The Invaders 1.11

The Ivy Curtain

An cargo plane piloted by former test pilot Barney Cahill is forced down in the middle of a storm. The passengers are all Invaders. Cahill learns this after he notices that one of the men isn't bleeding after he got injured.

David Vincent arrives in Cameron, NM while following William Burns, a man he suspects to be an alien. He recently spotted Burns in Miami and Omaha. Vincent heads to Midland Academy which turns out to be a training center for the alien invaders. He is captured but escapes and gets a first hand view of the training in progress.

The aliens at Midland Academy are led by Dr. Rayner. He makes Cahill an offer he can't refuse. He wants Cahill to fly people to their training centers around the United States. He proposes to pay Cahill $1,000 for each peson he transports. The alternative is death.

David Vincent goes to the local airport looking for Barney Cahill. He doesn't find Cahill but he meets Stacy. She works at the airport and offers to tell him what she knows if he takes her out for drinks. The aliens track down David Vincent at the night spot where he takes Stacy. He escapes but has to leave her behind, without explanation.

Stacy goes home to her husband, Barney Cahill. She is unhappy in her marriage. She is considerably younger than Barney. He gave up drinking and working as a test pilot which makes him less fun and unable to pay for the sort of lifestyle Stacy needs. He surprises her with the cash bonus he received from the aliens.

David Vincent talks to some police officers. He tries to convince them that there are foreign agents who want to overthrow the government of the United States working at Midlands Academy. They are skeptical but decide to follow up and see if there is anything to his story.

The police arrive with David Vincent and a search warrant. He shows them around but everything has changed. Nothing looks suspicious. The police apologize to Mr. Burns and leave with David.

Vincent goes to the airport and finally catches up with Barney Cahill. He tells Cahill that he knows what is going on at Midlands Academy. Barney is reluctant but eventually decides to help Vincent out. He tells Vincent that he will be back with passengers he is transporting for Midlands in a few hours.

David Vincent talks the state police into coming to the airport. The police encounter a road block and are dealt with by the alien invaders. The aliens show up at the airport. They kill the air traffic control man. Stacy is the one who tipped them off. She did it for the money. David tries to talk Barney into flying to Aluquerque instead but he doesn't have enough fuel to make it that far.

Barney intentionally crashes the plane into the Midlands Academy. Stacy sees David off at the bus station. She didn't want Barney to die.

Thoughts

Why did the aliens need a human to ferry their people around in a plane? They have flying saucers. I suppose that the planes are a little less conspicuous.

This was a pretty good episode, even thought there were some definite plot holes in the story. The quality of the acting by the guest stars, especially Jack Warden and Susan Oliver, contributed greatly.

Notes

Barney Cahill was played by Jack Warden. He has over 160 screen credits according to IMDb. He has been in numerous movies and TV shows that I've seen. He played the part of Corporal Harvey Lembeck in the pilot of The Phil Silvers Show. He was replaced in the TV show itself by Alan Melville.

Stacy Cahill was played by Susan Oliver. She has over 120 screen credits according to IMDb. This is the first of two episodes of The Invaders in which she appeared. She plays a different character in the other episode which is part of Season 2. She played the part of Vina in The Cage, the original pilot for Star Trek: The Original Series which was later worked into a two-part story (The Menagerie) from the first season. 

William Burns was played by David Sheiner. He has 99 screen credits according to IMDb. This is the only episode of The Invaders he shows up in but he made guest appearances on a lot of other TV shows. He was in an episode of third season of The Phil Silvers Show. He was also in the film version of The Odd Couple (1968). He last screen credit it from 1988 but there is no date of death listed for him.

Dr. Reynard was played by Murray Matheson. He has 136 screen credits according to IMDb. This is the only episode of The Invaders that he was in. He was in a 3rd season episode of The Phil Silvers Show, but not the same one as David Sheiner. He was a regular member of the cast of Banacek and made guest appearances on lots of other TV shows. One of his last roles was in The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). He passed in 1985.

The Midlands Academy was established in 1916, according to a sign out front. It is unclear when the aliens took over the school or if they founded it way back when.

Mr. Burns gets a look at David Vincent's driver's license. He was born on October 2, 1934. His home address is 4022 Laguna St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.