Lost in Space... The Netflix Reboot!

Yesterday I got through watching the Netflix edition of Lost In Space which was surprising to say the least, let me explain why, maybe you'll agree... who knows?

I can't remember anything about the original series or subsequent movie reboots or anything at all, all I could recall is the Robinson family and a robot that says "Danger, Will Robinson" so maybe that's why I really enjoyed this series I have no idea whether it was true to the original or something completely different. Either way true to the original or not it was a really well made and what seemed to be extremely high budget, I have no idea of the actual budget but the sets and cgi were definitely of movie quality.

The Story:

In this rendition of Lost in Space the Robinsons were aboard a vessel called The Resolute on their way to a colony on Alpha Centauri after Earth has almost become all but uninhabitable due to a meteor strike by the 'christmas star' a meteor that struck earth years before. They didn't really go into much detail as to why the earth was the way it is, you only catch glimpses of what happened in moments of flashbacks that explain other parts of the story. On the way to Alpha Centauri The Resolute is attacked by unknown forces, while the families and crew of The Resolute are abandoning the vessel to their Jupiter drop ships, somehow they are all forced through a wormhole which sends them to an unknown part of the universe and many of the dropships end up crash landing on an unknown planet. It's there where the series starts. Throughout the series the Robinson family, along with many of the other families and members of crew have to overcome a series of challenging events to make contact with The Resolute which is in orbit around the planet. Falling short of contacting The Resolute they have to try and find a fuel source for at least one of the Jupiter dropships so that they can get to The Resolute and let them know of the survivors and hopefully send help to pick them up.

My Thoughts:

Throughout the series things kept going wrong for the survivors on the unknown planet, which is standard fare for shows of this nature. The being stranded on a planet and trying to make contact with a vessel in orbit made me feel like (at times) I was watching the first season of The 100 but that's not to say this is a bad thing. I really enjoyed the way the family interacted, it put me off of watching it on release but after a few episodes the family felt very real, the banter and interactions felt...normal, I guess, not forced and overly lovey dovey which is what I was worried about. The bad guy Dr. Smith was really well done, never have I felt more hatred for a bad guy I don't think. Class A manipulation at its finest, as always Parker Posey does an absolutely amazing job at making you hate her. The sets and CGI was in a league of its own for what is a series, Netflix must be putting a lot of money behind this show which is good because it looked like a 65 million dollar film which is just insane for what is essentially a tv show, mind you it could just be well budgeted I have no idea. The only issue I had with the series is that it's quite formulaic as with a lot of shows of this type, The Walking Dead, The 100, Fear the Walking Dead, The Expanse etc. You kind of know exactly what to expect these days, things keep going wrong and everything stuffs up but somehow against all odds they succeed which can keep you guessing somewhat, but it's still a formula and it's going to grow tired soon enough. For now however the show is interesting and there were a few curve balls in there that did keep me guessing. The ending of season 1 has also given us something to look forward to in season 2 which has me salivating for more, how could it not!

Summing it up:

I really enjoyed Lost in Space, even though they weren't really "Lost" in space in season 1 they were Lost on Planet but it did queue us up for next season where they will, by all accounts, be actually lost in space. If you're a fan of science fiction or drama shows like The Walking Dead you will probably enjoy this show quite a bit. It has some pretty hardcore science fiction premises (which I really enjoyed, and probably more so than Star Trek: Discovery) along with the rise and fall of some of the great drama series that are out there. I sat and watched the series over two nights, the only reason I had to split it up was because I was starting to fall asleep, otherwise I would have probably binged the whole thing in one sitting. Overall a great show, I think that people that are fans of any genre will enjoy it. It has something for everyone and I can't wait for season 2!