REVIEW: Lost In Space, Season 2 Episode Six 'Severed'

 REVIEW: Lost In Space, Season 2 Episode Six 'Severed'

The previous episode of Lost In Space ended with quite a conundrum. Somehow the element from the alien planet that eats into metal had found its way onto the Resolute, and left a gaping hole in the ship. It seemed things were therefore going to get very tricky indeed for the colonists travelling to Alpha Centauri. It's a bit hard to travel across space when your ship is falling apart, after all.

In this episode, we discover how this mysterious element made its way to the Resolute. Don (Ignacio Serricchio) had returned to the Resolute, you see, with a few of the other colonists. It just so happened that the crew member who had a leg injury had fallen, and that some of this mystery element had infected the metal inside his leg. It's a quick, simple and effective explanation which means they don't have to waste much time explaining how this could have occurred. Instead they can just get on with the plot, and show us the aftermath of the event.

'Severed' does what many great episodes of science-fiction have done before, and that's place our characters in a claustrophobic set. Penny (Mina Sundwall), Vijay (Ajay Friese), Doctor Smith (Parker Posey) and Mr Jackson (Rob LaBelle) find themselves trapped in the classroom as the rust spreads. I've seen this done particularly well in the Class episode 'Detained', and just like that episode Lost In Space uses this concept superbly to explore our lead characters. We see Penny's lack of confidence as she doubts her own abilities, Mr Jackson's claustrophobia as he faces the prospect of being trapped inside a box, Doctor Smith's cold nature as she's prepared to let Mr Jackson stay behind and Vijay's skills of observation as he's the only one to notice they can remove the ventilation from the box in order to make more space for them all to fit inside. It really digs deep into the characters, and as a viewer I came away feeling like I better understood them than ever before. 

The characters who go through the biggest journey via this experience are without a doubt Doctor Smith and Mr Jackson. Doctor Smith's uncaring nature is challenged as she is forced to become the woman she claims to be in order to encourage Mr Jackson to get in the box, and Mr Jackson is forced to face his fears head on in order to survive. These are two people who are very stubborn in their stances, one through her own sense of dominance and authority, and the other through a traumatic past experience from his childhood where he'd been trapped in a box with no way out. Doctor Smith effectively has to become his mother, encouraging him that it will be fine, and it feels like such a natural progression for both characters, because they are thrown in a situation where they have little choice but to do things they wouldn't normally contemplate. 

It's ironic that the one character who ultimately has to make a sacrifice is Don, who isn't even stuck inside the box. In order to convince the crew of the Resolute to let him rescue Penny and the others in a manned Jupiter vessel, he has to admit to his own smuggling and thereby sacrifice his freedom in the process. It's such a powerful statement that really showcases the loyalty of this character to those he considers his allies. He's prepared to go to space jail purely to ensure that they will survive; if that's not the mark of a true hero, then I don't know what is.

Will (Maxwell Jenkins), Maureen (Molly Parker) and Ben (JJ Feild) reach the planet this week, on their search for the alien robot (Brian Steele), and they don't go for the kind of transport you'd expect. Instead of the fancy Chariot vehicles, they opt for horseback, giving  this really strange vintage feel to their mission. It's almost like watching an interstellar Wild West journey. It's a great idea though, because it utilises Maureen's love for horses, which we have rarely seen, and allows the show to use her skills as a woman who we've been told used to spend a lot of time around them.

It seems Will's robot friend has turned up, when he saves the group from these alien scavenger creatures who are essentially stalking their prey...but there's a twist. A really strong one at that. You can tell if a twist works by just how much you weren't expecting it to happen, and I really didn't clock that the supposed robot friend was actually the deranged one from the ship. It's such a brilliant bait and switch, as it fools us as the audience so effectively by playing on the loyalty that we know Will and the robot share, and yet it also makes sense, because if - as Will deduces - it was all a trap by the evil robot, then of course it would play along and assume the role of his friend. It means the pay-off at the end when his actual robot friend is all the more effective, as we've been made to wait for so long. We've been clamouring for this reunion, and finally we get to see these two friends reunite. 

Overall, 'Severed' is a strong sixth episode in Lost In Space's second season. It offers an impressive take on the claustrophobic single setting sci-fi sub-genre, which really allows the show to take a deep dive into the characters, and who they are below the surface. We also get the best reunion between Will and his robot friend that you could possibly hope for, meaning that this episode well and truly lives up to expectations. 

What are your thoughts on the sixth episode of Lost In Space's second season? Let me know in the comments section.