‘Lost in Space’ Recap: ‘Evolution’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Something that is supremely fascinating when it comes to season two of Lost in Space, is the sheer fact that the series really hasn’t featured a big bad or major issue for the 24th Colonist Group to deal with this time around. After all, in season one, evil robots and a race against time to escape catastrophe, gave the colonists and the Robinson family plenty of challenges to overcome, the kind that didn’t see any resolution until the season finale. But this year, things are quite different. For the living rust that made its way aboard the Resolute is now drifting harmlessly through space and Adler wasted no time in putting the second evil robot down for good, leaving humanity in a relaxed place right now.
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But as it turns out, there was a plan in place as to why larger threats were introduced and resolved in such brisk fashion, and that was to make way for the real heavy of season two, one that everyone is familiar with and one that always pulls off evil with impunity; mankind. Because in ‘Evolution’ we learned that Adler and Hastings worked together on a scheme to in regard to Will’s Robot. For in the event the ‘bot felt the need to say no to helping humanity, there were ugly security measures in place in ensure compliance and while that’s not exactly horrendously evil in its own right, since we already knew that this twisted duo were happy to torture a robot in order to get what they want, that was just the bare beginning of the nefarious stuff that Hastings was up to.

Because a strange communication came through, one that stimulated a noticeably uncomfortable atmosphere aboard the Resolute, and that meant John had to dive deep and make some unfortunate alliances in order to figure out what had the captain spooked and what suddenly shut down every single transport to the planet below. And with Smith’s help, John was able to discover that the Resolute received multiple signals from multiple alien starships. But that didn’t quite explain the unsettled nature aboard the ship and that prompted John to move to a new phase of the plan, one that continued to utilize Smith. For he had her, get him into trouble, an act that would make her look like a hero and gain Hastings’ trust so he would confide in her all the details of what was going on. And while this plan worked to a tee, it did bring about some unfortunate answers, that kind that could lead to an unsettling fate for some members of the 24th Colonist Group.

For with barely enough water to keep the voyage going, and with a grand threat coming, the plan was to abandon those below and just push ahead to Alpha Centauri. And the instant his wife and son were back aboard the ship, John provided his love with all the details regarding this twisted and dastardly decision and that has Maureen pondering for the moment. Because it is going to take an outright mutiny to execute any kind of plan to save the colonists, and it should be interesting to see how Maureen is going to pull that off with John and Don on house arrest. But she may have an ally in place after all, since Adler seemed to be a tad more understanding and sympathetic to the situation at hand, especially after seeing the Robot show compassion and understanding, something he thought these beings were completely incapable of.

If anything, this really was quite the fascinating episode. Because it does a fine job of manipulating the audience in all the right ways. After all, there’s a genuine sense of security when this tale opens up, one that makes it seem as though brighter days are finally ahead for the colonists. But just like that, bad people doing bad things comes into play and now the stakes are higher than ever and truly, it is going to take one hell of a plan to save the colonists that Hastings believes are expendable. Either way, the Robinsons are likely up to the task and it should be fascinating to see how they pull together in order to save lives and save the day. Until next time.      

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