Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Lost in Space 50th Anniversary Blogging: "Curse of Cousin Smith" (November 16, 1966)


In “Curse of Cousin Smith,” Jeremiah Smith (Henry Jones) -- citizen of the universe and cousin to Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris) -- lands on the Robinsons’ planet in search of his long-lost relative.

It turns out, the two men have been competing for years to be the last surviving family member so as to inherit the considerable Smith family fortune.

Now, Jeremiah thinks he has discovered a way to exploit Dr. Smith’s avarice. 

Working with his space gangster friend, Little Joe, he has a “Friendly Universal Gambling Machine” transported to the planet.  

Dr. Smith, who can’t resist gambling, will not be able to pay his debts after losing big time at the cosmic slot machine, and the machine will kill him, thus leaving Jeremiah the heir to the estate.

Fortunately, John Robinson (Guy Williams) has other plans.



Oy. 

“Curse of Cousin Smith” is a terrible episode of Lost in Space (1965-1968).  I thought last week’s show, “The Thief from Outer Space” was terribly weak, but it had nothing on this installment of the series.

Why is “Curse of Cousin Smith” so awful? 

First and foremost, the creators of this series seem to have forgotten the title and premise of their own program.  Here, without difficulty or delay, Jeremiah Smith finds the Robinsons and his cousin on a distant world.  He says he "heard" that there were Earth people there.

So apparently the Robinsons' presence on the planet is common knowledge.

But how did Dr. Smith’s cousin get to deep space in the first place?  

As the series premiere, “The Reluctant Stowaway” explains, the Robinsons are the first Earth people to attempt to reach another solar system.  The family makes that journey in a state-of-the-art spaceship, and, so far as we know, no other ships like the Jupiter 2 have been constructed. The Robinsons have now been in space (or stranded on various planets) for perhaps two years.

So how does Jeremiah Smith have a history in space, and friendships with the likes of space gangsters?   When did he launch into space? 

If -- since the Robinsons’ departure -- Earth has made some technological breakthrough that permits casual and pervasive space travel, why has no one from Alpha Control attempted to find and rescue the family?  

We know from this episode that the family, apparently, is easy to find, since Jeremiah not only knows there are humans on this world, but the particular human he is looking for, his cousin.

You can’t really be “lost in space” if everybody can find you, and travel to your location, right?

Beyond a faulty premise, “Curse of Cousin Smith” doesn’t remember anything about Dr. Smith’s background.  He is introduced in “The Reluctant Stowaway” as a foreign saboteur, an agent in the service of a foreign country. His mission is to prevent America from launching the Jupiter 2 and winning the space race.

Well, come “Curse of Cousin Smith,” we find out that Smith’s cousin is a Southern Fried gentleman, right down to the accent and bolo tie. How exactly can we explain that Smith is an agent for a foreign power while his cousin is from the South, in North America?  

Even in terms of dialogue, “Curse of Cousin Smith” is on shaky ground.  Will (Bill Mumy) explicitly notes in the episode that Dr. Smith “never mentioned any of his relatives to me.”

That’s not strictly true.  The first season episode “The Ghost in Space” revolves around a bog monster on Priplanus, whom Dr. Smith believes is his dead relative, Thaddeus Smith.  He believes he is being haunted by Thaddeus, and takes Will on an adventure based on that very premise.

Also, in terms of continuity, note that the Robinsons have no problem, this week, believing in cosmic space gangsters and casino machines, where last week they ribbed Will about his unbelievable story of a space thief (Malachi Throne).



Basically, everything about this episode is a mess, and the stupidity of the narrative is astounding. I suppose the viewer is to assume that Jeremiah hitches a ride off the planet on the next outgoing spaceship, but doesn’t bother to take along the Robinsons, or help them escape their marooning.  It's the Gilligan's Island syndrome all over again.

Still, there’s an intriguing insight in this episode.  Maureen (June Lockhart) politely tells Jeremiah that Dr. Smith is just going through one of his “difficult periods.” 

The fact that this comment comes from the family matriarch is important. It sounds very much like she is a Mom describing her naughty child, or teenager.  Understand that fact, and you get a key to understanding Dr. Smith and the way the writers/creators of the series use him.  He is not bad, he’s just a naughty kid going through a bad phase.


Finally, I will say I like the fanciful nature of the tech in this episode.  The gambling machine is kind of neat in a fantastic, whimsical way, and I love the moment where it goes mobile, chasing Jeremiah and Dr. Smith through the desert, firing its lasers.

Next week: “West of Mars.”

8 comments:

  1. I think that all the alien races are knowledgeable about Earth and the "ufo abductions" are how Cousin Smith has gotten to find Smith.

    SGB

    ReplyDelete
  2. John,
    We know of at least one other person from Earth who is lost in space: Jimmy Hapgood, who was sent to Saturn by Alpha Control. We'll meet others, implying that the space program extends beyond the Robinsons. But you are right; the Robinsons are the first family to be sent into deep space.
    I'm splitting hairs because I got nothin' to say about this episode. This was one of the ones you did not talk to your friends about on the playground.
    At least Barney Slater will make amends in three weeks, but for this one he was off his game.
    Interested in hearing your comments regarding the next couple of entries.
    Steve

    ReplyDelete
  3. I get the impression that the writers on the later Lost In Space stories were the sort of people who aren't too familiar with science fiction, don't like it and think that it's all silly stuff that doesn't have to have any relationship to reality or even make any sort of sense. They seemed to have a certain level of contempt for their own show and it's audience. Even if you're going for a deliberately surreal or absurdist world it has to have some sort of internal coherence and the later episodes of this show just don't have that.

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  4. Remember the bit in "Sleeper" where the scientists theorize that the worst criminals in our society were forced to watch Howard Kosell as punishment? Were the film to be remade, Kosell would be replaced with Season 2 of Lost in Space.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have got to be kidding. Season Two is overall better than overrated Season Three. It is all classic and good, and your comment was ridiculous. Season Two of LOST IN SPACE is the better of the colored seasons.

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    2. How can you use an over generalization like that. Season Two is full of great episodes. Although this one is near the "lower" end, it is still warm, fun, charming, good and decent. Maybe you are talking about the over-the-top junk later in the final season. That would do better to replace "Howard Kosell."

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    3. "Curse Of Cousin Smith" is superior.. 8-]

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  5. Charles Izemie8:01 AM

    A bit late to comment as I only watched this yesterday, but a quick note: I didn't think Smith was ever meant or said to be anything else than American? Certainly the "dark" Smith of the first episodes was hampering the US space programme, but I assumed he was a traitor who worked for foreign powers simply because of the lucre.

    Of course it's a terrible episode, but strangely enough, I enjoyed it. The hole into which "Cuz" Jeremiah fell brought a smile out of me, plus the fact that Smith proper was off-scene so much of the episode only to be replaced by an even more obnoxious character actually made me miss him.

    I've stopped expecting more than mindless entertainment out of Lost in Space. And it's one-upmanship in being even more mindless every week has become, in a curious way, intriguing to watch, as even the strangest sitcoms would fear to tread its territory.

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