After-Shock

After-Shock was the First Episode of the Third Season of the Land of the Lost.
==Summary==
After Rick Marshall "disappears" during an earthquake that wrecks the Land of the Lost, Will and Holly are joined by his brother, their Uncle Jack who has been searching for them.
==Plot==
Will and Holly Marshall are exiting a newly-discovered pylon with their father still inside. As Will and Holly eat, they discuss their hopes that this new pylon will help them return home. Suddenly, a violent earthquake erupts, and Will and Holly return to the pylon, only to see their father "disappear" through a dimensional portal, and the control panel topples, spilling the crystals.
Realizing that with the pylon destroyed in the earthquake, they can't retrieve or follow their father. Holly gives into despair. Will attempts to comfort her by pointing out that if he made it home, he will be working diligently to recover them.
As Will and Holly go to survey the damage caused by the quake, they encounter a despondent Cha-ka who explains that the earthquake had caused the ground to open up, the resulting fissure separating Cha-Ka from the rest of his tribe, who abandoned him. Will and Holly explain that their father "disappeared," and that the three of them needed to stay together.
They are interrupted by the appearance of a strange mutated elasmosaurus with two heads. After escaping the creature, they go to their cave at High Bluff for supplies and food, only to discover that the cave's entrance has been sealed off by the earthquake.
After making a quick lunch of native fruit, they begin journeying in search of a new cave to make their home, but Holly spots something fall into the Land of the Lost by the lagoon and they set out to find what it was. Cha-ka climbs a tree to investigate, but can only describe the object as big and yellow, not recognizing what he saw. He also notes that the object landed in high grass by the lagoon.
As they approach, they again evade the elasmosaurus, which Holly dubs Lulu ("one 'Lu' for each head"). Having encountered LuLu twice and dodged her both times, they speculate that the creature probably has poor eyesight when its heads are out of the water. When Lulu retreats, they approach the high grass and discover that the "big yellow" object spotted by Cha-ka is a life raft.
As they approach, they discover their father's brother, their Uncle Jack, who has been searching for them for the last 6 months. He took the same route they took and arrived at the Land of the Lost. He is relieved that Will and Holly are okay, but disappointed that he missed his brother. He also becomes friends with Cha-ka.
Their reunion is interrupted by the reappearance of Lulu. After the Marshalls and Cha-ka flee, Will sends Holly and Cha-ka to gather food while he and Uncle Jack explore options for a new home. They decide that the Lost City would not be suitable, as the Sleestak and Big Alice occupy it, and the Lost Temple would be a better choice. While the door had been previously sealed off, it was unsealed by the earthquake.
Will and Uncle Jack gather firewood and work to make the place more suitable to live in. They are interrupted by the screams of Holly and Cha-ka being pursued by the Sleestak. After the Sleestak are driven off, the voice of the Sleestak Leader is heard, demanding that they surrender the Temple. The Marshalls refuse, and the Sleestak continue their assault. While the Marshalls and Cha ka take turns keeping the Sleestak at bay with torches, Will and Uncle Jack are able to mount the heavy stone door on rollers. The Marshalls and Cha-ka are all able to get inside with the door sealed against the Sleestak.
==Message==
* "Even in darkest sorrow, a glimmer of hope can survive."
==Cast==
* Ron Harper as Jack Marshall
* Wesley Eure as Will Marshall
* Kathy Coleman as Holly Marshall
* Jon Kubichan as Rick Marshall
* Philip Paley as Cha-Ka
* Jon Locke as The Sleestak Leader
* William Boyd as Sleestak
* Cleveland Porter as Sleestak
==Dinosaurs==
* Grumpy
* Lulu
* Big Alice
==Quotes==
* Coming Up
==Trivia==
* First appearance of Lulu
* With this episode, Philip Paley becomes a series regular.
* This was the first episode with Ron Harper, who joins the cast as Uncle Jack, replacing Spencer Milligan.
* Since Spencer Milligan had left the series over a dispute in the use of his likeness on memorabilia, Jon Kubichan, the writer and producer for the episode, played Rick Marshall with a hairpiece to resemble Milligan. He was only seen from behind and had no spoken lines, though his brief appearance would be used in the introductory footage throughout the rest of the series.
* Although Grumpy is seen disappearing into a fissure during the repercussions, he turns up alive in later episodes.
*The footage of the earthquake, including the opening fissure that claims Grumpy, was used just two episodes prior, in Split Personality.
* Holly seems to have had another growth spurt between seasons but is still wearing the same clean attire she had in the first episode.
* In Lulu's appearances, she doesn't dive; she just gets lifted up and down in the water.
* Jack reveals that, at least in earth time, Rick, Will and Holly have been gone for six months, and he has been searching for them the entire time.
* When the Sleestak flee the caves because of the earthquakes, they remark they became scared when the earth shook. It sounds odd they would be aware of a term like "earth" instead of just saying "the ground shakes." Furthermore, being the dangerous race they are are and their menacing behavior, it seems odd they would become scared of tremors. Possibly, they became aware of the term, "earthquake" from previous visitors from Earth in the past.
* The entire series must have been filmed in advance when this episode aired for the first time as the opening and ending montage have scenes of Jack performing feats from later episodes. 
* After this episode, the tradition of the series makes a dramatic change from dinosaurs and the mysteries of the Land of the Lost to one with recurring visitors and monsters and even more recurring conflicts with the Sleestak.
Category: 1974-1976 Episodes
Category: Season Three Episodes
Category: Episodes
Category: Pylon Episodes
Category: Phenomenon Episodes
Category: Dinosaur Episodes