The Invisibles

I have this series on DVD but now rarely watch discs (I'm lazy), so when I found this free, on demand, streaming on one of the free with commercial streamers (Pluto), I decided to check it out. I've watched many OL episodes over my boomer life but there are a few that remain unseen, this was one of them. I watched it with my wife, over dinner, probably the way most people watched it when it first aired (although now we have mush bigger TVs!). She seemed engaged by it, which is always good. The premise of the story is that extraterrestrials (or maybe demons? Lol) are controlling humans in powerful positions to take over the world for their species. This is a recurrent plot in sci-fi. There are probably films that predate it but the earliest I can think of a film with aliens (not talking about zombies or vampires controlled by others) is the 1953 film Invaders From Mars. Very similar concept of the alien injecting a human in the back of the neck. Roger Corman would also do it in 1956 with It Conquered The World, starring Lee Van Cleef, Peter Graves and Beverley Garland, a must watch if you really enjoyed The Invisibles and have not watched it yet. "It" was riffed on MST3K and its awesome but I enjoyed it by itself as well. Again, this is the alien in the back of the neck injection action, so we can see a pattern here. Of course the most famous alien injecting itself into humans is in the "Alien" franchise which is still making big budget films in 2024. I had to go back and look for Richard Dawson, his role here was so different then his usual cool Limey roles, I forgot it was him! Any fan of George Macready will really like him here, he has one crazy scene that breaks his polished mold into a thousand pieces! Analyzing all the sci fi things he was in, to me, he is like the 1960s version on Lionel Atwill. BTW, check him out in the other OL episode he was in, "Production and Decay of Strange Particles" (which also has a pre Spock, Leonard Nimoy). Everyone will notice Walter Burke, the hobbit looking guy. But what probably makes this a higher rated episode then the average OL is Don Gordon! He pulls it off for my suspension of belief. My rating and my overall entertainment factor is 7 out of 10. Judging by the number of reviews on this one episode (almost 20), its a good episode! BTW, if you look for this on Pluto they have two choices, an episode that is streaming now and one that says watch now, the later choice will take you to the episode list to chose which one to watch. As much as you may want to binge on this series, its probably best to watch it over a long period of time because the show can seem repetitive if one episode is watched right after another (the same dramatic music doesn't help, lol).

Deep space creatures need humans so they may live. Humans being controlled like addiction. Good cast George Macready, Don Gordon, & Walter Burke. Has a revolting subject of losing control to a evil space alien.

Sounds weird to see Don Gordon as hero, he was so stigmatized actor as often playing thug characters, as strange it may seems he proved be at once that deserves more best roles on his low profile career, Gordon is a prolific actor, sadly his menacing semblance led him to another steering, in the invisibles we got weirdo characters for a change, the odd hunchback Walter Burke is one of them, also the classy crook George Macready (Gilda), playing the leader of the Invisibles, the weak point we shall say that was the little freak alien monster.

The storyline lays out the same premise of the forthcoming classic series "The Invaders", which high positions on US government will be slowly occupied by the invisibles to take over the America an later the world, the screenplay seems at first glance a bit complex to simple insight, the inoculations fall down into freakish concept, letting the viewers a slight let down, worst when Don Gordon faces Neil Hamilton at oddity scene on phone call, Dee Hartford improves a bit as sexy female presence on the show, although it wasn't enough, the outcome leaves much to be desired, far below of the high pattern of the Outer Limits's trademark. Should be better.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 2021 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5.

This is a pretty good episode with a kind of clichéd plot. As has happened many times in B sci fi movies, an alien becomes one with a citizen for the purpose of domination. In this case a group of "nobodies" is recruited to be impregnated (sort of) by things with legs (that don't actually propel the things). They are shaped like trilobites. One of the young men is an agent sent to infiltrate this operation. Eventually, he becomes the right hand man, working for the governor, chauffeuring his wife. It's all about being chased. At some point, the wife accidentally runs over the guy, breaking his leg and this leads to major complications. Apparently, these intergalactic forces have broad scope and are a substantial threat. One interesting thing was seeing Richard Dawson (Laugh In and Family Feud Richard Dawson) as the guy who keeps an eye on things for the governor. I have to say, however, that the little alien creatures were so silly and so slow, it's hard to imagine them being much of a threat.

This is my vote for the best show of the entire series. In fact, it might have made a great pilot episode for its own series. I know that some spin off shows were made for "The Outer Limits" but none were picked up by the networks.

Don Gordon stars in this episode as a government agent who has infiltrated a secret organization of evil. It's purpose is to take over the world by inserting weird alien beings into the bodies of unsuspecting government officials. It's a lot like "Invasions of the Body Snatchers" as well as the "Star Trek the Next Generation" episode "Conspiracy"--so perhaps it isn't 100% original--but it is expertly, well-acted and compelling throughout. In addition, it's darn scary and didn't need great special effects or especially scary monsters, as the story itself was the star.

By the way, look for the particularly good performance by Neil Hamilton as well as a nice cameo by Richard Dawson. Both did great jobs (particularly Hamilton) and were in top form.