How much longer must Simon Kinberg and David Weil withhold clarity from us regarding the enigmatic unfoldings of "Invasion"? An episode such as "The King Is Dead" tests the very limits of our belief and patience. This episode, which delves deeply into the essence of human existence while grounded firmly on Earth, manages to propel some storylines forward while leaving others mired in stagnation. The Maliks continue their relentless battle, Trevante persists in his furious tirades and threats towards Afghans, regardless of their Taliban affiliation, and somehow, Casper finds himself scaling a cliff wall like Alex Honnold—with all the other children apparently engaging in equally perilous feats without a hitch? "Invasion" has already stretched my willingness to suspend disbelief to its limits, but this episode marks my breaking point!
Setting aside my urge to revisit "Free Solo," "The King Is Dead" is a troubling installment due to its near-abandonment of the alien-invasion narrative and its overcommitment to one-dimensional storylines. I presume that the information Mr. Murai (Togo Igawa) gleaned about the frequency of his daughter's final message, which seemingly captured the enigmatic "Wajo" communication, will eventually intertwine with the Afghanistan storyline. The sand in Mr. Murai's plant mirrors the sand of the desert where Trevante finds himself—a coherent thread. Yet, must the Afghanistan storyline be so painfully offensive until that convergence?
How naive of me to believe that the subtitles accompanying Kuchi's dialogue at the conclusion of "Orion" heralded a long-awaited humanization of the Afghan characters. Alas, "The King Is Dead," set mere days after "Orion," reveals Kuchi leading Trevante to a higher elevation where goats graze. The goats are endearing, yet Trevante is incensed. Why has Kuchi wasted his time? Where are his comrades and friends? As it turns out, Kuchi (whose dialogue has reverted to being untranslated) was indeed assisting, and Trevante's tracker springs back to life. Farewell, Kuchi; you served your purpose, and this series has little regard for you anymore! Perhaps it never did!
What transpires after Trevante follows the tracker's signal is as clichéd as one might anticipate. The signal guides him to an Afghan hospital, where Trevante accuses the staff of terrorism, and sure enough, armed adversaries materialize almost instantly! He encounters Chavez, whom he finds on the brink of death. They share a baffled "no clue whatsoever" reaction to their prior alien encounter before their group was dispersed and most of their comrades vanished. Trevante, while carrying Chavez, single-handedly wards off a crowd of Afghans, but Chavez ultimately passes away. Trevante clutches his body and takes the insurgents' abandoned pickup truck, but where is he headed? How will he escape, and to whom will he recount his harrowing experiences?
In the unfolding saga of "The King Is Dead," everyone finds themselves on an unpredictable journey. On the East Coast, the Malik family's turmoil reaches a boiling point, prompting Luke and Sarah to ponder the possibility of their parents' divorce. Their sudden preoccupation with such a weighty matter hints at underlying frictions within the Malik household, long before Aneesha discovered Amanda's existence. Amidst this chaos, the motel serving as their temporary refuge is evacuated due to a federal emergency, sparking whispers among the evacuees about a nuclear bomb or ISIS. One wonders how long it will take for the Maliks to discover Luke's peculiar possession—a mysterious chunk of metal, conceivably a fragment from an alien spacecraft. I venture to guess it will unravel in the next couple of episodes.
Meanwhile, Aneesha grapples with the revelation that Ahmed and Amanda were expecting a child, while Ahmed is plagued by fears of Amanda's demise, evidenced by her unreachable phone. Engrossed in their personal dramas, they fail to notice Luke's abrupt departure. After an arduous afternoon of searching, they find him under the care of Patrick Mitchell (played by Michael Harney), a seemingly benevolent individual who offers them refuge for the night. However, the slow zoom out from the locked door of the Mitchells' house casts an eerie shadow, mirroring the ominous tone in which Patrick informs Ahmed about the federal curfew and the heavily armed National Guardsmen patrolling the streets. Perhaps my paranoia is justified, given "Invasion's" persistent portrayal of "average Americans" suspecting brown people of widespread terrorism. Could a character like Harney, known for his history of portraying villains, be the one to act on these prejudices?
Across the pond, in the U.K., Casper, still reeling from the tragic death of Mr. Edwards, who succumbed to his injuries overnight, finally confronts Monty by rescinding his vote for him as leader and scaling a daunting cliff face. Initially, Casper's classmates react callously when Monty blames Casper's mother's paralysis, a consequence of her abusive husband, on Casper himself. But sanity prevails once they all reach the top of the cliff and resume their journey back to the road. Why should anyone continue to heed Monty's words when evidence of a Russian satellite litters the road, proving that Mr. Edwards's distraction by "metal raining from the sky" caused their crash, not Casper's seizure? The kids, recognizing the futility of staying in an isolated spot where no one will find them, decide to follow Casper's lead and embark on a long trek back to civilization. One of them boldly declares to Monty, "The king is dead." Will this reign of chaos persist when the kids discover Casper's sketch of Russian text in his notepad—text taken from the side of the satellite? Between Casper and Luke, what is it about these kids that tunes them into the aliens' frequency?
Mitsuki, on the other hand, embarks on a literal quest to decipher this enigmatic frequency after being fired by JASA for her locked-room stunt in "Orion." JASA's management seeks to bury Mitsuki's discovery of "Wajo" and dismisses Murai and the other astronauts' accounts of seeing something outside the satellite as mere "space junk." Before dismissing her and threatening her with prison time, Mitsuki's boss dismisses her findings. However, Mitsuki remains unconvinced. Alienated by the public's outpouring of grief for her secret girlfriend, she seeks solace at an unexpected location: Murai's estranged father's house. Initially, Mitsuki believed Mr. Murai's estrangement stemmed from his rigid disapproval of Murai's sexuality. Instead, Mr. Murai reveals that their three-year separation resulted from his disapproval of Murai's secrecy and her pretense of dating a man to uphold her image. "I couldn't bear to see her hide her heart," Mr. Murai confesses, words that thaw the chill between him and Mitsuki. With Mr. Murai's expertise as a radio engineer, Mitsuki inches closer to understanding the "Wajo" message and its hidden secrets. "Does JASA have a more powerful sound system?" Mr. Murai inquires, setting the stage for next week's episode, where "Invasion" pays homage to "Jaws." Perhaps Ahmed will be the shark's next meal. Now, that would be quite a twist!
