REVIEW: Invasion Season 2 Episode 5 “A Voice From The Other Side”

Invasion Season 2 has been a rocky one. With a lot of action, a lot of exposition, and characters being built out so large, they’re starting to eclipse each other. Episode 5, “A Voice From The Other Side,” is no different. Shifting away from Jamila (India Brown) and Caspar (Billy Barratt) back to North America, this episode focuses on Aneesha (Golshifteh Farahani) and Mitsuki (Shioli Kutsuna). With both women dealing with different tense circumstances, Invasion Season 2 Episode 5 is an emotionally driven one, but one that is vastly different in tone from last week’s “The Tunnel,” which focused on adventure while using one location to build intimacy.

The last episode showed that the attack that humanity deemed a success was a push for larger attacks from the invading aliens. Humanity hits, and the aliens hit back harder, pushing humanity to the brink of collapsing under their choices. They choose to destroy, and so does the enemy, which begins a circle of violence that makes the future of the series feel extremely bleak. This is doubled when Mitsuki makes substantial contact with the aliens. Given that it was the researcher, and specifically Mitsuki’s decision to make the attack, the World Defense Coalition’s (WDC) President, Benya Mabote (Moshidi Motshegwa) is at an impasse, holding the researchers’ feet to the fire.

While global politics and survival is one fleeting moment of the episode, the truth is that this episode captures nuanced looks at how different characters interact with the other side —the aliens.  Sharing with the WDC researchers that she can hear the aliens, Mitsuki’s role in this episode is to make more substantial contact with the alien threat, with Maya Castillo (Naian González Norvind) and Nikhil Kapoor (Shane Zaza) watching over her—though, Nikhil is more focused on results and information than Mitsuki’s safety.

As Mitsuki becomes one with the aliens, learning more and taking a peek into their world, there comes the revelation that maybe the people who have been lost are out there. Maybe, just maybe Hinata, and the aliens’ use of her isn’t just for show. Mitsuki has been in a dance with grief since the first season, and her arc showcasing the ebb and flow of being engulfed by it is something truly stellar. Mitsuki’s experiences in this episode impact Invasion’s larger narrative as Trevante’s space in the episode is used to explore the idea of abductions and further expand on the connections that some humans seem to have with the aliens.

At the same time, however, The Movement is starting to lose its intimidating structure, as Clark supports Aneesha as she deals with her daughter being kidnapped. More importantly, Clark lends her and her son empathy as the larger group discovers the presence of their alien shards. Aneesha is a grieving mother at this point, but she isn’t wavering in her dedication to protecting her family, leading her to build thick walls between herself and Clark. However, Clark is able to pull them down by showing an element of care.

The saddest part of Invasion Season 2 Episode 5 isn’t anything that happens, so much as how much Shamier Anderson‘s Trevante has been underutilized. While his performance and the introduction of the new character Rose (Nedra Marie Taylor) do offer small interesting moments, particularly in building out interactions with the alien invasion that aren’t just direct firefights. However, these moments in the episode seem hollow in comparison to the strength and focus given to Mitsuki and Aneesha’s bits, who are still even in competition with one another.

At this point, I’m a broken record. Invasion’s former strength has now become its weakness as it’s built out narratives around characters that are so rich that the multi-point-of-view structure is damaging to the larger story. Invasion Season 2 Episode 5 is a hard one to review, not because it’s bad but because it functionally feels like a deeply different series. The concerns of Aneesha and Mitsuki are vastly different than those in the last episode, making them both weaker together than apart.

Invasion Season 2 Episode 5 is a a good episode with strong performances and emotional depth, but it’s clear that any cohesion the series has in Season 1 is gone and as each story grows in strength and importance, it’s never coming back.

Invasion Season 2 Episode 5 is streaming now on AppleTV+ with new episodes every Wednesday.