Lost in Space (2018) s02e08 – Unknown

There are a couple moments in this episode where characters could’ve easily gotten away saying, “That’s white of him” or, down a notch, “That’s not very cricket.” Once when Toby Stephens—who gets top-billing again in the irregularly included opening credits–is having his episode-long chitchat with newly revealed series villain Douglas Hodge. Hodge isn’t just the bad guy this season; he’s been the bad guy since before the show started, just in the background.

Hodge isn’t bad. However, given the meatiness of the part, they could’ve cast better.

At some point, he tells Stephens his evil plan, and it doesn’t really rile Stephens up too much because, you know, we’re all in the same country club or whatever. It comes off less as gentleman adversaries and more desperate stringing out of the story. Especially given Stephens was gung ho to confront female captain Sakina Jaffrey last episode.

The other moment is when Maxwell Jenkins and the robot see some dudes torturing one of the other robots—who the show has already established is dying—and Jenkins can’t figure out why the robot’s not cool with it. Jenkins might’ve gotten taller, and his voice has started changing, but he’s really not doing much character developing. Though given it turns out “Lost in Space” is about humanity being, well, shitty humans….

The main plot is about Molly Parker leading a mutiny against Jaffrey to save the survivors she and Hodge were going to strand on the planet. Jaffrey comes out of the episode looking all right, all things considered, but it’s because the episode skirts over her being okay with Hodge murdering her non-comms to get what he wants.

Also, given the episode’s about Parker in a mutiny suspense drama, Stephens getting that top-billing again makes even less sense.

Parker’s figured out a way to save the stranded survivors, which will require a very extensive effects sequence where she flies the mothership through a gas giant. There are reasons to fly through the gas giant, but they don’t matter as much as the fantastic sci-fi action sequences. The robot’s got a big part in helping with those sequences; Jenkins and Mina Sundwall tag along, mainly for Sundwall to explain to Jenkins and the audience how the robot’s behavior has subtly changed since last season. She thinks it’s going to be important. Jenkins thinks she’s a silly girl who doesn’t understand boys and their robots. Guess who’s right at the cliffhanger?

Ignacio Serricchio gets a good, albeit contrived, plotline with his boss, Tattiawna Jones, as they end up suffering Hodge’s wrath. The episode tries really hard to imply Hodge is conflicted about his villainy, but it never comes off. Not sure if it’s the script—wait, I just realized it’s a Kari Drake episode without a saccharine family speech (she gets co-credit with Katherine Collins; maybe Collins cut it)—Jabbar Raisani’s direction, or Hodge. I’m leaning towards Hodge and the show’s general indifference to making him anything more than a stock villain.

But the episode does look great, and the mutiny plot’s compelling. And the robot’s arc is good. Probably shouldn’t be the best arc, but whatever. It’s something. The only other character development arc is an unnecessary and forced one for Taylor Russell; Hodge gleefully (well, with muted enthusiasm, anyway) dishes on her mom Parker’s dirty deeds.

Oh, and Parker Posey’s got a whole, not very good arc about how sometimes you can’t have a redemption arc.

Lost in Space (2018) s02e07 – Evolution

Well, the robot’s back. Only took seven episodes. As Maxwell Jenkins teaches the robot how to care for horses, the episode flashback to JJ Feild’s intentions—cripple the robot and force it to fly the mothership to a new galaxy. Juxtaposed against the robot trying to tell Jenkins it’s not nice to subjugate other beings. And then Molly Parker’s around to… I don’t know; get in her screen time. She’s really had nothing to do for this particular arc, though I guess playing Jesus’s mom is a lot less demanding once Jesus gets his robot back.

That whole plot—which has some good action sequences and solid character development (for the robot)—is about whether Feild will turn against his conniving superior, Douglas Hodge, and betray Jenkins and Parker. It’s reasonably effective throughout but not particularly interesting.

Similarly, the plot on the mothership has Toby Stephens barging onto the bridge and telling off captain Sakina Jaffrey—she might be captain of the ship, but she doesn’t make decisions about his family without talking to him—then overhearing a mysterious message. He’s got to find out what he heard, so Stephens teams up with Parker Posey. They have a whole subplot about trust and fellowship and hacking. It’s Posey’s least interesting plot arc this season and probably Stephens’s most interesting one, outside of flashbacks.

The rest of the cast—Taylor Russell, Mina Sundwall, Ignacio Serricchio—are all auxiliary. At least until the end, and the family gets back together for a big twist and a setup for the next multi-episode arc. Because it turns out Hodge and Feild don’t just have nefarious plans for the robot, they’ve got plans affecting the humans we care about too. Well, the humans the main cast cares about. It takes so long to uncover Hodge’s nefariousness… the entire regular cast has gotten safely aboard the mothership to get the next arc underway.

Even with the suspense on the A-plot with Feild and the robot, it’s kind of a bridging episode. It’s a very active bridging episode, but that activity is busyness. Will Feild be revealed to be a scheming jerk, will Parker be revealed to be a scheming jerk—everything hinges on reveals because the episode’s got nothing else really going on.

To some degree, the episode gets away with it thanks to Tim Southam’s direction. The occasional action sequences are good, regardless of playing like Jurassic Park meets City Slickers, and the robot’s arc is solid. If the episode weren’t so dependent on the reveal, it’d probably be solid for Posey and maybe even Stephens. Less Stephens. His outburst with Jaffrey doesn’t play well.

Daniel McLellan gets the script credit.

The episode’s functional and adequate, which isn’t exciting as a success or failure. Luckily, there’s Southam to make it occasionally seem exciting.

Lost in Space (2018) s02e06 – Severed

JJ Feild is shaping up to be more likable than I was expecting, but also far flatter. “Lost in Space” shrugs through its male casting too much. He spends the episode being secretive about his plans if the robot-finding expedition is successful. He’s down on the planet with Molly Parker and Maxwell Jenkins, horseback riding to get to where the robot’s supposed to be. I’m not sure why horseback riding. Again, maybe someone demanded horses if they came back for season two. Otherwise, it’s just to drag out the episode and provide Western thrills. Western Jurassic Park thrills.

And perfectly good ones. It's an outstanding episode despite Feild being too bland and the horses being a little much. Okay, fine, the whole Jenkins, Parker, and Feild arc isn’t the greatest stuff, but it’s okay, and the rest of the episode more than makes up for it.

While the robot hunt is on the planet, there’s practically no other action on the planet; Taylor Russell and Toby Stephens don’t get any arcs this episode; they had their episode. Now it’s other folks’ turn, in this case, Mina Sundwall and Parker Posey.

Sundwall and Posey are on the mothership where the metal-eating termites have gotten on board. The episode does a quick flashback to show how the termites got aboard when they made a big deal out of the mothership being safe a couple episodes ago. Then it’s go time, with the termites quickly feasting on the mothership and trapping Sundwall and Posey. Ajay Friese is there too—the combination stranded and besieged plot happens right after Friese helped Sundwall Nancy Drew last episode and Rob LaBelle as Sundwall and Friese's school teacher.

They’re going to have a very dramatic arc where they face death and destruction multiple times, and characters have to do things they never thought they’d do. It’s a suspense storyline, and it’s excellent.

Figuring into it is Ignacio Serricchio, who knows how to save the imperiled, but he’s having trouble convincing anyone to listen to him. It’s a particularly great episode for Serricchio, who’s also lost a lot of screen time this season, and an easy series best for Sundwall and Posey. They’re in mortal danger for extended periods; it’d be hard not for it to be series best.

The robot hunt is fine. There’s a strange inertness to the scenes because Feild and Parker are usually just there to discuss simmering subplots for later or listen to Jenkins exposition dump on them. It’d work better with Jenkins alone, it’d work better with better music (“Lost in Space” can mimic Williams, but it can’t actually do good John Williams-esque from scratch), but it’s reasonably okay. This whole robot thing better pay off. Especially when the show noticeably struts in its non-robot plot lines.

Fine writing, credited to Katherine Collins, and excellent direction from—of course—Tim Southam.

It’s a swell episode.

Lost in Space (2018) s02e05 – Run

It’s nearly a concept episode of “Lost in Space.” John Robinson (Toby Stephens) is stuck at the bottom of a mine shaft, injured, without medical attention. Daughter Judy Robinson (Taylor Russell) is racing to get to him but her SUV breaks down. They’re on an alien planet and there are metal termites. She’s going to have to run for it. Along the way, there are flashbacks establishing their relationship together before Stephens went and pissed everyone off by re-upping in the Navy.

There’s the additional detail Russell isn’t Stephens’ biological daughter, which has the constant visual reminder Russell’s Black and Stephens is such a ginger you can see him getting a sunburn during scenes with overcast skies. Russell being Black doesn’t figure into the story at all—“Lost in Space”’s future Earth has its problems but apparently they got institutionalized racism licked—and being his step-kid barely matters. There are some good implications related to it—eventually—but the show never explicitly states them. They’re just character backstory for Russell.

It’s a good A-plot. Derivative as all hell—Russell runs into raptors in the desert and has some Jurassic Park adventures, before finding herself in a Tomb Raider level and having to jump between rock outcroppings to beat the level. But Russell’s good and Stephens’s closer to it than ever before.

Though it’s hard to imagine a similar episode with his biological kids—Maxwell Jenkins and Mina Sundwall—possibly because the show reduced their character depths this season.

Jenkins’s subplot this episode is going to get his robot with mom Molly Parker and slightly ominous company man JJ Feild. Their subplot is mostly notable because the show again leans in on the space-campers everyone zooms around in looking like the Millennium Falcon.

Sundwall has a Nancy Drew subplot following Parker Posey around the mothership. Sundwall wants to know what Posey’s scheming and has to enlist the aid of not boyfriend Ajay Friese. They too find themselves in a Star Wars “homage.” If it were any director besides Jon East, there wouldn’t be quotation marks. With East, however, I’m not sure he gets it.

Vivian Lee has the script credit. Besides the Jenkins subplot, everything’s solid. Sundwall and Friese are fun together and the Nancy Drewing does give Sundwall some personality, which has been lacking lately. Russell and Stephens’s A-plot is really effective, mostly thanks to Russell (and the writing). It’s also where the special effects break down again, just like last episode. The CGI team must’ve been in a hurry; or just couldn’t figure out sand.

There’s a good cliffhanger too.

Lost in Space (2018) s02e04 – Scarecrow

Since this episode doesn’t have the opening titles, I spent the entire thing terrified Leslie Hope directed it too (she did the excellent job last episode), and that goodness was somehow a fluke. Nope, those intolerable, endless, pointless low-angle shots are courtesy director Jon East. It’s the worst direction on the show ever. I should’ve been satisfied with the middling.

Also concerning is the script. Kari Drake gets the credit, and, Writers Guild procedures aside, her name’s been on enough of them to foreshadow. There’s going to be a really trite scene between family members where they talk in less than soap opera platitudes. In this episode, it will be Molly Parker and Maxwell Jenkins. She’s just discovered him doing something she didn’t want him to do, but then the experience makes her realize with great power comes great responsibility. She tells him a context-free story about her mom like it resonates outside the platitudes. It does not.

Parker’s one of the show’s sturdiest actors. She can handle what it throws at her. But even she’s “Lost” in this nonsense.

The family’s been rescued by the mothership, which is no longer abandoned because Parker and Toby Stephens have seen Alien 3 and figured out how to contain the enslaved alien life-form humanity’s been using as a ferry driver across the galaxy. I expected the show to get into how beating and torturing an alien, even if it’s a scary metal alien, is wrong, but not really. New guy—combination roboticist and espionage-type—JJ Feild is very sad about all the torturing he had to do. There’s this interminable shot of him moping after watching Jenkins just, like, talk to the robot sincerely and get a better response for a while. I kept waiting for there to be a reveal—and there’s a bit of one—but the point is Feild’s super-sad about having tortured the alien for years.

Those developments all come in the last third of the episode. It doesn’t really have acts—there’s a reveal cliffhanger involving the robot, ignoring Stephens being in actual dire danger—but the first third is about the Robinson family not being special once they get back to the mothership. Other than Jenkins, who everyone whispers about. Really hoping they’re not going to do a messiah arc. Not as much as I hope they keep Ignacio Serricchio and Taylor Russell platonic, but second only to that one.

Parker helps the other space-camper moms organize wires; Mina Sundwall just hangs out, Jenkins is supposed to be chilling too, but he’s intrepid. Russell, Stephens, and Serricchio all get put to work on the desert planet where they’ve been camping out. We get to see Russell and Serricchio in their daily lives—she’s just a medical student again; he’s just one of many mechanics again. No one cares they galavanted across the galaxy.

Stephens gets grunt work but at least reconnects with Raza Jaffrey (who finally gets to be charming) and Sibongile Mlambo (who finally gets to be sympathetic) before ending up in danger because the colonists aren’t thorough like his family would have been.

Parker Posey’s got a machinations plotline involving getting out of trouble. It’s pat but necessary.

The episode also features some weak special effects, and the new supporting actors, outside Feild, are often wanting.

It’s probably the worst episode? I can’t think of anything comparable. It’s not an easy episode—inserting the cast back into their previously unexplored (outside flashback flashes) mundane existence. Doesn’t help East’s direction is bewildering and bad, or the script is trite whenever it tries to be sincere.

Lost in Space (2018) s02e03 – Echoes

After the casual nod here and there—the “hub” in the space-camper looks a lot like the Alien mess hall—this episode goes all-in on the Aliens homage, complete with a little girl (Nevis Unipan) surviving on her own for months and months with aliens out to eat her. Leslie Hope directs the episode. It’s excellent suspense direction. The flashback stuff with Parker Posey, explaining her backstory, isn’t good, but it’s not Hope’s fault. So mostly, it’s one of the best-directed episodes.

The Posey material, both in the present and in the flashbacks, is at best wanting and, in actuality, is pretty bad. The script, credited to Liz Sagal, reveals Posey is a blue blood who became a professional con artist after her mom died and the money faucet turned off. Selma Blair’s back as Posey’s disapproving sister. Angela Cartwright plays the mom. Unfortunately, neither gets anything to really do, though—again—Blair and Posey are fantastic siblings casting.

Given Posey’s dumb luck escapes all last season from her terrible decision-making, it strains credulity she’d survived three days as a professional con artist without an infinite lawyer fund, much less years. Especially since her actions in the present, while showcasing newly revealed extensive computer skills, also seem very obviously primed to cause significant disaster for everyone, including Posey. If part of the character is supposed to be her ability to act in self-preservation is broken… it needs to be addressed. Otherwise, it just comes off like lazy writing.

Otherwise, the script’s good. Like, sure, Unipan’s a little much, and when Taylor Russell comes across her, the show owed us a line about it being from that antique movie Aliens, but there are some good surprises in it. Again, since the regular cast seems invulnerable to too much harm, those good surprises help a lot. Leads to some fun scenes and suitable tension relief valves.

It also leads to way too much mooning from Mina Sundwall about Molly Parker not liking her enough because it’s apparently going to be a season subplot. Unlike the Maxwell Jenkins mooning over the robot—much of the episode teases a return of at least the evil second robot, if not the good one too, because the last time we saw the mothership, the two robots were crashing into it.

Parker and Toby Stephens mostly get a concerned parents arc—they’re all wandering the mothership looking for signs of life and then explanation at the lack of them. It’s not until the end (when there’s set up for next time) they actually have much action.

The episode gets a lot of mileage out of Sundwall and Jenkins in a familiar environment we’ve never seen them in—the show started with them getting away from the mothership in their space-camper. We also get some backstory on Russell’s birth father, which… would’ve been more interesting to see in the context of their voyage from Earth to where things went wrong to start the show. Like, there’s a constant reminder of the dad on the ship, and Russell was super-pissed off at Stephens when the show began for other things. Might’ve made for good character development.

Anyway.

The finale sets the show up for its next big dramatic turn. Or, depending on how you count them, its first big dramatic turn. Since all the other ones have been flashback reveals. It’s potentially compelling, even if it seems like it could’ve come at the finish of the season’s first episode, not its third.

Lost in Space (2018) s02e02 – Precipice

Alex Graves is back directing this episode; unlike last time, he lets “Lost in Space” take advantage of its John Williams theme music to do some Williams-esque riffs. The major disaster sequence, which sets up the rest of the episode, gets very emotive music.

The action immediately follows the last episode, with the family assembling and going over what they’ve learned and got to do. There’s a great moment when Ignacio Serricchio asks Molly Parker to repeat his assignment for the sake of exposition. Then things start going wrong immediately, with the kite Doc Brown ties to the clocktower in hopes of collecting the 1.21 Gigawatts–wait, wait, wrong movie. But something does go wrong with the kite. And then something else goes wrong. And then once they figure out the next thing to do, something else goes wrong, then something else.

Then killer seaweed starts attacking the cast, getting Serricchio the worst and putting him in sickbay for the rest of the episode. Unfortunately, the only person onboard matching his blood type is Parker Posey, who’s been reading Mina Sundwall’s memoir of their voyages and discovered Serricchio’s got some secrets to hide. It’s interesting to see Posey be straightforward in her machinations with Serricchio and their scenes are funny thanks to his partial paralysis.

Meanwhile, Taylor Russell feels like Toby Stephens doesn’t trust her enough when he says she needs to recognize she’s the doctor and can’t be doing the grunt work. This episode’s grunt work involves dangling the SUV out the back of the space-camper by a metal cable to save the family and refill the battery. But, unfortunately, the killer seaweed and various convenient inconveniences hamper their progress.

There’s a lot of character drama for Sundwall and Parker. They find themselves unexpectedly paired for the episode’s adventures, and Parker has to acknowledge maybe Sundwall’s not as useful as her other kids. Of course, given these crisis activities are the areas where Jenkins failed on his colonial tests and Sundwall passes, it plays like the show just ran out of stuff for Sundwall to do and gave her a gripe arc.

Their arc’s not great but does end up having a fairly reasonable conclusion.

One big change in the family’s reaction to the life-threatening crises is no one seems worried they’re going to die. Last season, there was always a lot of angst around imminent failure and destruction. This season, no one gets very worked out about it. They just have to complete all the tasks, and somehow it’ll work out. It’s very much doing disaster movie. Though not pacing-wise. Credited to Zack Estrin, the script plunges from one disaster to another.

We do get some more of the Cylon mythology, with the family discovering giant metal lightning rods built by the same intelligence as built the robot. They also find—six months after the previous season’s finale—the second, always evil robot’s lopped-off arm, which means they didn’t clean the garage in six months.

The disaster dramatics are a little much, but the actors carry it—and the special effects are excellent—making the episode more effective than it would be based on the plot machinations. There are a couple cliffhangers, one sort of rewinding the stakes two episodes back to last season finale, and then one where Posey shows she hasn’t learned anything as far as planning ahead.

Lost in Space (2018) s02e01 – Shipwrecked

After a reveal about last season’s finale, the episode reestablishing the ground situation—the Robinsons and friends have been marooned on a mostly water, very toxic planet for six months because the Cylon engine has stopped working. I may just call the robot’s “species” the Cylons. I haven’t decided. After they set it all up, the episode quickly becomes a “Murphy’s law” disaster movie, sort of like it was getting at the end of last season.

Murphy’s law—I already googled it for us—meaning “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.”

The family has the space-camper set up on a beach, and they’re growing corn and other vegetables. They don’t have enough power for the lights, but they’re trying with the solar panels and so on. The first act is all about the Christmas they’re having, what with Parker Posey still a prisoner in part of the ship and then Ignacio Serricchio being the slightly exasperated live-in handyman. For Christmas, Maxwell Jenkins has published—unclear with what resources—sister Mina Sundwall’s memoir about season one, Lost in Space. Everyone reading it or not reading it will be a subplot.

But they’re one big happy family given the circumstances—they still think the mothership will come to get them even though they clearly wormholed to the Delta Quadrant last season finale—and dad Toby Stephens is going to teach Jenkins how to drive. But it’s really boring to drive one of the future SUVs, so they have to make it sound like driving a car in the dialogue. Sundwall’s super snarky about it, which isn’t funny, just justified. The first act kind of drags.

Especially since, even though last season established Molly Parker and Stephens were partners now when she wants to go and try to refuel the ship at some regular lightning storms, Stephens says no.

Then something bad happens, and all of a sudden, they’ve got to do it. And time, as it has to be, is going to be tight.

The episode takes a few extra beats to reveal Parker’s plan to allow the audience to have an “ah-ha” moment, which is probably the weirdest move in the entire episode. The script, credited to remake creators Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, is relatively well-balanced, but they do not want to lean in on science and engineering in their science fiction. It’s not a significant problem. The episode’s got a new-to-the-series director, Alex Graves, and a really nice special effects budget given who difficult the journey will be for the family. It looks good. Probably the best the show’s effects have ever looked. So the season’s off to a good start on that front.

Character-wise… since they’re marooned, they’re mostly spinning wheels. Jenkins is mooning over the robot, Russell and Sundwall are bored (though people reading her book gives Sundwall a plot). Serricchio’s in stasis, ditto Parker to some degree. Stephens is thrilled playing extreme farmer, which could be interesting but isn’t. Posey’s going to have the most significant arc in the episode. She’s currently trying to manipulate Sundwall (in addition to everyone else), but mostly Sundwall.

It’s dramatically far more rewarding than when Posey was grooming Jenkins.

There’s a cliffhanger with a reveal, then a tag with another reveal, but the show never resolves some of its season one leftovers. The six-month jump-ahead also helps them ignore treacherous Posey in their midst.

But it’s a great-looking, entertaining start. The character dynamics are down, the actors are more comfortable—though Jenkins is growing fast, and Stephens shouldn’t have cut off his facial hair. Instead of looking like budget Michael Fassbender or Hugh Jackman, he seems like budget Damian Lewis, which isn’t the same thing.

Lost in Space (2018) s01e10 – Danger, Will Robinson

If it weren’t for remake creators Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless getting the script credit, I would’ve thought there’d been a producer change in this season. This episode caps a maybe five-episode arc where they’re racing to get off the planet as fast as possible because it’s breaking apart, and their mothership can’t stay looking for them either. It’s one calamity after another; again, not having seen the original series—but knowing it was Irwin Allen—was it an “everything goes wrong” disaster movie too?

Also, this episode’s got David Nutter directing, presumably because he’s finally got good notices for genre projects. Unfortunately, he brings nothing to it. Every other episode of “Lost in Space” has had directorial enthusiasm. Nutter’s mechanical and competent.

Unless it was his idea to have the now evil robot walk like RoboCop. That moment was about the only personality in the direction. It was probably the effects people.

The episode opens with Maxwell Jenkins sitting in the space-camper watching his old TikToks of him and the robot. He knows dad Toby Stephens is alive, but he doesn’t know Parker Posey has resurrected the robot, turned it evil, and captured mom Molly Parker and sister Taylor Russell. Jenkins and Sundwall are just hanging out waiting for Parker to get home so they can take off and rescue Stephens. They watch the other survivors’ space-campers all taking off, establishing they were supposed to go with Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa but snuck off his ship because Robinsons stick together.

Stephens and Ignacio Serricchio are orbiting the planet on a section of their ship from a couple episodes ago. Luckily the space suits in “Lost in Space” have multiple episodes worth of oxygen. They spend the episode bonding and bickering. It’s the most they’ve had to do together, and it’s okay. Butch and Sundance, they ain’t. The show also feels the need to have Stephens specify he loves Russell even though she’s not his biological daughter, which is uncool. They’d already addressed her genetics better.

After the episode establishes they’re fine—can they go to the bathroom in the suits like Dune?—Parker and Russell get back to the space-camper. Except Posey’s along with the now evil robot. So there’s Parker and Posey fighting about whether they can go save Stephens. There’s only so much time before they can rendezvous with the mothership. Posey says they can, but most of the angst will be worrying she’s lying about it.

Jenkins tries to be friends with the robot again, only it’s bad now, so Jenkins is sad.

Things get worse, and situations change along the way, leading to some quick and detailed thinking from Parker to save the day and get the episode in a good spot for a season finale cliffhanger. While I didn’t have the finale predicted and thought they’d go effects heavier with the space-camper—they basically end it like Lost in Space: The Movie, getting everyone lost in space and ready for adventure.

It’s a jam-packed episode, but you’re basically just terrifying kids and parents over and over without much risk. I think they’ve lost two named characters this season? Not including flashbacks. If you’ve got lines, you’re safe.

The season cliffhanger also tries too hard to include a callback hook and not just let it be about the cast, who have finally settled in and found the show normal.

But it’s all right. “Battlestar Lost in Space” works.

Lost in Space (2018) s01e09 – Resurrection

It’s unfortunate Molly Parker and Parker Posey are only going to get antagonistic scenes together because they’re good opposite one another. “Lost in Space” hasn’t really tasked Posey, and this episode’s the closest so far. Posey has kidnapped Parker after inadvertently killing Toby Stephens and Ignacio Serricchio. How was Posey supposed to know Parker was acting as ground-based mission control and Stephens needed her to fly his spaceship into orbit. Posey’s abject inability to assess the ground situation before she unleashes her schemes stretches credulity. It’s the most unbelievable thing in the show. No way Posey would’ve made it so far.

Posey’s plan for getting off the planet is to turn back on the robot’s spaceship and have it fly her out of there. She promises she’ll send help for the stranded survivors, but Parker doesn’t believe her. It’s also immaterial because they will not figure out how to turn on the spaceship until the last possible minute. They will learn many things, not just about the robot and his spaceship but the show in general. Turns out humans didn’t all of a sudden discover interstellar travel when there was a calamitous asteroid strike on Earth, one of the alien ships crashed (or something), and so NASA or whatever stole its engine.

There are flashbacks, complete with cute moments with static electricity for Mina Sundwall and Maxwell Jenkins, and Parker does really well with the figuring out.

The A-plot is Jenkins and Sundwall discovering they inadvertently found the secret to getting off the planet a few episodes ago—fossilized animal dung. They’re not sure what kind of animal it’s from—Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa tells them it’s an apex predator—but they know where to get it: a cave where everyone has to remain silent while chipping away at poop stalagmites. The whole band of survivors gets involved, including Raza Jaffrey and Sibongile Mlambo, who get maybe their series-best material here. Jeffrey’s got an excellent scene opposite Jenkins (who’s convinced Stephens is still alive because why not believe in the impossible, it’s a sci-fi action disaster show, after all, and it’s not like Stephens isn’t top-billed). Jaffrey’s out of line and awkward, but Jenkins is being obnoxious. Then Mlambo has a good scene opposite Sundwall and Jenkins, easily her best fully conscious scene.

Taylor Russell spends the episode trying to find and rescue Parker, which the script sets up like a big problem only to reveal it just requires Russell to check the GPS on the SUV Posey stole.

It’s a slight but good arc for Russell, who starts the episode almost telling Jenkins off for being the dipshit who let out Posey.

I just realized—Molly Parker Posey.

Anyway.

It's a little too perfunctory a script credited to Kari Drake, but Tim Southam directs the heck out of it. The cave sequence is a combination of Alien and then Jurassic Park, so, basically, what if Roland Emmerich wasn’t a terrible director.

The cliffhanger’s a tad annoying—the show really seems to be leaning into outrageous hard cliffhangers to encourage bingeing, something the show didn’t do earlier in the season—but for the season’s penultimate episode, it’s very solid.