The Invaders 1.04

The Leeches

Warren Doneghan, the owner of Jet Age Electronics (JAE), hires David Vincent to help him. Several other big name scientists have disappeared. Doneghan fears that he is next and that the aliens that David speaks of are behind the scheme. David encourages Warren to allow himself to be kidnapped. 

David works with Tom Wiley, Doneghan's security chief, to keep an eye on his boss. They think that they have the situation under control but when Doneghan gets kidnapped Vincent and Wiley are unable to pursue the kidnappers because their car has been sabotaged.

Doneghan had a tracking device on him, shaped like a St. Christopher medallion. Vincent and Wiley use a receiver and a helicopter to try and find where the Invaders have taken Doneghan. It leads them to somewhere near Silver City, NM. The Invaders find the medallion and destroy it just as Vincent and Wiley are getting close. 

Vincent and Wiley run out of fuel and have to land the helicopter in the middle of the desert. Wiley has had about enough of Vincent. He thinks that they won't find Doneghan and is more concerned about Doneghan's wife, Eve. Wiley is in love with Eve. Doneghan's brain is painfully scanned by the aliens.

Vincent and Wiley go their separate ways. Vincent encounters someone who looks like one of the missing scientists but turns out to be one of the Invaders. Vincent is almost killed but Wiley shows at the last minute and shoots the alien.

Vincent and Wiley find a remote mining camp guarded by the aliens. They enter the mine after dealing with guards. Vincent finds the prisoners including Doneghan and leads them out after dealing with more of the Invaders. Wiley doesn't make it after one of the aliens hits a button that causes the mine to collapse.

Vincent, Doneghan, and the other two escaped scientists make it back to civilization. Vincent finds out when he recovers that the collapsing mine destroyed all evidence of the Invaders and what they were up to.

Thoughts

Diana Van der Vlis played Eve and was also in The Swimmer (1968). Most of her career on screen lasted about 20 years from 1954 to 1973. She also appeared in episodes of Alfred Hitchock and the Fugitive.

Peter Richman played Tom Wiley, has over 150 screen credits, and died just three days before I watched this episode. His face is familiar and showed up in guest appearances on lots of TV shows that I watched in the 1980s. He also made appearances on Alfred Hitchcok, The Twilight Zone, and the Fugitive. He played Abin Sur on an episode of Superman: The Animated Series, appeared in an episode of the third season of Wonder Woman, and an episode of the fifth season of The Incredible Hulk. He returns to The Invaders playing a different character in the final episode of the second season. 

Arthur Hill played Warren Doneghan and has over 100 screen credits. His longest run on a TV show was in the starring role on Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law which ran from 1971 to 1974. He also made appearances on Alfred Hitchcock, Route 66, and The Fugitive.

This one started a bit slow. I thought the whole angle involving Eve, Doneghan's wife, was a bit forced and unnecessary. She was barely in this episode. I wasn't terribly impressed with the way Wiley was killed although it would have been awkward for Doneghan if he had survived. There are no leeches in this episode. This was not an awful episode but I didn't like it as much as The Mutation which is my favorite so far.