A Couple of Things...

Lost in Space

Netflix (10 episodes)

created by Irwin Allen (1965); Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (2018 remake)

starring Molly Parker, Parker Posey, Taylor Russell, Mina Sundwall, Toby Stephens, Maxwell Jenkins and Ignacio Serricchio

---

Black Lightning

the CW (13 episodes)

created by Salim Akil

starring Cress Williams, Nafessa Williams, China Anne McClain, Christine Adams, James Remar and Marvin "Krondon" Jones III

---

SPOILERS EXIST BELOW FOR BOTH PROGRAMMES. PLEASE TO AVOID SHOULD YOU WISH ONE DAY TO VIEW EITHER WITHOUT PRIOR KNOWINGS OF THE HAPPENINGS THEREIN. THANKS TO YOU

---

I'm not sure if we're still in the Golden Age of Television. If nothing else, we can at least say there's still a fucking shit-ton of it available. And as we all know, production of any product in giant numbers for quick and convenient consumption is usually a primary indicator of quality.

In fact there's so much television available for me to watch, it's really cutting into my sheltering-the-homeless and feeding-the-hungry time. It sounds un-Christian, but a) I'm not actually one of those and b) I'm content with the idea that whatever metrics I'm generating with my clicks and consumption is keeping the vulnerable classes of Hollywood showrunners and production staff... well, not "housed and fed" but at least "not working on different shows that might be worse than the ones I'm watching."

This past week I finished watching two shows, presented in different formats and on different platforms, that I've decided display similar themes. This way I can talk about them both at once in a way that speaks to both my pretentiousness AND my laziness. I don't want to have to write two separate things. I've decided to call this serendipity.

It's a lazy critical stance to simply compare things, but here I go: I'll say right up front that Black Lightning is a better show than Lost in Space. Both have their speculative, fantastical elements, and it could be more than reasonably argued that BL has more outlandish ones than LiS; dudes with lightning powers are way less likely than humans eventually attempting to colonize space. But the metahumans and hand-lightning-bolts are window dressing and flashy signage on a structure built in real American neighborhoods. The shiny, shiny action heightens the drama built on a foundation of the history of racial injustice in America and the struggles of a modern family. In LiS the sci-fi elements are more the point of the piece, providing it all if its drama (the most consistently compelling parts of it, I'd argue). The family struggles add complication and depth to the physical challenges, but in the end, the question always comes down to "will they overcome the scary space thing?"

I've seen some mixed reviews of some of the acting in LiS or at least the way some of the characters, particularly Molly Parker's Maureen Robinson, are written and portrayed. I'd agree that some of the irritations and motivations, especially with concern to Maureen's estrangement from her husband, Toby Stephens' John Robinson, seeing as the scenario is the dying earth threatening the survival of the human race, can in the grand scheme seem petty, but the sources of those resentments felt cumulative and lived, and therefore real, to me at least. It probably helps that I've been a Molly Parker fan since Deadwood and I was thrilled to see her in this, all steel and drive.

The casts for both of these shows are, for the most part, spectacular, both real credits to casting directors as a profession. Cress Williams is asked to do so much in essentially a dual role. As the dude in the title, he's got the stature, the charisma, the variegated talent and the skill to carry it all.

Luckily, he doesn't have to. These are both very female shows. They both start with the focus on the Man of Action at the center of nuclear families, but end with the women around them rescuing them (often from themselves) time and time again. Williams' Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning spends most of his scenes with the all-female members of his family who push, surprise, redirect and (frequently) save his ass. John Robinson's military bearing and predilection for order-giving is wholly subordinated (willingly) to Maureen's undeniable competence and clarity by the end of episode 10.

Both shows also rely on young people acting, where the real finds exist, especially in Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson in LiS) and China Anne McClain (Jennifer Pierce in BL). It's a credit to the writing that Russell gets to play a subtle combination of the aspects of her character's parents, without relying at all on the crutch of what could have been an obvious, complicated backstory. She suffers and grows and feels across the length of the season, set up beautifully as we watch her struggle right from the jump in episode 1. And China Anne McClain also benefits from some great, complicated writing, all aided by the fact that she's undeniably the best cryer on television. She's fussy and annoying and heartbreaking at turns, the way an actual teenager should be.

This is less edifying, but I feel like it should be noted that Nafessa Williams' Anissa Pierce ends up with the best superhero strut in all of comic book filmed entertainment.

Any melodrama (and to be sure, both of these are that) is only as good as its pantomime villain. BL has Marvin "Krondon" Jones III playing a pretty uncomplicated, but still gross and fun, murderous lunatic mastermind superhuman Tobias Whale. Did he kill the good guy's dad right in front of him? You bet he did. Does he murder subordinates who disappoint him? Yep. Does he say stuff like "why won't you just die already?!" or similar many times when his nefarious schemes are inevitably foiled by Our Hero? Sure does. But all we really want from him is menace and sneer and we get both of those in buckets.

Parker Posey's June "Dr. Smith" Harris is both more ambitious and less successful. She's either an improvising survivor or a long-game master schemer. The scripts often try to have it both ways, and the inconsistency is a weakness. Luckily the Big Bad of this show is the murderous environment of the planet the Robinsons et al. are stranded on itself. The show is at its strongest when the Robinsons are scrambling to survive a series of biomes that are less hostile than simply indifferent to their presence. It's going to do what it does, on a series of clocks (diurnal, seasonal, geological, cosmic...) ruthlessly out of synch with anything as sentimental as human survival, let alone the emotion of family dynamics. Lost in Space is at its best when the very real hurts and resentments of the various characters are contrasted with the hard choices of life and death.

If all things were equal, the judgement of which show is more successful would come down to its ancillary support, which would be BL's James Remar vs. the LiS alien robot with a starfield face. And if all things were equal, it wouldn't be close. I'm not sure if James Remar is a good actor or not. His lines come off as page-reading and mechanical. By contrast, the occasional vocoder "Danger, Will Robinson" usually carries way more plot and emotive weight.

But all things aren't equal and as such, if you only have time for one, Black Lightning is the way to go. Besides, Lost in Space is a Netflix-produced show that exists on Netflix, so it will kind of persist as long as the platform does. Pick it up when you feel like it. Or, you know what, don't watch either one. I'm not the boss of you.