The Test

Land of the Lost
Season 2, Episode 1
Air date	October 4, 1975
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The Test was the Fifth Episode of the Second Season of the Land of the Lost and the eighteenth episode overall.

Summary

When Cha-ka must steal an egg from the Lost City, Will and Holly's involvement lands them in trouble.

Plot

Ta and Sa are engaged in some of sort of ritual with Cha-Ka. They stand at a large egg (undoubtedly of some dinosaur) placed on a pedestal while chanting and wearing beaded necklaces. Ta then hands Cha-Ka a spear adorned with feathers. After Cha-Ka receives the spear, Sa hands a gourd bowl containing an unidentified thick, white liquid to Ta, who then dips a finger into the liquid and places a ceremonial mark on Cha-Ka's forehead.

Outside the cave at High Bluff, Will is attempting to draw a map of the area as Holly happens upon him. Before their conversation can disclose more of what Will is doing, Cha-Ka arrives, still holding the spear given to him by Ta and wearing a satchel on the end of a shoulder strap. Will and Holly, demonstrating their efficiency with the Pakuni language, question Cha-Ka about the equipment he's carrying and the white mark still on his forehead. Cha-Ka reveals that the satchel (or its contents) is magical, and that he is engaged in a test that will determine whether he is considered a man by his tribe (which apparently consists only of himself, Ta and Sa). To Will's alarm and Holly's utter disbelief, Cha-Ka reveals that his test involves stealing one of Big Alice's eggs.

Consistent with their habit of disagreeing about everything, Will and Holly bicker about the rite of manhood in which Cha-Ka is engaged. Holly dismisses it as "dumb," but Will sees the ritual as important and necessarily dangerous to prove that Cha-Ka is brave, strong and smart. As the two of them debate the issue, they fail to notice Cha-Ka's departure.

Although he expressed support for the rite of manhood, Will is concerned for Cha-Ka's safety and goes after him, despite Holly's reminder that their father told them to stay at the cave until he returns. Ignoring Will's instruction to stay behind and guard the cave, Holly decides to follow after Will.

As Cha-Ka makes his way to The Lost City, he becomes aware that he's being followed. He hides and avoids Will. As Will continues to move on, puzzled as to why Cha-Ka's trail has ended, Cha-Ka emerges from his hiding place and continues toward The Lost City. Holly then appears and discovers a feather from Cha-Ka's spear. She then continues to track Will.

As Cha-Ka arrives at The Lost City, it finally occurs to Will that he doesn't need to find Cha-Ka's trail since he already knows that Cha-Ka is going to The Lost City, the only place where Big Alice can be found.

At The Lost City, Cha-Ka has found one of Big Alice's eggs and starts to roll it away, a somewhat demanding task, considering the egg is larger than Cha-Ka himself. The attempted theft, unfortunately, does not go unnoticed by Big Alice. Engrossed in the task of moving the giant egg, Cha-Ka fails to notice that Alice has moved up stealthily upon him.

Holly, who has just arrived at The Lost City, sees that Alice is now within striking distance of Cha-Ka and yells a warning to him. Finally noticing Alice for the first time, Cha-Ka attempts to use the soi-disant magic of the contents of his satchel against her. Alice however, remains unimpressed.

As Cha-Ka attempts to flee from Big Alice, Will arrives. When Cha-Ka stumbles and Alice apparently moves in for the kill, Will uses to mirror to reflect the sunlight into Alice's eyes, disorienting her sufficiently to keep her from killing Cha-Ka.

Cha-Ka takes advantage of Alice's distraction and reattempts to claim Alice's egg. Holly urges Cha-Ka to abandon the egg away as Will cannot keep Alice occupied indefinitely. When the sun becomes blocked by a cloud, Will is unable to keep Alice blinded with his mirror. Because Cha-Ka refuses to leave the egg, Holly seizes him by the arm and forcibly drags him away. Alice, apparently more interested in protecting her egg than pursuing Cha-Ka and the Marshalls, returns the egg to her nest. With Holly forcibly restraining Cha-Ka, still determined to get Alice's egg, the Marshalls flee with Cha-Ka.

Will and Holly then return, observing Alice, now guarding her egg more closely. Cha-Ka appears, using a bush as camouflage, and attempts to make off with the egg. Holly is concerned but Will predicts Cha-Ka will succeed. But at that moment, Alice turns and notices Cha-Ka again attempting to steal her egg. Will and Holly then rush to Cha-Ka to assist him with rolling the egg away. But as Alice closes in, the three of them find refuge at an abandoned temple, not even visited by the Sleestak, surrounded by pillars spaced too closely together to allow Alice to enter.

Although the pillars keep Alice from entering, the Marshalls and Cha-Ka are unable to leave as long as Big Alice is waiting outside. Realizing that Alice will not leave as long as they hold her egg hostage, Will and Holly are insistent on returning the egg to Alice. Cha-Ka stubbornly resists, claiming that it's his egg, but it is unlikely he would be able to stop Will and Holly from returning the egg.

The contest of wills becomes moot, however, as Alice's egg hatches and Junior emerges. As is typical for Holly, she finds the baby Allosaurus utterly adorable. As the first living thing he sees, Junior apparently accepts Holly as his mother. Cha-Ka takes advantage of Alice's distraction with her hatchling, and seizes a fragment of the eggshell and begins to run off with it. Surprisingly, Alice begins to pursue Cha-Ka, but Will and Holly are able to return her attention to her hatchling. Will and Holly are then able to leave as Alice is now focused on Junior.

Cha-Ka returns to Ta and Sa, hopeful that the piece of eggshell he has is adequate to pass the test. Ta, however, vehemently rejects this offering and he and Sa leave. Ta and Sa are apparently so disgusted with Cha-Ka's failure that they ignore a cordial greeting from Will and Holly who have arrived en route to their home at High Bluff.

As Cha-Ka explains Ta's refusal to accept his offering of the eggshell fragment, Ta and Sa return, obviously fleeing from some unspecified danger. The threat turns out to be Junior, who apparently still thinks Holly is his mother and is following her. While Ta and Sa seek refuge, Will attempts to explain that Junior hatched from the eggshell that Cha-Ka has brought. Unwilling to concede that Cha-Ka, who is unafraid of Junior, is braver than he is, Ta still refuses to accept Cha-Ka as having passed the test.

Will then instructs Holly to call Junior over to them. Ta, obviously terrified as Junior takes a single step closer, finally relents and presents Cha-Ka with his beaded necklace, acknowledging Cha-Ka as having completed his rite of manhood.

Will and Holly are uncertain as to what to do with Junior, but the problem is solved as Junior responds to Alice's distant calls, finally realizing who his mother really is. Cha-Ka then takes the remainder of the white mark on his forehead and jokingly anoints Will with it. Holly then teases Will, saying that makes him an honorary monkey, but Will responds that it is a title he will wear with honor.

Message

• "Every man must be left to find his own destiny"

Cast

• Spencer Milligan as Rick Marshall (credit only)
• Wesley Eure as Will Marshall
• Kathy Coleman as Holly Marshall
• Phillip Paley as Cha-Ka
• Scutter McKay as Ta
• Sharon Baird as Sa

Dinosaurs

• Alice
• Junior (first appearance)

Trivia

• Rick Marshall (Spencer Milligan) doesn't appear in this episode.
• Although Alice has proven to be an even match for Grumpy in terms of sheer power and ferocity, this episode, perhaps more than any other, reveals stark differences between the two.
  • Alice was able to stealthily approach Cha-Ka and was within striking distance before Cha-Ka was even aware of her, despite Alice's immense size. By contrast, Grumpy has never been observed to move with any stealth. On the contrary, Grumpy tends to bellow and roar a great deal, alerting other creatures to his approach long before he arrives.
  • Alice had ample opportunity to kill Cha-Ka (and Will and Holly Marshall), yet she did not. Possibly she only kills to eat and prefers to warn intruders away from her territory before resorting to killing. Another possibility is that she prefers to sadistically toy with her prey before she finally kills it.
• Junior makes an odd quacking noise, but this is only an artistic embellishment. Actual dinosaurs possessed no vocal cords and could not make the sounds attributed to them in Land of the Lost.
• Despite Will having a head start, Holly arrived at The Lost City ahead of him. The reason for this is unclear. Possibly Holly, like Will, realized that there was no need to track anyone, since Cha-Ka could only be headed to The Lost City. Had she come to this realization before Will did, she might have passed him while he was looking for Cha-Ka's trail and the two failed to notice each other.'
• After Cha-Ka's 'magic' fails to stop Big Alice, Holly calls out to him, "Run, Cha-Ka! Run! Run!" This phrase was recorded and used two more times in the same episode. Once a few seconds later, as Will finally arrives at The Lost City, he hears Holly say it. It was used again approximately 8.5 minutes later, when Cha-Ka takes a piece of Junior's discarded eggshell and begins to run back to Ta and Sa with it.
• Alice's egg was preposterously larger than actual allosaurus eggs, which were roughly the same length as a goose egg, with a somewhat larger diameter. And in an apparent consistency error, Alice's egg was also far larger the the Brontosaurus eggs depicted in the Land of the Lost. While actual Brontosaurus eggs were approximately twelve inches long, the Brontosaurus eggs depicted in Land of the Lost were perfect spheres, around three feet in diameter. Alice's egg must have been over five feet long, about as long as Will Marshall is tall. (Wesley Eure, who plays Will Marshall, stands at 5' 7".)