Repairman

Land of the Lost
Season 3, Episode 4
Air date	October 2, 1976
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Repairman was the First Episode of the Third Season of the Land of the Lost.

Summary

The Sleestak sabotage one of the Pylons, and a mysterious figure shows up to repair it.

Plot

Annoyed by the Marshalls' recent move from High Bluff to the Lost Temple, the Sleestak consult with the Skull of Wisdom and ask how they might be rid of the Marshalls. The Skull informs them of a Pylon that controls the sun which will give the Sleestak power to destroy all life on the surface, plant and animal.

As the Marshalls enjoy an quiet, restful day at the Temple, the Sleestak have accessed the Pylon that controls the sun, gaining entry from their underground caves through a hole beneath the Pylon. After sealing the hole, the Sleestak then remove a crystal from the crystal table.

At the Marshalls' home in the Lost Temple, the temperature suddenly rises to near-unbearable temperatures as the sun becomes a roiling mass emitting solar flares. The Marshalls retreat inside the temple, sealing themselves inside to escape the intense heat.

In the Library of Skulls, the Skull of Wisdom assures the Sleestak that they are safe from the solar flares as long as they remain in their caves. The Marshalls, however, are feeling the heat build up as the stone walls of their home gradually becoming warmer, slowly turning their home into an oven. When Holly discovers they're out of water, Jack decides to brave the heat to collect more.

After filling their vessels (which are animal bladders) with water from the swamp, Jack makes his way back to their shelter at the Lost Temple when he comes across a man dressed in formal business attire carrying a valise. The man explains that he's been waiting for Jack and introduces himself as William Blandings. As Jack and Blandings continue toward the Lost Temple, they encounter Grumpy and Big Alice engaged in combat. Blandings assesses the situation and determines they're "battling over water," then produces a divining rod from his valise. After using it to search for water, Blandings pokes the divining rod into the ground and water begins to trickle from the hole made by the divining rod, as if from a natural spring.

Smelling the water, Grumpy and Big Alice stop fighting and charge toward the water.

Back at the Marshalls' shelter, Jack, Holly and Cha-Ka are skeptical of Blandings and his apparent good intentions. Cha-Ka suggests he might be an ally to the Sleestak and Holly asks how they can know that Blandings didn't cause the solar flares. As a gesture of goodwill, Blandings offers everyone a cold drink. Holly then says that if she could have anything in the world, it would be a "chocolate malt, double." Blandings then produces chocolate malts for everyone. When Holly says, "I don't believe it," Blandings responds that if that's the case he cannot help them, and Holly's malt vanishes out of her hand. When Holly responds, "Hey, wait! I believe!" her malt immediately reappears in her hand.

Blandings then announces that he must "pay a visit to the Sleestak." Alarmed, Jack, Holly and Cha-Ka attempt to dissuade him, pointing out how dangerous the Sleestak are, but Blandings remains unconcerned. Jack insists on accompanying Blandings.

To protect them from the heat, Blandings produces an umbrella. As the two make their way to the Sleestak caves, Jack notes that it feels like air-conditioning under the umbrella. Outside the Lost City, Jack and Blandings encounter Big Alice. Jack suggests returning at another time, but Blandings' schedule does not permit this. Blandings then produces an amulet and, as Big Alice charges, the territorial predator is immediately repelled by a force field.

In the Sleestak caves, the Sleestak are similarly repulsed by the force field, one being knocked into the pit of the god and presumably devoured. Jack and Blandings then make their way to the Library of Skulls as the Sleestak follow from a distance, mindful of the force field. In the Library, Blandings finds the same crystal that the Sleestak removed from the Pylon, which he calls the "sun crystal." In showing the crystal to Jack, he accidentally knocks his pendant to the hard floor of the cave. The pendant shatters.

Jack and Blandings then move on as nonchalantly as possible, not wishing to alert the trailing Sleestak that the force field that kept them at bay is gone. The ruse is nearly successful, but unfortunately Jack and Blandings run into the Sleestak Leader. As the Sleestak Leader attacks, the two trailing Sleestak realize the force field is gone, and join in attempting to subdue Blandings and Jack. Blandings gives Jack the sun crystal and tells him to save himself. Jack flees, promising to return, and Blandings is thrown into the pit of the god.

Back at the temple, Jack and Will devise a plan to rescue Blandings. Having observing natural gas bubbling from the swamp when he gathered water earlier, Jack proposes using their water vessels (which are animal bladders) to collect the natural gas. The gas-filled bladders can then be ignited and thrown, producing fireballs that would undoubtedly repel the light-sensitive Sleestak.

In the Pit of the God, Blandings is remarkably unconcerned about the creature that lives in it, and more concerned about how he will explain his mission's failure. Unfazed by the monster's bellowing, he simply tells it to be quiet, pointing out that it just ate a Sleestak less than an hour ago.

Jack and Will have filled the bladders with natural gas and have made their way to the Sleestak caves. When the Sleestak approach, Will hurls a flaming gas-filled bladder at them and the resulting fireball has the desired effect and the Sleestak are staggered.

Jack and Will then rescue Blandings from the pit, using another improvised gas bomb to repel more of the Sleestak. Once rescued from the pit, Blandings reveals that his purpose in the Land of the Lost is as "sort of a repairman...in this case, [for] the sun."

Rather than fleeing the Sleestak caves, Blandings insists that his purpose lies further in the caves. He then leads Jack and Will to the same ladder that the Sleestak used to access the Pylon from beneath. As the Sleestak close in, Blandings finally finds the key in one of his pockets, unsealing the hole used by the Sleestak to access the Pylon. After he, Jack and Will ascend the ladder and enter the Pylon, Blandings then seals the hole, saying it is now sealed permanently.

Blandings replaces the sun crystal, then uses his key to open the doorway on the side of the Pylon. As they exit the Pylon, Jack and Will note that the solar flares have stopped, and the excess heat is gone.

Blandings then asks for the time, and Jack notes that it's six o'clock. But Blandings has vanished.

Back at the cave, Holly reveals that Blandings told her that they would get out of the Land of the Lost, but didn't say when.

Message

• Coming Up

Cast

• Ron Harper as Jack Marshall
• Wesley Eure as Will Marshall
• Kathy Coleman as Holly Marshall
• Philip Paley as Cha-Ka
• Laurie Main as William Blandings
• Walker Edmiston as The Wisdom Skull (voice)
• Jon Locke as The Sleestak Leader
• Cleveland Porter as Sleestak
• William Boyd as Sleestak

Dinosaurs

• Spot
• Lulu
• Spike
• Big Alice
• Alice
• Grumpy

Quotes

• Coming up

Trivia

• After the Sleestak enter the Pylon from beneath, they seal the hole they used to access the Pylon from their caves. This would mean that after they removed the sun crystal, triggering the solar flares, they would have to journey back to the caves by walking outdoors in broad daylight during intense solar flares. Adverse as they are to light, even torchlight, this should have been impossible. Perhaps the Sleestak, after sealing the hole, realized their mistake and unsealed it, sealing it again when they descended the ladder back into their caves.
• After Blandings produces milkshakes for the Marshalls, Cha-Ka accepts his and pronounces it good before he even tastes it. This is especially odd since Cha-Ka has never even heard of milkshakes, much less tasted one. Perhaps this is due to Cha-Ka's enthusiastic acceptance of anything that the Marshalls do.
• When the Sleestak abduct Blandings, they don't as much capture him but merely push him out of the scene.