episode #43 - The Dream Monster

episode #43 / Air Date: 12/21/66 (episode #14 of 2nd season)
written by Peter Packer; Directed by Don Richardson

Another new and odd alien comes around, this time a scientist, a biophysicist, named Sesmar (John Abbott); he looks human but doesn't know about or comprehend most emotions. This doesn't make much sense since he behaves pretty much like a human, on the stuffy side, maybe. His pet project is a faceless golden android he has created called Raddion. Sesmar wants to impart various human emotions unto Raddion. To facilitate this, he has Smith record the emotions from various Robinsons, using a gadget that works like a camera.

Later, Sesmar invites the Robinsons to his secret lab and has Raddion shake hands with each of them; this way, each of the group imparts their emotional qualities to the android. The exception is Don West. The result is that all the Robinsons become vacuous laid-back versions of Smith; they just sit around, doing nothing. This vexes West, who finds himself, implausibly, teamed up with Smith to foil this plot.

This has some interesting moments but is mostly on the slow side. The final act has an android on a rampage, followed by some attempted profundities on human qualities. BoG's Score: 6 out of 10
Lost in Space Trivia: Star Trek TOS actor alert - John Abbott played the lead Organian in the episode Errand of Mercy; he was also in Underground, an early Land of the Giants episode

Epilogue Tag: Smith & Penny comes across another strange, small spaceship, covered in vegetation, and a voice tells them that it needs no friends; then they're fired upon! Freeze frame!