Alistair Hastings is the Intelligence Officer on the Resolute, as well as Security in some regard, with a military mind.
On Netflix's Lost in Space, Hastings was portrayed by Douglas Hodge.
History[]
"Ready to trade. ... Second thoughts? ... Have a nice trip."
- Hasting's online communication to Maureen Robinson
Before the launch of the 24th Mission, he secretly traded information with Maureen Robinson in order to alter the results to Will Robinson's stress test to say that he passed instead of failed. Maureen gave him several clearance codes, which, together, allowed him total control of the ship's systems. When she hesitated in sending him the codes, he pressured her, asking her if she was having second thoughts.[1]
His ultimate goal is the same as most people on the Resolute and the Alpha Centauri Program - save humanity. However, he is of singular mind almost all the time - thus, he is willing to do nearly anything to see the mission succeed; he is willing to manipulate people, like "Dr. Smith," but moreover, he is willing to doom hundreds of people to certain death in order to get the Resolute to Alpha Centauri. In addition, he opened the airlock in OGS just to make a point. He sometimes seems to struggle when making his decision, but ultimately he goes through with it, his remorse subsiding rather quickly.
In theme of Hastings as a military man, he also sees some people not as much as people, but resources or tools, and also doesn't like being countermanded in the slightest: when Captain Kamal decides to keep cleaning the water after he 'wins', he is visibly displeased, and not by just a little bit. He also ends up trying to kill John and Maureen in retaliation by locking out their maintenance pods. Hastings effectively ends up becoming a bit of a nemesis for the Robinson family as they keep getting in his way, setting them up to fail, get locked out of areas, or outright die. He did not care at all about the Robots either, telling Ben Adler that he didn't want to hear anymore of hearts or emotions, that they should just "drift away."
After, he tries to leave Will and the remaining colonists behind on the planet, he is overpowered and captured by Maureen, John and Don West. As the crew of the Resolute evacuate during the robot attack, Hastings and his men are seen handcuffed inside a Jupiter. Maureen contacts Hastings to ask for the access codes to disable the safety systems so that she can destroy the Resolute. Though surprised by her request, Hastings immediately complies when Maureen explains she is doing it to buy the children time to escape.
Hastings is subsequently imprisoned for his crimes and ignored for over a year by the Robinsons. On Alpha Centauri, Maureen and John visit Hastings, asking about a defense system for the colony that they suspect the Chancellor was kept in the dark about. After learning that the Robots are going to attack, Hastings admits that they had secretly added a shield to the colony in the case of an attack. Hastings agrees to provide them with the keys to turn the system on in exchange for them telling the Chancellor that the accusations against him are a misunderstanding and that he can be a much greater service to the colony if his authority is restored.
Hastings is released and taken home where he takes the opportunity to gloat to John. Noticing a red glow outside, John heads outside to check and while he's gone, Hastings is attacked and killed by a Robot. In his hand, John finds a slip of paper that Hastings had retrieved from his safe revealing the code words that need to be spoken to unlock the system. Will later realizes that Ben Adler is the other person who can unlock the system using the words which Hastings had hinted at when he told them that he was the only living person that could do it. Although Will's Robot is implicated as the Robot who killed Hastings, it later turns out that a different Robot who was secretly on Alpha Centauri had killed Hastings in an attempt to frame Will's Robot.
Trivia[]
"Have a nice trip" - Maureen sends Hastings classified information
Although Hastings is not seen physically until the second season of Netflix's Lost in Space, he is seen in a way in "Impact" from the first season in a flashback through the messages he exchanges with Maureen as she barters with him to alter Will's test results.
He is first identified as "Alistair Hastings" in "Contingencies on Contingencies" from the third season, previously known only by his last name.
Appearances[]
| 2018 TV series | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | ||||||||||
| Season 2 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Season 3 | ✔ |