme will be the Japanese Gay Astrogurl swimming through space.
Dream or not, a sci-fi no-no, like casting an emotionless alien and adding a 1960s black bowl cut wig and pointed ears.
Somethings you just don’t do in a show. Space swimming is one of them.
Reviewer, BTW, in the way of a nitpick, is wrong about the US officer. Insignia is for full bird colonel, not general.
I also hope the swim was meant to be a dream or a phantasy. I disagree the series is dull. I appreciated it’s tempo and careful development of diverse characters. We met no empty shells throwing lines out of nothing. It felt emotional and authentic. Storytelling has been great until ep.9, where they seemingly were forced to rush too many threads at once, and undertook “deus ex machina” approach. Ok, maybe the metal “dingy” literally fell down from the sky (pun intended), but I bought it, but bow I’m starting to worry it’s gonna sink in the final episode.
And America saves the world ince again by nuking the aliens, fuck yeah!!
I guess its not space l, its the inside of a vessel. Its the only reason it would explain the swimming. The specifically said “we might have someone on the inside”.
I mean really there is someone who didn’t understand that space swimming is something that never happened and it was just the imagination of the girlfriend who wants to believe something impossible despite all the evidence?
Since Home invasion episode, I have the theory that the “aliens” are in fact machines, more specifically nanomachines. And it seems there’s two kinds of aliens: the nanites (black goo and spider-things) and the real ones, the ones asking for help.
What if the nanites were contained in a ship made of the same metal Luke has (a sort of container/repellant material) and the ship crashed againts all the space junk above Earth and fell to the planet, unleashing those machines. The aliens recovered Hinata’s body and replicated her conciousness in order to learn about us. Their first words “Wajo” seems to be a misspelling of “Who are you?”
After Mitsuki made contact, the aliens asked us for help on containing the nanites, just before the US blew them with the nuke.
This review was filled with misinformation on how the episode played out.
First of all The gas cannister did not make a fireball but somehow was a flame thrower? Idk it was cool nonetheless and I presume that Hinata wasn’t actually swimming in space but whatever craft the aliens use. Their whole body is like a Black liquid. There was no stars in sight in that scene so it could only mean that was where she was. Hence being able to push through whatever substance that was. The aliens shown here don’t seem to be carbon based lifeforms so no telling how their craft even works.
Please pay attention to the detail I get it tho this show has boring parts and you can’t help but do something else. I’d still rate this show a 5/10 though.
All together I dont get the Aneesha and Mitsuki story line but Caspar and Trevante have been the most interesting and exciting.
The former pair of characters always have to deal with stupid characters. Mitsuki had to deal with the most exaggerated masognystic environment in all of film history gad damn. So much could have been accomplished jn the first 3 eps if they just let her do what she needed to.
I don’t know why they would nuke invaders without trying to figure out what was going on. I get that they started the attack first, but I’d love to believe that the scientific possibilities of this being one ship out of an entire armada would deter the United front from using nukes at least until they understand it more … maybe a day not 78 minutes.
Either way excited for episode 10 hope my fav characters are still alive after, and I hope they end off with a nod to a season 2. Show definitely has potential and I want to see where this story goes. If it ends with them just nuking the aliens and that’s it ill rate this a 0/10 for wasting my time 10 weeks.
I think you are not getting it. The “swimming through space” scene is obviously impossible for a reason: that never happened. That’s storytelling! Mitsuki wants to believe Hinata is alive in an impossible situation. The writer is telling us you need to believe in unicorns to expect her to be alive and in the ship. IF she is alive, she or a part of her was actually in a sort of broadcasting alien spaceship we never get to see, until it is nuked out of existence. The nuke worked just because it happened in synchrony with Casper’s hive-mind control ability that prevented the alien tech to use its defense system. There’s no compliance from the alien tech when Casper says STOP: that’s a human mind controlling a synthetic mind. My guess is that we are not seeing the actual aliens, just their invasion and terraforming tech.
By the way, sprinklers don’t work the way you say. They enclose fire with a wet surface, they don’t extinguish fire. And it being extinguished actually depends on what material is burning.
It was a canister of oxygen. Highly flammable. He ignited it with the flash from a gunshot from his pistol.
My assumption would be that the swimming through space didn’t really happen, it’s a construct or imagined dream from whatever form Hinata’s consciousness is in now. She was not wearing a spacesuit when the hole was blown in the space station in the 1st episode, the air, crew and contents were expelled in seconds. If she still persists it would need to be in some form controlled or sustained by the aliens..they have not kitted her out with a spacesuit, surely.
Stopped the episode right after seeing the space swim. Took the science out of fiction right there, now it’s just bollocks.
You guys are looking into the space swimming thing a bit too much, i guess the aliens somehow control her consciousness and she just imagined that whole thing.
also when she died in ep 1 she wasn’t wearing her space suit, so…
Swimming through space is impossibleeee
Oh I see that its the European way of dating things.
First off, this has to be dated wrong…it came out Dec 3, 2021. Also, the swimming through space killed the whole episode. There better be a reason why she could do that.