The Invaders: S01 - 1967 - 7/10
I had not viewed this influential series for a couple decades. Rewatching brought back memories.
The show boasts a gorgeous, “wet color" look, over-saturated, but typical of Quinn Martin productions.
Dominic Frontiere provides an evocative credits theme and numerous music cues.
Architect David Vincent squares off against extra-terrestrial planet grabbers.
Mr Vincent wins stray battles here and there, but the potential outcome seems ominously one-sided.
Roy Thinnes plays lead (at least producers made him an architect, rather than a writer) who gets nowhere trying to convince officials and military brass he’s not some arm waving Sasquatch alarmist.
Special effects were barely more than mattes, models and dissolves, and there is no arc to the story (those were rare in 1967). Dave hurries from point to point, thwarting one alien stratagem after another.
My brother and I were wild about this when it aired, and we thought it almost equal to The Outer Limits.
Almost. Not quite, though.
Midway, we started having problems with both alien intelligence, as well with our red-blooded hero.
The aliens had some damn good tactics: weather disruption, mind control, contagion … except they kept launching attacks one at a time. Giving their pesky architect nemesis just enough time to zoom in and foil them - - again.
C’mon, they mastered interstellar travel. They could have figured out what flight he was on and zapped his airliner.
End of story.
Another plus for Team Alien. Sex appeal. They had hotties. Suzanne Pleshette and BarBara Luna (sic).
Is Vincent interested? Heck, no. (In a rival show airing in ‘67, Kirk would not have hesitated an instant, no sir.)
Another thing, and this is really big, where did ole Dave get his money?
Sure, he was an architect and drummed up business occasionally. Yet enough for flights, car rentals, motel rooms, nice clothes, blue plate dinners, and the infrequent date with a big-haired blonde (strict earthling variety)?
Things cost money - plenty of money. My brother and I had paper routes, so we grasped the concept of budgets.
Anyway, my brother, eight years old, figured it out one episode.
A pair of Alien agents are chasing Dave all over West Virginia in their big Ford.
Dave eventually gets the drop on them and crisps ‘em both. Another victory for architecture. End of Part IV.
Then, during the Epilog, my brother points and hollers, “Hey! He’s driving their car!”
Sure enough. Dave is rolling easy in the aliens' blue Ford.
“I bet he stole their car,” my brother continued. “I bet he emptied the trunk, searched the glove compartment.”
Oh?
“Yeah, he took all their money! Probably found their motel room and swiped their watches, money stash, custom suits. He stole everything! We won’t see it, but he’s gonna sell that Ford, too. Once he kills them, I bet he drives all their Fords to the Used Car lot. That’s how Vincent does this week after week. He’s a thief! Like a grave robber!”
Pretty hard to argue with his theory, I must say.
The Invaders has not dated too much - depends on one's tolerance for the sometimes leisurely pace, I guess. I might even get to season two eventually, say in two or three years.
