This show hasn’t gotten a lot of love, and I’m not sure why. To talk about it, I have to give some spoilers, so be warned. Spoilers below.
Like the 60’s Batman television show, Lost in Space holds a warm spot in my heart – but I can’t watch it anymore. The movie reboot in the… 90’s, I wanna say? Wasn’t as bad as some make it out to be, in my humble opinion. The same is true of the rebooted Lost In Space television show available on Netflix.
I feel like when a show has as much hype and anticipation as Lost In Space did, it’s destined to to be controversial. You’ve got your ‘old school fans’ who are looking for a straight up remake, your newcomers looking for something more diverse and representative of today’s culture and sensibilities, your hard SF people wanting something long and boring (yes I said long and boring) that’s scientifically accurate and never, ever, deviates (did I mention long and boring?).
Lost In Space may have been doomed before it ever began.
I kinda like it. I like the family dynamic, the way they flipped the roles and responsibilities of the parents. I feel like they humanized them, and the whole Robinson family, in new and compelling ways.
The science is where most people lost interest, or became enraged. Things like ‘how can it both be cold enough to instantly freeze a lake and yet not cold enough to allow rain to fall from the sky?’ are being bandied about online and at conventions, not to mention your local comic shops. And I get it, that kills it for a lot of people. Normally, it would kill it for me. But in this case, it didn’t. It was one of those moments that I didn’t even think about while watching that particular episode and only had it slapped in my face later by people online who were losing their mind about it.
I’ve noticed that happening more and more lately – people, no, Fans, losing their mind and their shit about stuff online. I’m sort of planning to write about that here soon. Probably.
Anyway, it makes total sense that would bug you, should bug you, but in the end, I kinda don’t care about it. We, the fans of science fiction and fantasy, complain a lot. I mean, a lot a lot. About all sorts of crap and all the time. (See? I’m writing about it…) And in the end, we’re the ones who suffer. We complain we don’t get good spec fic shows, and then when we get one, we eviscerate it. Then it gets cancelled, and we lament the lack of shows. It’s a never-ending cycle. For ever show that doesn’t get cancelled, there’s people out there complaining about some part of it that isn’t real or authentic or whatever.
I enjoyed Lost In Space. There’s plenty of stuff I didn’t enjoy, and you can see most of that by checking out my Friday Flicks posts… 😉 But I don’t believe Lost In Space is the end of the world because they got some science wrong. I’m enjoying the family, the tension between them, even the robot – which I know is a whole other complaint people have. Sheesh.
If you’re looking for something where you can turn off your brain and enjoy the ride, consider Lost In Space. If nothing else, watch it for Parker Posey as Doctor Smith because OH MY FUCK, yes!
Trailer:
