Attack of the Monster Plants (LiS episode)

"Attack of the Monster Plants"
LiS episode	1x14 / 14th of 83 aired
Production #	8514
First aired	15 December 1965
Written by	William Read Woodfield, Allan Balter
Directed by	Justis Addiss
Previous episode	"One of Our Dogs is Missing"
Next episode	"Return from Outer Space"

Last week, as you recall, we left Professor Robinson and Judy at work, refining atomic ore - unaware that, a short distance away from them, a treacherous, man-devouring pit lay waiting for its prey...

Summary

Giant cyclamen plants, which duplicate anything put into them, make an evil duplicate of Judy, in attempt to get the Jupiter 2's supply of deutronium fuel. The evil Judy feeds all of the fuel to the plants, while Dr. Smith refuses to tell the Robinsons where the real Judy is.

Background Information

• This episode sees the only use of the Chariot's powerful neutron guns (possibly the strongest rifles in the Robinsons' Arsenal).
• The cyclamen commonly sold by florists C. persicum is frost-tender, making the use of cold to kill them plausible.

• There is a continuity error as we never learn the fate of the "plant" Judy Robinson, although the bruise marks on her arm when she's grabbed in the Chariot suggest an ersatz quality to her form.
• In the first season the alien planet's biosphere seems to be dominated by native life-forms that grow rapidly and either adopt the characteristics of a host or promote giganticism . Perhaps this was an adaption to the wild climate changes or an idea borrowed from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."
• Marta Kristen says she liked doing this episode as it gave her a chance to use more of her acting skills.
• The plants' ability to mimic and reproduce another object is used as a device in John Varley's "In The Hall of the Martian Kings" where astronauts stranded on Mars are assisted by bio-engineered plants created by the long dead Martians who made them to help potential future explorers survive.

• The monster plants - and the method of dispatching them - is the same as seen in Welcome Stranger and The Space Croppers.

• An original title for this episode was The Cyclamen
• When the "plant" Judy was struggling in the Chariot with Professor Robinson to stop Major West from destroying the cyclamen, she hit her head on the windshield twice.

Links and references

Cast

• Guy Williams as John Robinson
• June Lockhart as Maureen Robinson
• Mark Goddard as Major Don West
• Marta Kristen as Judy Robinson
• Angela Cartwright as Penny Robinson
• Bill Mumy as Will Robinson
• Jonathan Harris as Doctor Smith
• Bob May as the Robot

Links

• Attack of the Monster Plants on Fancast
• Attack of the Monster Plants at the Internet Movie Database