Invasion Information

Invasion is an American science fiction television series that aired on ABC for only one season beginning in September 21, 2005. Somewhat similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the show told the story of the aftermath of a hurricane in which water-based creatures infiltrate a small Florida town and begin to take over the bodies of the town's inhabitants through a cloning process (first by merging with and then unknowingly replacing them). The show was produced by Shaun Cassidy Productions and Warner Bros. Television.

Due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the aftermath in the southern United States, early on-air promotions were quickly pulled by ABC. The advertising then switched emphasis completely to the alien invasion aspect of the series, while the hurricane received no mention. The premiere was also preceded with a warning that the show featured images of a fictional hurricane that viewers could be sensitive to.

Cast and characters

• William Fichtner as Sheriff Tom Underlay
• Eddie Cibrian as Russell Varon
• Kari Matchett as Dr. Mariel Underlay
• Lisa Sheridan as Larkin Groves
• Tyler Labine as Dave Groves
• Alexis Dziena as Kira Underlay
• Evan Peters as Jesse Varon
• David Huynh as Sun Kim (recurring guest star)
• Ariel Gade as Rose Varon
• Aisha Hinds as Mona Gomez
• Nathan Baesel as Lewis Sirk (recurring guest star)
• James Frain as Szura (recurring guest star)

Episodes

#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	ProdCode=475281	ShortSummary=Hurricane Eve strikes the town of Homestead. Lights are seen in the water and while Dave and Russell investigate, one attacks Dave. Sheriff Underlay orders the area quarantined and the town attempts to rebuild itself.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6951	ShortSummary=Russell finds the body of an Air Force Officer who has similar wounds as Dave. Mariel finds something in Paxton, which arouses suspicion. Sheriff Underlay continues to cordon off the town.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6952	ShortSummary=Kira and Jesse investigate a motor home with terrible consequences. Russell worries about Mariel's strange behavior and Larkin suspects that Tom is involved in, or knows something about, a military cover-up.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6953	ShortSummary=Animals affected with a deadly flu virus escape from a sanctuary; Russell and Tom try to track them down. Jesse gets jealous as Kira flirts with a boy at a party. A woman attacks Larkin doubting her identity. Mariel shows more strange behavior.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6954	ShortSummary=One of Russell's colleagues is involved in shootout with Tom leading to dire consequences. Larkin seizes a chance to snoop around for answers when an old boyfriend invites her to visit his military base. Mariel is invited to a survivors group.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6955	ShortSummary=After finding an old Cuban refugee who lost his family to "the lights," Russell goes fishing to catch one of the luminescent beings. Transformed, Derek switches his interest to Mariel, incurring the wrath of Underlay.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6956	ShortSummary=After surviving a car crash, Larkin is picked up by a strange man who she becomes suspicious of, especially when she believes that he might have a link to the events that are occurring. Meanwhile, Mariel desperately tries to emotionally reconnect with her son, Jesse.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6957	ShortSummary=A baby is abandoned at Russell's ranger station. The mother Christina, who was 'changed' after the Hurricane claims it is not hers. Dave learns the owner of the wedding ring and Mariels makes a discovery in the water.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6958	ShortSummary=Russell's dark past is brought to the surface to the shock of Larkin. Dave investigates Mariel and her disappearance the night of the hurricane and Mariel pleads with Tom to dredge the bay to find out the identity of the body.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6959	ShortSummary=Dave is abducted by his blog-readers wanting to know what he knows. Meanwhile Tom Underlay and his deputy Sirk learn the identity of the dead woman found in the bay and Sirk has an encounter with the lights.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6960	ShortSummary=Russell finally confronts Mariel about the changes she's undergone since the hurricane. Underlay invites Sirk into his home to recuperate and Jesse meets a beautiful, but strange, girl while on vacation with Larkin and Rose.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6961	ShortSummary=Tom disappears while taking the kids for a 'little adventure' at a cabin and brings along a mysterious bag. Meanwhile Russell and Mariel try to locate the children and Larkin gets suspicious about Russell getting close to Mariel.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6962	ShortSummary=After Tom's shooting he hovers between life and death as he re-lives his 1996 plane crash that led to his re-birth. Meanwhile Russell tries to prevent Larkin from telling the truth about what happens in the water.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6963	ShortSummary=Russell, Larkin and Dave discover the creature that has been stalking their home. Tom goes on a mission to find out who shot him, while Kira questions what happened to her father and Mariel the night of the hurricane.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6964	ShortSummary=Kira continues her search for answers but falls into the wrong crowd and into trouble. Russell helps Mariel test her blood for abnormalities with shocking results, and Derek and Christina make their return to Homestead.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6965	ShortSummary=Tom and Russell team up to pursue Derek and Christina, stumbling upon a mysterious group of migrant workers. Mariel comes clean to the kids, Kira's life is in the balance after her encounter and Larkin still looks for answers.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6966	ShortSummary=Christina uses a gun to get Mariel to perform an ultrasound. Russell and Dave set out to discover what the CIA knows about the hybrids, and Jesse and Rose return to school to witness some strange behaviour.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6967	ShortSummary=Russell and Dave investigate what's been happening on Szura's island. Tensions rise at school between those who have changed and those who haven't, and Tom looks into the military's involvement in the post-hurricane changes.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6968	ShortSummary=Russell finally blows the whistle on Szura's island leading to Russell being out of a job. Jesse and Rose deal with more bizarre changes at school, and the hybrids prepare as a new hurricane is brewing in the Caribbean.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6969	ShortSummary=With Szura at large in Homestead, unlikely partners Russell and Sheriff Tom team up in the hope of tracking down Szura. Meanwhile the hurricane gets increasingly closer to Homestead as the hybrids plan to make their move.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6970	ShortSummary=As the hurricane hits, Tom and Russell try to stop Szura. Mariel, Larkin, and the kids are rounded up by what looks to be the National Guard, but they have suspicions. Mariel discovers that Szura has a horrifying job for her as she experiences the true horror of the situation.	LineColor=66023C }}	ProdCode=2T6971	ShortSummary=In the middle of the hurricane chaos, Russell and Tom make a brave rescue bid. Brett and friends take Larkin, Dave, Jesse, and Rose hostage, which leads to a terrible accident for Larkin. Tom must make an important decision that could risk everything.	LineColor=66023C }}

Reception

Invasion received mostly positive critical reception. Metacritic gave the season a score of 72, making it generally favorable. The show was nominated on the 32nd Saturn Awards for Best Network TV Series and Best Television Actor for William Fichtner. It has been included in many "gone too soon" lists. In the independent web critic, Critics at large, the show was reviewed as a Lost Treasure. On a chat live between Bullz-eye.com and Tyler Labine, the actor says: "Invasion" did get lots of love. Critics loved it. There was quite a huge following by the time we got cancelled. It was just the network didn't love it, that's all." He also acclaimed Shaun Cassidy's writing calling him a "mad genius".

Broadcast history

The series premiered on ABC on September 21, 2005, and aired for one season. The series included twenty-two episodes, which aired Wednesday evening at 10:00pm. After the show's cancellation there were reports of a possible move to The CW, however, a deal never came to fruition. The final episode aired on May 17, 2006. On August 22, 2006, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released the complete first season as a six-disc DVD box set.

In the UK, the show premiered as a double bill on Channel 4, with the third episode shown shortly afterwards on 4's digital sister channel E4. In Bulgaria, Invasion premiered on February 21, 2007, on Nova Television and in Romania it premiered on March 10, 2009, on Pro Cinema movie channel.

Ratings troubles

According to Nielsen ratings, the series premiere was able to attract 17 million viewers from another ABC show, Lost. After the 10th episode, the series lost a total of 7 million viewers over nine episodes with the November 30, 2005 episode garnering only 10 million. In order to get the viewers back in for the 2nd half of 2005-2006 TV season, the show was put on hiatus until January 11, 2006, and it was replaced with another show already scheduled for cancellation, Alias.

For the episodes shown on January 11, 18, and 25 the Nielsen Ratings only reached 9.7 million, 9 million and 9.3 million, respectively. It had lost nearly half of the first episode's audience, far behind CBS's CSI: NY, which had 13.7 million, 15.5 million and 14.9 million, for the same period. The show was then put on hiatus for the second time, during which time it was replaced with The Evidence.

Future plotlines

In the "August 14"20, 2006" issue of TV Guide, actor Tyler Labine (who played the character Dave Groves) relayed what creator Shaun Cassidy had planned for the following season, saying that Cassidy had said, "Larkin was going to be presumed dead. Russell and I were going to join forces against Tom. Tom was going to find out that his first wife was alive and running this whole military operation, and she was Szura's boss."

William Fichtner (who played the character Tom Underlay) also stated the following about the development of the storyline:

"There was something in there that I thought that was so good," said Fichtner. "I discovered who it really was who was orchestrating [everything]. I didn't even see it coming from a million miles away. It was my [first wife, Grace], who got on the plane with me. Two people lived after that [1996] plane crash, not just one. She went in another direction altogether. It's amazing. It was, 'ah, what you could have done with that.' "

Soundtrack

Invasion features an orchestral score performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra and composed by Jon Ehrlich and Jason Derlatka, incorporating many recurring themes and dramatic melodies. Their music was well received. The soundtrack of the show became available on October 21, 2008 at moviescoremedia.com. The album features more than 60 minutes of carefully selected tracks from the series.

DVD releases

Warner Home Video has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 & Region 2.

DVD name	Region 1	Region 2	Ep #	Additional information
The Complete Series	August 22, 2006	September 4, 2006	22	This 6 disc box set includes all 22 episodes of the series and 50 minutes of extras: a documentary, invading the mind of Shaun Cassidy, plus the gag reel and over 12 deleted scenes from several episodes of the series.