I was seven years old when the original sci-fi series Lost in Space premiered. A year later, Star Trek beamed into our televisions as well. Although as a teen, Star Trek, in syndication by then, became my favorite show, as a child it scared me. Lost in Space was more child friendly and in spite of the weekly warning from the robot…Danger, Will Robinson…it seemed to present a safer future ahead.
Netflix just released a reboot of Lost in Space, as an original series on its network. All 10 episodes of season one are available to watch. I viewed the first two episodes over the weekend.
Lost in Space stars Toby Stephens, Molly Parker, Maxwell Jenkins, Taylor Russell, Mina Sundwall, Ignacio Serricchio, Parker Posey and Brian Steel. The series carries a PG-13 rating, for adult themes and intense actions scenes, and each episode has a run time of 1 hour.
John (Stephens) and Maureen (Parker) Robinson have left Earth behind in the hopes of colonizing a new world with a group of scientists and military personnel. Their three children, Judy (Russell), Penny (Sundwall) and Will (Jenkins) are accompanying them, making it a family adventure.
But in the expanse of deep space, far from Earth and not yet within range of the colony, disaster strikes. The ship transporting the colonists comes under alien attack. Families jettison from the collapsing carrier in smaller Jupiter class ships. The Robinsons crash land on an unknown planet, under harsh conditions.
They aren’t alone. Two other survivors, Major Don West (Serricchio) and Dr. Smith (Posey) are also searching for colonists who crashed on the planet. And a synthetic robotic creature (body work done by Brian Steel) crawled out of his downed ship as well. He appears to be the one who caused the mother ship’s destruction, but his circuitry is scrambled, wiping his memory banks. When he encounters young Will Robinson, the two form an alliance and the robot joins the Robinsons.
The first priority is survival on the hostile planet as the Robinsons get their small ship operational again. Danger is everywhere, from the unpredictable weather to unstable terrain, and within the lies of some of the survivors, who aren’t who they pretend to be. Even Will’s robotic friend carries secrets that could ultimately threaten them all. Being lost is the least of the Robinsons’ concerns.
In spite of some low reviews that I read, I like this reboot. The original series was fun, although a bit cheesy. This retelling of the story is darker, with more intensity and much, MUCH higher quality special effects. The Robinsons are a more typical family, meaning dysfunctional. Mom and Dad vie for control of their children, creating a great deal of tension between them. There’s the smart med student daughter, the younger daughter who hasn’t discovered her place in the world yet, and the son who feels inadequate for this mission.
Being only two episodes in, Don hasn’t had much character development yet. And he hasn’t actually connected with the Robinsons, having been abandoned by Dr. Smith, who is female in this newest version. She is a mix of contradictions and manipulations. Sometimes sinister, sometimes pitiable, it will be interesting to watch her work her way into the Robinsons’ favor, while carrying out her own agenda.
I like that Netflix makes all the episodes of a season available at once. I rarely binge watch a show, preferring to draw out the experience by viewing one or two episodes at a time. I’ll savor Lost in Space as it transports me back nostalgically to the 60s, and takes me on an exciting new futuristic adventure.
