# Last-ever Invasion last night. What would it take to tie up the loose ends?\[spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334 "2006-05-18T23:40:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jaderabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@jaderabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaderabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/1 "2006-05-18T23:40:12Z")
I’m rather bummed that _Invasion_ never found much of an audience. And of course, the season (now series) finale ended on a cliffhanger. How much would it take to wrap it up? They need to explain…let’s see…what happens to Larkin, why the aliens didn’t take Kira, whether Mariel can stay human, what the aliens want, what happens to the hybrids, and whether the human race can continue to survive. Could they do it in a 2-hour special or a short miniseries, if there turned out to be a sufficiently rabid fan base with money to spend? Maybe some downloadable episodes? Or would it be worth having novels, sort of like they did for _Dr. Who_? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/2 "2006-05-19T01:25:30Z")
Wow, I had no idea _Invasion_ was cancelled. Too bad. Maybe it would have had a chance if the other networks didn’t bring out two confusingly-similar but decidedly-inferior shows at the same time. Come to think of it, though – I’m almost okay with it ending there, with buddy apparently coming to grips with the basic “humanity” of the hybrids and relating to Mariel as more-or-less the same person she used to be – and then being tasked with coming to grips with the new Larkin. It seems like we’re to believe that the hybrids really do effectively have the same qualities as they did before the sea-change: Good people remain good people, and the dangerous hybrids were no doubt capable of the enormities they commited after the change when they were fully human. Of course, there’s still that little unresolved problem of two incompatible species existing, where one must necessarily cause the other to die out in order to survive, but the the important this is that Russell _learned something today_. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/3 "2006-05-19T02:12:56Z")
> [@jaderabbit](#): > > I’m rather bummed that _Invasion_ never found much of an audience. And of course, the season (now series) finale ended on a cliffhanger. Jeez, thanks for the bad news, Captain Bringdown. I place the blame squarely on the heads of all the _Lost_ fans who didn’t stick around to watch it. Invasion was as good as or better than Lost and actually had, you know, forward movement that didn’t immediately result in 50 more unanswered questions. ABC gets some of the blame as well for fucking with the scheduling but if the Losties had been willing to support another quality show then it would’ve survived with no problems. > [@jaderabbit](#): > > why the aliens didn’t take Kira Kira wasn’t taken because she had a genetic heart valve defect. The “aliens” apparently only take those without genetic flaws. ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/4 "2006-05-19T16:04:06Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I place the blame squarely on the heads of all the _Lost_ fans who didn’t stick around to watch it. Invasion was as good as or better than Lost and actually had, you know, forward movement that didn’t immediately result in 50 more unanswered questions. ABC gets some of the blame as well for fucking with the scheduling but if the Losties had been willing to support another quality show then it would’ve survived with no problems. To be fair, it was also on a bit late for a weeknight. > [@](#): > > Kira wasn’t taken because she had a genetic heart valve defect. The “aliens” apparently only take those without genetic flaws. Hmm. I guess I missed an episode somewhere along the line. I also blame the erratic scheduling. ---
**Author:** ![jaderabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@jaderabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaderabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/5 "2006-05-19T16:15:08Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Come to think of it, though – I’m almost okay with it ending there, with buddy apparently coming to grips with the basic “humanity” of the hybrids and relating to Mariel as more-or-less the same person she used to be – and then being tasked with coming to grips with the new Larkin. It seems like we’re to believe that the hybrids really do effectively have the same qualities as they did before the sea-change: Good people remain good people, and the dangerous hybrids were no doubt capable of the enormities they commited after the change when they were fully human. I wonder about that, actually. According to her mother-in-law Christina Conrad was a loving mother and family member until the storm changed her. Then she turned into a homicidal maniac. I suspect that part of it is that some ppl just couldn’t make the adjustment. They’ve changed from standard humans to humans with dolphin-like blood. Probably their hormone balance and brain chemistry are out of different, too. The ironic thing is, from what I remember of first-episode Mariel, she actually got _nicer_ being a hybrid. > [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Of course, there’s still that little unresolved problem of two incompatible species existing, where one must necessarily cause the other to die out in order to survive, but the the important this is that Russell _learned something today_. 😉 We don’t know for sure that they can’t coexist, do we? It’s heavily implied, but I’m not sure anyone really knows. I’d still like to know whether the hybrids are a one-generation bridge, as they seem to be. As you say, the season finale was good enough that you could walk away from it happy. I’m just bummed that we’ll never know what the real plan was. The show surprised me several times, and I was looking forward to more. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/6 "2006-05-19T18:01:40Z")
> [@jaderabbit](#): > > How much would it take to wrap it up? They need to explain…let’s see…what happens to Larkin, why the aliens didn’t take Kira, whether Mariel can stay human, what the aliens want, what happens to the hybrids, and whether the human race can continue to survive. I think they were setting up a bigger question, what does this mean to Larkin’s baby? Will it be a hybrid, a human or something else? The other big question would be what are the other alien babies like? Is it another different species? Of course they are going to get rid of it, it’s one of the few shows I like. I work nights most of the time and there are only two shows I won’t miss and make sure I tape, Lost and Invasion. At least Lost isn’t going anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![jaderabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@jaderabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaderabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/7 "2006-05-19T19:48:20Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I place the blame squarely on the heads of all the _Lost_ fans who didn’t stick around to watch it. Invasion was as good as or better than Lost and actually had, you know, forward movement that didn’t immediately result in 50 more unanswered questions. ABC gets some of the blame as well for fucking with the scheduling but if the Losties had been willing to support another quality show then it would’ve survived with no problems. We could also blame the Internet for offering so many places for _Lost_ fans to run to for immediate post-_Lost_ discussion. But let’s not. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/8 "2006-05-19T20:28:45Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I think they were setting up a bigger question, what does this mean to Larkin’s baby? Will it be a hybrid, a human or something else? The other big question would be what are the other alien babies like? Is it another different species? It’s all nonsense, of course, but given what we know about the process, I think that Larkin’s baby would probably be a goner. The hybrids appear to be assembled using information taken from the donor bodies’ DNA (and sci-fi “memory RNA”) by the “manta ray” form of the species. Anything not present there would simply be omitted – no reason to think that a foetus would be be any different from Officer Friendly’s arm – it’s not in the DNA/RNA, it required an outside force. Maybe the nymph form would have the intelligence to do a crude “caesarean” and repeat the process with the foetus, which would then turn up as a hybrid infant, (artificially developed enough that it could survive) but like the psycho hosebeast, Larkin’s hybrid’s reproductive status would be _tabula rasa_. I think that it makes more sense for the baby to remain unconsidered with Larkin’s body, though. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/9 "2006-05-19T20:33:52Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Jeez, thanks for the bad news, Captain Bringdown. > > I place the blame squarely on the heads of all the _Lost_ fans who didn’t stick around to watch it. Invasion was as good as or better than Lost… Actually, it wasn’t. I used to stick around and watch it after Lost, and quit after about 4 episodes, because it really wasn’t a very good show. I don’t watch Lost any more, either. ---
**Author:** ![jaderabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@jaderabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaderabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/10 "2006-05-19T20:40:57Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > It’s all nonsense, of course, but given what we know about the process, I think that Larkin’s baby would probably be a goner. > > The hybrids appear to be assembled using information taken from the donor bodies’ DNA (and sci-fi “memory RNA”) by the “manta ray” form of the species. Anything not present there would simply be omitted – no reason to think that a foetus would be be any different from Officer Friendly’s arm – it’s not in the DNA/RNA, it required an outside force. > > Maybe the nymph form would have the intelligence to do a crude “caesarean” and repeat the process with the foetus, which would then turn up as a hybrid infant, (artificially developed enough that it could survive) but like the psycho hosebeast, Larkin’s hybrid’s reproductive status would be _tabula rasa_. > > I think that it makes more sense for the baby to remain unconsidered with Larkin’s body, though. I wonder if they were headed for the “hybrid baby” idea. That would actually be kind of interesting, because all the other hybrids we’ve seen were of adults with established personalities. We might have gotten some interesting nature/nurture stuff out of a hybrid baby setup. Or it could have been lame, like Elizabeth in _V_. “We need a new selling point…let’s make her a cute teenager now!” ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/11 "2006-05-19T21:32:45Z")
> [@jaderabbit](#): > > We don’t know for sure that they can’t coexist, do we? It’s heavily implied, but I’m not sure anyone really knows. I’d still like to know whether the hybrids are a one-generation bridge, as they seem to be. The one-generation “bridge species” reminded me a lot of the central concept in Greg Bear’s novel _Darwin’s Radio_, although the “bridge” in that setting wasn’t independently viable. I wonder if there was some common inspiration. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/12 "2006-05-19T21:37:48Z")
I knew Invasion wouldn’t last because I liked it. Most shows I like don’t last, with few exceptions (24, Lost, a handful of others). ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/13 "2006-05-19T21:54:44Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > The hybrids appear to be assembled using information taken from the donor bodies’ DNA (and sci-fi “memory RNA”) by the “manta ray” form of the species. Anything not present there would simply be omitted – no reason to think that a foetus would be be any different from Officer Friendly’s arm – it’s not in the DNA/RNA, it required an outside force. Not sure if it’s me or you but the bit about Lewis’s arm isn’t making sense to me. What outside force are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/14 "2006-05-19T22:15:54Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Not sure if it’s me or you but the bit about Lewis’s arm isn’t making sense to me. What outside force are you talking about? The hybrids are modified clones, right? Their form is taken from what’s in the donor DNA. Lewis’ hybrid form had two arms because that’s what you get when you “execute” the code in his DNA. We assume the manta ray form kills the donor and extracts its DNA, splices its alien DNA in, and automagically grows it up into an adult form, (which I imagine must require _tons_ of seawater and stuff in order to supply all that energy.) There’s nothing in Larkin’s DNA that specifies that at a certain point in her development, Russell’s baby will appear in her womb, any more than Lewis’ DNA contains a gene sequence that specifies he’s a one-armed adult. The outside force required for these personal characteristics would be either an IED or a hot beef injection, depending. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/15 "2006-05-20T00:14:14Z")
OK, I thought that was what you meant but somehow it wasn’t reading that way to me. But I am prepared to volunteer to administer the hot beef injection to Lewis if it becomes necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/16 "2006-05-20T00:29:57Z")
Woof! While you’ve got 'im distracted, I’ll look after Kira Underagelay; unlike those overgrown Sea Monkeys, I don’t see that a heart murmur is much of a sticking point when it comes to the question of a bit of a poke. (I think the young lady’s performance in Jim Jarmusch’s _Broken Flowers_ has coloured my perception of the character a wee bit.) ---
**Author:** ![LIT123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5daacb/32.png) [@LIT123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LIT123)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/17 "2006-05-20T00:45:42Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > At least Lost isn’t going anywhere. Couple ways to spin this comment. Sorry about Invasion. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/18 "2006-05-24T04:39:02Z")
Well, that sucks that this show is cancelled. I’m a little late on the thread, because I had to tape the last few episodes, and just got to watching them this week. I watched the finale tonight, and I thought the last few eps were pretty exciting. Generally speaking, I thought the series started a little slow – but greatly picked up steam after several episodes, and the last half of the season has been rather interesting. > [@jaderabbit](#): > > How much would it take to wrap it up? They need to explain…let’s see…what happens to Larkin, why the aliens didn’t take Kira, whether Mariel can stay human, what the aliens want, what happens to the hybrids, and whether the human race can continue to survive. They would definitely need to explain: - what happens to Larkin - what happens to the baby (and to those discussing the DNA issue a la Lewis’ arm, wouldn’t there be the DNA of the baby she’s carrying, also? Perhaps the process would create a hybrid copy of both). - Of course, Russell’s reaction to the “new-and-improved” Larkin… - where the creatures come from. Are they really extra-terrestrial? Are they something native to the Earth that has not been encountered until recent years? - On that note, are the manta-like creatures intelligent? or are they just following some instinctive reproductive directive? Is it really an “invasion”, as in a planned takeover? Or is it just a new invasive species? - why did all the prior known occurrences of the hybrids result in their mass suicides / killing of families (Brazil, other places that Healy told Russell about)? Was it just their inability to adapt to what they were, or something else? - What’s the deal with the women carrying litters? What are they birthing? Are the newborns actually the manta-like creatures? or something else? Do the hybrid women survive the birthing process if they are in the water? If not, this has seriously troublesome implications for any new hybrid women, if they didn’t survive having hybrid puppies. - What other tensions wil arise in the town in the aftermath of recent events? We saw one of them, obviously, with the punks with guns at Tom’s house in the finale. But that’s probably only a small taste of what’s next. What happens now when Tom tries to continue his sheriff duties, with a bunch of disloyal deputies (except for Lewis)? - Oh, and one other question to answer… How will Jesse be handling the whole Kira/Lewis thing? How will daddy handle it? She still in high school, and Lewis is what, 26? And I’d say Jesse has the hots for his half-sister. While the Szura “let’s help the evolutionary process along by hybriding the whole town” plot is wrapped up with Szura’s death, there are still plenty of questions and directions to go. Enough for another season, for sure. I’m bummed that they cancelled it – the show’s been getting rather good lately. ☹ > [@Otto](#): > > I place the blame squarely on the heads of all the Lost fans who didn’t stick around to watch it. Invasion was as good as or better than Lost Well, count me as one Lost fan who did consistently stick around for Invasion. I probably wouldn’t say it was better than Lost, but it has definitely been picking up steam and improving all season, and has been very good towards the end of the run. Although I’m sure the 10 PM (EST) time slot didn’t help matters much, regardless of what it followed. It’s probably due to following “Lost” that it lasted the whole season. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/19 "2006-05-24T06:06:46Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Jeez, thanks for the bad news, Captain Bringdown. > > I place the blame squarely on the heads of all the _Lost_ fans who didn’t stick around to watch it. Invasion was as good as or better than Lost and actually had, you know, forward movement that didn’t immediately result in 50 more unanswered questions. ABC gets some of the blame as well for fucking with the scheduling but if the Losties had been willing to support another quality show then it would’ve survived with no problems. Fair enough, but early in the season I wasn’t home on Wednesday nights, and so only taped “Lost.” Later in the season, when I was watching “Lost” in real time, I’d stick around for “Invasion” and found it impossible to catch up. The “previouslies” were no help.\* Being unable to understand anything going on or anyone’s relationships to one another, I gave up pretty quick. I watched most of the finale, and was all 😕😕 As for resolving the series, my main question is: so what the hell was all this about, anyway? \*now I know how _Lost_ newbies feel… ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334/20 "2006-05-24T06:24:08Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Actually, it wasn’t. I used to stick around and watch it after Lost, and quit after about 4 episodes, because it really wasn’t a very good show. > > I don’t watch Lost any more, either. You should have watched longer. It REALLy picked up after the holidays. Lost did just the opposite, IMO. I’m sad too. I had no idea it had been canceled. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-ever-invasion-last-night-what-would-it-take-to-tie-up-the-loose-ends-spoilers/357334.md?page=2)