Lost in Space - Junkyard in Space

* * / * * * * *

Recovering from the notorious Great Vegetable Rebellion creatively inert, the final episode of Lost in Space was Junkyard in Space, a final punchline for a show that barely made into the third season with any storytelling, logical respect left. Marcel Hillaire (last seen as a convict onboard a prison space station released accidentally from his cryogenic stasis with a rope in hand always ready to strangle Dr. Smith in the episode, Condemned of Space), complete with his thick French accent and humanoid features, painted in silver, wearing a helmet space suit quite similar to the Robinsons when the Jupiter 2 is lifting off a planet, is the Junkman, a type of cyberman with pearly whites and sneaky agenda. It seems that metallic junk (parts and machines no longer in operation) just “relocates” to Junkman’s planet, not burning away in the atmosphere but often dropping from the sky like heaps of huge parts that explode on impact with the ground. Junkman has a machine, it seems, that draws junk to his planet and contains a magnetic field able to hold even the landed Jupiter 2 from liftoff.

The Robinsons are dealt a serious problem where repairs are desperately needed, so they find the Junkman’s planet, successfully sending the Space Pod through a “cosmic fog” (the Robot takes it “to heart” when Dr. Smith criticizes him for not having the “guts” to serve them appropriately, putting his life before them to verify if the “fog” is safe to pass through in order to land on the planet; basically, Smith didn’t want to go because of fear and used his manipulative prowess to convince Robot to do so instead) where Robot encounters a u-shaped magnet that pulls him into its attraction, holding him upside down! Yes it is as silly as it sounds, as Robot is held upside down with arms dangling, begging for help! Eventually Robot is located and a machine with a lever is discovered, as Dr. Smith drops him to the ground without first considering the potential for damage. At any rate, as a type of rust blight ruins the food supplies in the Jupiter 2, Smith sees only one alternative: to secure food made available through certain machines on his planet that are operational at his choosing, Smith will need to get Robot to give up valuable parts to Junkman. So while the Junkman continues to improve from a twitchy robot-man with hanging parts, wires, and gages, often besieged by hiccupy misfires, Robot gradually begins to slump and slow down, arms hanging while seemingly weakened considerably. Dick Tufeld’s voicing of the Robot continues the trend of making him sound very human, including moans and groans when parts are gone, as well as, the emphasis on the fragile estranged relations between him and Smith. Smith is yet again thinking only of himself, exploiting the Robot to fill his belly with food.

Hillaire lays it on thick as the nefarious, selfish Junkman who is willing to leave the humans who occupy his junkyard planet to starve while he flies away in the Jupiter 2. Hillaire’s style is very exuberant, using his speech and physical motion to exaggerate just how much he disregards everyone else in favor of increasing his own beneficial situation. Smith once again putting the Robinson family in jeopardy through an association with another episodic villain has been a remaining holdover device never abandoned much throughout nearly the show’s entire three season run.

The use of footage gives the episode some excitement it certainly needs such as Professor Robinson using the flying jet pack to survey the planet, the Space Pod used back and forth to and from the planet, and the Jupiter 2 leaving the planet when Junkman commandeers it. I thought the use of props to emphasize the planet’s status as a junkyard, many scattered with webs, in various stages of disrepair, gave the episode some personality and atmosphere even if the overall story and villain are corny and very silly. Robot hanging from a magnet and unable to burn itself in a furnace due to the flames inability to consume him as his love for Will and the Robinsons withstood it all are perfect examples of just how ridiculous the episode really is. True, blue fans of the show often love and embrace the abundance of logic-defying nonsense that episodes like “Junkyard in Space” entail. But this is indeed an episode that would find itself right at home in the infamous second season.

I remember watching this episode as a child, feeling a bit sad that the show wasn't picked up for another season, Junkyard in Space the final adieu, a disappointing swan song that never gave fans a conclusion I think we deserved (and the characters quite frankly). 

What is ultimately staggering is how June Lockhart and Guy Robinson are practically non-factors, basically written almost entirely out of the episode with only a few bits of dialogue (Maureen has one scene while John Robinson has about two). It was reported that the reason for this is due to their hilarity at the absurdities heaped upon them in the previous episode. Who could blame them for laughing. But even Don only has a few key scenes, but at least he's involved in activity on the planet. Maureen mentions the spoiled food supply and that's it. Penny and Judy even get better dialogue and participate more on the planet that their parents. Will, of course, gets to board the Jupiter 2 at the end and talk sense into Junkman--at this point absent any hanging parts or battling pops and jerks--ultimately given a teary-eyed farewell to Robot that thankfully didn't result in a true departing. 

Still, to say this is how it all ends did those involved in the show a disservice. The least that could have been done is let the Robinsons make it to Alpha Centauri or back to earth. That the final scene has Dr. Smith hanging from a metal part attached to the magnet, Robot shutting the machine off before a collapsed Smith is nearly carried into the furnace, says it all. In the end, it was Smith and Robot sharing the screen one last time.