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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.
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