At the risk of dating myself, I think I know a bit about space. I’ve watched them all: Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Dr. Who —  I’m talking about originals, as well as the remakes. But, none were so delightful as the Space Family Robinson on Lost In Space, circa 1965. Adventurous Will, stalwart Robot, and sniveling Dr. Smith made being lost a whole lot of fun to watch. No doubt, that’s why “Danger, Will Robinson” is a still a catchphrase 50 plus years later. 
Sure, the 60’s show was cheesy by today’s standards, but they made it work, with smoke and lots and lots of blinking lights. The movie released in 1998 attempted to recapture the nostalgia, but was just not quite successful.  This story was ripe for a remake now that anything can happen via computers, and Netflix was brilliant to greenlight it. 

Well, you’ll be happy to learn this reboot has quite a few improvements.  From the first five minutes, their adventure is fraught with nonstop peril. The beauty of series, over film, is the luxury of backstory that we never really had before. Revealed in flashback,  here’s where we get a chance to invest in the characters and keep watching to see how they’re going to overcome seemingly unsurmountable problems. 

The cast delivers.  All the main characters are present and accounted for:  the Robinson clan, Don West, Dr. Smith, and Robot.  However, every character gets a bit of a fresh take, and we get a good opportunity to get to know each one, as well as observe the family dynamics. John (Toby Stephens, Black Sails) is a badass marine, Maureen (Molly Parker, Deadwood) is a rocket scientist and Judy is a genius med student (Penny and Will are brillant too, in their own right ) making the Robinsons a very capable family. Don West’s mechanical wizard (Ignacio Serricchio) is a technical expert trading on a Han Solo vibe.  And, most interesting, there is a gender flip with the Dr. Smith character, played exquisitely by Parker Posey.  Even Robot gets an upgrade of epic proportions.  The score is still derivative of the original series which blends old and new together nicely. 

I watched the 10 episode season in less than 24 hours, and promptly started it over again to catch anything I might have missed. While season 1 is nuanced and with its own arc, it definitely sets up a potentially thrilling season 2 that would more closely mirror the original’s storyline.  All in all, I think it’s a great series for any earthbound, sci-fi loving family. 

#CindySays: Lost in Space gets 🤖🤖🤖🤖

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