Lost in Space: Diamonds in the Sky
April 14, 2018 7:00 PM - Season 1, Episode 2 - Subscribe
Another crash brings more travelers to the planet, as the Robinsons work to salvage their ship with help from their mysterious new companion.
I get that "Swiss Family Robinson In Space" is a pretty neat concept that could be taken in a lot of different directions, and that a "remake" doesn't really have to stick to the goofiness of the original TV series.
I'm not sure taking a different direction all the way to "nobody on the show is actually likable" was the way to go, though. Because, seriously, the only people I had any interest in by the end of this episode were Penny and the mechanic wiseass who got abandoned by Parker Posey. Dad's an asshole absent father trying to re-establish some kind of dominance over the family, Mom's snottily passive-aggressive (the "I like to breathe, dear" when Penny points out that she's getting conflicting orders from the two parents, the enormous List Of Tasks left for her), Will's entirely too timid, and I get that Judy might have some PTSD after being trapped in the ice, but that can't be her only defining characteristic. At least Penny decides to DO something after freaking out.
"Dr. Smith" as an actual sociopath and the Robot as an actual alien artifact might go somewhere interesting, but it won't be very interesting if I dislike the whole Robinson family and wish them ill.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:41 PM on April 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm not sure taking a different direction all the way to "nobody on the show is actually likable" was the way to go, though. Because, seriously, the only people I had any interest in by the end of this episode were Penny and the mechanic wiseass who got abandoned by Parker Posey. Dad's an asshole absent father trying to re-establish some kind of dominance over the family, Mom's snottily passive-aggressive (the "I like to breathe, dear" when Penny points out that she's getting conflicting orders from the two parents, the enormous List Of Tasks left for her), Will's entirely too timid, and I get that Judy might have some PTSD after being trapped in the ice, but that can't be her only defining characteristic. At least Penny decides to DO something after freaking out.
"Dr. Smith" as an actual sociopath and the Robot as an actual alien artifact might go somewhere interesting, but it won't be very interesting if I dislike the whole Robinson family and wish them ill.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:41 PM on April 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
I made it partway through episode 7 by last night, so, I'm not going to have much to say at an episodic level now that that I'll be unlikely to remember which episode is which.
"Dr. Smith" as an actual sociopath and the Robot as an actual alien artifact might go somewhere interesting, but it won't be very interesting if I dislike the whole Robinson family and wish them ill.
I mostly agree with you on the Robinsons -- Penny though at least gets some cute moments in this episode. Her little asides when talking to herself about impending dooms have been funny in a meta way, like she's the only character who knows what genre they're in.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:40 AM on April 15, 2018
"Dr. Smith" as an actual sociopath and the Robot as an actual alien artifact might go somewhere interesting, but it won't be very interesting if I dislike the whole Robinson family and wish them ill.
I mostly agree with you on the Robinsons -- Penny though at least gets some cute moments in this episode. Her little asides when talking to herself about impending dooms have been funny in a meta way, like she's the only character who knows what genre they're in.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:40 AM on April 15, 2018
Penny ( Mina Sundwall ) seems to be the star of the show, intentional or not.
posted by mikelieman at 7:39 AM on April 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by mikelieman at 7:39 AM on April 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Wow, am I the only one who really loves the Robinson's portrayal ?
posted by Pendragon at 8:07 AM on April 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Pendragon at 8:07 AM on April 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Wow, am I the only one who really loves the Robinson's portrayal ?
No, but remember, this is S01E02, so at this point in the storyline they're still trying to get the eposition caught up.
By later seasons it's clear that the writers got it down, and everyone has a good character, and their motivations work.
posted by mikelieman at 8:17 AM on April 15, 2018
No, but remember, this is S01E02, so at this point in the storyline they're still trying to get the eposition caught up.
By later seasons it's clear that the writers got it down, and everyone has a good character, and their motivations work.
posted by mikelieman at 8:17 AM on April 15, 2018
Yeah, I think I better wait for the whole season discussion.
posted by Pendragon at 8:38 AM on April 15, 2018
posted by Pendragon at 8:38 AM on April 15, 2018
Yeah, I think I better wait for the whole season discussion.
Whoever gets to the finale first should just go ahead and start the full-season post. I'm on episode 7 now, probably be done late this afternoon/early evening.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:51 AM on April 15, 2018
Whoever gets to the finale first should just go ahead and start the full-season post. I'm on episode 7 now, probably be done late this afternoon/early evening.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:51 AM on April 15, 2018
No, but remember, this is S01E02, so at this point in the storyline they're still trying to get the eposition caught up.
Mmmmmm . . . . Good characterization and good writing in general shouldn't be sacrificed to exposition, and I wouldn't even say that we're being overwhelmed with exposition - at this point the show's running a fairly standard formula of basically throwing the protagonists into the action and then filling in the back story via flashback. IOW, while things may improve later on, "have to make sure we cover the background story" is no excuse for poor characterization. If anything, the opposite applies - give us characters we like (or are interested in) right from the start and we'll be willing to sit through all sorts of nonsense and lack of explanations just because we're more invested in what's about to happen to these people than in what might have happened before we met them.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:51 AM on April 15, 2018
Mmmmmm . . . . Good characterization and good writing in general shouldn't be sacrificed to exposition, and I wouldn't even say that we're being overwhelmed with exposition - at this point the show's running a fairly standard formula of basically throwing the protagonists into the action and then filling in the back story via flashback. IOW, while things may improve later on, "have to make sure we cover the background story" is no excuse for poor characterization. If anything, the opposite applies - give us characters we like (or are interested in) right from the start and we'll be willing to sit through all sorts of nonsense and lack of explanations just because we're more invested in what's about to happen to these people than in what might have happened before we met them.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:51 AM on April 15, 2018
Penny ( Mina Sundwall ) seems to be the star of the show
Penny was definitively, totally, unambiguously the star of the original series!
(Team Angela Cartwright)
posted by sammyo at 9:13 PM on April 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Penny was definitively, totally, unambiguously the star of the original series!
(Team Angela Cartwright)
posted by sammyo at 9:13 PM on April 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
I have never seen a single minute of the original Lost in Space, but I am really enjoying this. I like the characters (I mean, not necessarily to be my best friend, but I enjoy watching them). Will being "too timid" is kind of his thing. He was rejected from the program at first because he doesn't do well under pressure. He's a sensitive kid in over his head in a family of type-A hyper-competent over-achievers. (As the daughter of a type-A hyper-competent over-achiever, I may be personalizing this slightly.) I also dig the parents and their backstory. I mean, I wouldn't want them to be my parents, but I think it's interesting. I really like the switcheroo that it was the Mom whose idea it was to drag her family across the galaxy because usually it's the Dad character who is all-in on that sort of thing and the Mom reluctantly goes along and then has to sit around and fret and be the killjoy realist (emotional womenfolk are the worst, amirite?).
Again: never saw the original, have no idea how this relates to that.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:55 AM on April 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Again: never saw the original, have no idea how this relates to that.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:55 AM on April 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Wow, am I the only one who really loves the Robinson's portrayal ?
I like the characters (I mean, not necessarily to be my best friend, but I enjoy watching them)
(As the daughter of a type-A hyper-competent over-achiever, I may be personalizing this slightly.)
OK, I may have been a little extra-grumpy in my reaction to the characters, but . . . . (and this is an idea I should probably wait to expand upon until I finish the series and post it in the "Full Season" thread) - it was these first two episodes that made me go, "This is seriously the most GenX-y show possible, it could not be more GenX (director & exec producer Neil Marshall born 1970) if it tried." Which, understandably, makes this comfortable familiar resonant territory for some people, and for others (um, me, I guess) makes us go, "harrumph."
posted by soundguy99 at 9:56 AM on April 16, 2018
I like the characters (I mean, not necessarily to be my best friend, but I enjoy watching them)
(As the daughter of a type-A hyper-competent over-achiever, I may be personalizing this slightly.)
OK, I may have been a little extra-grumpy in my reaction to the characters, but . . . . (and this is an idea I should probably wait to expand upon until I finish the series and post it in the "Full Season" thread) - it was these first two episodes that made me go, "This is seriously the most GenX-y show possible, it could not be more GenX (director & exec producer Neil Marshall born 1970) if it tried." Which, understandably, makes this comfortable familiar resonant territory for some people, and for others (um, me, I guess) makes us go, "harrumph."
posted by soundguy99 at 9:56 AM on April 16, 2018
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posted by sammyo at 7:03 PM on April 14, 2018 [1 favorite]