The Invaders 1.16

Wall of Crystal

David Vincent checks out a site near Santa Clara, CA where two people mysteriously suffocated. He takes a crystal that he finds at the site to Theordore Booth, a reporter, in an effort to convince him that the Invaders are real. The Invaders find out about Vincent's plan and in an effort to silence Booth and Vincent they kidnap Robert Vincent, David's brother. They threaten to kill him if David doesn't pulicly recant the story he has been spreading about the Invaders.

David tells Grace, Bob's wife, about what happened. She wants to call the police. Bob tries to escape and finds out what the Invaders are up to. He didn't believe his brother up to that point. They explain to him that they want to make Earth's atmosphere more tolerable for them. They ask him to call David. Bob refuses until they reveal that they have Grace and expose her to the asphyxiating crystals.

The Invaders release Grace. She gets back to her house and finds David looking for her. The phone rings when they go inside. It's Bob but the Invaders only give him about 30 seconds to talk to David. Bob manages to get a coded message to David which reveals where he thinks he is being held.

David gets through to Booth after multiple phone calls. Booth goes to see David. Booth believes fully in the aliens now and refuses to consider printing David's retraction. He argues that one man's life is nothing compared to the threat that the Invaders pose.

David goes to the winery at Archer's Creek, where the Invaders are holding Bob. He told Grace, before he left, and she tells Booth, when he comes by looking for David. Booth heads to the winery at Archer's Creek. David tries to exchange his life for that of Bob. The Invaders aren't really interested in that deal. Booth shows up but he and some of the Invaders get killed. The remaining Invaders vaporize themselves and the winery when they hear police cars approaching, leaving no evidence for the police to examine.

Thoughts

This was a decent episode. I didn't love it but there were a number of recognizable faces in it. All of the guest stars were good. I really like the moment where Booth points out how things have flipped.

Notes

Peggy Lipton played one of the people who mysteriously suffocated at the beginning of the episode. This is her only appearance in this show. She is probably best known for appearing in The Mod Squad (1968-73) and the various incarnations of Twin Peaks. She was married to Quincy Jones and the mother of Rashida Jones.

Linden Chiles played the part of Bob Vincent. He has over 150 screen credits according to IMDb. This is the first of two appearances he made on this show. He played a different character in his second appearance which was an episode from the second season.

Julie Sommars played the part of Grace Vincent. She has 70 screen credits according to IMDb including Matlock (95 episodes). The only thing that I know for certain that she was in that I saw is Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo.

 

Ed Asner played the part of Taugus, the leader of the Invaders in this episode. This is the first of two appearances he made on the show. He plays a different character in his second appearance. He has over 400 screen credits according to IMDb including a few things that have yet to be released even though he died in 2021. He is probably best known to me for playing Lou Grant, Mary Richards' boss, on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Granny Goodness, on Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited. Most recently I saw him in a few episodes of Cobra Kai and They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970).

Burgess Meredith played the part of Ted Booth. He has over 180 credits according to IMDb. I know him best for playing the Penguin in Batman (1966) and the Batman tv show (21 episodes); and Mickey in the Rocky movies.