TV Review: Lost in Space Season 3 (2021)

Lost in Space Season 3 (2021) adapted by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless from the TV series created by Irwin Allen

See my review of Season 2 here.

The Robinson family was separated at the end of the last season when the evil robot SAR and his cohort attacked the colony ship. The colonists sent their children on ahead to Alpha Centauri. The parents managed to fight off the robot invaders but are stuck trying to make repairs before they can follow their children. The robots are still lurking around, so the adults can only use minimal technology lest they be detected by the baddies. They have one good robot, Scarecrow, on their side.

Meanwhile, the children were sidetracked by a distress signal and crashed on a broken planet. The planet has an ever-growing asteroid field around it. The asteroids are chunks of the planet--as they collide with each other, they create more space debris. Eventually, the kids won't be able to escape. This particular planet also happens to be where Judy Robinson's dad (she's adopted) crashed twenty years ago. Judy goes in search of him while the rest of the kids work on fixing their Jupiter 2 spacecraft so they can continue on to Alpha Centauri.

Things get dicey when Scarecrow manages to contact the robot that's with the kids. Scarecrow relays a distress message. The kids have to decide if they want to go and save their parents, even if it might be trap crafted by SAR. For some mysterious reason, SAR wants to kill Will Robinson.

The show rockets on to its conclusion in fine form. This reboot manages to capture the optimism and joy of space travel from the original show while also having some serious drama and some classic commentary about the values of family and self-sacrifice. It's a well-written show with good special effects and fine performances. Some of the problems are a bit contrived but the better parts far outshine the lesser parts.

Recommended.

Currently (December 2021), the show is only available streaming on Netflix.