The 'Lost in Space' cast talks Season 3’s shocking return

Fans of Netflix’s Lost in Space have been floating in the terribly frustrating and nebulous space of a very long hiatus since the last season of the series. It’s been two full years since the Season 2 cliffhanger which separated the kids from the adults in The Jupiter, the “death” of Dr. Zoey Smith (Parker Posey), and the reveal of Grant Kelly, Judy's biological father.

With the third and final season of Lost in Space finding its home on Dec. 1 when all premiere on Netflix, SYFY WIRE spoke to the large ensemble cast about how some pressing topics before launch, like if they wanted to know how it all ends, the most important character developments they wanted before the end, and Dr. Smith’s surprising return in the final trailer.

Photo: Netflix

On the surprise of Dr. Smith’s return:

Molly Parker, Maureen Robinson: I can't imagine making a show without her, honestly. Dr. Smith is just integral to the show. That character is as much a part of this family by the end as anyone. One of the things that I love about the dynamic with her is that this family, as big as it is — the Robinsons and the people around them — has evolved as it's gone along. For all that we have come to know who she is, we also accept who she is. There's space for her too. There's space for everyone in this new place we're trying to get to.

On where the story picks up for John and Maureen:

Parker: When we begin Season 3, we are separated from the kids and really emotionally separated from each other. Just as a place to begin, there's far to go from there. It was a really interesting way to start because there was a lot of quiet in the scenes that John and I did together. The absence of the kids is felt really deeply and both John and Maureen are dealing with it in different ways. It's made their relationship really tense. It's always been so interesting in this show, to be able to explore the real relationships that are taking place in the midst of these extraordinary circumstances.

Photo: Netflix

On what they wanted to see for their character before the end, or what surprised them:

Ignacio Serricchio, Don West: I was told by [showrunner] Zack Estrin, when they were playing around with Season 3, he asked me, how do you feel about Don, being promoted?  I thought it was a good idea because he was going to be completely out of his comfort zone to have to deal with people and talk to more people and have a clipboard and be all zipped up and stuff. And clean which was my biggest challenge, having to shave. I hated that. But I was very excited to play Don West, but it's a new Don West. 

Toby Stephens, John Robinson: I was interested in John being in this place at the beginning of the third season, where we've always seen him as this really proactive, confident, constantly hopeful person, to being this person who's just fatigued by the whole thing. And he's in this position where he's gone, "I don't know how to define myself anymore because I define myself against my family, and my family doesn't exist right now. I don't know whether my children are alive or dead.” And that sense that people are dying constantly under his command, and as a soldier hating this, so there's just this sense of him just fighting against this negative wave that's hitting him and Maureen and trying to reach her again and trying to how do we how do we continue as people without our kids? I like that idea because I like playing a positive character and him being this positive character, but there's got to be a struggle against something else, otherwise, it just isn't believable. People become a cardboard cutout, apple pie kind of idealist, rather than just actually fallible human beings who are striving desperately to be better.

Taylor Russell, Judy Robinson: From the beginning, there was always a conversation of we're maybe going to see [Grant Kelly] at some point. And you never fully know because you learn a lot during shooting a season and you see the changes that the writers are making and you don't know exactly where it's going to go even if you think you know where it's gonna go. In my case with Judy, it was for the most part pretty outlined that it would be touched on at some point. I think the way that it all comes together in this last season is really great. There are a lot of bows that get tied at the end of this, so I think it's going to be satisfying to watch.

Max Jenkins, Will Robinson: Something that was really important to me was making sure Will Robinson wasn't squeaky clean by the end of this. Season 1 and 2, We see Will Robinson begin to grow into a young adult. And then in season 3, we see him make the mistakes that young adults do make. I did two years in high school before we went into filming Season 3, and I definitely made mistakes of my own and became a teenager. So, I really wanted to make sure that we brought that into Season 3, because ultimately Will Robinson even though he is in such dire situations, I think what's so cool about him as a character is that any young kid should have something to relate to him about. I think growing up is something that Will Robinson should do and I'm glad that we were able to do.

Mina Sundwall, Penny Robinson: There are a couple of things that I can't say that I'm very happy with. I was talking to the writers from the beginning and through Season 2 up until the end of Season 3 about where Penny's story is going. In the beginning of the show, she was this sarcastic middle child that didn't really fit in anywhere. She wasn't an action hero/Navy SEAL like her dad, and she wasn't a rocket scientist. She wasn't a doctor. I wanted to know, as she found her own a little bit and as she found the direction that she's going, where was it going to end up? What was her hero's journey? We did talk about it through Season 2 and into Season 3 and I really like where it goes.

The third and final season of Lost in Space hits Netflix on Dec. 1.