https://www.netflix.com/title/80104198
No spoilers.
It’s fairly rare that I try a new TV show without having been prodded by someone who knows me well. Truth be told, I’m not someone who sits around watching a ton of TV anyway. When I do, it’s a small set of favorites and\or a few old standbys when I’m trying to unwind after a long day. Films are an exception, but they’re scheduled events.
Last week, while I was logged into Netflix to watch an episode or two of He-Man (shut up) 😃 the trailer for Lost In Space ran on the home screen. It looked interesting enough, clearly had a craaazy production budget, plus a few known stars. I made a mental note to give it a look and moved on.
A few days later I gave the first episode a watch. I should point out that I know virtually nothing about the 1960s show. I was two years old, so obviously not something I ever watched, not even in reruns years later. If I did ever see any episodes, all I’ve retained is a vague memory of the robot and “Danger!”. I only remember or know the basics; character names, ship name, basic structure.
I enjoyed the first episode and took some time to let it simmer. It’s geared to family viewing to a large extent, so while it’s gritty and sometimes tense it’s not R-rated gritty or tense. It would probably be PG-13 if it were a film, possibly PG. There is a character for which everyone in the family can identify and their arcs are written accordingly; Adults, older kid, middle kid, and the youngest kid.
Overall it has a sort of Spielberg family feel but not in the cloned ways of Super 8 or Stranger Things (both of which I like). Lost In Space is its own thing. Very much a modern adaptation of the original show. It also has what I thought was a very clever and subtle nod to the original 1812 novel.
This past Saturday I gave the second episode a watch. I was surprised at how comfortable I felt being back in their world. In fact, I’d actually been looking forward to it. It left me feeling refreshed. I’m glad I stepped out of my usual sci-fi safe places. New world, new characters, new ships, new scenarios (even if they are storytelling go-tos).
I ended up binging the remainder of the series over the course of two days. Each episode is an hour, so it was five hours Saturday, four hours Sunday. The article linked below sums up my thoughts on the show perfectly. I’ll be spot-watching episodes the rest of the summer and hoping they green-light a second season.
Mild spoilers if you want to go in clean.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/lost-space-review-1100276