episode #56 - The Phantom Family

episode #56 / Air Date: 3/29/67 (episode #27 of 2nd season)
written by Peter Packer; Directed by Ezra Stone

John & Maureen are away examining some volcanic activity; the rest of the group is under attack by an unseen enemy. It turns out that this enemy, a red-colored alien name Lemnoc (Alan Hewitt) is hidden nearby in a cave (half the action in most episodes of the season takes place in some cave). The cave has these rock doors which open up. While Will is at a relay station sending a message to his parents, Lemnoc replaces the rest of the Group with artificial duplicates. Will returns and notes that his companions are acting weird - rather out of it. But, he doesn't guess the truth and the Robot has to fill him in.

This is intriguing in the first act or so, with the duplicates lending a fairly eerie tone to the usual absurdity, but it quickly becomes tedious and nonsensical. Apparently, Lemnoc's motives involve finding a way to give his people a will to live; his people have lost this drive for some reason. Lemnoc rationalizes that teaching the listless duplicates this drive will show his people the way. Later, his plan seems to be to abscond with the Jupiter 2 - he wants the duplicates or at least the Smith duplicate to learn to operate it. It's as if the writer had two plot options for a story and decided to use both of them. Interestingly, the final scenes with the Smith duplicate do have a rare poignancy, but the rest is a waste of time. BoG's Score: 4 out of 10
Epilogue Tag: Smith has set up a lab outside the ship in an attempt to manufacture a new fuel; he pours too much liquid in and the Robot warns of an impending explosion; they all run as it explodes... freeze frame!