This tornado, it was Smith’s fault somehow, wasn’t it?
Sorry to be a pest, this epi is first season (B&W). Will finds some machine which emits a beam of light and sends him to Earth. He brings back the Carbon Tetrachloride when the machine brings him back.
This one is third season (Color–it’s called “Visit to a Hostile Planet”). While flushing impurities out of the propulsion system, the flight crew send the ship into a faster-than-light time warp and they go to 1947 Earth. Hilarity ensues. No one explains how they get back to their own time. Remember–Voltones?
Anything else?
Do you recall what they needed it for?
I think it was something to do with the Hydroponic Garden (wasn’t it always? 
). The town was Hatfield Four Corners, Vermont. The Robot was supposed to bring Will back in four hours and Smith takes R away for reprogramming which will screw up W’s return.
Dry cleaning most likely. Those shiny uniforms sure weren’t machine washable.
Don’t ya love the way the clothes always came back out of the washer folded and wrapped in plastic? Then into Maureen’s plastic Walmart basket.
Skimmed the episode a few minutes ago–the Carbon Tet was for the food purifier. What they were going to use when Will’s bottle was gone is anybody’s guess.
Closer than you think: Dr. Smith used it for getting out stains, left off the cap, and it all evaporated.
They were getting neutronium by sucking it out of the ground with some machine as I recall. I think that they clearly had no idea what it actually is.
Sorry, again, guys, their fuel source was Deutronium.
Lost In Space’s Dr. Smith: Bumbler of Evil.
Well put.
If you get a chance to see the original pilot (no Smith, no Robot), you’ll be amazed at the things they changed for the series. If you’re a total nut, like me, you’ll notice how they used almost every second of said pilot in subsequent episodes of the first season. So economical, it’s almost breathtaking. 
!!!
[searches YouTube]
The original pilot, “No Place To Hide,” is free on HuluPlus; Amazon Prime will cost you $2.
Yeah. Dr. Robinson told Smith to shut off the Tornado Machine after it ran for twenty minutes, but Smith decided to take a nap instead, and the tornado got out of hand and threatened to kill everyone. After they all escaped (with one mighty bound) Major West got mad and yelled “SMIIITH!” and tried to beat him up, while Dr. Robinson held him back.
Isn’t that the way it usually happened?
BTW, West’s reactions to Smith’s behavior now seem to me typical of mid-20th century homophobia. I think Don West got mad at Dr. Smith so much because Smith made him feel funny “down there.”
Didn’t Smith accidentally buy a robot from a robot vending machine, and their original Robot got jealous? “She took my pointer!” Then they had to use the fuel they were going to use to get home to pay the vendor back. Point is, Smith was an idiot.
I think thisexplains a lot.
The first pilot did not have much of a plot. It was mostly a series of Random Monster Encounters. I think its main purpose was to show the network execs what the FX department could do on a budget.
the show actually got better.
Oh, the pain, the pain.
Agreed; “amazed” was probably the wrong word for me to use–probably more like “befuddled.” “Gemini 12”? 90-something years to reach their destination? 
johnpost is right, too. ::shudder::
Ugh. I realize now my first paragraph makes me look really stupid. I don’t mean that they intentionally explained what happened. I was just asking if there’s any fan explanation for why his personality changed. That’s what we do with obvious BS in Trek. We come up with explanations to fix obvious things like character changes.
If there is no explanation, then I propose mine. What do you guys think?