episode #70 - Deadliest of the Species

episode #70 / Air Date: 11/22/67 (episode #11 of 3rd season)
written by Robert Hamner; Directed by Sobey Martin

Take note: this is the first episode in which the Jupiter 2 lands on the surface of a planet the way it was meant to - yes, quite late in the series (it does point to the fact that this is one tough ship; every other landing before this has been a crash landing and it's still working here). Also, the Robot is in a strange melancholy, due to being the only one of its kind; Will wonders about his mechanical friend. But, the group has other issues: a space capsule has landed nearby and aliens (led by Ron Gans) are after it. This capsule contained another robot, with a female voice.

Our Robot friend is then hiding the presence of this other robot and his loyalty to the Robinsons is severely tested. The Robot is being led astray, even as it knows that the other robot, with its seductive female voice, is no good. Two silver android-like agents show up (one played by Lyle Waggoner in an early role) and believe that the Robinsons are hiding the bad robot; this begins a conflict. There's more action here than is usual.
This was one of the episodes in which it was made obvious how this is aimed at young kids. Our Robot refers to the other robot as "evil" - there is no attempt to explain why the female-voiced robot is evil, what made it that way or what motivates it to be evil. It simply is. Likewise, when the evil robot zaps the aliens in a sudden attack, they simply fall away behind some rocks; we don't even see them fall to the ground. In Star Trek TOS, airing that same year (1967), persons were getting vaporized left-&-right; I guess such death wasn't allowed on Lost in Space.
BoG's Score: 6 out of 10