episode #32 - The Ghost Planet

episode #32 / Air Date: 9/28/66 (episode #3 of 2nd season)
written by Peter Packer; Directed by Nathan Juran

The Jupiter 2 is contacted by Alpha Control again (from the previous episode) or so it seems; after passing through a curtain of radiation, the ship lands on a planet which Smith feels certain is Earth (Smith always seems certain of this). But, this planet is anything but... The Robot (called here B-9 for the first time?) is sent to check things out first and gets zapped. It turns out that this place is ruled by robots and cybernetic organisms - not much distinction is made between these. It's an early take on machines taking over (see The Terminator and Matrix film franchises).
After getting repaired, The Robot/B-9 seems to join the machine intelligence, which is ruled by 'The Summit' - a cybernetic organism shaped like a huge brain. Smith and Will are placed on an assembly line to work, serving the machines. Of course, The Robot/B-9 is a double agent; the escape is exciting and the ideas intriguing, but most of the episode is tedious. Also, the usual lazy approach in the writing: no info on how this civilization came to be, so it comes off as a dopey joke. BoG's Score: 5 out of 10

NOTE: most of the 'cybernetic organisms' are played by extras covered in body robes and metallic face masks; their movements are silly - they skitter along with hands folded in front - but they also reminded me of the visualization of similar beings in the later film The Black Hole (1979)
Epilogue Tag: the cybernetic-ruled world has sent a missile to destroy the departing Jupiter 2! The group manage to maneuver the ship so that the missile strikes another planet, but the explosion envelopes the ship... freeze frame!