'Lost in Space' Recap: 'Infestation'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

​Good stories, will always the take the time to allow for the audience (or reader) to learn as much as humanly possible about the characters they’re going on an adventure with, simply because, getting to know these fine fictional people invests you in the story and allows for you to root for them every single step of the way. But, great stories, well they also take the time to allow for you to learn as much as you can about the villains that inhabit this world. Because by knowing their motivations and why they do the bad things they do, it adds a real sense of danger to the story, one where you’re unsure as to whether or not the heroes in question will survive the tale unharmed and wouldn’t you know it, Lost in Space indeed spared some time in its third episode, ‘Infestation’, to explore the psyche and motivations of one ‘Doctor’ June Smith. 
 
If anything, there really couldn’t be a more perfect time to reflect upon this show’s villain simply because, this tale started off with a lot of downtime as the Robinson’s and their two new shipmates waited out the storm that raged above them, and as the family retired to their quarters for some rest, June took the time to reflect upon her former life on Earth and well, it turns out June has dome some incredibly questionable things to get her to this point. Like the fact that she was totally fine with drugging her sister, Jessica, in order to get her hands on the chip embedded in her sister’s arm so that she could board the Resolute to enjoy a fresh start on another world and while that may not seem that evil at first. Let’s not forget that the Earth is dying, and by leaving her sister behind, she sentenced her own flesh and blood to death and really, it seems that June, whose real last name is Harris, leaves a wake of corpses behind just about everywhere she goes.
 
After all, we cannot forget that she also abandoned the two people she met after crashing in the last episode and to make matters worse, she also took a life aboard the Resolute in order to keep her identity a secret, all in the name of preserving that fresh start and all of this is relevant, simply because June is a survivor. She will do whatever it takes to see another day and that’s downright scary and downright dangerous for the Robinson family because who knows what she will do to them during a crisis and as fate would have it, we got a potential answer to that question in this tale because a problem presented itself aboard the Jupiter 2, in that, an alien species of eel found its way into the fuel tanks because something in said fuel, was more or less a delicacy to them, putting the ship incredible risk since these begins were consuming it all at an alarming rate. 
 
Because without any fuel, the family would never escape the glacier, which was starting to collapse atop them, nor would they ever leave the planet’s surface for that matter as well. Which meant it was a race against time to clear the engines of debris left over from the diamond storm and really, in the midst of this crisis, June had quite the decision to make. She could in fact, abandon ship and eject through the ice, dooming the family to death but ensuring that she would see another day, or…she could do the right thing for a change. Oddly enough, she chose to help and the Jupiter 2 was able to shatter through the ice and find a better place to land, wherein we discovered that there are indeed other survivors out there and that the Resolute survived the Robot’s assault and is working to finish repairs to come and rescue said survivors but despite that happy-ish ending…a real threat remains in June, because going back to civilization means going to jail, and she is clearly not ready to surrender her freedom, and that likely means, her survival instincts will kick in to prevent that from happening… 
 
When all is said and done however, this really was quite the wonderful episode. It moved at a breakneck pace and featured nothing but fascinating and compelling moments and some fine humor as well. But truly, the centerpiece of this tale was June’s story and the fact that by the end of the episode, we simply don’t know what her endgame is, and I love that. Because it’s obvious she can do some good, but one has to wonder as to whether or not her motivation to help in this episode is grounded in her desire to survive since it’s clear this family can help her do that, or if she’s finally moving toward redemption. Only time will tell of course, but in the here and the now, this was a great way to properly introduce our villain and get to know all the grey areas that she operates within and well, this show simply continues to impress with its amazing character development and ability to thrill us all. Until next time. 

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