The Anti-Matter Man

Guy Williams was fun to watch when he went outside of his John Robinson persona. The story is pretty silly, but it's all good fun. One major problem: there are anti-matter versions of Prof. Robinson, Major West, and even the Robot. Why not an anti-matter Dr. Smith? That would have been quite interesting. Mark Goddard was excellent as the slimy anti-matter West. Again, a fun episode-but there should have been an anti-matter Smith.

This was screenwriter K C. Alison's only contribution to LIS, and that's a shame. This powerful story is one of the most memorable from season three.

A major strength of this story is allowing Guy Williams to take center stage, playing good and evil versions of John Robinson. Not only does he get some good action scenes, he also shows his ability to convey emotions through the smallest of gestures and facial expressions. Mark Goddard likewise plays two roles, and his sinister anti-West is truly creepy, with his five-o'clock shadow and droopy eyellid.

The Will/Smith/Robot troika plays a smaller part than usual. Will has some strong lines when confronting his "dad," and later an emotional scene which triggers the famous "happy family" music cue. The Robot continues his evolution into a metal joke machine, including a scene where he too confronts his "evil twin." Voice man Dick Tufeld must have had fun with this one.

As with the recent "Day at the Zoo" episode, the visual side of "Anti-Matter Man" depends heavily on "limbo sets" - dark, expressionistic vistas lit as needed for maximum effect. The pathway between worlds was about as effective as the LIS special effects could make it: a truly eerie dreamscape with smoking dry ice and glittery gauze.

It's good to see how good LIS could be when the creative team thought outside the box.

As stated in another review, if the camp element had been weeded out from this episode, it could have stood up with the first eight episodes (and episode 15) of "Lost in Space." As it is, it's on a par with "Follow the Leader", the first season finale which had many great moments and a few campy ones which detracted from its complete effectiveness.

"The Anti-Matter Man" is probably the very best use of recycling (a common occurrence) in this series: the stark, Stravinsky-like stock music was scored by Herman Stein, and was originally from episode two ("The Derelict"); the rubber-suited red alien was an entirely different character in a prior episode, but put to very good (if utilitarian) use here. There are some superb camera bits, too (kudos to the director, Sutton Roley). And stars Guy Williams and Mark Goddard show more range than expected as Prof. Robinson's and Major West's villainous counterparts.

The effects are OK, but quite atmospheric nonetheless.

The Anti-Matter Man has long been considered a favorite Lost in Space episode, by most aficionados and perhaps the best color episode. It is easy to make that case. At minimum, I rank this as one of the very best. It is exceptionally well written and moves at a perfect pace.

The Anti-Matter man highlights Prof Robinson, with The Robot in a strong supporting role.

Prof Robinson is transported to an Anti-Matter World and a battle between the real Prof Robinson and the Anti-Matter Prof Robinson ensues.

The Robot, Will and Dr. Smith also enter the Anti-Matter world, which in addition to the Anti-Matter Prof Robinson contain the Anti-Matter Major West and Anti-Matter Robot.

Although not overly brave, Dr. Smith is not his usual over-the-top coward nor a buffoon- very appropriate for this episode.

If one were to nitpick, The Robot has a couple of "campish" moments that keep this from being perfect, but it still easily Rates as a "10".

Its a good episode of sci fi TV in general, and probably a great episode as compared to the rest of Lost in Space. Though the topic probably already seemed derivative by the time this aired (Star Trek had already aired similarly themed episodes) they still managed to deal with this in an interesting way with cool set design (when I think "Lost in Space" I always think of the "transdimensional walkway"). Though the acting in this episode is often praised, I find it still somewhat too simplistic. If the campiness had been toned down a bit (for instance, why is the robot expressing that he is afraid so often?) I think this would have turned a good sci fi episode into a great one. Though I never expect much scientific accuracy in these shows, I think having the dimensional gateway be just a door with fire surrounding it is a little silly, even for Lost In Space.

However, I still find it to be an iconic LIS episode, and in 40+ years, it still is enjoyable.