The Raft

The Robinsons build a small space module, their intention is for it to be boarded by Major West to return to Earth and rescue the rest of the family. The ship is accidentally boarded by Will and Dr. Smith. They ignore that the capsule has not been strong enough to break through the planet's atmosphere and land several miles from the camp and are taken prisoner by a plant creature. The episode is a bit slow and not having a solid script or guest actors ends up being barely acceptable.

The space family build a small spacecraft that will leave the planet.

Some wonderful moments in this hour: the Jupiter 2 blast off trial run, Will revealing to Smith that he needs someone to look after him, the two-headed creature attack. etc.

The Raft sort of feels like two shows in one once Will and Smith blast off into space, but some really good moments make the hour fun.

The two-headed creature would also be used in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

We are now 12 episodes into Lost In Space and so far they have all been wonderful (with the exception of The Oasis). Lost In Space is indeed one of the greatest TV shows ever made!

The plan for two people to leave the planet is scuppered with Dr. Smilth and Will accidently take off in the space 'raft', triggering yet another search for the missing boy. This is one of the weaker episodes in season one and much of the humour hinges on Smiths' irrational insistence that they are on Earth despite the obvious. The initial idea of using the available resources to send out a small 'raft' (rather than the entire ship) to look for rescue is fine but the show has established that they have no idea where they are (hence the title) or how long it would take to get to Earth, but the 'raft' seems to have no room for the food, oxygen or water that two people would need (nor are there any 'suspended animation tubes'). There is some amusing interactions between the characters early on but all in all, this is not a very interesting episode (and the contradictions and inconsistencies that I likely never noticed when I was seven keep piling up).

The Raft is another excellent Season One episode.

The first half is balanced between all cast members and the second half is more like later season episodes of "Dr. Smith, Will and The Robot", except with just Dr. Smith and Will.

Yes, you must suspend logic to believe the small "raft" / Pod can break the gravitational pull (and that Dr. Smith really believe they landed on earth). That said, the special effects are great, camera work is great, acting and music are great. And we see the Dr. Smith/ Will relationship really start to build, minus any significant buffoonery.

There are also plenty of great moments with the Robinsons and Major West. The balance is very good.

I thought I'd seen them all. This has a man sized,two headed monster--and proper vocal growls(like the cyclops). An above average episode that tried to be strictly suspenseful and adventurous. They play it as a straight drama and then it's off to a new episode.

At the end,they're off on the chariot(the men minus Dr. Smith),to set up the cliffhanger--a meteor storm.

Seven stars.