Synopsis: With Jupiter 2 stranded on a mysterious ocean planet without their beloved Robot, the Robinsons must work together, alongside the mischievous and manipulative Dr. Smith and the always charming Don West, to make it back to the Resolute and reunite with the other colonists. But they quickly find all is not as it seems. A series of incredible new threats and unexpected discoveries emerge as they look for the key to finding Robot and safe passage to Alpha Centauri.

Format: 10 episodes streaming on Netflix simultaneously.

Cast: Molly Parker, Toby Stephens, Maxwell Jenkins, Taylor Russell, Mina Sundwall, Ignacio Serricchio, Parker Posey, Douglas Hodge, JJ Feild

Directors: Alex Graves (1,2,10), Leslie Hope (3), Jon East (4,5), Tim Southam (6,7), Jabbar Raisani (8), Stephen Surjik (9)
Writers: Irwin Allen (Created by), Matt Sazama (Developed by,1,10), Burk Sharpless (Developed by,1,10), Zack Estrin (2,9), Liz Sagal (3), Kari Drake (4,8), Vivian Lee (5,9), Katherine Collins (6,8), Daniel McLellan (7)

The first season of Netflix’s rebooted Lost in Space was pretty solid. The production values were high and the cast was very good. But it seemed to be a show very few people talked about. Now with season 2, hopefully, the Robinsons and company will be on more people’s lips and in their watch history.

At the end of the first season, the Robinsons, Don West (Ignacio Serricchio) and Dr. Smith (Parker Posey) get sent away from the Resolute to a distant galaxy. This season reveals they’ve spent seven months on a planet with an uninhabitable atmosphere after their Jupiter lost power. After a crazy scheme to re-power the Jupiter, they are able to reunite with the Resolute but soon find that they are also having trouble after Will’s (Maxwell Jenkins) Robot and another robot fought through the ship and took the alien engine that required for lightspeed travel.

This season, even more so that season 1, feels like Battlestar Galactica-lite. With more scenes set on the Resolute space station, and scheming and secrets from multiple groups and the obvious robots, it is hard not to see the comparisons. Lost in Space continues to be more family-friendly, never going down any particularly dark paths or with anything too scary which is a breath of fresh air to the gritty and grimy sci-fi we’ve been getting recently.

The plot for this season seemed to take precedence over the character building, which makes sense given we’ve had a whole season to get to know the family. Judy (Taylor Russell) gets a bit of a reduced role as she is no longer the only medic in the group but is given a chance to shine in “Run”, an episode that focuses on the relationship between Judy and her father, John (Toby Stephens), with a series of flashbacks to before they left Earth, something that was commonplace last season but rarely occurs this one.

The standout to me this season is Penny (Mina Sundwall) who seems is given the most to do. Whether it was keeping tabs on the cunning Dr Smith or being trapped in a contaminated section of the space station, Penny featured in most episodes which is fine with me because I find her sarcastic personality delightful. While Parker Posey was great in season 1, it would occasionally feel like Dr Smith would do bad things for the sake of doing bad things. This season sees her more focussed on looking out for herself, which she succeeds in doing no matter how frustrating it is for those of us hoping to see her get her comeuppance. She is also given a bit of humanity this season with adds a bit more dimension to her character. Ignacio Serricchio continues to be a delight as the roguish mechanic Don West with him having to deal with the crew that deserted at the start of the show.

This season also sees further exploration into the history of the alien robots. The addition of Ben Adler (JJ Feild), a man who has had similar dealings with a robot to Will, and Hastings (Douglas Hodge), the man in charge of the Resolute and future trips to Alpha Centauri, prove worthy foils for Will and Maureen (Molly Parker). While we get a little more information about the alien robots it feels like it is being delivered a little bit too slowly, with each answer just bringing up more questions.