Invasion season two director Alik Sakharov on why the show is 'no longer just sci-fi'

Having worked on everything from The Sopranos to Game of Thrones, the filmmaker sets his sights to the skies

Shioli Kutsuna in Invasion's second season, now streaming on Apple TV+. Photo: Apple TV+

The first season of Apple TV+’s Invasion took a slow-burn approach to its story of aliens landing on Earth.

Set in Oklahoma, Long Island, Tokyo, England and Afghanistan, Invasion depicts a hostile extraterrestrial invasion of the planet – which threatens humanity’s very existence – from a diverse array of perspectives.

While some critics were left frustrated by Invasion’s leisurely first season, those who persisted were rewarded by its tense and visually impressive set pieces, rich character development, strong performances by Golshifteh Farahani, Shamier Anderson and Shioli Kutsuna, as well as tantalising cliffhangers.

One big fan of the 10-episode-long opening season of Invasion was American director Alik Sakharov. He was so hooked and inspired by the show that he signed up to oversee several episodes of the sci-fi dystopia’s second season, and also executive produce.

“I was a big fan of season one. I loved that it was so contemplative, that it allowed me to invest in the characters, and it set up season two so nicely,” Sakharov tells The National. He then adds that he was actually initially approached to direct episodes of its debut season, but he was already scheduled to work on season four of Ozark.

“So when I received the script for season two of Invasion I really responded to the material again.”

This time around, though, Sakharov insists that Invasion’s pace has been amped up.

“Simon Kinberg has summed up the contrast between the two seasons nicely. He said that season one was preparation for the fight, and season two is the fight. Me and Simon had a lot of conversations about the energy of season two, and the word he used was propulsion. He wanted that through the storylines of season two,” explains Sakharov.

Shioli Kutsuna and Alik Sakharov on the set of Invasion. Photo: Apple TV+

But while Sakharov teases that Invasion season two has a different energy to its previous episodes, he’s also keen to stress that it still includes the quiet character-driven moments that made the first season so unique.

“You can’t sustain, ‘Go, go, go,’ all the time. Audiences will get tired. You have to find ways of modulating it, because that makes it more interesting to watch," he says.

Sakharov is very well placed to know what’s required to make a great television show work, too. After being the director of photography on a number of feature films throughout the 1990s, he worked in the same position on 38 episodes of The Sopranos.

“When The Sopranos script landed on my lap I hadn’t done much work in television at all,” Sakharov recalls. “I wasn’t keen on doing it, because of the nature of television. But David Chase (The Sopranos’ creator) was such a film aficionado. He looked at it as cinema, not television. I did the pilot, then worked on it for 10 years.”

After that show concluded, Sakharov moved into directing – overseeing episodes of Rome, Marco Polo, House Of Cards, Dexter, The Witcher, Boardwalk Empire and Game Of Thrones, quickly establishing himself as one of the most reliable directors working in television today.

Invasion's second season turns up the heat on what was previously a slow burn. Photo: Apple TV+

Despite his past triumphs, Sakharov is none-the-wiser about what is going to be successful with audiences.

“Nobody knows what is going to be a behemoth. I didn’t know it with Rome, Game Of Thrones or The Sopranos. You just try to do the best you can and bring your aesthetic to it. That’s what me and Simon Kinberg did with Invasion. We wanted to make something that resonates and elicits a response," he says.

Sakharov even compares Kinberg’s talent to that of Chase and Terence Winter, who created Boardwalk Empire.

“What’s great about Simon is that he’s a filmmaker. He understands what you need to do and how big the job is. He doesn’t involve himself in slowing down the process of the show. He’s always hugely encouraging and he’s very intelligent. Working with him is a joy.”

At the end of July, the second season of Invasion actually got a surprising boost in publicity when a former Air Force intelligence officer testified to Congress that the US government has been concealing information about UFOs for decades. Retired Air Force Major David Grusch even alleged that “non-human” biological matter had been retrieved from these crafts, too.

While Invasion wasn’t directly referenced during these hearings, Sakharov admits that the hearing “makes this project even more relevant” as it proves that the plot is “no longer just sci-fi.” This should only help to make Invasion feel even more real and terrifying.

Especially as Sakharov promises that its second season is even more “heightened,” as the “aliens are coming up with new ways that force the humans” to adapt.

“It’s a fight. Basically, it’s either win or lose. There is no middle ground," he says.

New episodes of Invasion air on Wednesdays on Apple TV+, with the second season concluding on October 25