"Fugitives in Space" is another of the "Dr. Smith/Major West" episodes, this one concerning their mix-up in a monster fugitive's escape from a red-hot prison planet where he was stationed within a specific quadrant to chop red brick for mineral. The "Warden's Warden", quite pompous and full of himself, doesn't lose fugitives and establishes his flawless record, willing to praise his job as warden of the galaxy for anyone to hear. An alien monster will not "spill the beans" and tell the warden that Smith or West was responsible for helping him escape, with them wrongfully convicted, sentenced to the worst prison planet imaginable. Truthfully, the warden wants Smith and West to help him, unbeknownst to them, discover where a certain prisoner named Creech has a gang with a secret supply of deutronium, worth billions. Creech is a serial escape artist, and the warden just knows he will try it again, this time with West and Smith, voluntarily or involuntarily, helping him. Meanwhile, the Robinson family, except Will and Robot, are off site with the two trying to save West and Smith from a certainly damning fate.
Smith is up to his old tricks again, implicating West as the one responsible for helping Creech escape, with the warden mentioning that he should have tried to stop both of them, a penal violation which also includes his own breaking of the galactic law. Whatever laws broken, Smith's true colors once again ring true and he is shown to be quite a nefarious bastard willing to wrongfully accuse West just as a means to escape involvement in a crime. Yet there are times when Smith's life is in danger (by Creech or walking through a mine field), with West saving him. Quite one-sided as always saying a lot about why West basks in certain moments when Smith looks like a fool and I do not oppose his amusement. Pretty much this episode plays as a comic satire on prison movies and archetypes with Tol Avery having a grand old time of it as the blowhard Warden who really makes it a point to mention his superb arrest/conviction record. He has a funny scene with Smith where Warden isn't pleased when the worm tries to convince him of his innocence (Warden says he knows a criminal type when he sees one and is correct in the case of Smith, who even tries to negotiate a cozier prison term, getting sent instead to the worst prison planet, haha!). Michael Conrad, under heavy make-up (blue skin, with an extended mouth, kind of giving him a ape-like face), snarls and barks orders, with a few intense scenes (including one fine fight) with West. The prisoners wear the basic striped shirts with prison numbers as in any regular prison movie audiences were accustomed to in the 60s, which adds a campiness to the proceedings. There's an amusing "robotic tribunal and jury" that convicts West and Smith (the robotic head which issues their sentence comes from the episode "Treasure of the Lost Planet" with Capt Tucker in season 2).
Smith is up to his old tricks again, implicating West as the one responsible for helping Creech escape, with the warden mentioning that he should have tried to stop both of them, a penal violation which also includes his own breaking of the galactic law. Whatever laws broken, Smith's true colors once again ring true and he is shown to be quite a nefarious bastard willing to wrongfully accuse West just as a means to escape involvement in a crime. Yet there are times when Smith's life is in danger (by Creech or walking through a mine field), with West saving him. Quite one-sided as always saying a lot about why West basks in certain moments when Smith looks like a fool and I do not oppose his amusement. Pretty much this episode plays as a comic satire on prison movies and archetypes with Tol Avery having a grand old time of it as the blowhard Warden who really makes it a point to mention his superb arrest/conviction record. He has a funny scene with Smith where Warden isn't pleased when the worm tries to convince him of his innocence (Warden says he knows a criminal type when he sees one and is correct in the case of Smith, who even tries to negotiate a cozier prison term, getting sent instead to the worst prison planet, haha!). Michael Conrad, under heavy make-up (blue skin, with an extended mouth, kind of giving him a ape-like face), snarls and barks orders, with a few intense scenes (including one fine fight) with West. The prisoners wear the basic striped shirts with prison numbers as in any regular prison movie audiences were accustomed to in the 60s, which adds a campiness to the proceedings. There's an amusing "robotic tribunal and jury" that convicts West and Smith (the robotic head which issues their sentence comes from the episode "Treasure of the Lost Planet" with Capt Tucker in season 2).
