The Invaders (TV Series) The Innocent (1967) User Reviews

The Day the Invaders Stood the X-Files

[hrkepler · 9/10 · 28 May 2018]

'The Innocent' is not only the best episode of season one, but it is the strongest chapter of whole series. Well written script with very atmospheric direction and another dedicated performance by Roy Thinnes supported by cool cast of character actors led by legendary Michael Rennie. This is also the first episode we see the insides of the aliens' spaceship. Eerie open ending leaves the viewer with somewhat unnerving feel.

This is a must see sci-fi storytelling for every fan of the genre.

"Day the Earth Stood Still" with a little bit of Hitchcock along the way

[garrard · 9/10 · 31 October 2010]

"The Innocent" is one of the best in the series history. David Vincent (Roy Thinnes) travels to Maine, investigating a fisherman's tale of a spacecraft. Our hero is working at the behest of a serviceman ( a young Dabney Coleman) who "killed" an alien and needs proof to present to the government.

Vincent is captured by aliens and their leader, played by "The Day the Earth Stood Still's" Michael Rennie, shows our hero what merits that the aliens can give to mankind. Of course, things are not as they appear and soon Vincent is given a "Mickey" just like the one administered in Hitch's classic "North by Northwest." The episode has some great location shots and features a bevy of character actors, "faces" that have been seen in many genre films and television shows, among them Frank Marth, Harry Lauter, and Paul Carr.

Along with Coleman, two other actors would go on to singular recognition in other films and television shows. William Smithers would become a major foe for Larry Hagman on "Dallas" and Katherine Justice would have the distinction of being one-half of the murderous pair on the first "Columbo" film.

A Dark, Intense moment in "The Invaders"

[mackjay2 · 8/10 · 18 May 2007]

A standout episode, "The Innocent" is one of the most troubling and intense chapters of THE INVADERS. Some sympathetic acting from William Smithers adds a deep level of vulnerability to this show. Smithers, his wife and son are all threatened with annihilation by aliens who want to regain possession of a mysterious cylinder that was lost during a plane crash that opens the episode. There is a Noirish sense of impending danger throughout "The Innocent", with many scenes shot in brooding, semi-darkness. Some really inventive and disorienting camera angles are used to create a paranoid nightmare for David Vincent when he is drugged by the aliens. And the sequence in which the alien Magnus takes him on a tour to see how the Earth will be after the takeover is another nightmare from which Vincent is glad to awaken.

The cast is greatly enhanced by the presence of Michael Rennie as Magnus. The actor is famed for playing a "good alien" in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Here, let's just say he's on the other team. Also doing a great job is Dabney Coleman, who plays a key character, yet is not featured in the opening guest-star lineup.

Excellent Script and Cast !

[cshep · 10/10 · 18 January 2010]

If there is one thing that can make a good series GREAT, it is a SOLID script. "The Innocent" represents just that. The "Invaders" in an attempt to rid themselves of David Vincent, kidnap him and use mind control to convince him that they are benefactors and not Colonists.

A terrific cast spearheaded by Michael Rennie as "Magnus" , the head Alien in this caper, who tries to convince David Vincent(Roy Thinnes) that being an "ALIEN" is not a bad thing, and that they will help more than harm the Earth and its' inhabitants. The DREAM sequence is filmed primarily in Laguna Hills, now Laguna Woods Village, before it was completely saturated with numerous buildings and massive communities and roads. It REALLY was a dream or paradise as the story suggests, ironic , isn't it...? The spinning globe was moved several times before being dismantled and sold for scrap in 2005, after a dispute between the previous owner and the new foundation. The white building with the tall columns and fountains is still there ! It is called the "Taj Mahal." True story. Now encumbered and less aesthetic to the surrounding environment, it still stands tall but less majestic than when in its' glory. So watch carefully, because that illusion is gone.

Anyway, be that as it may, the story is solid, as Roy fights back with the triumph of his will, and overcomes drunk driving with his unintended partner, William Smithers. In an against type role for him, his wife and child are being held hostage, until he recants his testimony of seeing aliens. A young Dabney Coleman as a military leader who learns of the aliens by eliminating one of them, and then seeking Roy's help.As good as TV sci-fi as you could get for the time. The trouble with the series was that it was never given a chance to gain an audience. Roy Thinnes continues his sci-fi ways 30 years later on the X-Files, where he plays an benign Alien. More irony. The series was never resolved, unlike "Coronet Blue". So, for what it is worth, watch "The Invaders" at your own risk, no final answers is worse than never being.

Excellent Smithers

[cutterccbaxter · 30 September 2008]

If I were a character actor I would love playing a character called "Alien #1." I would hoped to be killed by David Vincent and glow red before I vanished from the screen. Unfortunately Alien #1 doesn't die. Nor does Alien #2. They do get to pour three fourths of a bottle of whiskey down Vincent's throat to get him severely intoxicated. Thinnes does the best drunken driving scene since Cary Grant in North By Northwest. And with very few lines of dialog and not many scenes, you can't help feel sorry for Nat Greely as performed by William Smithers. A sad loser of an alcoholic who has the unfortunate luck of getting mixed up with the invaders. Vincent and Greely are bruised and battered after surviving the car wreck. And then they have to endure a tongue lashing from Dabney Coleman who was counting them to help testify about the invaders. I'm surprised Vincent, who must have had one heck of a hangover, didn't throw up his arms at the end of this episode and yell, "I give up!"

Oh, those aliens are tricksy!

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 11 August 2021]

When the story begins, David Vincent learns that a fisherman in New England claims to have seen a UFO as well as obtaining one of their weird metallic discs they use as a weapon. Not surprisingly, David heads to New England....and so do the aliens.

Now the aliens try a different approach when they meet up with David. Instead of trying to kill him, they offer to take him up in one of their space ships and show him how they can and are benefitting mankind. This approach almost convinces him...almost. So, they try another trick...threats to the fisherman's wife and son!

All in all, this is an excellent episode of the series....new, unique and interesting. The only part that didn't quite work for me was the ending, as the officer played by Dabney Coleman reacted VERY oddly to David and his new friend when they met.

By the way, I was surprised to see William Smithers in this episode playing a good guy instead of his usual evil weaselly sort of character. He's still alive, by the way, in his 90s and I wish him the best.

Also by the way, just once I want to see an episode of this show where Kang and Kodos make a guest appearance!

Klaatu is Back in a more Sinister Role.

[WYAdams · 9/10 · 14 September 2019]

It was fun to see Klaatu (Michael Rennie) back on Earth as an alien. Ths time, however, he is sinister. I particularly liked the scene where he towers over Vincent looking down at him with evil intent as they fly away in the saucer.

The sound effects during the flight were well done.

I have only two problems with this episode. 1) The saucers are too small and too barren inside to sustain any kind of lifeform in a journey that is going to take a very long time, regardless of the technology.

2) Why don't the aliens just use their stroke producing discs on Vincent, rather than devise all those schemes to kill him. And, for a race of beings able to navigate in space, they are amazingly incompetent. Why didn't they follow the car to make sure Vincent was dead?

This episode had fewer illogical plots twist than most of the others, and is well worth watching, especially since Klaatu is in it.

Confusing

[Christopher370 · 6/10 · 15 September 2023]

The aliens took David on the spaceship and apparently to another world, but when he awoke on the spaceship afterwards he said "It was all in my mind" and "It's wrong". So it's not clear to me if he was actually taken to another planet or if he was just unconscious on the spaceship the whole time and everything that occurred was all in his head. Why the ambiguity about it? Was he really taken to another planet or not?

And what was "wrong" with it as David said? I found nothing to fear or dislike from the world he was apparently taken to. It didn't seem at all sinister to me or made me feel as if the aliens were something to fear from what I saw. The whole scene on the other planet left me confused because it looked like a great place to me.

And why don't the aliens just slap one of their discs onto the back of David's neck to eliminate him quickly and efficiently? The discs apparently give humans an immediate heart attack and death, so why the elaborate scheme to get him drunk and behind the wheel of a car where he has a chance of surviving when they can simply kill him with their disc?

Either these aliens are really dumb or they just have a flair for dramatics and want David to live so they can continue to toy with him.

I can see why this series was cancelled after only 2 seasons because there's so many things that confuse the viewer. The lead actor is the only thing that keeps me watching because he's appealing and plays his role good. If it weren't for him, i'd have tuned out of this after the first few episodes.

I did enjoy the trip to the other planet and wish it was done more in depth rather than one short scene and then implied that it was all in David's mind when he woke up.

In fact, I wish they did an entire episode on the other planet where David learns exactly what the aliens want and why they want to take over earth. Hopefully something like that is coming up in the series so i'll keep watching until I can't take anymore.