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).

The Invisibles is directed by Gerd Oswald and written by Joseph Stefano. It stars Don Gordon, George Macready, Dee Hartford, Walter Burke and Tony Mordente. Music is by Dominic Frontiere and cinematography by Conrad L. Hall.

Season 1 - Episode 19

Luis Spain (Gordon) infiltrates a secret organisation known only as The Invisibles and what he discovers shakes him literally to the core. We are in the territory of alien possession for this atmospherically tight episode. The twists perk the narrative no end, ensuring dialogue must be followed closely, and it all builds towards a haunting conclusion that has made this a favourite of many a series fan. 7/10

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.

Don Gordon stars as Luis Spain, a seemingly friendless, disaffected man who, along with other men just like him, are recruited to join a secret organization called the Invisibles which turns out to be run by the state governor named Hillerman(played by George Macready) who has been taken over by ages-old, parasitic tick-like creatures from outer space that need human men as hosts so that they can be placed near high positions of government in order to take over the country's leaders. Spain must find a way to stop them, which wont be easy...Neil Hamilton and Richard Dawson costar as co-conspirators. Memorable looking and sounding creatures are the highlight of somewhat rambling plot, with overtones of both "The Manchurian Candidate" and "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers".

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.