episode #24 - His Majesty, Smith

episode #24 / Air Date: 3/16/66
written by Carey Wilber; Directed by Harry Harris

Smith tries on a crown which he and Will find, but it causes him pain. Then Will tries it on and a group of aliens, led by a 'man' named Nexus (Liam Sullivan) show up, ready for a coronation. They are looking for someone to crown the King of Andronica - sounds great, eh? But, to make a long story short, Smith connives his way into being the one to be crowned. Soon, dressed in splendor and attended to by a bevy of beauties, he orders an audience with the Robinsons. He bids them farewell. Then, the other shoe drops... it was more bait for the needful Smith.

One of Smith's real subjects shows up, a hairy looking dude (Kevin Hagen) who seems to be patterned on real hairy Russian Cossacks; the other subjects were not really 'people.' It seems that Smith will be offered up for a sacrifice of some kind... I don't know why the story chooses to make fun of Cossacks, but it's pretty lame all around. It gets a bit better when a second Smith is created - heavens, no! But, this doesn't make things twice as lame, as one might think.
The irony is that this new Smith is more agreeable to the group but he manages to be even more annoying to the audience. However, when the original Smith returns, we get scenes of 2 Smiths debating various points - a once-in-a-series moment. And then, the real ironic moment for the climax - it's almost poignant by the standards of this series, but it appeared that only Will could appreciate such a moment...
NOTE: this story also involves androids; one of them snatches The Robot's power pack when an attack begins. It made me wonder when they were going to make it a bit more difficult to remove that power pack? Otherwise, The Robot seems quite vulnerable to me... BoG's Score: 5.5 out of 10

Lost in Space Trivia: Star Trek TOS actor alert - actor Sullivan played a villain in Plato's Stepchildren. Kevin Hagen is best known for a regular role on Little House on the Prairie and as Inspector Kobick on The Land of the Giants series.

Epilogue Tag: Will, Penny & Smith are busy preparing a time capsule to bury at night when the two moons seem to get more full; Smith worries about witches & creatures of the night when suddenly a werewolf appears.. freeze frame!