This one's notable because the cliffhanger was altered from the previous week. In the original cliffhanger at the end of "West of Mars", Smith finds a harp which when played apparently transports him into a quite convincing-looking Hades with fire and brimstone whereupon he's welcomed by the personification of Satan.
We see the same scenes repeated at the beginning of this episode except the robot mentions that the harp unlocks an "alien prison" (i.e. it's not actually hell) and the Satan-like character Morbus whispers to the viewer a suggestion that this is not actually hell, only that Dr Smith wrongly believes that it is.
So, I do wonder if there were complaints or concerns about an episode apparently set in hell, after the original cliffhanger was aired?
The second unusual feature of this episode is that the notoriously underused Judy gets quite a few lines and a few scenes in which she is the focus. Although they end in pure slapstick, it's refreshing to see her actually have a reason for appearing in an episode. We also get some insight about the state of her completely forgotten about (non-)relationship with Don.
The story about the eternal imprisonment of this week's "guest alien" Morbus is really incidental to allowing some subterranean slapstick shenanigans involving various "monsters" and also gives reason to show some highly amusing Scrooge-like flashbacks into Dr Smith's school days.
Of course Dr Smith was a very naughty youngster, being the classroom snitch, stealing exam papers and then as a man, the trick he uses to steal part of a chocolate birthday cake is actually quite cunning if not quite his most heinous crime, compared to some of the stunts he pulled in previous episodes. The biggest crime shown here was probably his schooldays haircut!
The actor playing Morbus is also very good with great delivery. Overall, for me this episode is elevated above the previous few fantasy ones. It just works better due to the acting and devious sense of humour. So, it's one of the better season two episodes.
We see the same scenes repeated at the beginning of this episode except the robot mentions that the harp unlocks an "alien prison" (i.e. it's not actually hell) and the Satan-like character Morbus whispers to the viewer a suggestion that this is not actually hell, only that Dr Smith wrongly believes that it is.
So, I do wonder if there were complaints or concerns about an episode apparently set in hell, after the original cliffhanger was aired?
The second unusual feature of this episode is that the notoriously underused Judy gets quite a few lines and a few scenes in which she is the focus. Although they end in pure slapstick, it's refreshing to see her actually have a reason for appearing in an episode. We also get some insight about the state of her completely forgotten about (non-)relationship with Don.
The story about the eternal imprisonment of this week's "guest alien" Morbus is really incidental to allowing some subterranean slapstick shenanigans involving various "monsters" and also gives reason to show some highly amusing Scrooge-like flashbacks into Dr Smith's school days.
Of course Dr Smith was a very naughty youngster, being the classroom snitch, stealing exam papers and then as a man, the trick he uses to steal part of a chocolate birthday cake is actually quite cunning if not quite his most heinous crime, compared to some of the stunts he pulled in previous episodes. The biggest crime shown here was probably his schooldays haircut!
The actor playing Morbus is also very good with great delivery. Overall, for me this episode is elevated above the previous few fantasy ones. It just works better due to the acting and devious sense of humour. So, it's one of the better season two episodes.