Netflix’s Lost in Space season 3, episode 2 recap: Contact

Episode 302 of the Netflix series Lost in Space begins with Judy Robinson (Taylor Russell) on an unnamed mountain, on an alien planet, attempting to locate a father (Russell Hornsby) she barely knows.

Fortunately, she does find his spaceship and initiates a wake-up sequence to revive her sleeping father, but it malfunctions. This puts her medical training to the test, but she succeeds in reviving Grant Kelly, commander of the Fortuna mission. Still, Judy does not exactly know how to break the news that she’s actually his daughter.

Meanwhile, Lost in Space rejoins Don West (Ignacio Serricchio) and John (Toby Stephens), and Maureen Robinson (Molly Parker). Maureen plans to use a rebooted robot part to power their engine, hoping to reunite with all their children. Down where those children are, Will Robinson (Maxwell Jenkins) is concerned about his missing robot (Brian Steele) that tends to wander off. Will even asks June Harris / “Dr. Zoe Smith” (Parker Posey) if she has seen it. So where did the robot go?

Lost in Space season 3 episode 2 recap: More alien robot adventures

Penny Robinson (Mina Sundwall) has been a rather chronically unexplored character for Lost in Space. In this episode, most of the focus is on her fledgling relationship with Liam (Charles Vandervaart) and her emotions regarding their missing parents. However, Penny does head out with Will and Dr. Smith.

Will suggests that alien technology must be nearby, as their hair stands up when they touch a rock. As they explore caves looking for Will’s robot, the (literally) distant parents devise ways of bringing the SAR robot back from the dead (something Don has second feelings about).

There is a bit of drama here as Don and John head out to locate SAR’s remains, because Don’s audio and visual feed cut out momentarily, so Maureen can’t monitor them as well. The kids have their own difficulties, of course. Penny and Will are exploring a tunnel, trusting the sometimes-unreliable Dr. Smith with their rope line (if they’re in trouble, they are supposed to just tug the line). Penny accidentally triggers a door to close behind them, leading to uncertainty and possible frustration.

More alien robots in caves

The intrepid trio of Dr. Smith, Penny, and Will see alien robot footprints in the soil, suggesting they are not alone. Will determines that the alien robot footprints weren’t actually made by alien robots.

After Dr. Smith successfully opens the door, Will’s robot shows up, leading to a debate between Will and Dr. Smith over whether humans and robots can break their own programming and change. The robot warns Will that his parents are in danger.

Then Will and the others encounter the “Scarecrow” robot, but Will discovers he can communicate through Scarecrow to his parents, and it renders Scarecrow significantly less hostile (a rather odd twist).

Lost in Space season 3 episode 2 ending explained: Rocky road ahead?

Lost in Space also focuses on Judy’s reuniting with her father. When Grant says he misses Rocky Road ice cream when he left on his space journey, Judy feels a little bit neglected and unmissed. However, Judy puts that aside, and she collaborates with her father by using a motor cruiser to transport other survivors in their sleep pods while dodging falling rocks. They plan to rejoin the Jupiter spaceship for some relative normalcy.

At one point, Judy says “Every problem has a solution” and her dad recognizes it as something his wife said. Basically, the truth comes out. By the episode’s conclusion, Will has a new mission to prove to other robots that their inventors are extinct and they should follow a new program. On that note, SAR appears to continue in its own villainous programming.

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