Lost In Space (2018) (Season 3)

Everything comes to an end.  Even if a show is done well, there’s a time for that show to conclude, preferably on its own terms.  When I started watching Lost in Space, I honestly wondered how many seasons it would have.  You could only keep up the pretense for so long.  You can’t really stay lost in one place forever and hopping around would get tedious.

So, in the third season, the adults at least make it to Alpha Centauri.  However, the children are left to fend for themselves on a strange planet.  Oh, and they’ve still got that robot threat going on.  They want their FTL drive back and they’re not going to stop until they get it.

I’m a little conflicted about this season.  On the one hand, it was nice to have a resolution.  Most of the characters had a happy life ahead of them.  If a main character didn’t end up in a better place, at least you felt confident that they got what they dissevered.

On the other hand, I’ve never really liked a season-long story arc.  Lost in Space usually felt like it was setting up a cliffhanger each episode and the third season was no different.  In fact, some of the children have to climb up a sheer rock face.  And the adults are facing an unstoppable force while having to worry that their kids are ok.

Another problem with the third season is that we don’t get all the answers that we might have hoped for.  The children are on a planet that once had the aliens who built the robots, but not a lot of answers are forthcoming.  In fact, we get very little.  That aspect of the story is focused more on the children needing to get off the planet immediately, or else they’ll be stranded there forever.  So, there’s no real time to study anything.  In fact, it’s not clear why our Robot can’t master English.  (He can talk to other robots in their native language, although I don’t know if it’s their own language or that of their builders.)

A big part of the problem for me was the gap between seasons.  I lost a few of the details, which I had to remember as the third season went along.  It might have helped to watch all 28 episodes at once.  I don’t know.  I probably still would have had a lot of questions.

There is also a sense of disappointment.  We get to see the aliens, but not really.  We get a sense of what the robots were for, but not really.  There’s a sense of suspense, but not really.  It gets to where it’s like a piece of gum that’s stretched too long.  You have some substance  on either end, but it’s a little thin in the middle.

I can see certain things.  It would likely have been too expensive or involved to come up with an alien race, especially if was CGI.  And we don’t really need it for this story arc.  I could see that as a prequel series, though.  Maybe we find out exactly how the robots overthrew their masters.  Maybe we also find out why the robots are so single-minded in getting their tech back.

I really don’t see there being a fourth season of Lost in Space, though.  It would have to be some other project at this point.  That’s not to say that there aren’t other stories.  It’s just that I think this chapter is done.

 

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Lost In Space (2018) (Season 2)

I had to wonder how many seasons Lost in Space would last.  There was only so long before a ship would get fixed.  To have a series of problems would get old quickly, even if each season is only 10 episodes.  In Star Trek: Voyager, there was a 70-year trip ahead of the crew, so there was that.  With Lost in Space, the trip was supposed to be quick and easy.

The second season picks up where the first left off.  The Robinsons are stranded on a planet with Don West and Dr. Smith.  West is a mechanic, which helps.  Smith is their prisoner, which doesn’t help.  Oh, and they can’t breathe the atmosphere for very long.  Plus there are some strange weather patterns.

Fortunately, being stuck on the planet doesn’t last all season this time.  They do get off the planet, only to discover that their main transport, the Resolute, is abandoned.  Why?  The alien robots are still an issue.  At least the Resolute’s pilot is.

You see, it was discovered last season that the Resolute uses faster-than-light technology that was stolen from alien robots.  Whether these robots are a race unto themselves or serve another race is still unclear.  However, it takes a robot to pilot the drive, which is another level of problem, especially if the robot revolts.

The show reminds me of 24 in that the plot can’t go in a straight line.  Every solution has a problem.  Every action has an obstacle.  That’s the problem with a serialized format.

This isn’t to say that it’s bad or feels contrived.  It’s just that some of it seems unnecessary.  You’re trying to stretch maybe two hours of material over 10 episodes.  It might have been easier to just make a couple of movies.

The fact that there will be a third season leaves me wondering.  We were supposed to see Alpha Centauri.  Instead, we get another lost ship.  I’m curious as to what the season would bring us.  Maybe there will be enough of a new element that the episodes won’t seem like filler.

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Lost In Space (2018) (Season 1)

It seems almost pointless to do a remake in some cases.  If you stick too close to the original, the audience might as well go watch the original.  If you deviate too far, the remake becomes on in name only.  It seems like you might not be able to win.  I’ve found that the only time I can really enjoy a remake is if I’ve never seen the original.  Such is the case with Netflix’s Lost in Space.

The original ran from 1965-1968, which was about a decade before my time.  The new version borrows elements that you might expect, such as having a family named Robinson stranded on a planet while in transit to Alpha Centauri.  In the reboot, a large group is going to our nearest stellar neighbor, so the Robinsons aren’t exactly alone in being lost.

How is it, then, that the premise lasts for 10 episodes?  You’d think someone could get them off the planet.  With so many ships having crashed, surely someone has a working vehicle.  Early in the season, space eels eat all their fuel.  Yes.  All of the crashed ships become infested and lose every last drop.  Ok.  The main transport ship is in orbit.  So, someone can call for help.  They try that until someone realizes that the ship’s receiver got knocked off in an attack.  It turns out someone knows where a ship crashed that might not have been infested.  Yes, it has gas.  Good luck getting there and back safely.

It seems like the only thing interesting about the planet is an animal that drinks hybrid gas.  Everything else seems drawn out.  It turns out that there’s a black hole, which will be dangerous to humans, but this seems more like a way of putting a time limit on the humans’ stay on the planet.  It gives the mother ship, which is in orbit, a reason to have to possible leave everyone behind.

You do have some excitement, like one of the Robinson kids being put in danger.  Oh, and The Robot has an interesting backstory, although we don’t get to hear much about that.  It took several episodes to get into where The Robot came from.  It took a few more episodes to find out what his reasons for being there are.  (Ten episodes and we never get only hints as to what an alien civilization might look like.)

Plus, there is the female Dr. Smith that everyone’s talking about.  We get to see little bits of her story doled out.  She’s not to be trusted, but it’s not immediately evident why.   Even when people know not to trust her, she manages to manipulate people.  It seems to be the only thing she’s good at, other than stealing identities.

The entire first season seemed drawn out.  I would hope that certain things will be continued, or at least explained, in the second season.  However, I felt like the first season could have been handled better over a five-episode arc.  It’s almost like a soap opera in that a lot of things happen for the drama.  (You get a lot of cliffhangers and what not.)

It seems like the show was rushed to the screen, which is saying something considering that they had the original show to draw from.  If we’re going to be in space, why not show more aliens?  Even if they’re not humanoid, at least show some animals.  All we get is one lousy robot.  I feel like Netflix could have done better with this.

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