I first caught Lost In Space while it ran in syndication back when I was a little spud. I loved the otherworldly adventures featuring a loving family who always had each other’s back regardless of what crazed situation they faced. As I got older, I realized that LIS wasn’t exactly Shakespeare (“The Great Vegetable Rebellion,” anyone?). Episodes that seemed like an engrossing adventure to an eight year old looked very silly when viewed by my older self. But despite the fact that LIS didn’t age well, it still held a warm place within my heart for all of these years.
The Lost In Space movie that was released twenty years ago was a misbegotten mess that tried to keep the camp while updating the overall concept with disastrous results. As if that wasn't bad enough, the same writer of that debacle became one of the executive producers on Star Trek: Discovery, promptly screwing up yet another one of my childhood favorites with terrible, clueless scripts. It made me extremely reluctant to watch the new Lost In Space series on Netflix. I just didn’t want to be disappointed yet again by a behind the scenes team that once more just didn’t get it.
But when I started watching the new LIS series, it quickly became clear that the new folks behind the scenes “got it”. A perfect example of this is the episode Infestation, when the Jupiter 2 finally breaks free of an ice trap and literally soars across the valley of an alien world. It’s a stunning, enthralling scene in and of itself--but then something even more amazing happened. While the J2 soared triumphantly through the skies, the original John Williams theme began to play. And in that moment, while chills ran through my body, I realized that this was no mere regurgitated, dead-on-arrival reboot like ST: Discovery. This was Lost In Space, gloriously reborn.
The new LIS wisely ditches the campy humor of the original series (and to be fair, the first season of the original LIS, in black and white, wasn’t as silly as its latter two seasons were) and strives to create a sincere space drama about a family--one of many--who are headed to a new world after earth is struck by a meteor. But after an attack by a mysterious force, their journey gets sidetracked, leaving them stranded on an unknown alien world. The Jupiter 2 is one of many smaller vessels that serves as a home away from home aboard the larger interstellar ship. The design of the new ship nicely mimics the saucer look of the original, with some creative upgrades.
The beloved Robot of the original also gets redone as a mysterious alien-made robot that meets up with young Will (very well played by Maxwell Jenkins) and becomes his friend/bodyguard--to the consternation of his family. This new re-imagining of the Robot is very well done; it manages to keep the Will/Robot dynamic of the original series while jettisoning the campier aspects of it. Another exceptional member of the cast is Molly Parker (Deadwood), whose presence in this gave me the glimmer of hope that I needed to start watching it, and she is marvelous as Maureen, the matriarch of the Robinson family. Toby Stevens is very good as John Robinson, a gruff warrior who is a sharp contrast to his scientist wife. And the Robinson girls are wonderfully fleshed out by Taylor Russell and Mina Sundwall as Judy and Penny, respectively. Russell is superb by making her Judy a traditionally brave doctor who doubts herself after a brush with death, and Sundwall shines as a wisecracking Penny, whose constant jokes hides her insecurity.
At first I had trouble warming up to Ignacio Serricchio as Don West. It wasn’t the actor’s fault; I just wasn’t initially keen on seeing Don as a hustler/smuggler who’s always looking for his next score. But Serricchio’s charm won me over. And Parker Posey, who takes over the traditionally male role of Dr. Smith, is very good. Before I started watching, I wasn’t sure if switching the gender of Smith would work, but Posey easily won me over. The effects and production design are flawless, giving the series a wondrous cinematic look that the 1998 movie didn’t even have. It was ironic that I was originally avoiding this new incarnation of Lost In Space, because now that I have seen it, I can’t wait for the second season. --SF
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