Mercedes McCambridge is the space hillbilly mother, Sybilla, and she's a hoot here as she was in everything she did.The meat of the story is really the "romance" between Dr. Smith and Sybilla, and I'd say that in spite of the way things turned out they would have been well-matched; they pretty much had each other's number, regardless of the drivel Smith was spooling out and the way she seemed to be buying it. The actual menace -- the flesh-eating plants -- didn't really amount to much; and maybe I wasn't concentrating enough, but I didn't understand the purpose of them. The croppers plant them, let them run amok, and then just leave? I thought they had something to do with producing space ship fuel, but maybe I misunderstood that part.Unfortunately the comment made by a reviewer below about Judy and Efra having a girl fight is misleading; nothing like that occurs. They have a couple of tart words and that's it.

One of my favs in the entire series. Absolutely hilarious!!!! Camb, of course, but this is lush stuff--and this episode has it all, highlighted by the pricelss banter between Dr. Smith and Queen Hillbilly, Sybilla!!! Great dialogue and here's where this show hits it stride. And yes, here's an episode that screams for color. But as it is, wonderful!!!