The Anti-Matter Man

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.

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.

This bares less resemblance to the Star Trek season 2 episode episode 4, Mirror Mirror than the season 1 episode 27, The Alternative Factor, where there are two parallel universes connected by a "magnetic corridor" and the two versions of the alien (played by Robert Brown) pass back and forth. One is supposed to be the anti-matter version of the other.

I can see why people choose to link this episode to Mirror, Mirror, it was a far better Star Trek episode than The Alternative Factor.

For this episode, they also throw in that the anti-matter world seems to be a prison world of sorts, with a hint of Superman's Phantom Zone - the anti-matter prisoners talk of being there for a very long time.

One only wishes that more of the LIS episodes were like this one, perhaps there would have been a season 4.

A few observations:

The fire at the opening of the gateway to the anti-matter world was certainly different than the normal "explosion" in front of the camera for the scene change.

I thought it was funny when Will and the Robot first go to the anti-matter world, and the "rocks" start moving, the Robot also raises its arms to cover its "ears" when Will covers his ears.

The "whispered" voice of the Robot sounds a little different than the normal speaking voice.

The "Robot" that Don and Dr. Smith raise up from the ground looked very much like a mock-up, as the real robot suit was probably a lot heavier.

When the "+" Robot was talking to the "-" Robot in its cage, the burning stick on the ground looked to get rather close to the "+" Robot's treads - I wonder if that was intentional.

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.

Receiving top billing for all three years of the show's run didn't quite bode well for Guy Williams. Most of the episodes, from season two through three, focused on the Dr.Smith/Will/Robot trio, leaving the rest of the cast to have glorified "cameos". However, "The Anti-Matter Man" allowed both Williams and Mark Goddard (Don West) some choice scenes, playing their regular characters and the anti-matter world "opposites".

The episode also allowed for some intriguing set design, especially in the Dali-esquire-looking alternate universe. The installment made effective use of stock music from John Williams, much appropriate for several of the tense scenes.

Jonathan Harris's scene-stealing was kept at a minimum in the installment and that, by itself, makes this one a cut above others in the last year of Irwin Allen's classic.