Episode 24 (S3) – Junkyard in Space

The final episode of LOST IN SPACE begins with Dr Smith hard at work writing his memoirs. “OUTER SPACE AND I will be one of the biggest sellers in the history of literature” he boasts to Will.

He is interrupted by a fire that flares on the port side of the ship. A malfunctioning fuel tank is to blame. John and Don decide they will have to land on the nearest planet to effect repairs. The robot goes down first in the space pod to check the planet is suitable for habitation.

After some time, an emergency help signal is received by the Jupiter 2. They head the ship in the direction of the planet to retrieve the robot. Once landed, it is clear the planet resembles a junkyard, with scrap metal and discarded machines littering its surface.

A mother-of-all-magnets contraption like this one could have come in real handy on this planet.

They locate the robot, who is hanging upside down from a giant magnet. A silver ‘Junkman’ appears, and looking at the Robinsons observes, “You are the strangest looking junk that’s ever been dropped here.”

The Junkman then sees the Robinson’s spaceship and says, “Nice piece of metal. Should melt down very nicely”. He tells the family that all space junk falls onto the planet and that he alone has cornered the intergalactic junk market.

The Jupiter 2 then tries to blast off from the planet. It is prevented from doing so because of the planet’s magnetic pull, caused by the accumulation of all the space junk. A severe food shortage then hits the Robinson’s camp.

The hydroponic garden and the family’s freezer unit are contaminated by what Maureen describes as a type of ‘rust-mould‘. Dr Smith cooks up his own leather shoe in response. Soon the Junkman approaches with a better offer.

In exchange for a beef stroganoff served with red wine, the Junkman says he needs a ‘stability unit’. There is one inside the robot. Smith convinces the robot to sacrifice it in exchange for the food. When the exchange happens, the junkman says he also needs the robot’s transistors.

The Junkman then steals the family’s spaceship. Various attempts are made using the space-pod to go after him. Eventually he is talked into returning by Will.

Meanwhile the robot, believing he will never be whole again without his missing parts, places himself on a conveyor belt headed for a melt-down furnace. Miraculously he survives the attempt and the episode, and the series, ends on a happy note.

A big thankyou to everyone who has followed this blog since it’s first post back on October 27th, 2018. A particularly wholehearted thanks to American author Stacey Bryan who has contributed cool comments on all 83 episodes.

LOST IN SPACE FIRESIDE from today will be officially ‘grandfathered’. There will be one final post looking back over the three years of this blog that will feature on SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK. Thankyou one and all. It’s been a LOT of fun.