Lost in Space: Infestation
April 15, 2018 9:05 PM - Season 1, Episode 3 - Subscribe
Flashbacks reveal clues to Dr. Smith's past; The Robinsons contend with a new threat as the ship's fuel supply starts dropping - fast.
What kind of spaceship full of civilians just leaves its unsecured airlocks lying around like that? Very irresponsible!
posted by Squeak Attack at 7:31 AM on April 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Squeak Attack at 7:31 AM on April 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
I am trying to like this series, but this is three "meh"s in a row for me. I think it's in the editing more than the plot. The story is okay enough, but I don't really care about anyone. Except maybe Penny. She's funny.
I can't figure out how this robot seems to know only one English word and Will's name, but apparently can read Will's thoughts. Shouldn't we be able to have a conversation with this thing?
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:56 AM on April 16, 2018
I can't figure out how this robot seems to know only one English word and Will's name, but apparently can read Will's thoughts. Shouldn't we be able to have a conversation with this thing?
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:56 AM on April 16, 2018
Things that are important & of interest to the audience: Learning "Smith's" real background and seeing how psychotic she truly is.
Things that are, apparently, important & of interest to the director, writers, and showrunner: having the opportunity to make their own version of Alien/Deep Blue Sea only withgiant pretty large eels.
Things that seem to be important & of interest to Toby Stephens: recognizing the inherent absurdity in wrestling said pretty large eels and hamming it up for all he's worth.
(Good for him, by the way.)
I mean, they didn't do a horrible job with the giant eel stuff, plenty of tension, but it's very much something we've all seen before a million times.
posted by soundguy99 at 12:22 PM on April 16, 2018
Things that are, apparently, important & of interest to the director, writers, and showrunner: having the opportunity to make their own version of Alien/Deep Blue Sea only with
Things that seem to be important & of interest to Toby Stephens: recognizing the inherent absurdity in wrestling said pretty large eels and hamming it up for all he's worth.
(Good for him, by the way.)
I mean, they didn't do a horrible job with the giant eel stuff, plenty of tension, but it's very much something we've all seen before a million times.
posted by soundguy99 at 12:22 PM on April 16, 2018
I think this is one of those situations where yes, actual we have seen this a billion times, it's genretastic with the whole Terminator 2 sitch and all, but for some fresh faced Will out there in TV land this is blowing his goddamned mind. It's pretty great for a family show of Tweens up, I love that it's basically all women (the robot is being played as adult male through the Dads interctions with it) and I love that they are all big fat nerds. And Smith is terrrrrrrrible, I love her!
posted by Iteki at 1:18 PM on April 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Iteki at 1:18 PM on April 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
I can't figure out how this robot seems to know only one English word and Will's name, but apparently can read Will's thoughts.
The robot, Dr. Smith, and Penny are the best parts of the series for me. As far as the robot goes, I am going with the idea that it is largely picking up non-verbals and other subtle cues to determine what's going on with Will (and the other humans) and is communication with them via the colours and such going on in the visual display; nobody has figured out how to read those yet.
Overall, yes, it's a tropefest, but these are tropes only for us old, jaded types. For some kids this is their first taste of this kind of space adventure, and as iteki says - lots of women, and everyone is being portrayed as smart and capable in their own ways. I'm liking the family dynamics at play; lots of subtle tensions and edges that Dr. Smith is learning to read and to try to exploit. Do I wish it was more? Yes. But it's aiming to be a family sf drama/adventure, and it's doing just fine for that. I've learned, over the years, that the SF I want - with the really big ideas, the stronger themes, etc, comes from books, not generally from TV/movies (although the Expanse is a solid adaptation of the novels).
posted by nubs at 7:56 AM on April 17, 2018
The robot, Dr. Smith, and Penny are the best parts of the series for me. As far as the robot goes, I am going with the idea that it is largely picking up non-verbals and other subtle cues to determine what's going on with Will (and the other humans) and is communication with them via the colours and such going on in the visual display; nobody has figured out how to read those yet.
Overall, yes, it's a tropefest, but these are tropes only for us old, jaded types. For some kids this is their first taste of this kind of space adventure, and as iteki says - lots of women, and everyone is being portrayed as smart and capable in their own ways. I'm liking the family dynamics at play; lots of subtle tensions and edges that Dr. Smith is learning to read and to try to exploit. Do I wish it was more? Yes. But it's aiming to be a family sf drama/adventure, and it's doing just fine for that. I've learned, over the years, that the SF I want - with the really big ideas, the stronger themes, etc, comes from books, not generally from TV/movies (although the Expanse is a solid adaptation of the novels).
posted by nubs at 7:56 AM on April 17, 2018
She said they were trillions of light years from earth! TRILLIONS OF LIGHT YEARS. THAT IS BOTH ABSURD AND IMPOSSIBLE.
It's impossible by multiple orders of magnitude! So very impossible!
posted by Justinian at 12:30 AM on April 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
It's impossible by multiple orders of magnitude! So very impossible!
posted by Justinian at 12:30 AM on April 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
She said they were trillions of light years from earth! TRILLIONS OF LIGHT YEARS. THAT IS BOTH ABSURD AND IMPOSSIBLE.
The observable universe is 93 billion light-years across. I looked it up to be sure. There are numerous other tech/science glitches but for me that's the least forgivable so far. Their tech advisers should be ashamed &/or fired.
posted by scalefree at 11:19 AM on April 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
The observable universe is 93 billion light-years across. I looked it up to be sure. There are numerous other tech/science glitches but for me that's the least forgivable so far. Their tech advisers should be ashamed &/or fired.
posted by scalefree at 11:19 AM on April 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
I can't figure out how this robot seems to know only one English word and Will's name, but apparently can read Will's thoughts. Shouldn't we be able to have a conversation with this thing?
At the absolute bare minimum, if he can get it to raise its arms on command he can get it to nod or shake its head.
And how is the gun still the last item in the printer's log after Judy prints the wrench? I'll add continuity to the list of necessary firings. The show has high ambitions but it's boxing above its weight.
posted by scalefree at 11:25 AM on April 20, 2018
At the absolute bare minimum, if he can get it to raise its arms on command he can get it to nod or shake its head.
And how is the gun still the last item in the printer's log after Judy prints the wrench? I'll add continuity to the list of necessary firings. The show has high ambitions but it's boxing above its weight.
posted by scalefree at 11:25 AM on April 20, 2018
I took that to mean that a second gun was printed. But maybe I'm giving the show too much credit.
The thing that bugged me in this episode is the idea that the Resolute has no justice system. Like, you're going to take hundreds, maybe thousands of people to colonize a new place without any kind of justice system? That seems like spectacularly bad planning.
But mostly, I'm really enjoying this. Its good points (female-centric, fun, exciting, looks fantastic) are outweighing its bad points for me at this stage.
posted by jeoc at 6:05 AM on April 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
The thing that bugged me in this episode is the idea that the Resolute has no justice system. Like, you're going to take hundreds, maybe thousands of people to colonize a new place without any kind of justice system? That seems like spectacularly bad planning.
But mostly, I'm really enjoying this. Its good points (female-centric, fun, exciting, looks fantastic) are outweighing its bad points for me at this stage.
posted by jeoc at 6:05 AM on April 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
Given the rest of their sloppiness I put a continuity glitch as more likely. There's lots to like about the show, it's just this sloppiness that pulls me out of it.
posted by scalefree at 7:33 AM on April 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by scalefree at 7:33 AM on April 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
Tough crowd! I like it so far. I'm working my way through it slowly. As a kid, I never watched the show or the '90s movie version. I thought of it as a campy Star Trek also-ran (although, if I am correct, Star Trek was supposed to be the also-ran). But I was struck by the exquisite campiness of Jonathan Harris, thanks to his appearances in Freakazoid, and I really wanted to know what Parker Posey was going to do with this part.
The role doesn't offer a kind of comedy or darkness that's been widely available to actresses in the past. If a female character is a villain, she's slotted into any number of tropes that don't allow for a lot of shading or comic effect. Posey is doing really well, I think. Smith is a murderer and a liar, and yet every time she does something horrible, she gives this sort of squeamish wince that makes me smile every time. So I like her, because she's the bad guy.
Space opera is a kind of fantasy and doesn't play by the rules as well as hard sci-fi, so I have been ignoring some of the howlers. The idea of the human race getting it together to launch this kind of space operation is the first big suspension of disbelief; after that, each one is easier.
posted by Countess Elena at 8:06 PM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
The role doesn't offer a kind of comedy or darkness that's been widely available to actresses in the past. If a female character is a villain, she's slotted into any number of tropes that don't allow for a lot of shading or comic effect. Posey is doing really well, I think. Smith is a murderer and a liar, and yet every time she does something horrible, she gives this sort of squeamish wince that makes me smile every time. So I like her, because she's the bad guy.
Space opera is a kind of fantasy and doesn't play by the rules as well as hard sci-fi, so I have been ignoring some of the howlers. The idea of the human race getting it together to launch this kind of space operation is the first big suspension of disbelief; after that, each one is easier.
posted by Countess Elena at 8:06 PM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by sammyo at 9:08 PM on April 15, 2018