Revisiting the original Land of the Lost remains fascinating to me. I watched the show religiously as a kid, but I had no memory of it being so overwrought. Then again, I thought William Shatner was the best actor in the world at the time, so my overacting sensors may have been broken.
This episode introduces a major part of the weird mythology that makes Land of the Lost so unique and way different from just a show with cheap Claymation dinosaurs. Marshall (who seems to always be covered in a fine sheen of grease and out of breath), Will and Holly meet Enik the Altrusian, a guy who has stumbled into the Land of the Lost through a time portal. But he’s not just any guy – Enik is a Sleestak from the future, trapped amongst his barbaric ancestors. Or is he…? Enik may be in for a rude awakening.
Enik plays a pretty big role in this weekend’s Land of the Lost movie. Props to Brad Silberling and his writers for not giving the character even half the exposition he has in this 20 minute episode.
This episode is chock full of actors way over-emoting, with a shit ton of scifi technobabble and time travel nonsense and little to no action. Yet I sat riveted to the TV when this show was on, and I remember Enik with incredibly fondness.
Highlights: This episode was written by Walter Koenig – yes, Chekov from Star Trek. And the actors pretending to see their worst nightmares in a dry ice fog is so hilarious and over the top that I actually felt embarrassed for them while watching. I wish I could have been on set that day.