episode #19 - Ghost in Space

episode #19 / Air Date: 2/2/66
written by Peter Packer; Directed by Don Richardson

This one tries for a Halloween-styled episode, but doesn't really know what to do with the ideas presented. Smith, as usual, creates a mess: John assigns him to dynamite a specific area but Smith, being lazy, tosses the explosive in a bog; this unleashes some kind of invisible force, having to do with the ionized gas there. We see monstrous 3-toed footprints being made in the sand, recalling similar scenes from Forbidden Planet (1956). The force is powerful enough to knock over trees and hurl boulders but, later, the men are punched around, as if by an invisible man. There's no consistency to the menace.

At the same time, Smith inexplicably becomes interested in creating a Ouija board and communicating with his long past great uncle Thaddeus via a seance. His antics amuse Maureen and the kids, but things get serious when this destructive force strikes. They manage to trap it in a glass cage but it later breaks out; it also absorbs energy, knocking out the Robot. Later, the thing materializes and it looks like some alien version of the undead. Will then becomes invisible after falling into the bog. Hardly any sense to this one at all. BoG's Score: 4 out of 10
Epilogue Tag: Smith & Will are fishing at the pond; Smith leaves and the Robot senses something impossible, as Will backs up into... Robby the Robot! Freeze frame!