‘Lost in Space’ Recap: ‘Trust’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series finale of ‘Lost in Space’. To revisit the show’s penultimate episode, ‘Contingencies on Contingencies’, click here.
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Decades ago, in another century for that matter, a grandiose and incredible journey got underway. One that involved an intrepid family known as the Robinsons, who were looking to venture through deep space to settle into a new home in the planets surrounding Alpha Centauri. But thanks to circumstances beyond their control… they were plunged into the depths of the void and lost to the solar winds and that premise, managed to captivate audiences everywhere for over fifty years. For seeing humanity be forced to use their wits on worlds and environments that are alien to us, made for compelling television, the kind that allowed for Lost in Space to survive three seasons on network television. Which was no easy task in the unfriendly to Sci-Fi sixties, and this concept even managed to give life to a turn of a century big budget reimagining of the original story and of course… a remake series on Netflix.
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But while we have indeed enjoyed the plight of the Robinsons for generations now, there has been one big problem hovering over this franchise. In that, it has never received a proper ending in the slightest. For the original show went off the airwaves before the Robinsons could find Alpha Centauri and the movie, was slated to get a sequel… until its box office returns motivated the studio move onto other projects. Which meant it was up to the Netflix series to do the impossible. To not only find a way to end this story on its own terms for the first time ever, but to do so in a compelling and powerful and downright satisfying manner and well, believe it or not, ‘Trust’, the series finale of this intrepid and wonderful show… accomplishes that goal.

But not before giving the audience the epic final fight we’ve all been waiting for. After all the worst that has happened between SAR and the Robinsons, is that both sides have traded tough blows and nothing more. But here, the arrival of SAR’s ship and his reinforcements led to one stunning final and savage fight, courtesy of quite the twist. For while Penny Robinson was working to save her brother and retrieve the robot engine, which Will figured out could be used to detonate Alpha Centauri and end humanity… she offered courtesy and kindness to a broken robot and in doing so, was able to break it free from SAR’s programming and she wasn’t the only one to take a moment and show robot-kind that humanity is redeemable. Which brought about a robot civil war of sorts, one that sadly… didn’t end the Robinson’s way.

Which meant it was up to Robot and Will and Smith, surprisingly, to save the day, and in order to bring the fight to SAR, they visited the Robot home world to try and recruit help. But alas, that plan failed, forcing Robot to sacrifice himself and save an ailing Will… so that he was ready to face SAR one last time. But their journey here wasn’t a total loss since the other vestiges of Robot-kind did give Will a new command code to use on SAR. One that mostly worked until Will realized that SAR was too strong to give into commands anymore and would do whatever it takes to complete his homicidal mission. Which is why Will let his guard down and let SAR harm him one last time. So, Robot’s hidden programming, now trapped within Will’s new heart, could infect SAR and shut him down and let Robot return to the land of the living, triumphant at last… and just like that, Alpha Centauri was saved, and this war was over.

Meaning that at long last, the Robinson family found peace and were able to live together in harmony and it was simply incredible to see each of them find their own path, free from worry and danger and even Smith found redemption in this tale, which is pretty amazing in its own right and well… you cannot ask for a better finale. Because not only did this story allow for this family to finally settle down and enjoy a future on Alpha Centauri, but it also wrapped up every single plot thread the series ever introduced, and it provided all of us with an organically happy ending. One that genuinely satisfied and brought closure to fifty plus years of hopes and dreams for fans of this franchise and well, that’s it, nerds and geeks. There’s nothing left to discuss about this wondrous series, and nothing left to feel about it aside from pride. For this long and winding journey through the stars has come to its wonderful end and thanks to the wonder of streaming, we can revisit it… in all of its glory, whenever we feel the need to be inspired by the Robinsons once again.  

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