WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for the first seven episodes of Invasion, now streaming on Apple TV+.
In the slow-burning Invasion thus far, one of the most interesting stories has been that of young Caspar (Billy Barratt). He has been leading a pack of kids outside London after a field trip gone awry, leaving them in a Lord of the Flies-like scenario where they have to fend for themselves amid infighting and moral quandaries. However, as the latest episode confirms, Caspar has another problem to worry about, and it takes influence from Stranger Things.
This is none other than the issue Will Byers encountered after returning from the Upside Down. In Season 1, he was kidnapped by the Demogorgon, but luckily, Eleven and the gang got him back, pulling off an unlikely rescue mission. In the season that followed, though, Will was haunted by the dark realm, and its boss, the Mind Flayer.
The demonic entity lived through Will's eyes, with the connection showing Will more of the monstrous dimension. It eventually led to his possession, making Will an avatar for the Upside Down, drawing what he saw there. Thankfully, he was extracted as a vessel, but it left him with tremendous trauma in Season 3, which he's yet to get over.
Invasion cuts a similar path with Caspar in "Hope," who's had some strange connection to the aliens that are infiltrating Earth. He doesn't know what it is because they've been out of the loop since their school bus crashed. They've had no contact with the outside world and are only now back in the city trying to find family, friends and tech that can convey what's happening.
A lady who took them back home admitted it's aliens trying to take Earth, so now Caspar's trying to string together his mental connection. His crush, Jamila, has deciphered the link he has, as he's been sketching things too. Plus, radio frequencies seem to harm him. He finally confesses that since he was young, he's heard voices and seen things, which was chalked up to his epilepsy. Now, it seems like there's something more.
It could be his condition has attuned him to the aliens' communicative waves and thought patterns, as it's hinted the signals heard are messages which are part of a hive mind. Other theories suggest maybe his family came into contact with alien debris years earlier, thus affecting him before he was born.
Either way, it's similar to what Will endured, except the mystery over Caspar is if he was indeed born with this gift, or if some infection over the course of his life led to it. He wasn't kidnapped like Will, but he's breaking down due to the same trauma, so let's hope he can break free as well as the aliens' grip tightens on the planet.
Invasion's first seven episodes are now streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes become available every Friday.
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