User Reviews

When "Lost in Space" tried to revert back to a more "dramatic" tone in the third season following the over-the-top antics of season 2, the writers came up with a show that had a true split personality. "Target: Earth" is one of those installments that, for the most part, took itself seriously.

Plot-wise, the members of the Jupiter Two find themselves among an alien race that is seeking to break away from its "uniformity" by donning the appearance and characteristics of the Robinsons, Major West, and Dr. Smith. Some interesting plot developments arise and there are some witty-for-Lost-in-Space exchanges between Will (Billy Mumy) and the head alien (Jim Gosa) as well as between the alien versions of John (Guy Williams) and Don (Mark Goddard).

Like always, the show makes effective use of John Williams' stock music score from season one.

Even Jonathan Harris's "Dr. Smith" is kept a little under wraps, not "hogging" all of the screen time.

Target Earth is a little better than average episode. It seems to be a re-hash of several other episodes, rolled into one. The stock footage compounds that feel. And too much story is crammed into one episode. That said, it is overall better than average.

Somehow Dr. Smith discovers a way to separate The Robot's upper half from his lower half. It is a great visual special effect. However, it seems to have only been used a cool visual (but has no bearing on the plot).

Bubbling Dr. Smith then launches the Space Pod, with the lower half of The Robot and it lands on an unknown planet.

The aliens make duplicates of the Robinsons and the duplicates fly the Jupiter Two back to earth.

On the plus side, we get to see the duplicates attempt to act like the real crew (it feels a little odd since we just saw that from Prof Robinson and Major West in the previous Anti-Matter Man episode). And Dr. Smith is played as a bumbler, to be sure, but he is not a total coward. He volunteers to go to the Space Pod and also karate chops an alien!

Some gaps: how quickly the Jupiter Two returns to earth (Chicago) and how quickly it returns to the alien planet defies logic (even for Lost in Space). Another huge gap is, it is inconceivable that Will would have left earth! Or why at least Dr. Smith didn't stay. And that by himself, Will could have navigated the Jupiter Two all the way back to the alien planet!

PS: The interactions between Will and Dr. Smith seem a little off, with Will scolding Dr. Smith a few times!

Besides having what is arguably the ugliest alien of all episodes, this one gives insight into the phrase, "I guess." This episode directly followed "The Anti-Matter Man," which also featured duplicates of Prof Robinson and Major West. In "Target Earth," we get duplicates of everyone except Will. The duplicate John and Don are always arguing. Funny, since the real men were usually good friends. Overall, a really fun episode, but with one of the most ridiculous situations in the series. At the beginning, Dr Smith separates the upper and lower parts of the Robot. The Robot's upper half remains suspended in mid air. Everyone aboard sees this-and nobody questions why the upper half doesn't fall to the floor! Amazing! I guess!

"Do not resist, it is futile." Warning from alien to Jupiter 2 crew predating the Borg by decades. It was only a few weeks before that Robinson and West observed duplicates in the anti matter episode, so it should not have been such a surprise. The story seems to provide more opportunity for all characters more so than most of the episodes. Nice showcase for all of them to do things that the storylines had not permitted. Got to show a depth of character also not usually available in the time allotted. A small cut above the usual camp, but a better episode overall than how the series had been evolving.

Will must stop aliens from invading earth.

Wow! We are now in 1968 episodes and young Billy Mumy (Will Robinson) is starting to look taller and older.

In my memory I have always paired up this episode up with another year three hour - The Anti-Matter Man - as both tales take themselves rather seriously and John Robinson has an evil double in both shows. However, Matter Man has better direction, much better photography and is free of the silly start seen in Target: Earth.

But Target: Earth has a lot to offer and is often set in outer space - unlike Matter Man! So both hours are very special to me!

The best moments of the hour come when when the doubles of the Robinsons come out with clever dialogue - "Sandwiches are earth food Dr Smith, not ours" (Judy), "Quickly, your name, the planet of your birth and your normal life span?" (John).

And finally, a touch of QM's The Invaders (1967) as the doubles have mutated hands and The Time Tunnel (1966) power core prop can be seen in the alien base.