REVIEW: ‘Invasion’ Season 2 Episode 10 — “Old Friends, New Frontiers”

It only took 20 episodes across two seasons, but all of the storylines have converged. Invasion Season 2 Episode 10, “Old Friends, New Frontiers,” picks up where the last left off and acts on the discovery: sending humans through the alien portal, at great risk to those connected to the alien invaders, primarily Mituski Tamato (Shioli Kutsuna).

With all of the storylines coming together around this amorphous connection to the extraterrestrial invasion, Rose desperately wants to take Billy and the rest of the returned abducted Oklahomans home and is dissuaded by Trevante Cole (Shamier Anderson), who is focused on the alien threat. As they talk, the grief in the room is palpable, but all of it, for whatever reason, is overshadowed only by the military and the need to keep fighting and, in doing so, accept that the people in the chairs being studied are just shells of who they were before the aliens connected with them. Throughout the episode, Trevante becomes a stalwart in his conviction to fight the aliens and, more importantly, save what is left on Earth.

The need to fight may be the reason that Trevante and Rose keep moving, but for Aneesha Malik (Golshifteh Farahani), the military remains an obstacle she deals with because she has to, not because she wants to. With her children, Sarah Malik (Sarah Malik) and Luke (Azhy Robertson) reunited with her now, Aneesha goes along with what’s needed because she is a mother who wants to protect her children desperately. That said, she’s the same she has been all season, and of her family, Luke is the one who sees the most development, and even that is mostly silent and only in action. While Aneesha is now connected to the larger story and Luke’s ability to control the aliens in battle

While Aneesha and Trevante are connected in the same physical space at the military base in Oklahoma, they’re also connected across the globe with Mitsuki in the Amazon and Caspar (Billy Barratt) and Jamila (India Brown) in Paris. For the latter, Caspar has a direct line to President Benya Mabote (Moshidi Motshegwa), working with her and the other kids who are connected to the aliens to fight back but, more importantly, working with Mitsuki to establish the portal at great cost to her health.

Desperation creates a heavy atmosphere for Invasion Season 2 Episode 10. Every story is grasping for survival and organization in the chaos the growing aggression from the aliens has caused. Once again, like many of the episodes in the second season, Mituski is at the center of this finale, and it’s strong because of the acting strength of Shioli Kutsuna.

Mitsuki’s trajectory in the series has been to process her grief, let go of it, and learn to put the world ahead of her own survivor’s guilt. Her journey throughout Invasion Season 2 has transcended just processing her emotions, and in Episode 10, it’s all about her becoming a beacon of selflessness, choosing to let go completely to open the portal and potentially save the world.

Mitsuki’s character growth and dedication to humanity after suffering a great loss is the backbone of the narrative strength in this season. Her sacrifice and her struggle to get to that point are beautiful and melancholy. But they’re also powerful. Invasion Season 2 Episode 10 seems like it may be the end for Mitsuki, but if a third season is greenlit, I hope that she grows from this moment, much like Caspar did at the end of Season 1.

At the same time, Invasion Season 2 Episode 10 does fumble some character elements, leaving them dangling and almost ignored. This is primarily the case for the once intimidating Movement that, at one point this season, seemed like they would be a large part of the story. Instead, they’re just transport for Aneesha, and Clark winds up as a hanging potential romantic interest. Additionally, while Jamila and her crew of alien invasion Goonies took the spotlight in the first half of the series, they’re pushed to the side. While Caspar has always been the end game for Season 2, it’s at the sacrifice of characters that it garnered so much emotional investment from the audience.

Invasion Season 2 Episode 10 is good. It offers some large character developments and sets up big character moments for an eventual Invasion Season 3 if one comes our way with Trevante off into the great unknown, Mitsuki transferred to the alien consciousness, and Aneesha and the Movement immediately connected to the military they once fought. Finally, Caspar may not be who we think. The stage is set for the next season, but to get there, the series chose to leave some of its heavier-hitting emotional elements unresolved.

Invasion Season 2 is streaming now exclusively on AppleTV+.