The Possession

The Possession was the Twelfth Episode of the First season of "Land of the Lost." It was written by David Gerrold.
== Summary ==
The Marshalls encounter a strange entity in the gold pylon, a bodiless being that possesses Cha-Ka and the children in order to collect crystal energy.
==Plot==
In the jungle, three Pakuni, Cha-Ka, Ta and Sa, are squatting on the ground eating grapes when they notice that a gold pylon is humming and glowing. They approach warily, and Cha-Ka touches the pylon's surface, but nothing seems to happen until the Land's three moons come into conjunction, and the doorway opens.
Cha-Ka enters the pylon, where he sees something different - a large glowing green sphere above the usual control table. He is dazzled and begins to tremble as the sphere shows him mysterious geometric images. He dematerializes and reappears outside the pylon in front of his shocked fellow Pakuni, holding a long metallic cylinder, and his eyes are glowing with patterns and colors.
He holds the cylinder out to the other Pakuni, and they are shocked, falling to the ground in terror, but quickly get up and run into the jungle. Cha-Ka slowly walks off into the jungle, right past Spike and across the stone bridge to The Lost City where he sees Emily and turns to leave, still moving as if in a trance.
At High Bluff, Holly is taking Dopey and the cart to collect food. Will and Rick discuss whether it is safe to let Holly go off by herself. "She's growing up, Will," says Rick. Rick leaves to collect water.
In the jungle, Holly criticizes Dopey for eating all the strawberries again. Holly sees Cha-Ka walking down the path holding the metallic cylinder, apparently still in a daze. She asks Cha-Ka "What is that? Is that for me?" and grasps it. Her eyes begin glowing and she appears to fall into the same trance-like state as Cha-Ka, while Cha-Ka appears to be freed from it and runs off. Holly walks off towards High Bluff in this trance-like state.
Back in the High Bluff cave, Holly meets Will, who is disturbed by her silence and odd mannerisms. He asks "Holly, what are you doing?" as she approaches some stones set with different colors of Crystals. She points the cylinder at each in turn, and the glow of each crystal fades in turn, fades, producing an escalating series of pitches as the metallic cylinder absorbs their energy and becomes brighter. She then gestures towards Will with the cylinder and he is thrown to the ground. She continues until all the crystals have been deactivated, turns, and slowly leaves the cave, while Will lies unconscious on the cave floor.
Rick returns with his water containers and finds Will semi-conscious. He seems uninjured and tells his father about Holly's strange behavior and the "baton." Rick wants him to stay and rest but he claims he can sense Holly's presence, or the presence of the baton, and can lead Rick to Holly. Rick heads out to find Holly, with Will navigating.
They first find Cha-Ka, who seems to be dazed but not injured. They tell Cha-Ka to go home and point him in the direction of the Pakuni compound, and he staggers off. Will then determines a new direction, saying "that way!"
We see Holly approaching the Lost City.
Will stops and tells his father "she's in the Lost City. It's something to do with the crystals -- she needs more crystals. It's that thing she's carrying." Will tells his father that the Sleestak cannot hurt her while she has the wand with her, and the Sleestak are dormant anyway.
We see Holly in Enik's cavern in the Lost City. She is pointing the cylinder at each of the large crystals on the wall of the cavern, and each goes out in turn. She then does the same thing to the crystals in the control table. Rick and Will enter. The baton is flashing. Will says it is "too late." Rick begs her to "fight that thing," and to drop the baton, but she stuns him and walks slowly out of the cave. Will claims Holly is going to the pylon, and helps his father up. The two chase after her.
In the jungle, Holly comes across Cha-Ka, who is carrying a bowl of water. "Ha-ri!" calls Cha-Ka, but she does not seem to recognize him. Rick and Will arrive, trying to convince Holly to put down the baton, but she moves slowly after them, gesturing with the baton. Her father falls to the ground and she raises the baton threateningly. Will suddenly throws the bowl of water at Holly and she drops the baton, appearing to snap out of her trance. The tearful and frightened Holly recalls that she felt the need to return to the pylon, but can't remember why.
Rick insists that he must enter the pylon, telling the children that he must destroy the entity that has possessed Holly. "This is something that I've got to do." He wants to go to do it without the children, but they insist on coming -- Will tells him "we can show you where the pylon is" and reminds Rick "that thing's touched all of us." They leave the baton lying on the ground and approach the gold pylon, noting that the door is already open. The three Marshalls enter, but Cha-Ka is frightened and leaves.
"Strange... it's a large green ball of light," intones Rick Marshall, as his children turn towards him, apparently both hypnotized. "Maybe I can stop it," says Rick, reaching to remove the crystals from the table. As he does so, Holly says "stop!" in a guttural voice. "Let them go!" Rick demands. "Who are you?" The voice responds, this time using Will's mouth, "I am the great and powerful."
"You're not great! You're not powerful! You just think you are," challenges Rick, again bending to remove the crystals from the table. "I am the watcher in the pylons, the possessor of the presence, I am the sleeper who has awakened, I am the most powerful and the greatest of all!" "What do you want?" asks Rick. "I want power -- I want the crystals!" says the voice, through both children's mouths, and continues bragging.
"If you are so great, and you are so powerful, then why do you use children to do your dirty work?" asks Rick, tossing crystals off of the table. "We are free people, and you can't rule us," he tells the entity. The voice says "Stop! I command you!" as Rick continues to toss the crystals from the table, begging "Daddy, please!" in the children's own voices. "No! Don't shut off my power source! It's lonely in here," says the voice. As Rick finishes, the voice says "Please don't let me die!" and the children collapse, suddenly freed of the possession.
In the glowing green sphere, a face appears, frozen, a reptilian alien creature resembling Enik. "Maybe it was one of the builders of the pylons," says Rick. "We'll never know for sure." The Marshalls leave the pylon, and the glowing sphere slowly fades to darkness.
==Message==
* Coming up
==Cast==
* Spencer Milligan as Rick Marshall
* Wesley Eure as Will Marshall
* Kathy Coleman as Holly Marshall
* Philip Paley as Cha-Ka
* Sharon Bair as Sa
* Joe A. Giamalva as Ta
==Dinosaurs==
* Alice
* Spike
* Dopey
==Quotes==
* Coming Up
==Trivia==
* This episode is notable for a few camera shots of the pylon that are deliberately set up as homage to the early monolith scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey. 
* Rick Marshall in most episodes, has been consistently shown to strongly prefer non-violent, pacifistic, mutually favorable solutions to problems. This is a rare instance of him actually acting deliberately to destroy an enemy. In this case, it was warranted, as the entity of the pylon was clearly evil and could not be reasoned with.
Category: 1974-1976 Episodes]]
Category: Season One Episodes
Category: Episodes
Category: Pylon Episodes
Category: Phenomenon Episodes