Land of the Lost: The Sleestak God

"Wow. Looks like an ancient temple. I wonder who built it?"

- Will Marshall

"The Sleestak God" is the second episode of season one of the children's television series Land of the Lost. Directed by series producer Dennis Steinmetz and written by David Gerrold, the episode first aired on NBC on Saturday, September 14th, 1974. In this episode, Will and Holly are sent out on an errand, but discover the ruins of some ancient lost city. A mysterious, tribe of primitive lizard men known as Sleestaks emerge from the ruins and abduct them, preparing to sacrifice them to their monstrous Sleestak God. When the two go missing, Cha-Ka seeks out Rick Marshall and warns him about the mysterious Sleestaks.

Synopsis
Rick Marshall sends his son Will and his daughter Holly down to the water hole to gather some fresh water. Will doesn't want to chaperone his little sister, and Holly is just as content doing the chores herself. Regardless, Rick wants Will to watch over her. Will takes her down a shortcut that leads across the Great Gorge. They find the ruins of an ancient temple and walk over to investigate. A giant Allosaurus lumbers out and begins growling. Will and Holly take several steps backward until they are out of the animal's line of sight. Holly decides to name it "Big Alice".

They head back towards the crevasse until they reach a patch of red, oxidized sand. Holly notices a pair of footprints in the sand and they determine that they are Pakuni prints. From behind a nearby bush, Cha-Ka observes the two, but doesn't make his presence known. Will and Holly decide to follow the prints, but eventually, they begin going about in circles. Will catches sight of Cha-Ka and calls out to him. Startled, Cha-Ka begins to run away. Will chases after him, but they both run across Spike, the Tricerotops. Spike charges after them, but Will and Cha-Ka meet back up with Holly and take cover behind a large rock. The animal runs right past them. Once they're safe, Will gives Cha-Ka some water and uses his knife to remove the splint from Cha-Ka's leg (which has since healed). Cha-Ka follows them back across the crevasse as they resume the task of filling up their empty jugs with water.

They end up getting lost and find themselves back near the old ruins of the Lost City. Holly spots the words "Beware of Sleestak" painted upon a stone column. When Will reads it aloud, Cha-Ka recognizes the words and grows frightened. He begins jumping up and down shouting, "Sa-rees-sa-taka". Will tries to calm him down, but Cha-Ka runs off. Holly and he decide to leave Cha-Ka to his own devices and walk closer towards the ruins. As the fog begins rolling in, three large, green Sleestaks emerge from the bushes. They chase after Will and Holly and capture them right in front of the great temple. Meanwhile, Cha-Ka begins running back towards the gorge, but catches the attention of Big Alice. Alice growls at him twice and Cha-Ka keeps running. He makes it to the crevasse where he runs into Rick Marshall. Rick has difficulty deciphering Cha-Ka's language, but there's no mistaking his urgency. He knows that Cha-Ka is telling him that Will and Holly are in trouble. Cha-Ka leads him back to the Lost City.

Meanwhile, Will and Holly find themselves trapped inside of a net suspended over a blackened pit in the depths of the Lost City ruins. From far below, the howls of some unearthly creature fills the cavern. Neither of them have any idea what this could be. Will uses his knife to cut a patch out of the side of the net. He then begins leaning his weight to one side to build up momentum. As the net swings back and forth, it comes closer to the edge. Will and Holly jump through the opening and land safely on the lip of the hole. Just then, three Sleestaks file into the room. They begin hissing at Will and Holly in a threatening manner. They capture them and place them back inside the net over top the pit.

Cha-Ka and Rick Marshall enter the Lost City. Cha-Ka finds the discarded water jugs and Rick knows that his children have been through this area. They enter the ruins, but as they trek deeper underground, they encounter the Sleestaks. Rick lights a torch and is able to use the flames to keep the nocturnal Sleestaks at bay. He makes his way down to the pit where he finds Will and Holly. While Rick frees them, Cha-Ka tries to keep the Sleestaks away with his own torch. He drops the torch down into the pit and a brilliant flash of light erupts from below. The light hurts the Sleestaks' eyes and they retreat. The Marshalls and Cha-Ka take advantage of the situation and escape from the Lost City.

Once they are safely away, Cha-Ka bids them goodbye in his own special way. He sloppily kisses Will and Holly's hands then darts off. Will and Holly are just relieved to be away from the Sleestaks. Their troubles are hardly over however as Rick reminds them that they still have to collect their jugs filled with water. Holly laments that this is what got them into trouble in the first place.

Notes & Trivia

 * First appearance of Big Alice and Spike.


 * First appearance of the Sleestaks. The Sleestaks will prove to be one of the most persistent foes the Marshall family will have to deal with during their time in the Land of the Lost.


 * First appearance of the Lost City. Will is the first character to refer to it by name.


 * In this episode, Cha-Ka is seen still wearing the splint from when he broke his leg in the pilot episode.


 * The Pakuni word for water is Osu.


 * The Pakuni word for Sleestak is Sareesataka.


 * Cha-Ka's fascination with fire actually becomes an asset in this episode.


 * Although there appear to be numerous Sleestaks in this episode, there is never more than three of them seen together at any one time.


 * This is the first reference to the Sleestak God - the creature that lives at the bottom of the pit in the Lost City. Although the Sleestak pit is featured in several episodes throughout the series, the Sleestak God is never seen at all.