I grew up on Irwin Allen's "Lost in Space": inspired by writer/director Ib "Angry Red Planet" Melchior, who fancied the idea of the Swiss Family Robinson relocated in an uncharted sector of space. I had plenty of toys and model kits based on the show and watched it during its first run and then for many years into syndication. Some of the stories (those of the initial season) I found profound and later down the line, many just plain silly. All in all, though, I had formed a connection with the saga's varying events and lived vicariously through the series' young lead, Will (Billy Mumy), no matter what the content or execution.
That loyalty prevailed even when "Lost in Space" was remade for the big screen in 1998, in a retelling I actually enjoyed. (I appreciated its time-travel motif and even its modernized redesign of the Jupiter 2.) I yearned for a sequel, but the best that came was an unsold, television pilot (now found on YouTube), which resembled "Dawson's Creek" more than the Allen/Melchior vision.
Now, Netflix gives us a ten-episode remake of the Robinsons' wayward mission.
In many ways, the new "Lost in Space" (as structured by Matt Sazama and Burk "Power Rangers" Sharpless) is quite terrestrial and remains so even when the Robinsons crash-land upon their new world. And they're not the only potential colonists dispatched for such an inevitable fate. There are many ships with many families featured, with the Jupiter 2 being but one of a large fleet. (FYI: We learn that an environmental mishap has required humans to colonize the cosmos, and the crafts are launched from a lofty station in hopes of reaching Alpha Centauri, but a vicious, robot-blasting attack throws those plans asunder.)
The Jupiter 2 crew (like those of prior retellings) is pretty much the modern, troubled sort, with a pending divorce distinguishing John (Toby "Black Sails" Stephens) and Maureen (Molly "Deadwood" Parker). (For the record, John is a former Navy Seal and Maureen a highbrow, scientific type this time around.) The two kiss and make up (so to speak) for the sake of the kids' journey, all of whom have their own hang-ups, with Judy (Taylor Russell) and Penny (Mina Sundwall) often behaving strained, contentious and aloof. Will (Maxwell Jenkins), on the other hand, merely yearns for comfort, but not in a sissy sense; he's still a burgeoning intellectual, though nowhere near as autonomous as Mumy's famous persona.
Dr. Zachary Smith, in this instance, gets a sex change. The character is played by imagi-film veteran Parker Posey. Posey's character is an identity thief, so "Smith" is actually an alias, stolen from some poor, wounded doc (Mumy, in cameo). She also goes by Joan Harris, a play upon Jonathan Harris, who portrayed the original Dr. Smith. Her consistent forms of villainy are keeping folks at bay, as she does to rugged Don West (Ignacio Serrichio) and setting folks against one another. She even plants a treacherous notion inside the Robot's positronic noggin at one point.
Ah, and what of the Robot? Well, our mechanical companion (or rather, the B9 or YM3, as true-blue fans would prefer to call him) is sentimentally linked to Will: a protector and friend, just as "he" was in the '60s series. In this instance, however, his redesign is more in sync with Superman's Brainiac or perhaps a kaiju monster-hero than a bulky, steel comrade. When need be, he can also morph into a deadly, multi-appendaged thing that would make any "War of the Worlds" Martian envious.
The characters interact well enough, even with doubt and suspicion surrounding them. Unfortunately, their bond never feels as strong as it could be, perhaps because this particular series (acting as one, long story) never presents enough danger to make the unit tight. There are also those other colonists to deal with (one played by fantasy-film favorite Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) who occupy much of their time. They're nice, engaging folks, but really, isn't this show supposed to be about the Robinsons fighting the elements as a lone clan?
The Robinsons' uncharted planet is (thankfully) interesting, with frozen and forested landscapes, but we don't get the constant ebb and flow of monsters that the original offered. (I was sure hopin' for a cyclops to appear at one point, in homage of the original's most famous scene, but no dice.)
The new series' ending hints at a continuation (how could it not?), and I assume that if this relaunch does succeed, each season will be its own, separate adventure, featuring a new story arc and accompanying cliffhanger. That might work, but as it now stands, Netflix's "Lost in Space" plays more like a pumped-up prelude than a project that's reached actual fruition. Let's keep our fingers crossed that there's more yet to come, and that when it comes, it does, in fact, fulfill its potential.
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