TV Review: Lost In Space (Netflix)

As we have heard, Netflix is launching a reboot of the 1960’s TV show “Lost In Space”. So what’s the deal? Is it good? YES!

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Backstory:
The original series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, ran for three seasons, 83 episodes between 1965 and 1968.
The current Netflix season is 10 episodes, beginning on April 13, 2018. It picks up on characters and situations from the original series, and plays tribute to aspects of the original, but is definitely a new take, updated, and upgraded to the Netflix streaming world of 2018!

Set 30 years in the future, the series’ premise is that space colonies are now a reality. One colony exists near the Alpha Centauri star system, and there is a routine shuttle that ferries settlers there from Earth.

Life on Earth ain’t great. Earth’s atmosphere has become toxic to breathe. People are desperate to leave Earth for the colony, but first, they must undergo rigorous training, and endure difficult endurance testing. Only those who pass the tests will make the journey. And when they DO make the journey, the intention is that they don’t get back to Earth. Ever.

The Robinson family (“The Space Family Robinson” in the original series), consisting of Mom, Dad, and their three kids, are on the Resolute, heading for Alpha Centauri, along with many other colonists, when something goes wrong. Explosions occur, and mad chaos erupts! An emergency is declared, and everyone who CAN leave the badly damaged Resolute does so. They load onto Jupiter shuttles and crash land on a nearby planet.

On the planet, which has extremes in weather, but is otherwise very like Earth, the colonists must learn to work together for survival. And that is where the drama begins! Sharing the crashed Jupiter shuttle with the Robinsons are the strangely charismatic Dr. Smith, and a charming mechanic named Don West. Plus a mysterious robot!

My impressions of the first season? This is an awesome epic adventure, comparable to watching 10 one hour movies. The production value (quality of the visuals and overall budget level) is high. The quality is so high that you eventually just accept that you are watching life on another planet, with twin moons and unique natural phenomena. And spaceships. In terms of the ambitious scope of the story, it’s like the producers took the original Lost In Space concept, and mixed in the TV series Lost, with Star Wars, Star Trek, Alien, Jurassic Park, Avatar, and The Martian!!

The story of survival on this alien planet grips you from the first few moments and doesn’t let go. The script is solid, with no fluff, and no gratuitous scenes. Each scene is there to build suspense, give us some humor, make the story progress, or reveal more about the characters.

And that’s just the first week. The other episodes proceed logically from those leading up to them (saying this without revealing plot points, obviously), with only one hitch; a situation occurs in episode 8 that seems to defy the way that humans normally behave. It distracted me. Also, the lighting in a few dramatic scenes is too dark to clearly understand what is going on, so we need to follow the aural cues instead. But these are minor flaws in an overall amazing season of high-quality drama.

I highly recommend this Netflix series; it will have you on the edge of your seat more than once, so be sure you’re tightly buckled in for the ride!

Lost in Space stars Toby Stephens as John Robinson, Molly Parker as Maureen Robinson, Parker Posey as Dr. Smith, Ignacio Serricchio as Don West, Taylor Russell as Judy Robinson, Mina Sundwall as Penny Robinson and Max Jenkins as Will Robinson.

All episodes of Lost In Space premiers on Netflix on April 13.