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.
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.