Ava has everyone turned in their metal because it's quarantined due to the contaminant. Don complains that the planet has essentially declared war on machines. The mechanics then go up to the Resolute and undergo decontamination. As they leave, one man collapses, holding his knee. Andre approaches Don and asks if he can get him a Cuban cigar, and Don asks what he has to pay. Meanwhile, the man tells Ava that he had four pins in his damaged knee. When the man is taken to the med bay, the doctor confirms that the pins are gone.
On the floor where the man collapses, the contaminant he left behind starts eating through the floor.
12 Hours Later
Penny, Smith, and Vijay look at the section of floor that has disintegrated. Jackson comes out and Vijay warns him to stay back, and the lights shut down throughout the section. Smith runs and the others follow, just evading a bulkhead door as it comes down, cutting them off from the infected sector.
Ben, Maureen, and Will drop onto the planet's surface from the transport and Ben says that he's prepared horses for transport since the Chariots are quarantined. They mount up and go look for the Robot. John radios Maureen and says that Judy is bandaging him up, and Judy refuses to let him join up with them to get the Robot. Ben calls to John and says that he'll keep Will and Maureen safe. John tells Will to take care of Maureen and signs off. They mount up and ride to the Robot's location.
Penny tells the others that the only way out is through the deteriorating hallway. Smith wonders when they will rescue them, and Penny tells her that they're not friends. Captain Kamal calls to see how they're doing, and says that they have a team cutting through to them through the circulation ducts. She tells them to go back to the classroom and wait, but Smith figures they should plan their own escape.
Don searches for the hidden cigars, and hides as a security man comes looking for all workers.
Ben stops to make camp for the night. Will is impatient to find the Robot, but Maureen and Ben agree that they should wait until sunrise. As they make camp, Ben talks about how his sons change every time he sees them, and wonders if Maureen would still leave Earth. Will overhears them and says that he would because they're better now than before they got lost. Maureen wonders if he's talking about their family, and Will says that he means everyone. He figures that he's still be scared if he hadn't met the Robot, and it's a good thing that they met the Robot first.
In the classroom, Penny figures that they shouldn't be there at school. Smith listens at the door with a beaker, hoping to hear someone coming for them. She hears the rescue team and figures that they're close. Meanwhile, the workers discover the contaminant has spread through the circulation ducts. Ava is on the bridge with Kamal and orders them out, and Angela reports that she can't produce an antidote fast enough to stop the contaminant for spreading. They look for another route into the classroom, and Ava warns that if they lose life support then they lose the Resolute.
Smith hears the rescue team move away and figures something has happened. Penny suggests that they use Victor's access code that Vijay has to listen in and find out what's going on. Jackson disagrees but Smith says that it would be for the greater good, and says that there's no one on the ship who cares about any of them.
Don finds the cigars and then hides them as to security men go by. He checks his comm and discovers that he's missed 12 alerts. Don joins up with Ava she explains about the contaminant, and they're considering cutting off the contaminated part of the Resolute. People are trapped inside the blast radius, and Ava tells him who they are.
Vijay listens into the communications and hears the crew say they're going to blast their area clear of the ship. Smith turns to Penny as the only Robinson they've got, and Penny tries to come up with an idea. Don calls and tells Penny that he's on the case, and Penny is offended he never checked up on her. He admits that the captain will sacrifice the trapped quartet to save the Resolute, but he's going to see the people in charge.
Penny tells Don what is in the room, and she finds a wheeled box with research sample. Don tells her to empty the box and get inside of it so he can save their lives. He goes onto the bridge and tells Kamal that he can get the stranded team out. The sample box is airtight and temperature controlled, and if the group gets inside of it then they can pick them up in a Jupiter. Kamal refuses to risk a Jupiter, and Don finally explains that he used them several times to smuggle steaks, and he's a smuggler. Kamal agrees to give him a Jupiter, but warns that if the corrosion reaches the intake vent then she'll call his plan off.
Don heads to the Jupiter and tells Penny that they're in business. Penny has confirmed that only three of them will fit in the box.
On the planet, Maureen asks Ben if the colonists ever considered they would have to take up residence permanently on the planet. The horses nervously whinny, and the scavenger lizards gather outside the perimeter fence. The perimeter deactivates briefly and then reactivates, then shut off and on again. The lizards move in and Maureen grabs a wrench and tells Will to run if it happens again.
When the fence goes down, Will runs and the lizards go after him. The Robot arrives and shines its facelight on them, repelling the creatures. Will runs forward and hugs it, and it hugs him back. The Robot heads off and Will figures that it wants them to follow it. As they go, Ben is surprised at the Robot, and Will says that Will never stops believing.
Smith asks Jackson to give her family a note, and says that she'll stay behind to protect the kids. Jackson says that he won't go because it's something he has to do, and Smith praises him. Penny talks to Smith privately and says that she knows what Smith is doing. She says that it's not volunteering if Smith cons him. Vijay offers to sacrifice himself, and Penny refuses. Smith tells her that's what Maureen would say, but Penny isn't her mother and she knows there are winners and losers. Vijay checks the box and tells Penny that he's found something.
Ava tells Kamal that the contaminant is spreading fast and they have to blast the infected section clear right away. Penny calls Don and says that they need his brain. Vijay has found a heater in the box, and if they remove it there's enough room for four people. Don says that they can survive with the head of the air and their radiant body temperature... for a minute. He warns that it will get cold fast and they'll go into shock, and then he'll be there to rescue them.
Penny and the others remove the heater while Don tells him how to rig a propellant out of a fire extinguisher and zip ties. Vijay and Smith get in, but Jackson says that he's claustrophobic and can't. Smith respects his decision, but Penny refuses to abandon Jackson. She tells Smith to convince Jackson to get in and prove that she's a therapist. Smith talks Jackson through getting into the box, having him describe how he was trapped before.
Ava warns Don that the contaminant is accelerating and they may have to go early. Don says that they'll need every second.
Smith assures Jackson that he's not alone and wasn't when he was trapped in a hole before. She takes his hand like his mother took his hand before, and says that she knows what it feels like to be trapped. Smith tells him that it only takes one more step, and gets Jackson into the box. Penny triggers the extinguisher, gets in, tells Don to go, and closes the lid.
Kamal blows the section clear, and the box is blasted clear. The temperature drops inside, and Don finally pulls the box into the Jupiter and helps a sobbing Penny out. Don tells Kamal that everyone is safe, and Kamal and her bridge crew watch the infected section drop free of the Resolute. Ava reports that they're all clear of the rust.
Maureen tells Ben that she trusts the Robot because he saved Will. They enter a cave and the Robot shows them the drawings it made on the cave wall. The drawings are of the Robinsons and all the times the Robot saved them. They're memories, and some of them are Will's. The final drawing shows Jupiter 2 with the sales, and Will realizes that the Robot saw it through their mental connection. Will remembers the Robot warning him of "danger", and wonders if the Robot meant danger for them or danger for it. The Robot points out a drawing of the forest on fire when it saved Will, and Maureen suggests the Robot is trying to talk to Will by sharing stories.
The Robot points frantically at one of the symbols, and Will realizes that it's injured from its battle with the SAR. He tells Maureen that they should leave the Robot there and pick it up in the Jupiter, and warns that picking it up is a bad idea. The Robot's facelight turns red and it goes into battle mode, and it grabs Will as he tries to run. It turns to face Will and Maureen as she goes to his son, and Will figures it brought him there for a reason.
Will asks the robot what it wants, figuring that it set a trap for him. He offers himself as long as the robot lets Maureen go. Maureen refuses, and the robot prepares to kill them. Ben electrocutes it from behind using the control machine, destroying it.
Jackson thanks Smith for convincing him to get into the box. Vijay asks Penny what's wrong, and she says that they survived no thanks to her. It was Don, Smith, and Vijay, who rescued all of them. Vijay tells her that she was the only one who could have convinced Smith to convince Jackson, and there's nothing more Robinson than that. Don gives them contraband chocolate bars, and the security men come in to arrest Don. When Penny confronts them, the head security man says that Don confessed. Penny wonders why Don would do that, and Don tells her that it was worth it.
Ben tells Maureen that they couldn't risk losing Will. Will climbs up the side of the nearby mountain and finds the spot where he saw through the Robot's eyes. He falls into a sinkhole, and the real Robot catches him and greets him by name.
Written by Gadfly on Dec 30, 2019