I like recaps in some cases. They should always be optional. Most stories don’t need to save space, unless you’ve got an absolutely masochistic amount of branching.
I’d suggest optional recaps if:
- You last updated more than 3 weeks ago
- Your story is dense and contains lots of minute details that might cause the reader to lose track of important clues
- You’re writing a puzzle/mystery that has an important clue several episodes previous that’s just coming into play now