Invasion

:

Season 1
  • Network: ABC
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 21, 2005
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 30
  3. Negative: 2 out of 30
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Critic Reviews

  1. Orlando Sentinel
    Reviewed by: Hal Boedeker
    60
    The drama's murkiness becomes frustrating.
  2. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    60
    "Invasion" offers a few scares, but it's more a sense of dread and something subtly awry that gives this drama its creepy vibe.
  3. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Melanie McFarland
    60
    The pilot is enough to make you curious -- if it holds your attention to the end, that is.
  5. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Ned Martel
    60
    "Invasion" is a step up from many new offerings on the Sci Fi Channel, but never quite as intricate or engaging as the ABC hit "Lost."
  6. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    60
    A child's quizzical utterance near the end of "Invasion" provides enough of a chill to warrant a return visit to what's otherwise a mildly intriguing pilot.
  7. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: David Zurawik
    50
    Borderline over-the-top moments threaten the sense of verisimilitude usually expected in prime-time drama.
  8. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Tim Goodman
    50
    There is something too pat, too telegraphed in "Invasion" to rile up the blood.

Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Best TV Season of 2005
7
#7 Most Discussed TV Season of 2005
33
#33 Most Shared TV Season of 2005

User Reviews

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User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 239 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 196 out of 239
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 239
  3. Negative: 31 out of 239
  1. DarcyR.
    Oct 7, 2006
    10
    I can't for the life of me understand why such an OUTSTANDING show was cancelled. I feel as though I read a book with the last chapter I can't for the life of me understand why such an OUTSTANDING show was cancelled. I feel as though I read a book with the last chapter torn out and will never know the ending. PLEASE bring this show back on the air somehow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's very unfair to take it away when it had so many fans who were addicted to it and miss it so much!!… Full Review »
  2. Tss5078
    Aug 20, 2016
    6
    Ever since the popularity of LOST, ABC has been trying to find another strange, prime-time, sci-fi series to fill the void. One of the betterEver since the popularity of LOST, ABC has been trying to find another strange, prime-time, sci-fi series to fill the void. One of the better ones was Invasion. This show managed to last a full season, but just like V, Flash-Forward, Life On Mars, Persons Unknown, Surface, and so many others, it didn't last. Why not you may ask? The truth is that the network keeps using these great show ideas and either takes them off the air for months in order to air some lame reality show or in this case, they keep making it stranger and stranger until it's unwatchable. LOST was weird, that's what we loved about it, but that show was written by J.J. Abrams, not Shaun Cassidy. Some people can make weird work and some just can't!

    Invasion takes place in a small town bordering the Florida everglades, where a strange family dynamic is taking place. The Varon family has split up and the kids spend half the time with their father, Russell (Eddie Cibrian), a park ranger who is engaged to a local reporter, and their mother, Mariel, who is a Doctor and whom has remarried the town sheriff, who also has a daughter. Going back and fourth between fighting parents is hard enough, but in an area as dangerous as the everglades, it can be downright deadly. One night, a massive storm blows into town and people see strange lights in the sky and in the water. When things settle down, certain people are somehow different. Some, like Russell, are skeptical that anything happened, others like his brother-in-law to be, think the planet is under attack, but no one really knows what the truth is.

    This is a modern version of invasion of the body snatchers and a much more subtle version at that. The series starts off with a bang and is definitely binge worthy, but then it hits a brick wall. I mean it is the same thing around and around for about ten episodes and it is ridiculously frustrating. Things finally get going again, and it just becomes weird, they jump back to story lines they haven't mentioned since the pilot, they investigate things they never mentioned before, the show is really kind of all over the place and it just gets worse.

    Shows like this kill me, because it started out so good, the story was extremely promising, and best of all was the cast. William Fichtner best known for Prison Break and dozens of blockbuster films is one of my favorite actors, and he is amazing in this show, there are points in Invasion, where he keeps the whole thing together and I may have stopped watching, if I wasn't so interested in what his character was up to. Paired with Third Watch's hunky fireman, Eddie Cibrian, the pair make for perfect rivals and strange bedfellows, and oddly had terrific chemistry. Add veteran actress, Lisa Sheridan, and a sixteen year old future TV star named, Evan Peters, to the mix, and this cast was fantastic.

    The bottom line is this show should have worked, it should have lasted, but ABC wanted it to be the next LOST. Someone kept messing with the story at the last minute, until the point that even the writers were confused about what they were doing, and things just fell apart. It's a shame, the first few episodes of this show were as good as it gets, while the last dozen or so were a struggle to get through.    … Full Review »
  3. mavericken
    Feb 20, 2014
    10
    Years after it has been cancelled It's still hard for me to face it. The best and most exciting tv show I have ever watched. Fantastic actorsYears after it has been cancelled It's still hard for me to face it. The best and most exciting tv show I have ever watched. Fantastic actors and the show has a great plot.… Full Review »
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