User Reviews

I figure "The Invaders" will be more notable for its young Robert Duval as an Earthling from 20 million years before the Seaview crew encountered him (in suspended animation within a capsule with material quite unique and not easy to cut into) who, once released, could be hostile to all of humankind if he considers human beings of '64 to be a danger to his surviving people (still in their capsules on the ocean floor, found by the Seaview after a quake freed up rock that moved away showing their position). As Zar, Duval speaks in monotone, slightly high-pitch, with a bit of a pause between words as he adjusts to the language as the crew of the Seaview speaks. Almost from the get-go, Captain Crane finds him questionable and possibly untrustworthy. Through Duval, you do sense that Zar is contemplating, analyzing, and surveying the crew—studying his "evolved" human counterparts—and by studying and reading from the Seaview's comprehensive library, he will determine if his people and human beings can co-exist. If the two can't co-exist, Zar plans to destroy all humans on earth and awaken his people to once again "rule the planet". In a bald cap (covering his ears), and wearing baggy clothes (they look like pajamas), Duval looks rather unimposing by today's standards of threatening humanoid creature, but because of his superb acting ability, in creating that aura of superiority and conveying this condescension in the way he looks down at Admiral Nelson and Captain Crane, as if his people are more deserved of living on the planet than humans, that is the difference in what provokes a gulp in the throat, I thought. Duval shows Zar "sizing up" the Seaview crew, and it's clear pretty early that he's of that race that considers other beings inferior and is willing to wipe them out if so inclined so that his people can claim domain of the planet.

There's an experiment where a bit of his "blood" *infects* a guard, eventually causing the poor crewmember to perish. Zar shows here that he's willing to kill just to gauge the results of what his blood can do to humans; this experiment provides him with the results needed to set a plan in action. Zar has a weapon that not only can blast and kill, but it also can manipulate/seize/stop controls of the Seaview (Zar actually "forces" the Seaview to turn a course, heading back to the site of his people's capsules) if he so desires. And he does enforce what his weapon can do. Nelson does discover that he will have to completely burn Zar alive with fire in order to ultimately stop his blood from causing human extinction (Zar's blood is that dangerous) when the doc shows him the results of the dead crewmember's autopsy, seeing what infected his bloodstream.

I thought the ending was a bit too easy for the Seaview crew, with Zar voluntarily entering a room alone with Nelson when it was an obvious trap. It does comment on how confident Zar is regarding his superior intellect and power over the humans, and this trick shows that Nelson and company have their own bit of ingenuity and aren't so willing to allow their "invader" to unleash his people on an unprepared human race. It is fascinating seeing how Crane finds Zar such an aggravation (I think the point is that Crane is not fond of any being considering itself more worthy of existing on the planet than his kind) he orders the guards to shoot if the creature even flinches/blinks. I felt the episode considers Zar more of a nuisance that causes annoyances (how he takes control away from the crew, for instance) and purposely puts the Seaview at risk, proving his point that certain advancements are in his kind's favor.