The Keeper: Part 1

An alien collector of exotic life forms arrives on the Robinson's planet and, needless to say, decides to add a couple of Earthlings to his menagerie. Michael Rennie is fine as the titular 'Keeper' and his spaceship (clearly bigger on the inside than on the outside) is interesting. The climax of the first part of this 2-parter features a 'who's who' of season-one LIS monsters (plus a weird owl (?) creature - sadly there are far fewer beasts than our glimpses of the corridors of the Keeper's vast flying zoo would suggest were freed). The episode suffers from the usual minor inconsistences that plague the show (noticeably about the effects of the Keeper's staff) and Dr. Smith is more foolish than usual when attempting to steal the alien spaceship but otherwise this is an entertaining outing in the generally good opening season of the venerable space-opera.

The premise of this chapter is not very original but it is so well written, directed and acted that it is one of the best episodes of the entire series. The Guardian arrives on the planet aboard his huge spaceship that is a kind of Noah's Ark with animals of all species, the Robinson children are his goal to add to his collection and he uses his staff to break their wills. At the end of the episode we have a creepy cliffhanger when Dr. Smith accidentally releases the fiercest monsters from the Guardian's ship, we must recognize the great creativity and ingenuity of the director and the edition of this scene, since the ship Only 4 monsters come out that we had already seen in previous chapters but when mixing in the final edition shots from different angles gives the sensation that there are dozens of creatures that escape.

An alien known as The Keeper (Michael Rennie) wants to add Will and Penny to his collection of space creatures.

Over the decades I have spoken to many Lost In Space fans and I am yet to find someone who dis-likes this two-part adventure.

Wonderfully scripted, acted and filmed.

Jonathan Harris once said that Michael Rennie was without question the best guest star to appear on the series. I agree he is one of the best. Over the years I have seen Rennie in many roles but it is LIS's Keeper and Time Tunnel's Titanic Captain that I always remember him for.

This 100 minute Keeper adventure is close to perfect, with the whole regular cast getting things to do, the only small negative element is a two minute bit (in Part Two) where a very fake giant spider attacks the group.

I am combining my Review for The Keeper Part 1 and The Keeper Part 2 into one review, since they should be watched back-to-back. The Keeper is one of the best.

As noted elsewhere, Michael Rennie plays the role of The Keeper and is "as good as it gets".

This is great Si-Fi horror, with great balance between the cast. Dr. Smith, as usual, triggers the problem with his cowardly, greedy, self serving conduct. But he is not a buffoon. Dr. Smith releases The Keeper's collection and chaos ensues.

He also has some great one-liners (i.e. Giving The Robot five seconds to make an evaluation) and a classic Dr. Smith scream!

The Keeper's goal is to obtain two human for his collection. The character of each of the Robinsons, Major West, Dr. Smith and The Keeper are revealed.