Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Land of the Lost 1991: "The Crystal"

In “The Crystal,” the fifth episode of the 1991 Land of the Lost remake, Shung and his Sleestak cohorts manage to lose his prized crystal sword (seen for the first time in “Shung the Terrible.”)

The weapon unexpectedly comes into Annie Porter’s possession, and she decides to use it to get back at Kevin for his bad treatment of her.  Unfortunately, every time Annie uses the alien crystal, she seems to lose a bit more of her humanity, becoming more and more unforgiving, and more and more cruel to boot.

Mr. Porter, Kevin and Shung himself attempt to get the dark crystal out of Annie’s possession, but she becomes fiercely protective of it.  Finally, Mr. Porter convinces her that the crystal is “evil” and “wrong,” and that she will end up like Shung if she continues to use it.  Annie willingly gives it up, ashamed of her behavior…

Driven by a strong moral and thematic through-line, “The Crystal” is another decent (if not inspired) episode of Land of the Lost (1991 – 1992).  In some sense, the episode is a thinly-veiled remake of an original series episode called “Scarab,” which saw Chaka (Philip Paley) bitten by a golden insect, and transformed into a hostile, deceitful creature.  Shung’s crystal here has roughly the same effect on Annie, and it’s up to her loving family (which includes Stink and Tasha) to bring her back into the fold.

Visually, “The Crystal” is a strong episode, and possession of the sword begins to transform cute little Annie into something not-so-cute.  She stops wearing her glasses, and we see dark circles under her eyes. Her hair grows more wild, and her acts of evil seem to become easier and easier for the youngster to parse.  Annie’s mental degeneration is matched, then, by her physical one.

I also like the implications inherent in “The Crystal.”  If Shung has been in possession of this weapon for a long time, has it totally devoured his soul too?  Is he such a rotten bastard because he owns this crystal weapon?   If he were separated it from any length of time, would he become more humane?

Certainly, that’s one possible reading of the context of this episode.  And “The Crystal’s” end -- in which sword knowingly seeks out Shung again—absolutely suggests that the Sleestak is not in control.  Rather, the crystal dominates his actions.

I know I complained a lot about Shung and the Sleestak a couple weeks back when I reviewed “Shung the Terrible,” but I can’t object to their use here.  They support the story-line ably, and the notion of Shung as victim of the crystal actually deepens a character that I assumed to be one-dimensional.  At least the 1990s Land of the Lost seems to be deploying the Sleestak sparingly, rather than making them the center of attention.  So far…

As my friend and regular reader SGB pointed out a few weeks ago, Land of the Lost is indeed made for children, and in some ways, the 1991 variation on the franchise is much more childish than the 1970s version.   “The Crystal” is a highly-didactic show that sends a good message to kids about the allure of evil, and the dangers to oneself from that allure.

In other words, “The Crystal” lives up to the best tradition of the original Sid and Marty Krofft Land of the Lost. It doesn’t talk down to kids.

Next week: “Wild Thing.”