REVIEW: Lost In Space, Season 2 Episode Ten 'Ninety-Seven'

 REVIEW: Lost In Space, Season 2 Episode Ten 'Ninety-Seven'

Ten episodes into Lost In Space's second season and we're onto the finale. A finale that has a considerable amount of things to resolve. Firstly there's the mission to save Robot's (Brian Steele) friend Scarecrow, then there's Maureen (Molly Parker) and John Robinson's (Toby Stephens) current predicament, stuck inside a pair of maintenance pods. Not to mention the ongoing question over whether Doctor Smith (Parker Posey) has turned over a new leaf.

For the most part, this episode answers these questions well. To begin, we get the rescue operation for Scarecrow with Will (Maxwell Jenkins) and Ben Adler (JJ Feild). This proves to be a surprisingly sad moment, as Ben sacrifices himself to get Scarecrow to the middle of the lightning storm in time to save his life, essentially sacrificing himself in the process. It's a worthy end to this character's tale, as he becomes the saviour for the robot who he tortured to fly the Resolute.

The follow-up on John and Maureen's situation is less impressive. They don't so much as resolve this but skip to them now hiding on the Resolute presumed dead, trying with Don's (Ignacio Serricchio) help to reach the Robot. Penny (Mina Sundwall) and Judy (Taylor Russell) are both aware of exactly where they are hiding, so clearly some time has passed, but it would have been nice to have seen them get back onboard the Resolute and the kids find out where they are. 

The hardest part of the episode to watch is undoubtedly the torture the Robot is being placed through. At the end of the previous episode we saw the Robot get captured by Hastings (Douglas Hodge) and his crew, with the goal of forcing it to take them to Alpha Centauri. Here we see them torturing the poor thing, very much like they did with Scarecrow, and it's hard to watch it go through so much pain. I love that it has so much intense loyalty to Will that it refuses point blank to go anywhere without him. It's being subjected to all this hurt and pain, but it still refuses for the sake of his closest friend. 

Doctor Smith (Parker Posey) gets her full redemption this week, as she sacrifices her life to help the Robinsons and everybody onboard the Resolute. It's great to see her finally become the hero, and the explanation that the Robot saying the one word 'family' and the Robinsons being the closest to family she has known is a very convincing one for why she'd make this drastic move. She's spent a lot of time with the Robinsons after all, so it's not crazy to think she might have grown attached to them. I don't believe she is truly dead, as we only saw her empty suit floating in space and not her corpse, but if she is then it's a fitting end to her character arc.

The antagonists of this episode are the alien Robot army, and these creatures make for very worthy villains indeed. They are formidable opponents for the Resolute crew, and it really feels as though the Robinsons met their match here. These alien Robots, who are not at all friendly like Robot, prove to be a challenge for our lead characters, and I hope to see them return. They feel truly unstoppable, unless you have either Will's Robot or Scarecrow on your side.

The episode ends with one hell of a twist, as Judy and her ship of children come into contact with a ship long thought gone - the Fortuna, which was piloted by Judy's biological Dad Grant Kelly. This is one hell of a cliffhanger for the third season as it raises all sorts of questions. Is Grant still alive? If he is, where does that leave Judy with her Stepdad John? And is Grant going to be a friend or foe? It really makes me excited to check out the upcoming third season, as these are questions I really cannot wait to find out the answer to. 

Overall, 'Ninety-Seven' is a largely successful season finale. Whilst it would have been nice to have been given more information on how John and Maureen managed to board the Resolute after being stuck in the maintenance pods, the episode still does a great job at resolving the other plot points, such as the Scarecrow rescue mission and Doctor Smith's character journey. The third season looks as though it's going to offer plenty of more surprises yet, with a possible appearance by Judy's biological Dad Grant, and so it will be very interesting indeed to see where the Robinsons go next.    

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