WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for the first four episodes of Invasion, now streaming on Apple TV+.
From the trailers for Apple TV+’s Invasion, many expected Sam Neill’s Sheriff Tyson to play a key role in the extraterrestrial plot to take Earth. However, the series pulled off a shocking move in the premiere, “Last Day,” by seemingly killing the big star in the final scene. But while it seems he’s out the show for now, that stunning death could hint at a sinister resurrection and the aliens’ true plan.
Tyson was investigating some missing hooligans in Oklahoma when he found himself inside a crop circle. He felt like he didn’t do much with his career, but to him, solving this case would be an act of divinity and give him true purpose. However, as he burrowed into the sand below, thinking he’d found bodies, something akin to a giant insect stinger punctured and seemingly killed him.
The light left Tyson’s eyes as he presumably died. And even in the three episodes after, this lingers because the show doesn’t go back to his character and the missing guys, allowing Invasion to craft a vibe that there will be deadly consequences, high stakes and no one’s off the table when it comes to death.
But the big twist over Tyson’s fate, and others to come, could lie with William Cameron Menzies’ original Invaders From Mars from 1953, and Tobe Hooper’s remake in 1986. These movies dealt with the town’s head cop looking for lost boys, scouring the pits of sand, with stingers emerging from beneath the Earth to attack, in what feels like more than just a bit of homage in the genre.
In Menzies’ film, civilians got sucked underground through sandpits, imprisoned and then mind-controlled, heading back to the surface as drones to do the alien masters’ bidding. The remake altered things a bit by having people, including the town sheriff, getting sucked through a quicksand pit in a cornfield. They went through a hole and reappeared days later, robotic and obedient, with minute stinger marks on their bodies. This angle also influenced 1956’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers with “pod people” instead being grown to replace humans.
Thus, it stands to reason that rather than genocide and conquering, the aliens could be possessing humans like Tyson, especially ones in authority, and having them act as replacements. This would make it easier for a takeover, especially if they can land politicians and more law enforcement.
It’d save the aliens ships, weapons and more resources if mankind eats itself alive from the inside, harkening even to the Skrulls in Marvel’s Secret Invasion. Ultimately, it’s an easier, more dramatic and efficient plan to execute, and given Neill’s Hollywood caliber, it feels like the show still has something big planned for him as a pawn that would become a secret weapon for the hostiles.
Invasion’s first four episodes are now streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes become available every Friday.
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