Invasion - Watershed Review
This was the strongest episode so far for ABC's new science fiction show Invasion. While the pilot episode relied on the Hurricane to provide action, the second episode simply teased us with hints of something going on and no payoff. Watershed finally pays off on some of the setup.
Not only do we finally get some human drama that makes us care about the characters we've been presented with, but it seems like there's also a bit of progression in the story arc. Clearly whatever the lights were that entered the water during the hurricane, they're still there. Initially I thought this was simply an Invasion of the Body Snatchers clone for tv, but now I'm thinking there might be a little more to this.
In reality we're not a lot further on than we were at the end of the first episode but I'm starting to be interested in the characters themselves now and that's an important victory in keeping me watching the show.
Even better, where the characters aren't strong enough to carry my interest there are details which raise questions.
Why wasn't the Sheriff's house touched by the hurricane?
Who owns the black vans?
How does the Sheriff really fit into this?
Why has Mariel's blood changed?
What is the significance of water?
I'm still not sure they'll be able to play this out over 20+ episodes but I'm feeling much more positive about the show after this episode. It seems as though they're trying to recapture some of the Lost style of storytelling. Unfortunately so far they haven't been entirely successful.
Eoghann Irving is amongst other things the creator and Editor of Solar Flare. He has a life long interest in all forms of science fiction and fantasy and a pressing need to share this interest with anyone who will listen. Find out more at his personal website eoghann.com..| 2.9 |
One Comment, Comment or Ping
I agree that they won’t be able to carry this on for 20 more episodes. The pacing is sloooooooowwww. While the characters are mildly interesting that alone isn’t enough to make me give up an hour of my life each week. I haven’t seen evidence yet that this is more than a Body Snatchers-ripoff. They’ve got to pick up the pace or advance the story forward in a compelling way or this will no longer be worth the time. I know folks who have already thrown in the towel on this show after trying to maintain interest over three episodes - the loss of viewers will only continue if they don’t speed it up.
Oct 12th, 2005
Reply to “Invasion - Watershed Review”