Take Three: Lost in Space

Lost in Space: Season 1, Episode 3 “Infestation” (B+)

Every new thing we learn about Dr. Smith, or the woman using that name, makes her even more difficult to like and more of a threat to the Robinson family now that she needs to depend on to survive. Drugging and tying up her sister, played by Selma Blair, who was already planning to leave her everything she wouldn’t need when she went up into space, shows how manipulative and self-serving she is. It didn’t take her long to get spotted on board the ship, and she didn’t bother to stop the ejection of the man who recognized her and knew she wasn’t actually Jessica Harris into space. Timing seems to have worked out in her favor, since the ship was under attack before she could be punished according to the not-yet-created justice system, and now she’s going to do whatever she can to protect herself from discovery even though just being nice and helpful to the Robinson family is probably her best bet. It was interesting to see her bond with Will while they were both trapped by the robot, arguing that self-preservation is nothing to be ashamed of, something that the kindhearted Will doesn’t believe. I liked the suspenseful music playing as it appeared that Dr. Smith was going to take Maureen out after she made the mistake of explaining that only one or two people could survive, and, as usual, this episode upped the ante, making it seem like all hope was lost until it finally wasn’t. Their triumphant departure was marked by a relatively smooth crash-landing back on the surface, and now they have to find this other signal that Dr. Smith doesn’t want them to, and the gun that the robot printed may come into play since she saw Will hiding it. Judy continues to experience post-traumatic stress as a result of her near-suffocation, and getting pinned by a heavy machine definitely didn’t help, though she hung in there and persevered admirably.