Lost in Space (TV Series) Welcome Stranger (1965) User Reviews

Not the worst, but a huge let-down after "The Hungry Sea"

[BaseballRaysFan · 6/10 · 1 January 2011]

This episode has bright spots, but in it we see the series resorting to some of the illogic that will plague the later episodes. It's an OK story that gets really clunky in parts.

The biggest treat of this episode is watching Warren Oats act. The talented actor makes the most of his role.

Warren Oats portrays Hapgood, a fellow astronaut from earth that apparently got himself lost on purpose while on a Saturn mission several years earlier (during the 1980s). He seems to want to find his way back to earth until the Robinsons offer him a real chance to get there.

One illogical turn in this episode is when John wants Hapgood to take Will and Penny back to earth with him. It's obvious that the spaceship Hapgood uses is far too small for two additional people, even people as small as Will and Penny. The only explanation we are given is that John Robinson says that the ship is big enough if they pull the ship's ballast tanks. Come on, John! Another illogical turn happens when John and Don, supposedly intelligent people, offer Hapgood their astrogator. For one thing, as Hapgood correctly notices (and the others hadn't thought about), the equipment is far too big to fit into Hapgood's ship. For another, when Hapgood asks why they won't need it, John explains that they stand a great chance of getting where they're going without it. Huh? That doesn't make any sense.

One more illogical scene: Dr. Smith, once Hapgood states that the astrogator is too big to fit into his ship, says that the robot has a much smaller but otherwise identical piece of equipment inside of him. That's not illogical, but then Dr. Smith scrubs up and performs what looks like surgery on a robot! Really! We hear Hapgood asking Smith if the procedure hurts the robot. Hapgood wouldn't be that stupid! And why would Smith need to be sterile to work on the robot? No, that sequence doesn't work as shown.

The brightest parts of the episode: The warm scenes between Hapgood and the kids. An especially good scene is one where Penny is being swallowed up by a giant plant and Hapgood saves her, admonishing Will not to tease her because she's crying.

Another good scene is the one where Smith, eager to replace Will and Penny as Hapgood's passenger, works on the kids' emotions and gets them to run away so that they could remain on the planet when Hapgood leaves. In this one case, the conniving Smith with ulterior motives is actually useful.

The scene where we see Smith far below, looking up as Hapgood's ship takes off and begging Hapgood not to leave him there, is also memorable.

Not a bad episode. It's actually good in several parts, but the clunky parts foreshadow what is to come.

Entertaining homespun episode is a break from space trauma.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 6 April 2020]

Special guest star Warren Oates makes a good impression in this unique episode that reiterates there's no place like home for John and Maureen Robinson, determined to send their youngest children home to earth when they meet friendly space cowboy Oates who is willing to help the children but not the selfish Dr. Smith. at first, they think he is either some sort of mirage or an alien in disguise, but quickly come to terms that he's human. He's very easy-going and willing to pitch in to help the last group, but he seems to see right through Smith from the start. Oqtrs gives hapgood a nice down-to-earth persona, but absolutely no nonsense where phoniness is concerned. It's a good episode for the family element of the series, only briefly broken up when Oates' spacecraft is seemingly overcome by very bizarre looking creatures that appear to be some sort of carnivorous giant crab with bloodlust like a Venus flytrap. This puts Penny and Will in jeopardy which solidifies Mama June Lockhart's determination to send her babies back to earth.

One of the first episodes where Jonathan Harris gets to explore Smith's desperation and hidden cowardness, this nonetheless doesn't over focus on him and that's a nice element that balances the episode out. Oates proves to be a perfect blend of comical bravado and heroic nobility, and when he makes his final appearance in the episode, you can see that his spaceship is basically a replacement for his horse. June Lockhart gets a very funny last moment, of course prompting a sardonic retort by the frustrated Dr. Smith. One moment of this episode that I won't forget is him standing in the midst of the space where Oates spaceship stood, screaming for him to come back. At this point you do not know if Penny and Will are aboard, but it's pretty obvious what the finale will be.

Never Pass Up On Warrent Oates

[richard.fuller1 · 8/10 · 11 August 2006]

According to the telemovie 'Executioners Song' about Gary Gilmore, the first man put to death in America when the death sentence was re-instated, he wanted Warren Oates to portray him in any possible movie that may be made about his life (Tommy Lee Jones portrayed Gilmore), so I have always observed Oates in what he does to try to perceive the fascination of the killer.

Here we have Oates as a space cowboy. Clearly there was more to the rivalry between the cowboy and the spaceman as we see portrayed in "Toy Story".

It may all be children's adventure, but Oates gives a good depiction with the Robinsons.

In the end, it is Dr. Smith, of course, who foils any hope of the Robinson children returning to Earth.

Liked that name of Oates' spaceship as well.

The Travelin' Man.

Mr & Mrs Robinson Steal This Bonanza In Space Hour

[StuOz · 8 February 2015]

A space cowboy visits the alien planet.

I fine episode placed in a difficult spot in the series. The five episodes before this were epics in the true sense of the word, epics that can be called some of the greatest hours of TV ever made. Welcome Stranger is such a change of show, more a Bonanza In Space hour...very good but no epic.

But if you can past this small issue you will have a blast with this hour. Despite the high quality guest star playing the space cowboy it is actually Mr and Mrs Robinson that get all the best bits in this hour...like when they question if they had the right to bring kids along on a space flight.

Jonathan Harris as Smith is still fine here but the early scene of him being almost shocked by the cowboy's ship on the radar, and a later scene as well, indicates that character has changed a tiny bit even in this sixth episode.

Not bad, but why did they make the stranger look like a giant?

[whatch-17931 · 7/10 · 28 September 2020]

A light episode after the intro survival episodes.

But the way Hapgood is filmed when he arrives, as shown in the cover art, makes him look like a giant! Weird cinematography considering they had recently encountered a giant.

"Some people call me the space cowboy..."

[jamesrupert2014 · 6/10 · 5 May 2022]

Reunited at the Jupitar 2, the Robinsons encounter the first of many other visitors to the planet, in this case, a cowboy-cosmonaut (Warren Oates). The whole premise, that a small, one-man spaceship designed to land on Saturn and which left Earth 15 years before the Robinsons would somehow, decades later, coincidently make it to Priplanus (where the Robinsons are stranded), a world light-years away from Earth, is ridiculous and Oates' brawling cowpoke character is pretty hackneyed silly. Although the episode does develop the characters a bit (notably John and Maureen's discussion about bringing the children on the colonising expedition (which never made much sense unless further breeding-stock was expected to follow)). I rounded my rating up because I like Warren Oates, who was one of the Gorch brothers in the great 'The Wild Bunch' (1969).

Welcome Stranger is excellent, but....

[bigfrankie-43464 · 10/10 · 23 November 2022]

...a slight drop-off after the first five episodes. That said, Warren Oats gets my rating from a "9" to a "10".

Warren Oats plays Jimmy Hapgood. Of course Warren is a great actor and his ability is a huge plus here. His interactions with the Robinsons and his fight with Don are very well written.

It is the story of a lone western-type character that meets a stranded family. There are also some nice special effects. Dr. Smith is cunning. Prof Robinson and Mrs. Robinson contemplate having Will and Penny return to earth with Hapgood. They both shine. However, the Dr. Smith/ Robot operation "scrub up" makes little sense.

PS: The music and camera crane shots are as good as it gets. Especially the final one with Dr. Smith.

AGAIN SMITH TAKES ADVANTAGE MANIPULATING CHILDREN

[asalerno10 · 8/10 · 11 June 2022]

A small ship lands on the planet boarded by an Earth astronaut. He must make some arrangements in his vehicle before continuing with his trip. John and Maureen see an opportunity for Jimmy Hapgood to take Will and Penny back to Earth with him so they can live a normal life and get away from the dangers they are exposed to on a daily basis, despite the grief and sadness. That overwhelms them they believe is the best for their children. But Smith begins to cynically manipulate the boys to oppose the idea and be the one to accompany the astronaut back to Earth. A good episode where once again Dr. Smith shows his darkest and most perverse side by not having the slightest remorse for doing the vilest things for his own benefit.

Zack? Indeed!

[gregorycanfield · 8/10 · 20 July 2022]

This episode was the first time Dr Smith took exception to someone calling him "Zack." Warren Oates was the first official guest star in the series, and he was just fine as Jimmy Hapgood. The scene in which Mr and Mrs Robinson discuss asking Hapgood to take Will and Penny with him is emotional. The idea was ridiculous, however. When the children got back to Earth, where were they supposed to live, and with whom? They would have been back on Earth, but their family would still be Lost in Space. Hapgood was right to initially refuse to take the children. Home is where the heart is. On the whole, this was a pretty good episode. It was the first to move away from the pure adventure stories, and towards character-driven drama. I agree with another reviewer, that the scenes between John and Maureen were the best parts of the episode.