Lost in Space Day: "Forbidden World"

In “Forbidden World,” the Jupiter 2 flees from the robot planet (first encountered in “The Ghost Planet”), but the robots fire a hyper-atomic missile after the ship. 

The Jupiter 2 narrowly evades destruction, and crashes on another planet.

Although Professor Robinson (Guy Williams) orders that no one leave the ship, Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) sends the robot out to test the atmosphere. 

When all contact is lost with the robot, Robinson sends Smith out to find him.

And when Smith is lost, Will (Bill Mumy) realizes he must rescue his friend.  He heads out into the  unknown, and runs across an alien named Captain Tiabo (Wally Cox). Tiabo claims to be a soldier in a vast army, and says that his people will soon test a secret super-weapon on the Jupiter 2

Meanwhile, Dr. Smith dregs a keg of explosive liquid and becomes highly combustible.  Worse, he has the hiccups…

Lost in Space’s second season slide into monumental idiocy continues with “Forbidden World.”

I don’t write those words lightly or casually.  I have been reviewing episodes of the series every week since January, and have, I hope, pinpointed strong episodes…but also the series’ overall strong qualities. 

Yet four episodes in, the second season can be viewed as nothing less than a vast, catastrophic drop in quality and seriousness.  The novelty of seeing the series in color has worn off, and now I miss the moody photography of the first season, which -- at the very least -- hid the seams.

The slide in narrative quality is exemplified by this episode, which after a strong start involves Dr. Smith drinking a liquid that turns him into a walking-talking explosive. 

Also to the bad, we get the worst creature design yet in Lost in Space history: Tiabo’s hairy bird-alien companion.  The monster is silly in appearance, and unlike the monsters of season one and installments such as “Wish Upon a Star,” “The Keeper,” or even “One of Our Dogs is Missing,” couldn’t scare a five year old.

Making matters worse, this is another Smith/Robot/Will story, wherein the Robinson family is sidelined. Again, Smith and the Robot go out to a dangerous location; again Will goes out to rescue them.  It’s all not only horribly familiar at this point, but downright dull.

In "Forbidden World,” we meet a character, Captain Tiabo, who is actually alone on the plane (save for his monstrous companion), but pretending to be part of a huge military force.  The lesson, perhaps, is that it is better to meet people honestly and openly than to try to trick them into thinking you are strong or powerful.  Will sees through Tiabo’s misdirection, and attempts to make friends with him on a human level. 

In a way, “Forbidden World” is not unlike “The Corbomite Maneuver” on Star Trek, but again, that Star Trek story simply handles the story in a much more adult, serious and philosophical manner.  By comparison, Lost in Space just looks silly as hell.

Lost in Space Day: "The Ghost Planet"

In “The Ghost Planet,” the Jupiter 2 passes through a zone of radiation on the way to an unexplored planet.  Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) erroneously believes the planet is Earth, despite the fact that the Robinsons are now in another galaxy all together.

Upon landing on the planet, the red carpet is literally rolled out for the Robinsons. They are welcomed as guests by unseen but apparently friendly hosts.  

Smith goes out first, expecting to meet the U.S. President.  Instead, he is captured by the robot denizens of the planet. 

These robots – “Supreme Prototypes of Cybernetic Beings” – exist in both humanoid and non-bipedal form, and. want to enslave the humans. They require them to work on a robot assembly line.

When Smith and Will (Bill Mumy) are captured and put to work, the Robot pretends to be on the side of the planet’s machine inhabitants so he can help them escape.

“The Ghost Planet” is marginally better than last week’s installment, “Wild Adventure,” though that’s not actually saying a whole lot. 

This week, machine-people (who resemble the humanoids of the Cygnus, in 1979’s The Black Hole), one alien robot leader and an organic, pulsating brain attempt to enslave the Robinsons.

Once more, the majority of the episode’s action goes to Smith, Will and the Robot. Smith is captured (again), Will goes out to rescue him (again), and the Robot is given perhaps the most interesting part of all.  

He gets to play at being treacherous, attempting to gain the trust of the alien machines.  It would have been awesome if he remembered to call the robot leader a ‘robotoid’ since we had that term defined for us by him in “War of the Robots” in the first season. But he doesn’t.  

Still, the Robot’s role is the most intriguing aspect of the story.  Although we love the robot,  viewers may experience moments in which they wonder if he has become loyal to those of his “own kind,” over those in his family, the Robinsons.  Yes, he’s proved himself many times before, and yet still the tension around his behavior in “The Ghost Planet” is real.  Perhaps, this is some form of comment on our inherent distrust of technology.

“The Ghost Planet” has little to recommend it other than some nice colors, and a high level of action. In this case, it is useful to compare Lost in Space to Star Trek.  Think of an episode of Trek, like “The Man Trap,” which seems to possess a basic or familiar plot.  It involves a Salt Vampire, a monster, killing crewmen on the starship.  

Yet that episode holds up well today, because the monster is contextualized as being the last of its kind.  Dialogue explicitly compares “the monster” to Earth’s buffalo. By focusing on this idea, the story becomes something more than a monster-on-the-loose tale.  We actually come to sympathize with the monster.

Here, Lost in Space sets an episode on a robot planet, but has virtually nothing of value or interest to tell us about that society, or what it means in a human sense.  The robots attack and capture beloved characters, but we still know nothing about them, or their culture.  

The machines need humans to work on a robot production assembly line, but the episode makes no observation about that fact.  In short, the story might have been about the way that automation dehumanizes us, or how our technology could replace us in the right set of circumstances. But “The Ghost Planet” features none of those touches at all: it’s a straight-forward run-around, with no depth, and no real humanity.  The robots are just villains to escape from, not a carefully-examined alien civilization.

Importantly, Lost in Space is not always so insipid.  I feel like I must point that out. “The Magic Mirror,” for example, is about growing up, and uses a stagnant alternate dimension to describe the Peter Pan principle. Staying young is great, but not if you don’t change.  Not if you don’t grow.  “The Ghost Planet” desperately needs some kind of angle like that so that it is not just senseless phantasmagoria.  The episode never stops moving, but it never really gets anywhere, either.

Next: “Forbidden World.”

Lost in Space Day: "Wild Adventure"

In “Wild Adventure,” the Jupiter 2 travels through space on a course that will take it very near to Earth. 

Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) pesters Professor Robinson (Guy Williams) about returning home, despite the fact that Robinson wants to continue on the original mission to Alpha Centuri.

But Robinson relents and sets a course for Earth, making very careful to avoid a trajectory that will take the ship through the Sun.

Meanwhile, a strange green alien woman floats outside the Jupiter 2 and beckons Smith to join her there.  This woman Lorelei, is a space vampire of sorts, one who eats atomic fuel.

Dr. Smith dons a spacesuit and leaves through the airlock to meet Lorelei, unaware that his actions could jeopardize the ship’s return to Earth, and safe passage near the sun.

Although this is only my second review of Lost in Space, Season Two, I have actually watched four episodes at this point.

As you know, I’ve written some positive things about the series in the past.  I like the moody black-and-white photography of the first season.  I enjoy the fairy tale “parable” aspect of stories such as “My Friend, Mr. Nobody,” and “The Magic Mirror.”  I also champion the horror touches of such episodes as “Attack of the Monster Plants” and “The Ghost of Space.”

But the only word I can use to describe the second season so far is…dire.

The stories are dire, and the execution of the stories is even worse.  This week, Smith wants to get back to Earth, but is lured into space by a green alien siren just at the moment when he could fulfill his dream and return home. 

Hypnotized by this space personality, he misses Earth all together, and once more the Jupiter 2 is Lost in Space.

I should also add, this episode of Lost in Space (1965 – 1968) actually commits the error that Space:1999 (1975 – 1977) is always accused of (but didn’t actually make). 

Specifically, it confuses star systems and galaxies. In the last act of “Wild Adventure,” the Jupiter 2 bypasses the Earth’s solar system (and a close-call with the Sun), only to find itself leaving the galaxy.  We know the Jupiter 2 doesn’t possess a hyperspace or star drive, so there is no explanation for how the ship goes from near Earth space to another galaxy in an instant.  Clearly, the writers have no notion about distances in space, or the hierarchy of solar systems/galaxies.  You can’t leave the galaxy from a point near Sol, unless you are traveling at incredible velocity.  But the exact line of dialogue in the episode reads: “Leaving Earth and departing the galaxy.”

Huh?

Other issues of credibility, scientific and otherwise also abound in “Wild Adventure,” like the fact that Smith can hear the space woman of “the Green Mist,” Lorelei (Vitina Marcus), even though she is outside the ship.  A simple notation that she is communicating via telepathy would ameliorate this concern.  

Secondly, why does Lorelei make herself known to Smith, but not the other men? Smith is an odd choice to attempt to arouse, isn’t he?

But, of course, there are mythic underpinnings here to consider that impact Lorelei’s nature. “Wild Adventure” is a variation on the Siren story, from Homer’s The Odyssey.  There, the Sirens sing an enticing song, but represent danger to the men of Odysseus’s ship. Lorelei represents the same qualities here.  She is a dangerous beauty; someone alluring who hides a monstrous or evil desire (in this case, to eat atomic fuel).

In sci-fi TV history, other series have also featured siren-like characters. On Space: 1999, “The Guardian of Piri” is a siren story of sorts.  And on Star Trek: The Animated Series, “The Lorelei Signal” involves a siren song calling the men of the Enterprise to a planetary surface.

It’s true that Lost in Space often takes mythic stories and puts a space age spin on them. We’ve already seen a variation on the King Midas story, for example, “All that Glitters.”  But “Wild Adventure” makes pretty wretched use of the siren trope, and is one of the worst episodes thus far in the canon.

I judge the episode so bad, in part because Smith’s bad behavior is again the motivator of most of the episode’s action.  He accidentally dumps the Jupiter 2’s fuel supply, for instance, thus making the ship unable to take long trips (though, as I noted above, it can still leave the galaxy…). His space-walk, similarly, is the thing that causes the Robinsons to miss a rendezvous with Earth.  He is not just a terrible person, and a constant thorn in the side.  …Smith is a crutch for the series writers too.  He is used to extend the series premise (of being Lost in Space) through his bad behavior. In story, or in universe, there’s no reason, at this point, for the Robinsons to tolerate his behavior.

The best part of the episode is the Jupiter 2's docking at a refueling station built by Earth technology. It's always cool to see other examples of Earth's space-age tech.

I was really looking forward to some Lost in Space adventures set in space, with the Robinsons and company encountering new alien life-forms.  But I didn’t expect anything as half-assed in conception and execution as this; as “Wild Adventure.”

Next: “The Ghost Planet.”

Lost in Space Day: "Blast Off into Space!"

In the season premiere of Lost in Space (1965-1968), season two, a reckless miner from another world, Nerim (Strother Martin), searches for the valuable substance “Cosmonium” on Priplanus.

Unfortunately, Nerim’s lack of attention to safety begins a catastrophic chain reaction. All of his blasting in the planet’s interior has caused an irreversible problem. In just twelve-to-fifteen hours, the planet will explode.

The Robinsons work desperately against the clock, making final preparations to lift off and leave their home.

Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris), unfortunately, has different plans. 

He wants to possess Nerim’s valuable Cosmonium, and gambles for it in a card game with the miner, using a crucial thruster unit from the Jupiter 2 as collateral. 

The thruster is lost to Nerim, and he promptly flees the doomed world, leaving the Robinson family behind.

As the planet nears total destruction, the Cosmonium causes a statue of Dr. Smith to come to malevolent life, and other perils threaten the family too.

Finally, the Jupiter 2 leaves Priplanus with all hands aboard, just as the world is destroyed. 

But now the ship is on a collision course with a red dwarf!

The first thing to note about Lost in Space season two, perhaps, is that the series looks fantastic in color.  

More than ever, the series resembles a lushly-colored, vividly illustrated and highly-imaginative fantasy comic strip. The Chariot, the rocket pack, and the Jupiter 2 exteriors and interiors all look fantastic outside of the first year’s black-and-white photography.  The Robinsons' clothing is kind of garish in color, but also visually striking.

But beyond the shock of the new -- of seeing Lost in Space in color after 29 episodes in b&w -- there’s simply not much to commend this premiere episode, “Blast Off into Space.”

Indeed, all the creative problems that came to hobble the series late in the first year (in the run between “The Challenge” and “Lost Civilization,” in particular) return in force to impact the storytelling here. 

First and foremost of these problems is the pervasive earth-centric thinking.  

In “Blast Off into Space,” for example, we meet Nerim the miner.  But he is presented here like a late 19^th century miner (of the Old West) rather than as an alien or futuristic miner.  

He is accompanied by a mule, uses a pick-axe, and wears and Old West wardrobe.   He is a creature of the past, not of the space age, or of an alien culture.  There is no imagination, in other words, in his depiction.

Once more, the question is, simply, how did the equivalent of a 19^th century Earth miner arise as a citizen of another planet?  

And how come he can travel from planet to planet, but the Robinsons can’t?  To our eyes, they’re all human beings.  So why doesn’t Nerim help the Robinsons, or allow them to join the galactic culture?

Secondly, “Blast Off into Space” is predicated almost entirely on the idea of Dr. Smith getting into trouble, and acting badly.  

Again. 

He gambles away a critical thruster unit. 

He creates a statue of himself that comes to life when he accidentally spills Cosmonium on it.  

He tries to partner up with Nerim, leaving the Robinsons behind to their fate.  

By now, we expect Smith to be greedy, cowardly and buffoonish, but it is tiresome that Smith’s behavior is always the entrance point into the narrative, the thing which creates stories. It would be much more interesting, from a dramatic stand-point, to have the Robinsons discover the planet's instability.

Thirdly, “Blast Off into Space” has little regard for series history.  

The Jupiter 2 escapes from doomed Priplanus, but there is no mention of the fact that thousands of aliens in a subterranean world (including a child princess…) will die when the planet crumbles. 

In “The Lost Civilization,” we met the princess and saw her soldiers frozen in suspended animation tubes. We met her major domo (Royal Dano).  

No notation is given here about any of them, but if Priplanus dies…they all die, right?  

It would have been great to have Will exclaim “The Princess!” at one point, just to remind us that Priplanus was populated by humanoids other than the Robinsons.

What “Blast Off into Space” adds to the Lost in Space creative equation, perhaps, is a kind of frenetic approach to action. The episode never settles down or lingers in one place, or with one plot-line for long.  Between the action and special effects pyrotechnics, the episode is stunning in the visual sense.

For example, we get a weird anti-gravity chute in a mine, an attack by a creepy monster, a search (by John Robinson) of the planet in the air, and a last-minute escape by the Jupiter 2, and other set-pieces. These moments don’t all gel together, but the surfeit of action means that the episode is, at least, never dull.

The story ends with promise, with the Robinsons unshackled from planet-bound adventures, and free to roam space. 

But I have an unhappy suspicion that this will turn out to be more potential unfulfilled.

Next up (in two weeks): “Wild Adventure.”

Lost in Space Day: "Follow the Leader"

In “Follow the Leader,” a planet-quake strikes just as Professor Robinson (Guy Williams) and Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) are exploring a cavern.  

Robinson falls into a subterranean room, heretofore buried, and stumbles upon an ancient alien temple.

There, the disembodied spirit of an ancient warrior -- Canto (Gregory Morton) -- possesses Robinson’s body, transforming the kindly patriarch into a draconian, vicious brute of man. John returns to camp changed, and the others soon take notice of his peculiar and uncharacteristic behavior.

Only the Robot understands what is occurring, and offers a dire warning to the Robinsons.  Unless the body possession can be stopped, Professor Robinson’s identity will soon be lost forever, absorbed by Canto.

When Will (Bill Mumy) interferes in the alien temple, hoping to find a way to destroy Canto, Canto strikes back.  He takes Will to the precipice of a bottomless pit, where he intends to push him over the edge.

Realizing death awaits, Will makes a last ditch attempt to reach his father…

The last episode of Lost in Space’s (1965-1968) first season ends the black-and-white catalog on a high note, and a disturbing one too.

The kindly John Robinson (who has always shown such restraint, especially vis-à-vis Smith), is possessed by a wicked, merciless and aggressive alien.  In the episode’s shocking denouement, the alien in Robinson’s body, Canto, nearly kills an innocent child, Will.

Fortunately, Will is a smart kid, and thinks quickly.  Before he plunges into the abyss, he asks Canto if he can take off his helmet, so he can see his father’s face “one last time.”  

Canto agrees, and that’s when Will strikes, looking into Robinsons’ eyes and telling his father that he loves him.  From there, Robinson fights his way back, and destroys the helmet, the source of Canto’s power.

On the surface, “Follow the Leader” is another alien possession story, the brand that is a dime a dozen on various incarnations of Star Trek (“Lonely Among Us,” or “Warlord” to name two).  But “Follow the Leader” also features a dramatic and powerful sub-text.  This is a story about alcoholism in the nuclear family, perhaps.

Think about it. 

One day, your father is suddenly different: cruel and mercurial. He shouts and yells, and goes off into violent fits.  He verbally upbraids you and your mother, as well as other family members (as John does to Maureen, Smith and will here…). 

Suddenly you don’t feel safe or secure, and this man in your midst, you realize, is an enemy.  He has “changed.”  He’s different.  He wears a mask of cruelty, hiding, perhaps, who you think he is; or who he would like to be.

The sci-fi idea of alien possession replaces alcohol, but the metaphor is in place.  Will and the others are at a loss to help John, or stop John.  He can be reached, finally, only by forcing him to remember his family obligations, his love of his son, for example.  

And that’s one emotionally powerful final scene on the precipice.  In part, I suppose, because “Follow the Leader” goes so far. Canto walks Will onto the precipice, and forces him to look down.  

Will understands what’s happening, and says something along the lines of “you’re going to push me over the edge, aren’t you?”  Canto acknowledges that yes, he is going to do that. 

The calmness and rationality with which both Will and Canto face this horrible fate is chilling.  There is nothing childish or juvenile about this moment. Will is a smart kid, and he knows what’s happening to him.  Meanwhile, Canto has no love for him, and no desire to save his life.

The more I think about it, chilling is the appropriate word.  A father is about to murder his son.  Yet Will shows such composure, and Canto, no humanity whatsoever.

“Follow the Leader” feels ever-so-much more urgent and immediate than many episodes of Lost in Space, and there is a degree of tension and anxiety present in this episode.  

“Follow the Leader” showcases, perhaps, what the series might look like when the buffoonish Smith isn’t the center of the action.  It also cements the idea that I've talked about here many times before. The best episodes of Lost in Space are those that take some topic of life here on Earth (senseless war, alcoholism, the beginning of adolescence, etc.) and translate them to the space frontier, but in a family milieu. This episode absolutely follows that pattern.

Only one quibble.  How many underground civilizations are there on Priplanus, the Robinsons' planet?  By my count, this is the third!

Next, Lost in Space goes color in “Blast off into Space!,” the second season premiere.

Lost in Space Day: "A Change of Space"

In “A Change of Space,” the Robot (Dick Tufeld), Will Robinson (Bill Mumy) and Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris) unexpectedly happen upon a landed spaceship in the wild. 

Will brings the rest of his family to see the advanced space-craft, and the Robot reports that it is a sixth dimensional vehicle, and an “extra-galactic delivery system.”

The vehicle is also in “go” condition for lift-off, and Will accidentally activates the launch sequence after boarding it alone. 

He goes on a fantastic, extra-dimensional journey and returns altered.  Now, he is a genius, a “latter-day Einstein” according to Dr. Smith. Will’s “tremendous acceleration in mental development” is a cause for concern for his parents, but a cause for curiosity for Smith.  He believes that he can become “lord of the galaxies" if the same change happens to him.

Smith decides to augment himself the same way, and also takes a ride aboard the alien spaceship.  He returns not a genius, however, but an aged, stooped, and senile old man.

Before long, the strange alien owner of the spaceship returns, alarmed that the humans have been using his vessel without permission…

Although this is yet another Smith-gets-intro-trouble-with-alien-artifact type of episode (think: “Wish upon a Star,” or “All that Glitters,”) I found “A Change of Space” a strong episode of Lost in Space (1965-1968), especially considering that it arrives near the end of a very long (29 episode…) season.

Perhaps I found this episode enjoyable because the focus isn’t exclusively on Smith’s antics, but rather the relationship between Will and his parents.  

After becoming a genius, Will is undeniably a different person. Some aspect of youth and innocence is missing from his personality, and this is terrifying to John (Guy Williams) and Maureen (June Lockhart).  

Yes, he is still Will, but now he can predict what people are going to think and say about any given topic, and read through motivations and secret agendas.  He is still a boy with childish emotions, but a boy with too much knowledge; too much awareness.

The aspects of the episode that contend with Will’s strange situation, and his parents’ response to it, are genuinely interesting, and moving.  

As parents, we all feel that our children grow up too fast.  Well, here comes a space age parable about that very topic: about a child artificially “rushed” into adulthood.  It’s wonderful that Will is so smart and so knowledgeable after his galactic journey, but he has lost something of value, the freedom to be a kid; and to have a child’s outlook on others.  After "Magic Mirror," this is yet another Lost in Space story that focuses on the wondrous qualities of childhood, and the pain involved in leaving it behind.

Other creative aspects of “Change of Space” are not as strong (though still, relatively, better than recent episodes).  

For instance, the Robot is now a veritable font of information and exposition, like Spock on Star Trek.  The difference is that Spock is a trained science officer, with the library computer at his finger-tips.  He can knowledgeably speak about a variety of topics.  

The Robot is a product of Earth technology (circa 1997) by contrast, and yet he speaks knowingly here about extra-galactic vehicles and the sixth dimension.  In “War of the Robots,” he similarly discussed “robotoids” with great knowledge, though how he had acquired such knowledge was a mystery.  

According to fan lore, if I understand correctly, the Robot has been a recipient of some kind of alien download of data, making him more knowledgeable than the Robinsons (and Smith, naturally…) about many aspects of the universe.  

That’s a decent ret-con (and I buy it…) but facts are facts: Lost in Space never really addresses how the Robot has suddenly become this font of galactic knowledge.  After Smith, the Robot is the character who changes the most during the first season.  He goes from being an automaton and unquestioning slave to Smith, to becoming a super-knowledgeable individual who gives as good as he gets, verbally, against Smith.

Also, and I’ve written about this before, but the writers are clearly not paying attention to details at this juncture.  In this episode, the elderly Dr. Smith is seen in a heavy wheel-chair.  

Where did the antique wheelchair come from? 

Again, the Jupiter 2 had a weight limit, I’m certain, to achieve escape velocity from Earth. In recent weeks, however, we have seen that it carried sand-bags and a World War II helmet, painting equipment and wardrobe, and now this very bulky, very heavy wheelchair.  

In all cases, these strange items are used in conjunction with Smith, to get across a sense of humor about his character.  But for every laugh gained by Lost in Space, the series loses a little in terms of plausibility, in my opinion.

Lost in Space Day: "The Lost Civilization"

In “Lost Civilization,” Professor Robinson (Guy Williams), Don West (Mark Goddard), Will (Bill Mumy) and the Robot (Dick Tufeld) go in search of drinking water in the chariot, but run afoul of natural disasters, including a volcanic eruption and a planet quake.

Separated from the adults, Will and the Robot end up in an underground world. 

There, Will finds a sleeping beauty, a young princess (Kym Karath). At the Robot’s urging, Will kisses her and awakens her.

Unfortunately, this was not the right thing to do. 

The princess’s people, commanded by the sinister Major Domo (Royal Dano) are planning the historic conquest of the universe.  And their first target is the planet Earth, because Will -- the first to kiss the princess -- is from that distant world.

Now Professor Robinson, Will, Don and the Robot must escape the underground empire…

Well, at least “The Lost Civilization” isn’t a Dr. Smith episode...and it’s the first time in five weeks I can write those words. 

Instead, “The Lost Civilization” tries to do some real heavy lifting and get Lost in Space back on solid ground.  The episode concerns the men of the Robinson party (and the robot) exploring distant territory in search of drinking water for the settlement.  After many, many weeks away, we are back on the solid terrain of charting new territory, and reckoning with the nature of this dangerous and unstable frontier.

Alas, the specifics of the story are not particularly good or noteworthy. There’s a little bit of Lost in Space's fairy tale principle here (namely in terms of Sleeping Beauty), but also a huge heaping of Flash Gordon tropes.  

In particular, the Major Domo is made-up to closely resemble Ming the Merciless, and the focus on action and cliffhangers may remind you of 1930s sci-fi serials.

I have also read that some people see this story as an “homage” to Flash Gordon and 1930s serials, but the episode isn’t really reflexive in any meaningful way.  It’s a straight-forward appropriation of pulp tropes, without any meaningful comment on them.  Similarly, the sets here are taken directly from the Seaview on Irwin Allen's sister series, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964 - 1968), so even the visual aspects of "The Lost Civilization" feel derivative.

Thus, while “The Lost Civilization” moves at a fast clip, and hops from scene to scene quickly, one may feel that opportunities are nonetheless being missed. 

Will gets a tender sub-plot here with the princess, a girl who does not know what it means to have fun.  And the men must deal with an army of soldiers in suspended animation, bent on destroying Earth.  But both stories feel half-thought out.

It’s a lot to take in, and so, not surprisingly, it all ends unsatisfactorily. The Robinsons escape the underground world, and a planet quake buries it, meaning that at some future date, another wanderer may awake the princess and start the whole cycle all over again.  

Professor Robinsons’ commentary about all this is amusing and a little out of character.  He says, basically, he just hopes they aren’t around to see it when these soldiers conquer the universe.

Not exactly a pro-active response to the threat.  One gets the feeling that -- like so many stories on Lost in Space -- everything learned by the characters this week will be forgotten by next week’s installment.

Consider this: how safe would you feel if you knew that an army of technologically superior soldiers awaits, just a day away from your settlement?  

Over the generations, this would certainly mean war. Or at least preparations for war.

Alas, “The Lost Civilization” doesn’t even tie in to an obvious connection in Lost in Space history. 

In the early episodes, “There Were Giants in the Earth” and “The Hungry Sea,” the Robinson party encounters an old city inside a cave, a long-forgotten place of skeletons and weird, ancient architecture.  It would have been great to see “The Lost Civilization” connect those unexplored ruins to the world of these aliens, here….who have been preparing for galactic war for so long.

But again, continuity isn’t the series’ strong point.  Even obvious connections are missed.