The Invaders (TV Series) Dark Outpost (1967) User Reviews

one of the better eps despite plot holes

[Miles-10 · 7/10 · 10 December 2009]

If this story were told from the invaders' viewpoint, it would be about one of the worst days for alien security ever. David Vincent sneaks into an alien medical transportation facility and gets smuggled aboard a saucer where he wanders around with few instances where he could get caught. He even spends part of the flight unconscious on a deck of some kind. And when the saucer lands, he disembarks completely unmolested by the aliens who seem to have left their saucer unattended in the middle of a Western U.S. landscape. (As one of the geologists he meets suggests, "You probably thought you were on Mars.") Vincent and the geology professor go to the alien base where there is only one guard at the gate. After killing him, Vincent and the professor (BTW, "Mary Ann" (Dawn Wells) is in this episode.) just wander into the heart of this vital facility and steal an important crystal. Of course, this is in the middle of desolate territory, so the aliens are able to catch up with Vincent at the geologists' campsite. Even so, the final result is that David and the geologists are able to outwit the aliens and render their facility useless. Not a banner day for the aliens. The party of geologists (geology students, really) are the most interesting thing about this episode. They are a good collection of characters. The neatest part of the episode is where the aliens use mind control on the humans, but the aliens forget to be specific in their suggestions so that the humans eventually realize that they are each seeing different things. All in all, an amusing and not dreadful episode.

Silly at times, but not the worst ep of a great show

[mackjay2 · 7/10 · 16 June 2021]

DARK OUTPOST (great title!) has some weakness--well, more than a few--but it's plenty of fun with a good cast and some fairly intense action. A poorly guarded military outpost---really an alien laboratory--is discovered by David and a "Professor" he's met with some science students. The two humans easily penetrate the barracks and when they're eventually found, the Professor is killed. With David in custody the aliens quickly round up the students and hold them hostage, demanding the return of a crystal David had stolen from them. Why the aliens didn't just annihilate all the humans, forcing David to reveal the crystal, is a good question. They'd already killed the Professor, why not "Mary Ann" too? (Couldn't resist that one, with Dawn Wells in the cast). Andrew Prine and Whit Bissell are here as well, and both quite good, with Bissell playing a very stern "Army Colonel". There's an interesting scene where characters witness three different executions of one of their own, as some kind of lesson from the aliens. Points for originality on that one. No, this is not a terrible episode by any means, but it pushes credibility a bit more than its predecessors.

Whit Bissell Vs Vincent & His Young Friends

[StuOz · 23 August 2016]

In the middle of nowhere, Vincent finds a professor with several students. All of them soon find an alien base headed by evil Col. Harris (Whit Bissell).

This hour appeared just after The Time Tunnel was axed, so Whit Bissell was jumping from one sci-fi world to another. And he is still in uniform in Dark Outpost.

The students bring a great feeling of colour to this adventure and one of them is played the actress who played Mary Ann in Gilligan's Island. We don't often get Vincent mixing with young people, so this hour stands as a refreshing oddity in the series.

As always, the location filming does wonders for the show.