Lost in Space (TV Series) West of Mars (1966) User Reviews

Smith is haunted by his evil doppelganger !!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 14 March 2021]

Sincerely I try figure out why so bad reviews over this episode, of course isn't among of the best ones, notwithstanding grade as 2, 3 and 4 it's no fair, seems to me far from reality, sounds to me a vote of angry, what I always thought the power trio of Smith, Will and the Robot lost in space will be a flop, as usually Irwin Allen does he demands the writers focuses in this tripod.

Dr. Smith is in forced labors by Robinson's orders always whining due his later troubles, but Will is there for helping when an unexpected happens, dropping out from outer space a lot of talking device warning about an Outlaw called Zeno which is in the planet, the space Enforcer Claudius (Alan Mervin) is about to landed there, there a profitable reward for the round-up of the notorious runaway, branded as superswift wanted by 25 crimes, the ambiguous Smith envisages a large portion of credits afforded, apropos of nothing appears the bleak and true menacing figure of a masked cowboy on black outfits, thus Zeno reveals to Smith unmasking, the such resemblance terrifies the coward Smith, Zeno demands a swap of identity prompted denied by Smith.

As we expected there goes towards the Space Enforcer Claudius the wavering phony Zeno, confessing his crimes having his sidekick Will as witness, a sort of weirdo cage spaceship they headed to Mars for a trial, far away Smith confess that was enforced surrender upon a gun by the real Zeno that now stayed on the planet at his place, Claudius didn't believe in such foolish thing, one more ruse of the clever outlaw, meanwhile at planet Zeno didn't fooled the Robot, however he got misleading the Robinson's and Major West about a possible concussion at head.

As I said before it's enough good for me, besides I didn't used to give negatives votes to whose persons might think otherwise of me, it's a pleasure draw up a review just waiting someone to read it and whom express my opinion as true movie fan, I made it just for fun, anything else!!

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 2003 / How many: 4 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

Pussycat!

[gregorycanfield · 6/10 · 29 March 2022]

Jonathan Harris, surprisingly, is not very effective as Zeno the outlaw. Since Zeno looks exactly like Dr Smith, there is (naturally) confusion as to who is who. Dr Smith is pursued by the Space Enforcer (played by a miscasted Allan Melvin), while Zeno poses as Dr Smith. Amazing, that Zeno's mannerisms didn't tip off anyone that he couldn't have been Dr Smith. Only the Robot saw something wrong with the picture. As Zeno, Harris was too stiff. I could understand why he was flirting with beautiful Judy, but even that wasn't convincing. The "western" stuff was completely ineffectual, with more actors that were miscasted. The episode must, however, hold the record for the phrase "pussycat" being repeated the most times!

Western-themed episode misfires

[benkidlington · 4/10 · 18 September 2010]

Intergalactic gunslinger named Zeno lands on the planet with space sheriff in hot pursuit.

Amazingly, Zeno is an exact doppelgänger of Dr Smith which fortuitously allows Jonathan Harris to play the guest alien visitor of the week as well as himself.

The other guest actor playing the sheriff/enforcer is pretty forgettable although there is one humorous character in it "Pleiades Pete" as a purple-shirted rival gunslinger with a mean attitude (played by Lane Bradford) who sadly doesn't get enough screen time. Although, you'll probably think Officer Bolix from the first season is one of the greatest characters the show's ever had after seeing the sub-par performances here.

There is some fun to be had though, but as this episode is well within the silliness phase of season two, coming straight after (the even worse in my opinion) "Curse of Cousin Smith", it's best not to expect too much from it.

I suppose it's easy to be amused as the space enforcer pushes his hands through the plastic drapes of his jail-cell spacecraft to take a navigational sighting, exposing himself and the "cabin" to the vacuum of space. But of course, the series at this point has become something completely different from the attempted realism of the first series which had airlocks, spacesuits, suspended animation and nuclear motors. So, really trying to think in sci-fi terms is no longer appropriate, we are indeed in the realms of pure fantasy/adventure at this point.

Although I got some enjoyment out of this episode, I don't like the way Don West bullies Smith (actually Zeno, but he doesn't know that). We know there's usually some playful animosity between the characters, but the way Don picks a fight by calling him a "Senile Delinquent" just makes his character seem nasty and utterly unlikeable, so much so that you may actually want Zeno to shoot him! Second thing is the exasperation you might feel as no-one can remotely tell the difference between Smith and Zeno. All they would have to do is ask them about any incident that happened in any previous episode. In that case, the real Smith would obviously be immediately identified. Will's confusion about this is particularly unbelievable, and after all they've been through together, quite irritating too.

Still, a must see episode for all die-hard LIS fans, just not a very good one IMHO for reasons given.

Awful - Fails as a Comedy and a Western

[babyfir77 · 3/10 · 3 July 2013]

This episode has never been one of my favorites. In my most recent re-assessment, it went down even further.

Plot: A Dr. Smith-lookalike named Zeno, fugitive from law, has switched places with our Dr. Smith. Smith must exonerate his own name with the help of Will, while the Robinsons have to survive the encounter with Zeno/Smith.

Along with many season two episodes, this story is full of sophomoric humor. But I did not find the humor here as funny as other episodes. The Western moments are so so. The cheap-looking sets.....and basically the story.

I scribbled down four segments that really bothered me. 1) The Robot refuses to defend himself against Zeno. He can fight Satyrcons, a Robotoid, but won't stand up to a pushy Zeno.....wuss!

2) This was probably an error in the dialog. In the sequence in which Smith and Will leave the saloon, Will calls the fake Zeno "Dr. Smith." Yet in a few minutes when they are riding the Space Enforcer's ship back to their planet, Will said he couldn't tell if the fake Zeno was Dr. Smith or Zeno! What changed his mind?

3) Back to the Robot. He wasn't warned, but he chose not to confide in any of the Robinsons that Zeno was pretending to be Zeno. The Robot was putting the Robinsons in danger. No "Warning, warning" from the Bubble Headed Booby.

4) When both Zeno (dressed as Smith) and the fake Zeno are together, none of the Robinsons could tell them apart! Even with the fake Zeno talking like and acting like Dr. Smith. Because Zeno said he had hurt his head, making him act different (like carrying a gun, threatening Don), the Robinsons are nice and naive enough to believe his story. At least when the fake Zeno went for the lunch, Don figured it out.

One of the worst. I'm glad to see Allan Melvin (the stupid Space Enforcer....who said I know Zeno's voice anywhere and Zeno and Smith's voices are not even close!). But in a horrible show.....

West of Mars

[Scarecrow-88 · 2/10 · 26 December 2011]

And the descent into ineptitude continues.

"Abandon all hope ye who enter here…"

This phrase would be used by me as a word of warning towards any sci-fan entering the second season of Lost in Space as each additional episode just gets worse and worse. Or if you love camp television, better and better. If I rate an episode on camp value alone, this episode would get a 10/10. But as an episode with quality storytelling, this gets a 2/10. I haven't the heart to give it a 1/10, although it probably deserves it. People can bring up The Great Vegetable Rebellion all they want, but there were others, like this episode, "West of Mars" which is just as laughable and embarrassing. Jonathan Harris has free reign to try on the villainous Black Bart gunslinger character from westerns and ham up something fierce the cowardly Dr. Smith in dual parts. Zeno is the most feared "superswift alien in the cosmos" with Enforcer Claudio (Allan Melvin wearing a space suit right out of The Twilight Zone/Forbidden Planet) on his tail, both landing on Planet Robinson. Wouldn't you know it, Zeno looks identical to Dr. Smith, forces the scaredy-cat to switch clothes, with Claudio arresting the cowardly doctor for admitting to 26 murders (he was under the impression that Zeno, now wearing Smith's attire, was nearby and willing to shoot him if he didn't admit to crimes he didn't commit). They blast off in his ship which resembles a bird cage with various spare props from western shows probably used on the Fox lot, land on a planet with a western town that has the skeletal buildings with walls, no windows or roofs, and a populace that shake and shiver at Smith, believing he's Zeno. Before landing on the planet, Smith tries various methods to convince Will and Claudio that he is not Zeno, even attempting to bribe the enforcer or young Robinson to lie on his behalf. Not wanting to suffer the punishment of a pit of space vipers or being boiled in oil, Smith causes Claudio's ship to crash. When Smith sees that the other inhabitants of the planet, dressed in western clothes like locals in El Dorado or Rio Bravo, are scared of him, he likes the notoriety and milks the Zeno persona for all its worth until another superswift, donning purple western attire (!) wants to prove he's the greatest gunfighter in the galaxy. If you think all of this is cartoonish for a supposed sci-fi show, you get toy animals with wheels as the riding vehicles for those who occupy the planet! This stinker is such a turkey, the real Zeno, carrying holster, gunbelt, and pistol, seems to fool the Robinson family for quite a spell despite everything contrary to how the real Dr. Smith behaves. Seeing Zeno pull his gun and threaten Robot with certain harm, hitting on Judy (!), and drawing on Major West out of anger, is really surreal, to say the least. I would definitely select "West of Mars" as a certifiable member of the Top 5 Worst Episodes of Lost in Space. I have to imagine the likes of Guy Williams and Mark Goddard were wondering where the hell this show had fallen after what had begun as a serious sci-fi show about the perils of outer space in regards to the Robinson family. After this episode ends, we see that Smith may have playing a lyre and musically sent himself to hell with a character who looks exactly like Satan--yep, Lost in Space showed no signs of getting better.

Zeno or Dr. Smith?

[bigfrankie-43464 · 2/10 · 26 November 2022]

West if Mars is pure fantasy. And a giant mess.

I give it two stars because we get to see Jonathan Harris play Zeno, the outlaw. And we get to see Jonathan Harris play Dr. Smith. AND we get to see Jonathan Harris play Dr. Smith pretending to be Zeno!!! And Allan Mervin (Barney Hefner from All in The Family) in the Space Enforcer.

Otherwise, this is a "1". Watch only if you want to view every episode.

Most of the scenes are way over the top, such riding away on giant stuffed animals. If some of the super campy scenes were eliminated, this could have been decent. The fact that the Robinsons can't tell the difference between Zeno and Dr. Smith really compounds the huge gaps in this episode.

Dr. Smith (as Zeno) does have some funny lines, but nothing can save this mess.

'Space western' played for laughs (and not very successfully)

[jamesrupert2014 · 4/10 · 31 October 2022]

Zeno, a notorious gunfighter that bears an uncanny resemblance to Dr. Smith (Johnathon Harris in a dual role) is chased to the Robinson's adopted world by space marshal Claudius (60's TV fixture and voice impresario Allan Melvin) and ends up (of course) switching places with the cowardly, gun-shy doctor. This is a strictly comic, bare-bones episode with a lot of campy humour, silly-looking props (notably the flying jail), minimalist sets, and a ridiculous premise: no explanation is offered as to why Zeno ends up on the planet within yards of his exact double, why the Robinsons are so credulous (despite having encountered duplicate Smiths before) or why Smith couldn't simply recount one of his various adventures with Will when he wanted to convince the young Robinson that he was the real thing. On the plus side, Harris manages to produce a credible 'alternate' voice for tough-guy Xeno. By now the show was highly influenced by the high-camp stylings of mega-hit 'Batman' (1966) but at least there was some cleverness and sly-wit underlying the Dynamic Duo's preposterous adventures - 'Lost in Space' was just becoming contrived, repetitive, silly, and sloppily written.

Has the feel of a Terry Gilliam film in some parts.

[lilamint-575-397699 · 4/10 · 1 November 2023]

I can't help but wonder if this LIS episode was maybe the inspiration for some very memorable scenes in Terry Gilliam's "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen?" The western set looks like it would feel right at home in the film's pop-up book styled "Moon City" where Robin Williams appears as the giant king of the moon who literally can't keep his head from floating away. The toy animal chase scene would have also fit in perfectly with this dark yet zany environment. Then again, I think the scenery is strikingly similar to the one used on Star Trek's "The Last Gunfight" where Captain Kirk and his crew get to re-live the gunfight at the OK Corral.