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In Catfights in Space!, I am juxtaposing pairs
of women from Lost in Space, usually from different episodes. A
similar juxtaposition has actually been done on the show: in the
first season episode "The Sky Is Falling," writers Barney
Slater and Herman Groves clearly want to show us that Tauron maternal
behavior does not differ significantly from the maternal behavior of homosapiens.
The wisdom we are supposed to glean from this episode counters Dr. Smith’s
statement that "an alien race[‘s] . . . emotional responses could
be the direct opposite of our own." A family from the alien race of
Taurons lands on Priplanus to colonize the planet, similar to the way
the Robinsons plan on colonizing Alpha Centauri. The Tauron couple—Rethso
and Moela—have allowed their son Lunon to go off to play on Priplanus.
Will Robinson meets this young alien lad and greets him with the
friendliness and respect that he shows most aliens. Will and Lunon play
with Lunon’s toy, which is a kind of "boomerang ball." Will
sneezes, touches the ball, and gives it back to Lunon. Unfortunately,
Will’s cold virus causes Lunon to take ill immediately. Will attempts
to care for him by taking Lunon to a cave to rest. |
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Little do the two sets of parents know that their sons have been playing catch together and that the boys are stuck in a cave until morning. Through an elaborate set of juxtapositions, we see the Robinsons—especially Maureen—concerned over Will’s absence, and we see the Tauron couple—especially Moela—concerned over Lunon’s absence. First, we see Maureen outside the Jupiter 2, anxiously looking for Will. Happy to appease his wife's maternal worries, John says that he and Don will go to look for Will. |
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Cut to the Taurons’ camp, where Moela is anxiously looking for her son Lunon. Through nonverbal communication, we see her husband Rethso agree to go look for their son. Will Robinson is ever so right when he says to Lunon, "Our parents will be worried about us." |
The next set of juxtaposed scenes begins when Moela sets out three plates of food with steaming hot beverages.
Glancing at the food and shaking their heads, Moela and Rethso acknowledge that
their appetites have been taken away by their worry over Lunon’s
absence. Cut to the Jupiter 2, where Maureen tells John, "Your
dinner’s getting cold." John responds with, "I’m not
particularly hungry" . . . and neither is Maureen. |
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These scenes allow us to see a strong similarity between Maureen and Moela. As mothers, they both have a protective attitude toward their children. It’s interesting to think what might be the result of a catfight between these two women . . . imagine, if you will, what might have happened if both John Robinson and Rethso had been killed in the misunderstanding over the two boys’ absence. What would have happened if Maureen and Moela—both longing for a mate—had competed for the romantic and sexual attentions of Don West? In "The Sky is Falling," we see Moela hide behind a rock with a gun, ready to provide Rethso with cover. And, sure enough, once she believes that John Robinson has had something to do with Lunon’s disappearance, she motions for her husband to attack John. |
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Another interesting catfight in space would
be between Miss Ruth Templeton from the much-beloved, first season LIS episode "Return from
Outer Space" and my own Ma, Sybilla, from "The Space Croppers"
(also from the first season). As you can
see from the photos, the two women are similar in that they both are saddled with uppity
"children": Miss Templeton is ready to take Will Robinson under her wing and
have him live at the County Home for Boys. Will, of course, is only temporarily visiting
Earth to get some carbon tetrachloride for his family’s food purification unit. He
has no intention of being shanghaied into living at an orphanage, and he successfully
avoids the long-term maternal ministrations of Miss Templeton and Davey Sims' Aunt Clara. Will
does everything he can to call Alpha Control while he’s on Earth, but to no avail. At
least the cute little fella brings back the carbon tet for his family! |
| A stronger, more forceful figure than Miss Templeton, my Ma Sybilla is an agricultural leader. She keeps my brother Keel in line and she tries to keep me in line. That’s me up there in the picture, wearing Maureen Robinson’s space gauntlets and havin’ a good old time, until Ma breaks up the fun by saying: "Effra, I won't have it. Conversing with strangers again!" And she sure tells off those Robinsons: when that Maureen Robinson says, "We heard the chanting and we thought you wouldn't mind if we dropped in," Ma puts her straight by telling her "We wouldn’t mind if you dropped out," ordering them off our land. |
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An aunt is a wonderful person to have . . . she cares for you like a mother, but she has additional qualities that make her special . . . perhaps you can talk things over with your aunt that you wouldn’t want to talk about with your mother. |
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Just make sure that you eat your apple pie and drink your milk . . . and, oh, yeah, that you want to be a Princess. |
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If Davey Sims’ Aunt Clara (from "Return from Outer Space") and
Princess Alpha’s Aunt Gamma (from the third season episode "Princess of
Space") faced off in a catfight, there sure would be a show. At war would
be Aunt Clara’s good, sound, old-fashioned, middle-America values (okay,
Hatfield Four Corners is in Vermont, I know) versus Aunt Gamma’s glamour,
glitter, and love of pomp and circumstance. Who would win?
Aunt Clara is a strong woman, but one wonders about her memory; she claims that "we all remember" the day when the Robinsons went up into space. But--only a year after the launch--she can’t seem to remember what Will Robinson looks like. Aunt Gamma (lovingly called "Aunt Gammy" by Princess Alpha) seems full of tricks; she performs a sort of mental sleight-of-hand on Penny Robinson, who has been groomed by Captain Kraspo to "be" Princess Alpha. First, Aunt Gamma tricks Penny into thinking that she doesn’t believe Penny is Princess Alpha. Thus, reduced to tears, Penny admits that Captain Kraspo has told her to lie. Yet, as it turns out, Aunt Gamma really does believe that Penny is her niece, the Princess Alpha. |
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| Aunt Clara gets Will a glass of milk and some of her apple pie. |
We know that Maureen Robinson has similar
protective instincts that could make her turn to violence. So
predicting the
winner of a catfight between Maureen and Moela is difficult. The close parallel
between these two mothers that Slater and Groves show us makes it even tougher. Ms.
Effra’s call? A definite DRAW.
