episode #21 - The Magic Mirror

episode #21 / Air Date: 2/16/66
written by Jackson Gillis; Directed by Nathan Juran

During a cosmic storm, Penny finds a discarded alien mirror; John warns of unknown forces being unleashed if it's tampered with, but Smith only sees the monetary possibilities - the frame seems to be made of platinum. But, that's not what's unusual about it; when no one's looking, an alien boy (Michael J. Pollard) appears on the other side of the mirror and then Debbie the chimp walks through the mirror - Smith faints at this point (a predictable occurrence which started in The Sky Pirate). Penny then falls through; on the other side, she meets the boy, who lives in a whole other dimension; the mirror is some kind of inter-dimensional portal. But, Penny can't get back.

As the alien boy explains it, his dimension is filled with discarded objects; there's also some one-eyed monster that the kid plays hide 'n seek with. Smith then falls through; his take on all of it is that he is simply dreaming, so he can't take it very seriously - not even the monster. When the monster gets physical with him, he begins to change his mind. This has a surreal quality to it, with nods to the Peter Pan story, but it's also aimless. There's no explanation of who the boy is or how he got there, so the sad tone at the end is undercut by this lazy approach. BoG's Score: 5 out of 10
Lost in Space Trivia: Star Trek TOS actor alert - Michael J. Pollard also played a weird kid in the TOS episode Miri; he hit the big time with a role in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Epilogue Tag: Smith sets up an alarm for an unknown thief who has been stealing various things from the group; he and Will sleep outside the ship that night and are confronted by a boy with a spear... freeze frame!