Lost in Space: Impact
April 14, 2018 2:20 PM - Season 1, Episode 1 - Subscribe

On the way to a space colony, a crisis sends the Robinsons hurtling toward an unfamiliar planet, where they struggle to survive a harrowing night.
posted by oh yeah! (19 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
The Den of Geek reviewer loved this episode way more than I did. I watched it last night, and while I'm probably going to pick it back up at some point to see what Parker Posey does with the Dr. Smith role, I wasn't particularly won over by any of the rest of the show. Mostly I was distracted by the bizarro climate the Robinson family crashed into -- I felt like I was trapped in "The Day After Tomorrow". How was it cold enough for the water to go from liquid to solid ice in a matter of seconds, yet aboveground everyone is sitting/walking around without any face/head covering and yet not suffering for it in the slightest? How far down that glacier tunnel did Will fall to get to a forest climate? (At first I thought they were going for some kind of 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' or other super-sci-fi gimmick to explain how there were trees and sunlight inside the depths of a cavern, but, no, he just got below the snowy elevation?)

I guess I'm not sure who this show is aimed at. I mean, I guess it's meant for kids/families since the science is so dumb, but, it also seems like they're doing the whole 'look how grim and serious we are compared to the old 1960's show' in a way that makes it not so kid/family friendly.

(Anyway, I'm not planning on doing posts for every episode, maybe just a full-season thread when/if I make it to the end since it's only 10 episodes, if nobody else has done it first.)
posted by oh yeah! at 2:48 PM on April 14, 2018 [1 favorite]


I guess I'm not sure who this show is aimed at. I mean, I guess it's meant for kids/families since the science is so dumb, but, it also seems like they're doing the whole 'look how grim and serious we are compared to the old 1960's show' in a way that makes it not so kid/family friendly.

Stick with it. They make ( what I believe to be ) the Cardinal mistake, and do not begin telling the story AT THE BEGINNING. It evens out in the first few episodes, and by S01E04 the exposition catches up with the story.

Turns out, the kids are full of Agency.
posted by mikelieman at 6:46 PM on April 14, 2018 [1 favorite]


My kids really enjoyed this first episode, so I'm willing to overlook the nonsensical science and bizarre choices (seriously, what ever made the think that hole in the ice they were digging was big enough to do anything other than hold hands?) in order to have a SF show my kids and I can enjoy together.
posted by nubs at 7:25 PM on April 14, 2018 [1 favorite]


I'm watching this because it's got Captain Flint from Black Sails in it, but whoa is it at times pretty dumb. Parker Posey is no Jonathan Harris, and also the Robot (though it's not a robot?) is so clearly a guy (awkwardly moving) in a suit in some shots that I think that alone is the most cringe inducing thing about the show.

I did like the Billy Mummy cameo though.
posted by Catblack at 7:49 PM on April 14, 2018


in order to have a SF show my kids and I can enjoy together.

I mean, I don't have kids, buuuuuuutttt. . . . . I'm not too sure how kid-friendly this show is? Depends on their age, I guess. It is definitely far more "grim & gritty" than the original and there is definitely some violence and death - and I'm just 3 episodes in. Put it this way, I wouldn't let Show Will watch this show; he's supposedly eleven, but his general uncertainty and fear and anxiety makes him seem much younger, I don't think he could handle the tension.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:18 PM on April 14, 2018 [2 favorites]


The dad, aka Toby Stephens is Dame Maggie Smith's son... The Dowager Countess herself!
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:51 AM on April 15, 2018 [6 favorites]


Makes for interesting viewing after a heavy snowstorm.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:34 AM on April 15, 2018


It was clear we were off to a bumpy ride science-wise when the altimeter was displaying height in meters while the computer was counting down the same values in feet. Anyway. I'm finding it watchable, but not compelling so far.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 7:11 PM on April 15, 2018 [2 favorites]


I've probably never seen more than a few partial episodes of the original so essentially coming into this fresh outside of the hazy cliche of "Danger Will Robinson, Danger!"

The premise is interesting. I have a huge huge huge crush on Parker Posey, Molly Parker is awesome at neurotic, and Toby Stephens won my heart forever in 'Black Sails.'

But jeeze, the storytelling here is pants. Either a bastard of too many people on too many committees or someone is completely delusional about being an auteur.

Not really liking how (the show is treating how) one of their children is of mixed ethnicity (when the married Robinsons aren't) - I'm assuming adoption of some kind? But to have the non-biologically-shared-child ... expected not to survive? John leaving Will to (temporarily) fend for himself as a rational calculus balancing is interesting. Also that The File on Will had him FAIL under 'Stress/Emergency Reponse.'

To be fair, I'm a little sensitive about these things and maybe this is just a colour blind decision but when telling a story on a visual medium, it used to imply things that might affect the story. I find it interesting that Taylor Russell's google result emphasize that she is Canadian born to Canadian parents. FWIW, that's my story, too (I usually drop the -of-Chinese-descent part of Canadian-of-Chinese-descent).

I hate and am completely tired of stories/media about precocious children - even since after growing out of precocious childhood. But it's been ok, so far, this pilot.

The alien/robot is very interesting. But the coincidence of being co-stranded in space/time is aggravating but they'll explain this later? The universe is expansive.
posted by porpoise at 7:41 PM on April 15, 2018


My kids-8 and 12-are mesmerized. They had to come sit by us and we’ve had lots of gasps and hiding faces but they are super into it. It helped that I reassured them all the kids make it. I’d better not be wrong about that.
posted by purenitrous at 9:25 PM on April 15, 2018 [1 favorite]


"This is literally a family show." --DOT, Jr.

And the kid is right. It's about a family, and it's pitched at families.

This show is actually very well pitched to entertain kiddos while not insulting adults. The peril for the kids is near constant, but not--within the episodes I have seen so far--beyond the limits of what a bright PG/PG-13 capable kid can tolerate.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:59 AM on April 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


It was clear we were off to a bumpy ride science-wise when the altimeter was displaying height in meters while the computer was counting down the same values in feet.

That bugged the shit out of me and I am glad someone else called it out.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:52 AM on April 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


The dad, aka Toby Stephens is Dame Maggie Smith's son... The Dowager Countess herself!

Thanks for confirming my suspicions that I was seeing a British man playing an American.
posted by larrybob at 6:34 PM on April 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


Tough crowd here...

It was clear we were off to a bumpy ride science-wise when the altimeter was displaying height in meters while the computer was counting down the same values in feet.

I guess the show is aimed at an international audience (too), being Netflix and running in all (?) their markets, so in the dubbed versions there might be counting by meters... (I watch the English language version, so I don't know for sure). They used degrees Fahrenheit for Judy's body temperature, though, so I admit, there are inconsistencies.

I find the storytelling a bit sedate, and the family drama a bit corny, but I still like it. The reviews were middling, but when I saw there's Molly Parker in it (who I loved in Deadwood and the, admittedly, few things I have seen her in, since), and Parker Posey, who I just love . (Judging from her work in the Christopher Guest mockumentaries, and everything else, she is imho one of the most underrated actors of her generation.) I'm so looking forward to her being a massive villain.
posted by ojemine at 10:31 AM on April 18, 2018


The vibe I got from this episode was Lost in Space: Universe. They start out in desperate peril & spend their time encountering new life threatening perils, solving them then encountering new ones, occasionally having to prioritize between multiple perils. They definitely could use better technical advisers is my biggest complaint; the motivations & emotions seem a bit broad also. But it's just the first episode so I'll stay on the ride for now. Lots of excellent shows have taken time to hit their stride.
posted by scalefree at 11:05 AM on April 20, 2018


Do TV Tropes have a Hypercompetent Teen category? They may need it.
posted by Grangousier at 2:05 PM on April 21, 2018


oh no hot ginger inferno pirate space dad

meanwhile the entire tumblr tag is "im gonna fuck the thicc robot"
posted by poffin boffin at 3:09 PM on April 21, 2018 [1 favorite]


It was clear we were off to a bumpy ride science-wise when the altimeter was displaying height in meters while the computer was counting down the same values in feet.
Even before that. They're dealing cards in microgravity when the computer announces they're completing their deorbit burn.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 1:31 PM on December 28, 2019


Coming to this late, picked it up randomly on Netflix. Posting my (probably garbage) theories: "Dr. Smith" is an alien (she wasn't dressed like anyone on the ship, her clothes were totally nondescript with no insignias or logos) shapeshifter (the robot can clearly shapeshift, so why not aliens that can shapeshift into humans?) who the robot is after, which is why it was indiscriminately killing humans because any of them could be the shapeshifter, and why it stopped trying to kill Will after it realized he wasn't going to try and kill it (as the shapeshifter presumably would). The weird atmosphere and shit has to do with the wormhole they fell through, possibly they space-time-warped to a parallel version of earth (all of the trees look suspiciously like earth trees, I know it's just bad set design but c'mon, a lad can dream) except, idk, fucked up somehow?? I also assumed the insta-freezing water meant it wasn't normal water, it could be any kind of liquid substance tbh. But it's probably just bad science.

Can't wait to be proven horribly wrong. I'm watching for the robot and the precocious children. The rest I could take or leave.
posted by brook horse at 5:32 PM on September 10, 2021


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