Lost in Space Season 4 could answer 3 remaining mysteries
The end has finally come for the robots, the Robinsons, and all of humankind.
Mega danger, Will Robinson! The conclusion of Lost in Space Season 3 is finally here. As fans witness the epic triumph of the Robinson family and the twists and turns with the alien robots, some might be wondering if Lost in Space Season 4 — or a spinoff show — is coming.
The answer to that question is probably “no.” The ending of Lost in Space Season 3 feels like the series finale, meaning Season 4 isn’t just unlikely, it’s a bit unnecessary. But if you’ve been into Netflix’s Lost in Space reboot since the beginning, you may still find yourself with a few lingering questions. In fairness, the show made stabs at answering the following three plot points, but these major plot points might not be explained entirely for some.
Here are the three biggest unanswered questions from Lost in Space Season 3, complete with (partial) answers.
Major spoilers for Lost in Space Season 3 ahead.
Alas, poor alien, I knew him [robot] Horatio.
Why did the extinct aliens build the robots?
The question of who built the alien robots has loomed over Lost in Space since the first season in 2018. Now, in Season 3, that is answered: an extinct race of aliens, who essentially looked like organic versions of the four-armed robots like SAR and Scarecrow, created the robots.
That said, even though we get this info in Lost in Space Season 3, specifically in the episode “Final Transmission,” we don’t know much about this departed race other than the simple fact that the evil robots, led by SAR, basically murdered their organic masters. The motivation of SAR and the robots is pretty straightforward: They don’t want anyone to be their masters again or to be programmed in a way that precludes freedom. In some ways, this is a familiar robot-uprising story. But we still don’t know much about these original aliens at this point.
In other words, Lost in Space Season 3 did finally answer who is behind the origin of the robots, but we didn’t get why they were created. If these aliens built the robots, why did they program the way they did?
Essentially, SAR’s revolution over its organic masters is a backstory that is quickly explained in dialogue but not something that’s delved into. Could a Lost in Space spinoff explore the origins of the aliens who built the robots? Sure! But that doesn’t mean a spinoff like that is coming. In the canon of the contemporary Lost in Space, we’ve been told everything we’re going to know about those aliens. For now.
How did Dr. Smith really survive?
Thank God Dr. Smith (Parker Posey) returned. But wait, how did she return?
Although the return of Parker Posey’s Dr. Smith in the opening moments of Season 3 is freaking awesome, it’s still a bit confusing as to how she actually survived following her apparent demise in Season 2. At one point, she claims she hid inside of a specific storage locker, but that feels odd considering we saw Smith’s space helmet floating in the void in Season 2.
It’s not a huge thing, but no specific flashback scene shows us how Smith survived. Considering the character's popularity and how significant her (off-screen) demise was in Season 2, her return feels very much in the realm of Sherlock Holmes: Don’t ask too many questions! Just deal with the fact she’s back!
Why did the (good) Robot have a strong connection to Will Robinson?
The robots just needed friends!
This question is a little slippery. In Season 3, Lost in Space answers arguably one of the biggest questions of the series: Why do the hostile enemy robots have such an interest in Will Robinson? The answer to that question is made pretty clear in Episode 6: SAR wants to know how a human could have changed the Robot's programming to make it non-hostile to humans. SAR and the enemy robots have been obsessed with Will because he represents a possible future threat to their plans: If one robot could be turned, then, in theory, others might be, too.
However, beyond the power of love and family, we’re not given any kind of robot-y sci-fi answer to Will's huge connection to Robot, nor the special connection Scarecrow had to Adler in Season 2. The results of these specific robot-human bonds are laid out clearly in Season 3, but the objective origin of those bonds is murkier.
That said, in the final episode, “Trust,” we see Penny convert a random bad robot — Sally — to the “good side,” simply by showing it mercy. This then causes a bunch of other kids to be friendly to robots and convert them too. This seems to negate the idea that Adler and Will had special relationships with their robots. Instead, it asserts that the ability for the robots to be good was there all along.
Will even says “the Robot and I weren’t a fluke.” So, if you thought there would be some kind of secret here, the truth is there was no secret. Basically, Will was just nicer to the Robot than anyone else, and if people had started being nicer sooner, maybe this wouldn’t have all happened? (Well, the first attack in Season 1’s first episode would have still happened.)
Could there be a Lost in Space spinoff show?
The future adventures of Will and the Robot?
Although Season 3 feels like the definitive end for the series, Penny does write “the end of...Chapter 1” in her memoir about their adventures, which could imply more. And the series finishes with Will and the reborn Robot forming “a human-robot exploratory group,” checking out uncharted planets, boldly going where no kid and their robot has gone before.
Could a Lost in Space sequel or spinoff series eventually happen? Could a hypothetical show follow Will’s adventures with the Robot, exploring outer space? Maybe. When Will says, “I have no idea where we are,” in a sense, the series ends the same way it began. By getting lost.
Lost in Space Season 3 is streaming now on Netflix.
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