|
Published on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 1:46am |
|
ABC
|
I am – Hercules!!
It’s a sci-fi hourlong, from writer Shaun Cassidy (“American Gothic,” “The Agency,” “Cold Case,” “The Mountain”) about a small town secretly plagued by extraterrestrial body snatchers who arrive in the wake of a hurricane. It stars Eddie Cibrian (“Third Watch”), Kari Matchett (“5ive Days to Midnight”), Ariel Gade (“Envy”), Evan Peters (“Sleepover”), Tyler Labine (“My Boss’s Daughter”), William Fichtner (“Crash”), Lisa Sheridan (“Freakylinks”), and Aisha Hinds (“The Shield”).
… 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 … For a while, the series seems as if it's going to be blown away by an interminable (and, given recent events, unfortunately timed) hurricane sequence, as well as a child-in-peril plot involving an annoyingly cute kid. Nor is it easy initially to track the extended soap-opera web of relationships. … unlike "Lost," which had the brilliant device of the flashbacks to flesh out its array of characters, "Invasion" must inch this narrative forward with more alacrity or risk losing impatient viewers
… what gives this serious heft and its own unique feel is the family drama woven throughout the premiere. That, and a group of particularly talented and skilled cast members who, under director Thomas Schlamme, take their performances to the highest levels. … The premiere, even with its well-drawn characters, raises countless questions but provides virtually no answers. That's fine for the opener but, at some point soon, the series needs to take on more shape and direction or run the danger of becoming a mecca for a cult following of Internet chatters. …
… Unlike "Lost," which ended its first season twisted around itself with mystery and mythology, "Invasion" doesn't seem poised to madden you that way. Its ambition is smaller and more self-contained; weirdness will visit a town and change relationships among an extended, and messy, family. …
The Orlando Sentinel gives it three stars (out of five) and says:
… the drama's murkiness becomes frustrating. … William Fichtner exudes creepiness as the sheriff who's Mariel's new husband. Tyler Labine provides refreshing comic relief as Russell's goofy brother-in-law. Maybe Invasion will become more of a serial about a fractured family. But in the premiere, Cassidy doesn't dangle enough lures to hook the audience. The hurricane sequence provides laughable, unbelievable moments. The show endangers characters with trite terror, pushing one to put his hand in obviously dangerous waters at night (a trick repeated by NBC in Surface).
Here's the twist in this latest psychological stew from "American Gothic" creator Shaun Cassidy. If your family members are acting so peculiar they might as well be aliens, well, perhaps they are. Cassidy likes probing the injured souls of parents and kids, so here he echoes the setup of his 1995 CBS cult fave (which hits DVD Oct. 25), further fracturing the family into a divorced structure with new spouses to complicate matters. Then he revisits the spooky authority figure who just might be evil personified, a la Gary Cole's demonic Southern "Gothic" sheriff. William Fichtner gets the Southern sheriff role this time, all eerily serene as a new husband of doctor and divorced mom Kari Matchett. … Take away the apparent "War of the Worlds" overtones, and you'd still have a pretty interesting saga. Layering such unnatural proceedings into the family-drama format only intensifies both story angles when you do it right. And Cassidy has, with strong casting, solid structure and a fine feel for what's most frightening. …
USA Today gives it four (out of four) stars and says:
… not just the best pilot of the season, it's also the best broadcast premiere since Lost. … Clearly, like Lost, Invasion is layered in secrets: Peel one off, and a new one reveals itself. Those kinds of shows are notoriously hard to maintain, but all we can ask of a pilot is that it create a world and draw us in, and Invasion does so in sterling fashion. …
… Invasion gets off to a spectacular start. We meet likeable characters and are immediately drawn into their exotic, isolated world. …
10 p.m. Wednesday. ABC.


Get this!! “Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Complete Series,” the best TV series ever produced, WAS available for $239.99 new (or $199.99 used). But NOW you can pre-order all seven seasons brand new, including a never-before-issued 40th bonus disc,
for just $129.99!! That’s like all 144 hours for – what? – 90 cents per hour!! A better Christmukkah gift is unimaginable!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reader Talkback
Definitely have to check this
one out... by JackBurton | Sep 21st, 2005 02:13:51 AM | Hopefully, it will be as good
as American Gothic. by L.H.Puttgrass | Sep 21st, 2005 02:20:34 AM | pretty good show by Kayfabe | Sep 21st, 2005 02:48:18 AM | American Gothic did rule. by Shermdawg | Sep 21st, 2005 03:47:13 AM | Shaun Cassidy...who'da
thunk it? by Darth Bono Jr. | Sep 21st, 2005 03:48:13 AM | use a myth tv or bittorrent
Shermdawg by Kayfabe | Sep 21st, 2005 04:05:58 AM | Invasion vs Threshold by Ines5 | Sep 21st, 2005 04:50:12 AM | Best Show Pilots by Killah_Mate | Sep 21st, 2005 05:51:55 AM | Not really a fair comparison
though... by JackBurton | Sep 21st, 2005 06:59:06 AM | Not bad but next Lost? My ASS by Chylde | Sep 21st, 2005 07:44:55 AM | sorry, but no by erendis | Sep 21st, 2005 08:55:48 AM | I don't know if I can take
it .. by Itchy | Sep 21st, 2005 09:58:30 AM | Invasion sucks ASS by the_pissboy1 | Sep 21st, 2005 11:10:10 AM | I'm gonna watch for one
reason... by GenericGeek | Sep 21st, 2005 12:01:07 PM | Yeah, what DID happen to the
BIG BROTHER talkback? by SpyGuy | Sep 21st, 2005 12:42:13 PM | There never was a Big Brother
talkback by Big Jim | Sep 21st, 2005 02:44:26 PM | i think you mean doublethink by mrgreentheplant | Sep 21st, 2005 04:05:05 PM | RE: Big Jim by Incomplete Gamer | Sep 21st, 2005 07:48:38 PM | Invasion.... by Strabo | Sep 21st, 2005 10:03:43 PM | Wasn't Very Good by Brother_Marquis | Sep 21st, 2005 10:07:49 PM | American Gothic was
Frakkin' Awesome by zer0cool2k2 | Sep 21st, 2005 10:21:37 PM | Mediocre. Basically "Invasion
of the Body Snatchers" with an
"X- by exit272 | Sep 21st, 2005 10:58:25 PM | Didn't Dig It by NeoAngelus | Sep 21st, 2005 11:06:21 PM | by foreignerbelt | Sep 21st, 2005 11:08:00 PM | Holy Shit It Was Bad. by El Fuego | Sep 21st, 2005 11:12:27 PM | That litttle girl is annoying
as hell by 007-11 | Sep 21st, 2005 11:12:51 PM | I did enjoy "Threshold" by 007-11 | Sep 21st, 2005 11:16:24 PM | Invasion by Mafu | Sep 21st, 2005 11:40:39 PM | Yes, 007-11 by Banky the Hack | Sep 22nd, 2005 12:00:31 AM | Tired of the annoying kid in
alien movie plot device.
Didn' by HappyHamster | Sep 22nd, 2005 12:05:35 AM | Banky by Mafu | Sep 22nd, 2005 12:08:33 AM | What, no love for The Agency? by Toby O Notoby | Sep 22nd, 2005 12:11:11 AM | Undecided. by CatVutt | Sep 22nd, 2005 04:40:45 AM | Will keep watching... by Wungolioth | Sep 22nd, 2005 07:39:06 AM | AWFUL JUST AWFUL by HomerGator | Sep 22nd, 2005 08:09:17 AM | Incomplete Gamer, I am
guessing you have not read
"1984" by Big Jim | Sep 22nd, 2005 09:11:40 AM | Utter Tripe by Pogue__Mahone | Sep 22nd, 2005 09:20:08 AM | Most annoying little girl
since the Pepsi Girl by Jeditemple | Sep 22nd, 2005 10:36:50 AM | worst pilot ever by fried samurai | Sep 22nd, 2005 10:38:44 AM | What the Hell Good is a LOST
Talkback if it's gone from
the by Drath | Sep 22nd, 2005 11:06:45 AM | Aliens by Thorfin | Sep 22nd, 2005 12:00:20 PM | Drath dude by HomerGator | Sep 22nd, 2005 12:41:41 PM | I only watched it because it
was on after that fantastic
Lost ep by Bob of the Shire | Sep 22nd, 2005 01:51:10 PM | What a POS. by Phloton | Sep 22nd, 2005 05:22:53 PM | Everybody seems to see
Invasion's biggest
problem...so why c by Hail | Sep 22nd, 2005 06:16:33 PM | Invasion sucked. I wish
American Gothic would return by Neo Zeed | Sep 22nd, 2005 06:28:40 PM | It reminded me... by JonQuixote | Sep 22nd, 2005 07:53:04 PM | A revival of AG would be cool,
but how about Hard Time On
Planet by Shermdawg | Sep 22nd, 2005 08:53:18 PM | Threshold is easily better
than Invasion by Subversive01057 | Sep 22nd, 2005 09:31:39 PM | holy crap that sucked by xphilter | Sep 22nd, 2005 10:29:20 PM | Prison Break by Trim Master | Sep 23rd, 2005 12:41:56 AM | Of all the new shows, only
Prison Break & Threshold by Big Jim | Sep 23rd, 2005 09:19:16 AM | A toothless remake of THE
INVADERS by Clarence Worely | Sep 23rd, 2005 02:29:53 PM | Prison Break is indeed until
now the best new Show by lostbat | Sep 23rd, 2005 04:02:31 PM | Funniest new series by mopkin | Sep 24th, 2005 09:04:15 AM | The weakest 'Alien
Invasion' new show by gadlaw1 | Sep 24th, 2005 02:08:14 PM |
|
|