Lost In Space “Shell Game”

Man, I know the Robinsons tend to make the people around them better people, but when it doesn’t work, that may very well be a very special kind of asshole.

Sure enough, Hastings is indeed a special kind of asshole.

Why would that be?  Well, he seems to understand that since he almost left a few hundred men, women, and children behind, even though Maureen led a mutiny, history books will not look too kindly on the man who almost left everyone behind.  So, he and Adler need to get Scarecrow back.

Because, well, the Robot took Scarecrow, and the Robot won’t pilot anyone to Alpha Centauri untiol Scarecrow is healed up somehow.  Will, realizing he was treating his friend like a servant, is onboard with that.  There’s just one problem:  how do they get Scarecrow repaired?

One round of Pictionary later, and Will knows they can get Scarecrow repaired if they take him down to the planet’s surface.

Now, normally, Will and Penny could just ask their parents for help.  Except, because Hastings is that special kind of asshole, he’s got the two of them locked outside the Resolute in separate shuttlecrafts where they will undoubtedly die.

See?  Special kind of asshole.

Oh, and speaking of people who seem to be immune to becoming better people, Smith is helping Hastings find Scarecrow, the Robot, and the Robinson children.  Judy, the closest there is to an adult Robinson on the station, goes to help her younger sibs, but they all seem to realize Smith is on to them, and Smith knows how the Robinsons think.

So, really, the challenge is to figure out a strategy to get the two Robots to a Jupiter that the Robinsons would normally never think of.

Part of that involves hiding in the garbage compactor, but Smith is always right there…until she spots the girls loading the Robot onto a Chariot.  A quick chase, and Hastings captures the girls and…a bag full of busted parts.  Will, the Robot, and Scarecrow snuck away during the distraction, and the only thing stopping them is Adler who stopped to think what he would have done and not what the kids would have done.

And, seeing the Robot fight to protect Will and Scarecrow, Adler realizes he was wrong because he isn’t a special kind of asshole.  So, while the Robot is captured and hooked up to the torture device that ruined Scarecrow, forcing the Robot to be the new pilot of the Resolute, Scarecrow is off to hopefully heal.

And hey, Adler and Will leaving in a Jupiter actually opened up the station long enough for Maureen and John to fly back inside.

Because, see, it takes a special kind of asshole to do what Hastings does, but that doesn’t mean he’s invincible.