Lost in Space season 2, episode 4 recap: Scarecrow

In episode 204 of Netflix series Lost in Space, John gets stuck in a well, June uses some poison kelp and Will bonds with a robot that’s just not having it.

Previously on Lost in Space, the Robinsons explore the Resolute, June Harris (Parker Posey) did a “clear history” on her past, deleting any incriminating evidence she could find. We were also introduced to Samantha (Nevis Unipan), among other characters. This episode reveals that a robot — similar to the one Will Robinson (Maxwell Jenkins) connected with — was flying the Resolute spacecraft the whole time.

In fact, the Resolute was built around a crashed alien ship, which semi-explains the obviously advanced technology the colonists used to evacuate Earth. The robot was almost literally like a key to fly the craft. However, now that the other robot’s revealed to be rebellious, the humans decide they need Will’s robot (Brian Steele) as an engine to take them to Alpha Centauri.

As technicians examine the Resolute in hazmat suits, Maureen Robinson (Molly Parker) plaintively expresses a desire to leave responsibilities behind when they reach their destination. However, at present, she warns Will and Penny (Mina Sundwall) to note engage with “Dr. Smith” (whose real name is June). Will seems far more concerned that the hostile robot may have been trying to communicate with him, so he follows the technicians as they cart it away.

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As this goes on, Penny, Judy (Taylor Russell), Don West (Ignacio Serricchio) and John Robinson (Toby Stephens) head down to a nearby planet to retrieve water for the Resolute’s journey. Judy meets Dr. Luna (Chris Shields) and John meets Victor (Raza Jaffrey). Don is greeted with a punch from Andre (Adam Bogen)! Why? They accuse him of being a deserter (though we know Don can be loyal to the Robinsons, and especially to Debbie, his beloved chicken). We also briefly see Angela (Sibongile Mlambo), but much of the episode focuses on John in the well.

John in the well

Things start okay for John and the others. However, John ends up checking the well for blockages, knowing something isn’t quite right. It’s revealed that Angela lost her wedding ring, though she has no idea how. Soon the well starts falling apart, despite being solid metal, and it traps John below for a little while. It’s learned that something in the water is rapidly corroding metal (both the well and Angela’s ring). It’s deduced that it’s some sort of metal-eating parasitic spore. Although John does get out of the well, Judy basically saves the day (and the entire Resolute), by informing people that their tanker has the deadly water from the well. Way to go, Judy!

June evades arrest

Though June Harris isn’t the evilest villain of all time, she’s regularly earning a bad score among good people. When June meets Penny, she says she wants an extra copy of Penny’s “Lost in Space” memoir. The request sound innocent enough, but June has a special motivation: As a twisted bookmark, she put some of the angry kelp that harmed Don West inside it. As a hint of her intentions, June shares her view that “It’s better to be feared than loved.” Soon after this, “Jessica Harris” is placed under arrest by Captain Radic (Shaun Parkes).

Though she could be correctly accused of various things (including identity theft and murder), June insists that she’s changed. As proof, she urges Radic to look up positive passages about her in Penny’s book. Unfortunately, Radic finds the kelp and gets incapacitated by it. June then fake-cries for help on the security camera (the footage from which she will try to delete as soon as she can).

Will and the Scarecrow

A Lost in Space episode wouldn’t be complete without some characters sneaking around. This time one of them is Will, who is carefully hiding from the technicians. Understandably, Will doesn’t trust them, finding it weird how they’re covering so many things in plastic (though one also wonders where they’re getting all this plastic). They’re also giving the hostile robot jolts to communicate and mockingly calling him “Scarecrow.”

Will is discovered by Officer Ben Adler (JJ Feild), who gives the impression that Will’s not in trouble. Will is sympathetic to the robot, saying it “looks confused.” He also suggests that perhaps it doesn’t want to help them reach Alpha Centauri. Though Ben doubts him, Will insists that the robots can feel things and he could literally sense what his own robot was going through.

Although Will the robot an arm to repair itself, it actually threatens to kill Will! Ben quickly intervenes, controlling the robot with some unknown wrist bracelet technology. Maureen scolds Ben for placing her son at risk, although Ben insists he had perfect control the whole time (in a separate scene later, we see that Ben has lots of scars, though we don’t yet know from who or what, or when, where or why).

Despite the hostile attack, Will visits the contained robot in the engine room, telling it that it doesn’t belong in a box. Scarecrow points up at the alien robot engine. When Will touches it, he has a psychic revelation about his robot being on this planet. Another interesting reveal: The so-called “Christmas Star meteor” wasn’t that at all, but the alien ship’s engine!

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