Date of release: December 24, 2019 (Netflix)
written by: Kari Drake
directed by: Jon East
The writers were building a new conspiracy, or at least a new backstory of what the so-called Christmas Star was, and with it comes an explanation as to what the deal with Scarecrow is, and why humankind has been torturing that poor little robot for the past couple of years, essentially using it as a slave. And I am here sitting, unsure whether or not I like this development. I do not think it was the intent of the writers to make me hate humanity now, especially Ben Adler, who thought he could wrangle Scarecrow as American slaveholders did in the 1700s.
Ben is the new mysterious character in the fold who could strike up a relationship with Smith and then turn himself into one half of a super couple ready to manipulate the entirety of the colony. I was thinking about rolling my eyes more than I was about how he functions in the backstory of it all and how he will turn into an adversary for Will, because he would love to use the kid, so he can use the robots. Not just because the engine needs to be carried from the Jupiter 2 to the Resolute, but because when you control the robots, you can do anything, as Smith has proven in the previous season. For a moment, I was even thinking about the possibility that Ben is Will from the future, which means the television show LOST IN SPACE is attempting to steal the premise from the movie LOST IN SPACE, and I realized I would not even mind. But then again, maybe Ben is just secretly evil and antagonistic because he was attacked by Scarecrow too often and would like to exact some revenge – after it finished piloting the Resolute to Alpha Centauri.
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| Judy is now the on-site incident commander. |
That is where an interesting plot kicks in that I did not even see coming. Ben was introduced to tell the viewers that Scarecrow was tortured to do the bidding of the humans. Scarecrow has been a prisoner ever since he crashed on Earth (the so-called Christmas Star event), which could be the reason why it was never interested in being good to anyone who hangs around its torturer. Scarecrow has probably come to see in Ben this evil alien, but as a caged-in prisoner that misses half its body, it cannot do a lot. And here comes Will who seriously attempts to communicate with Scarecrow because of his experiences with the robot, and maybe because Will thinks of himself as the in-between of robots and humans. If his trick worked once, can he do it again, and will it help humanity if it does? Suddenly there is this urge within me to think of Will as the savior of the robots. And that would make Ben the antagonist in Will’s heroic storyline.
In an attempt to control the robot, Ben went the torturous route, but in an attempt to communicate with the robot, Will went the empathetic route, showcasing where both characters have gone right and wrong. It should be pretty clear who wins out here, but the episode did not make it quite clear whether or not Ben is the future villain of the story. But when I think about how Will could succeed in connecting with Scarecrow and have two robots listening to and following him... It would make Will the most feared and successful and admired person among the colonists (every girl will love him, as was already shown here), and it would turn every man who planned on controlling the robots for the sake of strength and power extremely mad that a kid managed to do what they never could. That also makes Will the central character of the LOST IN SPACE saga, which was about time, since I figured from the beginning that it was always about Will saving them all in the end.
Meanwhile, this episode stopped the focus on the Robinson family exploits and split up the characters again, now that the Jupiter 2 has docked with the Resolute and the characters are free to roam around and spend time with other characters. Maureen, Will, and Penny stayed on the Resolute, while John, Don, and Judy went down to the planet for the B story. The fourth episode of the first season almost did the same, ending the season-opening story arc and leading the characters to a split-story narrative, in which characters separate to live out their adventures. At least the story on the planet is destined to end pretty soon, because they might not be able to live long enough to see Ben become the villain, considering how everything is rusting and breaking apart (how convenient that the malfunction and accidents started to happen right after the Robinsons returned to the Resolute and rejoined the other colonists). And rescue has to come quickly for Will’s robot, too, judging by the rusty look at the end of the episode. As if it felt that Will was nearby, knowing where it was, coming to save it.
The story on the planet did tackle sexism just a tad bit with Judy and how she was not trusted to do the job of a doctor, let alone being listened to by the guys. She landed on this rusty sweaty dusty planet to help and she was immediately sent out to restock the shelves like she is an entry-level worker at a Whole Foods store. She screamed at the guys to get away from the well, but no one listened to her because she was a woman. There was some subtle storytelling here, but I assume the writers were careful with it and played it down because this is still a family show, and putting in social criticism was maybe not the right way to entertain audiences. Kind of like how Disney decides not to bother with LGBTQ+ presence in their films, because they think that is not what the paying family audience came to see (and it is what China edits out anyway, so why bother sending them half a movie?). Still, I would not mind for LOST IN SPACE to go a socially critical route for an episode or two, because I will never believe that the future got rid of the class system. That stuff will always exist and cause conflicts between people.
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| "I am rusting, Will Robinson!" |
And then there was Smith, who for the second episode in a row was disconnected from everything else that happened on the show. She is in her own little universe now, begging the question of whether or not the writers knew what to make of the character this season or if it was a bit problematic to logically turn her into “Zoe Smith” and leave her cruel and murderous past behind. I also would have hoped that after she realized she killed Samantha’s father, she would see what evil she has done and she would stop continuing to be the mad genius who is only out to protect herself, but I guess that lesson never came out of the previous episode.
So here we are, Smith has essentially turned into Walter White who witnessed Jane choking to death on her vomit. It is the least enjoyable story of the show right now – Smith continues to manipulate the people around her and seems to have found a willing victim in Penny (in the previous season it was Will, so it stands to question if Judy becomes the manipulated Robinson child in season three). There is no other purpose for her in this show, making her boring as a character. Here is to hoping that will change soon.
