Lost in Space
As I have mentioned previously, I like sci-fi. At least I used to. I'm not sure if my tastes have changed or if they don't make them like they used to. But Lost in Space is a sci-fi family show that I really enjoy, together with my wife.
It's actually one of the quite rare sci-fi TV shows that are for the whole family. It's PG13, no swear words, no nudity and very little violence. There is scifi in the show, but the accent falls heavily on the Robinson family and how they stick together and cope with various difficulties.
As the title suggests, the Robinsons get lost in space. They were traveling on a space ship from Earth to Alpha Centauri, because Earth is slowly becoming unihabitable. Alpha Centauri is supposed to be the new home for humanity and the ship called The Resolute is taking groups of colonists there. These colonists have to pass various exams to prove they can survive and contribute to the Alpha Centauri colony. Each colonist family has a small ship, called a Jupyter, with which they can make land on planets.
The Robinson family consists of 5 members. John and Maureen are the parents. John was in the army, so he is the brawn of the family, while Maureen is a scientist, so she is the brains. Judy, the oldest child, who is adopted, is studying to be a doctor and is a great athlete. Penny, the middle child, is the wild and creative type, while Will is the young prodigy, who is particularly interested in geology, but in general just knows a lot of stuff, but also can't handle pressure too well.
On the way to Alpha Centauri, the Resolute is attacked by something and all the colonists evacuate. A wormhole appears and the ships are transported somewhere very far away. The Robinsons crash land on a glacier on an unknown planet. To save Judy, John and Will go to gather magnesium to melt the ice which traps her. Will gets lost and is surrounded by wildfire, when he sees an alien ship and a dismembered robot. He puts the robot back together and as gratitude, the robot saves Will and then helps get Judy out of the ice.
Maureen realizes that she doesn't recognize any of the stars around them, so they are lost. Eventually they meet with other colonists whose ships have crashed on the same planet and they do their best to get in contact with the Resolute. However, they quickly find out that the planet occasionally gets a deadly burst of radiation from the nearby black hole, so they have to get away from there.
Will and the robot form a special connection, with the robot following Will everywhere and kinda listening to his orders. Their dynamic is really cute, with Will trying to teach Robot various things, such as playing baseball or helping them repair things.
But of course, there has to be a bad gal: Dr. Smith. The most annoying character in any TV show I've seen. She is a con woman, who is always lying and trying to manipulate others for her own benefit. She was almost jailed when the attack on the Resolute happened, but then she changed her identity and started a second life. The character is very good at gaslighting other people and is constantly sowing mistrust between the others. It's a really well done annoying character and after 2-3 episodes you wish somebody would just shoot her. Eventually, in season 2 she starts to become more helpful, but still in a selfish way.
The first season ends with them entering another black hole and getting transported to yet another solar system. But in the second season we learn a lot more about the robots and about how the Resolute was built, as the 24th colonist group is still trying to make it's way to Alpha Centauri, and they seem to have an idea on how to get there. Of course, nothing goes well when the Robinsons are around and they constantly have to fix problems and improvise plans.
I really like this show and I'm glad that there are family friendly sci-fi shows out there.
Grade: 8