Lost in Space season 3 premiere recap: Three Little Birds

In the Lost in Space season 3 premiere, the saga of a boy and his robot (Brian Steele) largely continues, with Will Robinson (Maxwell Jenkins) being noticeably older by this season. Of course, Will is not alone in his adventure, with the rest of the Robinsons returning, as well as the often sinister Dr. Smith (Parker Posey). In season 2, we learned that Will’s robot can work the engine necessary to get human colonists to Alpha Centauri. Of course, there were also some hostile alien robots, including the fearsome Scarecrow (though, as we have seen, even Will’s robot had some fierce and scary moments against humans).

Another question emerged at the end of season 2: will Judy Robinson (Taylor Russell) find her father, Grant Kelly, after finding the chip he commanded, the Fortuna? We catch up with her in a cargo bay of that derelict ship, where the news is not so good. She finds a dead person, frozen, but still has hope others may be luckier. As their main ship risks getting hit by an asteroid, Judy must leave Fortuna. Surprisingly, Dr. Smith plays the good guy once again and rescues Judy when imperiled (though, of course, Smith, or June, has her own goals in mind and is likely only saving Judy because she needs her smarts).

Lost in Space season 3 episode 1 recap: 3 days later…still lost in space

The younger members of the space mission, including the Robinson kids, inhabit a new planet, where most life is not possible except for the spot they found (apparently). They are in some trouble, however, as they must keep refining titanium to repair their ship. Though the Robinson kids are without their parents, we do see John (Toby Stephens) and Maureen Robinson (Molly Parker) are still alive. In fact, John is scouting around on some distant planet.

It’s rainy there, and they fear alien robots. In fact, fellow Resolute survivor Peter Beckert (Adam Greydon Reid) gets killed by a robot alien after being spotted due to his flashlight (ouch!). Meanwhile, back at wherever they are, Penny Robinson (Mina Sundwall) has a new guy, Liam (Charles Vandervaart), making for an awkward love triangle scenario between Penny and Vijay (Ajay Friese). Also, it seems Dr. Smith is growing impatient with the ship repairs, as she approaches Will and asks why it’s taking so long to refine titanium. Of course, if a psychopath like her is impatient, it means bad things might happen (though fortunately, most people know what she’s capable of, so she must operate more delicately than before).

Lost in Space season 3 episode 1 recap: Climbing up the mountain

Where would Lost in Space be without more imminent danger? So, yes, everyone runs to a bunker thanks to an incoming meteor…well, everyone except Penny, that is. Although the meteor evaporates in the atmosphere, Judy chides Penny for not taking the alert seriously. In fact, it may just be a matter of time before they must escape some meteor impact, so it’s decided they will have to scale a mountain in space suits to exploit its titanium-rich soil.

As this goes on, we learn that John and the adults are in close proximity to a star in order to hide from robot tracking systems (the star’s radiation apparently scrambles the trackers without burning the humans). Obviously, this may be a precarious situation in its own right, and the grownups aren’t all comfortable. Though Don West (Ignacio Serricchio) still has Debbie the chicken, a familiar tension still exists between John and Maureen, not unlike the awkwardness between Penny and Vijay.

Lost in Space season 3 episode 1 recap: Rock termites?

Remember the strange, fuel-ingesting eels from season 1 of Lost in Space?  Well, we get to meet some exotic new creatures in this episode, too. After Liam fractures his wrist while climbing that mountain, we learn that rock termites are eating the rocks beneath their tents! It’s yet another compromising situation calling for an innovative solution, so the Robinsons transform their tents into individual wingsuits, riding and navigating through some updrafts in the cave system (or something like that). They survive with the titanium intact, but Judy decides she must go further up the mountain to search for the Fortuna signal and her father.

Although Judy and Penny make amends regarding the tension between each other, Dr. Smith creates drama for Will’s return, telling him she learned of the missing titanium, believing he stole it (which she can use as blackmail fodder later on). Smith had snuck around to find dirt on Will in old files. However, interestingly, this leads to Will privately confronting his robot about it, knowing it must have been the android.

As Will speaks with his robot on that issue, and also about the other robots seeking him out, Vijay pulls a Beth Greene (from The Walking Dead), so to speak, and starts playing guitar and singing a song, with the song being a cover of Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” (though, according to IMDb, the song is actually sung by Maxwell Jenkins).

What are your thoughts on this episode of Lost in Space? Let us know in the comments!