Three Little Birds is the season premiere and first episode of the third season of Netflix's Lost in Space. It premiered on Netflix on December 1, 2021.
Summary[]
A year into their mission with the children of the Resolute, Judy, Penny and Will scramble to find the titanium they need to get to Alpha Centauri.
Plot[]
From weeks to a year[]
Penny with Liam Tufeld
Judy Robinson scouts the Fortuna for any information about the fate of the vessel's crew. As she does so, the crew aboard the Jupiter 2 face a perilous situation, as the vessel must land on the shattered planet below in order to prevent being impacted by an asteroid. Judy manages to retrieve the information she needs and escapes the vessel, then rockets towards the descending Jupiter. She takes a hard crash and very nearly falls away, only to be grabbed at the last minute. "Gotcha," says a woman's voice. "Smith?" asks a shocked Judy. "Please tell me I'm hearing things," comments Penny.
Approximately one year later, the children and Smith have made a new life have made a new life for themselves on a shattered planet in a small enclave. Judy narrates that the rest of the planet died a long time ago, but this section still has life, a spot found deep in the valley by the Jupiter's computer. They're raising crops and even have a school, with "Madame Smith" as teacher. They must constantly monitor for meteors and although they're doing well, they still worry if they'll ever get to Alpha Centauri, as finding the titanium needed to repair the ship's engine is slow going. What was supposed to take a few weeks has turned into a year and Will is taking it personally, with Penny distant and distracted. Even the Robot seems to be searching for his purpose. Meanwhile, Judy herself sets off flares, hoping to contact the missing Fortuna lander, but each attempt ends in failure.
Elsewhere, John Robinson leads a salvage team on a rainforest planet in the "Danger system." He and his team dodge patrols of robots and scavenge wreckage from the Resolute. They make progress, but are forced to hide from a group of robots and Peter Beckert is killed by one who catches him after he uses a flashlight. Back on the shattered planet, a boy named Liam asks Penny how the book she's writing ends. She tells him it's a cliffhanger, which is a fancy way of saying she stopped in the middle. They talk and she says that she used to care about things too much and now lives in the moment. Meanwhile, Will and the Robot heat titanium for the engine. He is confronted by Dr. Smith, who asks him what's taking so long, saying that everyone was so excited when he said they'd only be there a few weeks.
Once a mother[]
Dr. Smith tells the Robot she thinks Will is hiding something
Vijay is busy practicing guitar when an alert comes in of an approaching object. The group evacuates to a shelter, but the meteor burns up in the atmosphere. Judy grills Penny for not taking the warning seriously, even though the meteors always burn up in the atmosphere. However, this latest incident changes things, as the space above is getting more congested and it won't be long before the computer is unable to plot a safe course away. Because of this Judy proposes a risky plan to climb to obtain titanium two miles up. She tells them to prep their suits. The Robot offers to help, but Will tells him he can't. Meanwhile, Penny expresses doubt that they can manage without their parents.
Meanwhile, in the Danger system at Sunshine Base, John returns from the scavenging run. He briefs the crew, saying that the robots neither like or hate them, and will hit back hard if they take something that belongs to them. Meanwhile, Don West talks with his chicken Debbie, who has been cooped up in a cage beside a number of other chicken cages. He is now an engineering head and discusses shift rotations with Ava. He meets with an engineer, who turns out to be Maureen, who is asking him to sign off on her work. He asks if she couldn't be doing something better, telling her that John is back. But she doesn't seem interested. John writes on a board that he's back.
Will, Judy and Penny head off to climb for the titanium, along with Vijay and Liam. As the Robot watches from below, Dr. Smith comments to him that Will is hiding something. That evening, Will has trouble sleeping. Viajay asks him if Penny ever talks about him, but he says that they aren't talking much. On Sunshine, John and Maureen finally talk. He says that they need him to clean out their kids' rooms. She begs off, saying she has a shift and he tells her to skip it, that they have more important things to deal with. She leaves, saying she's not stopping him. He asks just what she's doing, and she says she's keeping everything running, that she used to be a mother and now they have nothing. He says she has him, but she walks away.
Face the danger[]
The Robot makes a stunning discovery
On the shattered planet, the group continues climbing when Vijay takes a fall. He ends up fracturing his risk and Vijay has to take him back to camp. At the camp, Smith studies some papers and makes a discovery. "Will Robinson, you're not such a hero after all," she comments. As the Robinsons continue climbing, Will comments that it's been a while since it's just them. Penny, however, tells him to just get what they came there for. They, however, discover a high-powered radio signal receiver and realize that Judy is trying to catch a signal from the Fortuna lander. They ask what she was planning to do if they got a signal, asking if she's really planning to come down with them. She asks if they can understand that she's never been this close before. They hear a noise and discover a swarm of insects that are literally eating away the rock they're perched on, rock termites as Will calls them. They realize that if they can't go down, they have to go up, They bind themselves together and jump, riding an updraft to safety. Though Penny seems shocked by the experience, she turns out to be okay. She hands Judy the transmitter, telling Judy to go. Judy protests that she's responsible for all of them, but Penny says she's been so mad for her being the reason they had to leave, when she was only looking out for them. They agree that's what family does.
Will and Penny return to base. There, Smith confronts Will, saying that he knows he didn't have to make that climb. She tells him she's cooked a few books in her day and shows him records that a tremendous amount of titanium ore that disappeared. She says she's annoyed with herself for having lost her edge, and he tells her she's right about everything. He says that the robots are not just looking for their engines, but him. He asks her to keep it a secret. He, however, then goes and finds the Robot. He says that Smith is wrong about him sabotaging the titanium. "It was you." A flashback shows the Robot dumping it and Will asks why he would do that. "Help Will Robinson," says the Robot and Will says he knew he felt safe there, but that he's not a kid anymore. "Danger, Will Robinson" comments the Robot and he says that perhaps the only way to put an end to this is to face the danger. The Robot agrees to trust him.
Maureen arrives back from her shift to find John holding a baseball. She tells him he shouldn't have to do this on his own. They sit together and John tells her that every time he comes into the hub, he still expects to see the kids. Maureen admits that she tries not to think about them. She asks if this is terrible, saying that when she does, she worries that there was something she missed. On the planet, Vijay plays the song "Three Little Birds" on his guitar and sings. Penny, however, sits with her head on Liam's lap, while Maureen rests with John. Judy continues climbing and reaches the top, getting a green signal from the transmitter. John awakes to find that his To Do List is now much more hopeful - "Get a robot, get an engine, hug our kids." He and Maureen smile at each other. On the shattered planet, the Robot watches several meteors impact in the distance. He follows them to a strange, alien city.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Molly Parker as Maureen Robinson
- Toby Stephens as John Robinson
- Maxwell Jenkins as Will Robinson
- Taylor Russell as Judy Robinson
- Mina Sundwall as Penny Robinson
- Ignacio Serricchio as Don West
- Brian Steele as The Robot
and
- Parker Posey as "Dr. Smith"
Guest starring[]
- Ajay Friese as Vijay Dhar
- Raza Jaffrey as Victor Dhar
- Charles Vandervaart as Liam Tufeld
- Nevis Unipan as Samantha
- Amelia Burstyn as Diane
- Tattiawna Jones as Ava
- Zoriah Wong
- William Budijanto as Kid
- Yukari Komatsu as Naoko Watanabe
- Viv Leacock as Reese
- Adam Greydon Reid as Peter Beckert
- Aria DeMaris as Izabel Azevedo
- Hugo Raymundo as Colonist #1
- Kris McRonney
- Zehra Fazal as Jupiter / Resolute computer voice
Trivia[]
- The song performed by Vijay Dhar towards the end of the episode, and which the episode is named after, is "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Gallery[]
Still images[]
