Lost in Space–First Impressions

What the HÊLL is everybody bìŧçhìņg about?!?

I expected to go into the first episode and see a recreation of the horrific film from back in 1998, which I saw at a special screening with freaking Bill Mumy seated there. That was what I thought I would be getting based on a stream of lousy on-line reviews.

Jesus Christ, are they all nuts?

I’m one episode into it and I loved it.

I’m going to be binge watching this over the next few days and will do a Cowboy Pete over on my Patreon account. But my first impression was extremely positive.

More soon.

PAD

18 comments on “Lost in Space–First Impressions

  1. Agreed. We are most of the way through and have enjoyed it. Yes, they play fast and loose with some science at times, but what sci-fi series doesn’t?

    I also appreciate that – unlike the Galactica reboot and more recently Discovery – they went back to the show’s roots and created a show the entire family could watch (I was pleasantly shocked to see Netflix run a TV-PG show). Each character on the show is getting some screen time, which is good, too. The teen romance is somewhat painful to watch, but I’m not the target audience for that particular plot line.

    Enjoy it for what it is: a family sci-fi adventure. They aren’t doing a five year arc with complex characters. It’s old fashioned TV escapism.

    1. I’m two episodes in. I’m pleasantly surprised with the writing, acting and production values. Thank goodness this is unlikely to degenerate into the Will Robinson, Dr. Smith and Robot show with a giant animated talking carrot and other Irwinesque rubber monsters.

  2. I plan to watch it soonish (this weekend if my Orbots collection doesn’t arrive by Saturday, otherwise once I’m done with Orbots), but the most valid-sounding criticisms I’ve heard revolve around common issues with Netflix originals:

    1) Takes itself a little too seriously.
    2) Story is driven mostly by poor decision-making.

    I’m not too worried about point 1, because the original Lost in Space started out quite serious, and only got goofy later on. This more serious tone was reflected in the Innovation comics, which I generally liked.

    However, having just finished Jessica Jones Season 2, I do feel I need a break from “I make poor life choices” plotting, no matter how well it may be executed. 🙂

    1. Orbots? Not THE MIGHTY ORBOTS, is it? If so, do yourself a favour and dig up the Japanese series it is loosely based on – Rokushin Gattai Goddomāzu (Six God Combination God Mars).

    2. I couldn’t watch Jessica Jones</i? season one because the idea of that kind of mind slavery is so horrific I can barely stand thinking about it, and I'd have to ask my physician to double the dosage of my anti-panic attack medicine, maybe more.
      .
      I couldn't even read the comics with the Purple Man.
      .
      After that I sort of fell out of the Netflix side of the Marvel Cinimatic Universe and suppose I should catch up.
      .
      I will be pleasantly surprised if, when Thanos threatens New York, that at least two of the Netflix show heroes will see that they're needed and respond to the threat. Certainly Luke Cage and Jessica Jones (if not sleeping off a hangover) I would think would make the jumps from Hëll's Kitchen and Harlem to Central Park, just as Spider-Man does from his school bus.

  3. I loved it!

    The complaint I see most frequently is that Will cries too much. I disagree. He’s an intelligent kid who tries hard to do the right things (but he failed the testing to be there). He’d cry a lot more if he was left behind. He seems realistic to me.

  4. The problem I have with the LOST IN SPACE franchise is that I have had the mixed blessing of seeing the original, unaired pilot. No Smith, no robot, much better all around. Unfortunately, studio tinkering resulted in the addition of the latter two and turned a relatively serious – if low budget – science fiction series into an increasingly farcical joke. Why remakes insist on including the Smith character, instead of playing it straight as it was meant to be bothers me to no end.

    1. Actually the Smith character here, as played by Parker Posey, is not over the top. And played very very well.
      And the Robot… this is an excellent interpretation of it.
      The issue I have is, so far, it feels very drawn out. Much like Torchwood : Miracle Day. But that’s my issue… I end up yelling “GET TO THE POINT” at the TV a lot these days.
      But I do like the show so far.
      TAC

      1. ” I end up yelling “GET TO THE POINT” at the TV a lot these days.”

        OK, it’s not just me….

  5. I liked the show till about midway. Then it seemed the only way to move the plot along is by kids making stupid choices. That always seems very lazy for writers to do. Also the writing for the children was very inconsistent with different writers giving the kids different personalities.

    As for dr Smith, I loved the casting but felt in the end she was a bit boring.

  6. Am I the only one who caught Bill Mumy’s name in the credits? His willingness to be a part of this LiS is certainly a good sign. Though I did have to go through IMDB to figure out what part he played, as I didn’t recognize him.

    1. I found it interesting that Bill Mumy had a cameo role as (ROT13) Erny Qe Fzvgu naq gung gur crefba jub cergraqf gb or Qe Fzvgu anzr vf npghnyyl Whar Uneevf. Whar Uneevf vf n ubzntr gb Whar Ybpxuneg (Znherra Ebovafba) naq Wbanguna Uneevf (Qe Mnpunel Fzvgu).(/ROT13)

      1. ROT13 is a simple substitution code and a way to protect against spoilers. There are multiple ROT13 translators available including www (dot) rot13 (dot) com.

        As Shawn L. mentions, you can look of Bill Mumy’s credits on this version of Lost in Space on IMDb.

  7. I thought the movie version had its moments.

    I don’t get all the hate either. The first few episodes have been pretty good. There is a little too much with plot mystery seeds being used. I don’t think that’s a strong story telling choice in the streaming complete season dropped at once format. Overall I dig it.

  8. I really enjoyed it. I felt the characters were all fleshed out and the relationships were believable. My only issue was Dr. Smith, it seemed to me there was too much of her doing bad things for no good reason other than to be bad.

  9. I couldn’t watch Jessica Jones season one because the idea of that kind of mind slavery is so horrific I can barely stand thinking about it, and I’d have to ask my physician to double the dosage of my anti-panic attack medicine, maybe more.
    .
    I couldn’t even read the comics with the Purple Man.
    .
    After that I sort of fell out of the Netflix side of the Marvel Cinimatic Universe and suppose I should catch up.
    .
    I will be pleasantly surprised if, when Thanos threatens New York, that at least two of the Netflix show heroes will see that they’re needed and respond to the threat. Certainly Luke Cage and Jessica Jones (if not sleeping off a hangover) I would think would make the jumps from Hëll’s Kitchen and Harlem to Central Park, just as Spider-Man does from his school bus.
    .
    .
    [Glenn or Peter, please delete the previous version of this comment in which I typo’d my HTML. Thank you.]

  10. I couldn’t watch Jessica Jones season one because the idea of that kind of mind slavery is so horrific I can barely stand thinking about it, and I’d have to ask my physician to double the dosage of my anti-panic attack medicine, maybe more.
    .
    I couldn’t even read the comics with the Purple Man.
    .
    After that I sort of fell out of the Netflix side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and suppose I should catch up.
    .
    I will be pleasantly surprised if, when Thanos threatens New York, that at least two of the Netflix show heroes will see that they’re needed and respond to the threat. Certainly Luke Cage and Jessica Jones (if not sleeping off a hangover) I would think would immediately make the jumps from Hëll’s Kitchen and Harlem to Central Park, just as Spider-Man does from his school bus.

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