Show is very well done. It is obvious that Amazon has not kept the budgets tight and production thus is very impressive. Acting and writing is very good. I really enjoyed how much show spends time developing minor characters and giving everyone a certain evolution arcs (kinda reminded of another show that did that for 7 seasons and then managed to magnificently screw it all up in 8th). Thus just like in Watchmen, there are not good or bad guys, there are light gray or dark gray guys (whole 50 shades of… damn, nevermind).

Show is not without faults, as usual with streaming shows pacing slumps in the middle, but then explosively picks up. I also didn’t like the ending much. It seemed more like an end of episode and not a certain full stop of season finale.

And if you are not convinced that this show is awesome – I watched all episodes over a weekend, with last 6 of them in one single day. Last time I binge-watched a show like this was first season of Stranger Things.

4.7/5.0

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But aside from nostalgic points, film doesn’t bring that much to the table. Let’s start with that it would be impossible for anyone who hasn’t seen the show to even understand what is going on. Film doesn’t even try to establish known characters, and why would it? In the end, “El Camino” is essentially, just a 3-episode miniseries edited into one single film. Yes, the storyline is engaging and exciting, but I didn’t see anything grandiose akin to explosive “Breaking Bad” plot progressions or even close to what my expectations were. Weirdly enough it feels like film embraces this whole motion of serenity. Then again, maybe, just to quote one character “quiet is all that you (Jesse) needs right now”.

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Story

Space ship is crash landing. Sitting in the hub, trying to subdue their anxiety are members of Robinson family. They know that computer will take care of landing, so all they can do is just sit tight and play cards. They were on the way to Alpha Centauri aboard mothership Resolute to establish a colony. And now they don’t know what happened and why are they crash landing. We will soon learn that they were handpicked to be on the ship. Despite being a family, each one of them had to pass a rigorous test to fill the needed position on the ship: Maureen Robinson is mission commander. Her husband John is mission pilot and ex-military. Their daughters: Judy is doctor and Penny is mechanic. Their youngest is 11-year-old brilliant engineer Will.

Landing is not soft at all. Their ship lands on what seems to be an ice mountain, triggering avalanches and ice movement. They don’t know where they are, planet seems totally unfamiliar and yet has breathable air. Space ship starts sinking so they had to abandon it immediately. While trying to recover batteries from the sunken ship, Judy gets stuck in the immediately freezing waters. Family needs to act fast to free her out. At this point they don’t care that apparently the reason they crashed was because their mother ship was attacked by an alien robot, that surprisingly also crashed on the same planet. In fact, not so far from the Robinsons. And that robot might not be the most dangerous thing that survived the crash landing.

Jupiter 2 crashing to the planet

Structure

In the best tradition of Netflix series, season 1 of “Lost in Space” is also 10 episodes long. And the way it is structured might seem pretty weird. First couple of episodes play out like a survival video game. Go there, gather this, travel back, click here, do that. And repeat through different quests. Then the show makes a wild turn and totally abandons that idea and becomes family drama. Last two episodes becomes an action piece.

What I did enjoy is that each family member was given an independent backstory. Series pick us up from the crash moment, but there are flashbacks to what happened almost through whole season, even up to the last episode. These flashbacks basically answer most of the questions we have and help understand motivations behind each character’s action. There is a certain family drama. Maureen and John are on the brink of divorce, the only thing keeping them together is their children. I enjoyed their story arc, it gave them more emotional context to operate in. Maureen seems to be strong and independent, after all she is not only an accomplished scientist, but also managed to raise three children, while John was constantly away on military deployment. John knows literally nothing about his children. He understands and regrets that and tries to do everything to connect with them.

Children also have their skeletons in the closet. Judy, despite looking tough and agile like her mother, is still green and still needs a push to overcome her fears of being independent. Penny is a teenager, who no one listens to and who desperately wants her own space. And maybe a little faith from her parents. Will is a brilliant kid, but totally lacks social life. He has no friends and is in desperate need of father figure he missed so much. All these conflicts and their resolution is the backbone of the whole series.

Maureen (Parker) and John (Stephens) trying to figure out how lost they are

Style

While emotional conflicts between the characters carries “Lost in Space” it is that these exact conflicts that create most of the problems through the series. Characters constantly are trying to talk to each other, explain their feelings, or vice versa not tell anything because they are afraid how the other party will react to that. This turns otherwise potentially fun premise into an emotional rut. You will be surprised how much plot progresses because at some point children decide to withhold information from their parents. And for no apparent reason! Also, emotional state of several

members of the family leads to almost a disaster that could have been easily avoided.

As I mentioned above, episodes 3 to 8 are extremely slow. There is a lot happening, but everything is done with such slow pace that I wanted to give up watching the show. There were several cliffhangers throughout, that were never resolved or resolution extended to be the whole new story arc that didn’t lead anywhere. Like fuel recovery mission. Feels like it was written to fill the gaps and have an extra episode for nothing.

Unnamed planet looks like Earth, somehow

Other issue I had was with locale. The planet, at first seemed totally alien-like and full of danger. It turns out the planet is not that different, neither physically or visually from Earth. I mean, you can’t just add couple of moons and some weird insects/bats/hippos and call it an alien planet! Do some things to it goddamit! This is not 60’s, you can make ANYTHING with some CGI and whatnot. Otherwise it pretty much looks like a postcard view from Canada, Alaska or Iceland.

Series also has an identity crisis in terms of audience selection. For the whole run of season 1 “Lost in Space” juggles between being a kid-friendly space adventure to adult oriented survival and drama. There is certain emotional depth to it, so series is either too dark for kids or too lame for adults. Not sure why Netflix chose to do it. Totally messes the whole experience.

Acting

There is nothing much I can say about acting in “Lost in Space”. The actors do their job, but it is surprisingly the actors who play the children – Taylor Russell (Judy), Mina Sundwall (Penny) and Maxwell Jenkins (Will) who really shine. Firstly, I have to compliment acting department, they literally chose child actors who look like their on-screen parents. I even had to google if Mina Sundwall was an actual daughter of Molly Parker or not. Second, they are probably the sincerest actors in the film. Judy is strong and independent young woman who is just on first steps of her life path. Russell shows deep internal struggle, yet externally is determined and in complete control.

Children (Jenkins, Sundwall and Russell) teaching robot

Penny is a teenager who just wants to live her life. She wants for everyone to stop treating her like a kid and is the only one who completely misses her old life on Earth. Sundwall is able to portray her not as a moody princess, but as a girl who just wants to have a life of a teenager. She wants to fall in love and be loved. Will is young kid who needs a friend. Not a father, but just a friend. Someone he can talk to and share his thoughts. Although I found his character annoying, I did enjoy how Jenkins was able to show everything that was requested of him.

That I can’t say about the villain, Dr.Smith, played by Parker Posey. She was supposed to be a psychopath manipulator, which requires constant shift in her performance. Unfortunately, Posey can’t deliver that wide spectrum of emotions. Her manipulative version was good. She felt genuine. But whenever we see her true self, it just seems fake. And that ruins the whole picture.

Summary

“Lost in Space” has an interesting premise. Season starts as a survival, but then turns into a family drama and ends with action. These shifts are not subtle, especially drama stage seemed totally slow and at times incredibly dull. Season had 10 episodes, and believe there is enough ground to cover for 10 episodes, yet some of the episodes have been poorly structured. Emotional backstory to the Robinson family was a nice addition and made heroes really relatable, however most of the plot is dragged because of the inability of characters to resolve their issues. On top of that, the villain was not written/executed well.

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Story

End of 24th century. Takeshi Kovacs wakes up after 250-year-long “sleep” in a new body. Humanity has long defeated death by inventing “stacks” – alien-based device that is implanted into all humans recording every single thing that host does – his personality, memories, character, etc. Human body is no longer a constraint. If you die, your stack (given that it was not damaged) is just inserted into new (or previously owned) body – or “sleeve” and viola! You can run again. Or you don’t even have to die to change sleeve. If you are rich enough you can just buy yourself a new sleeve and become whoever you would like to be.

Before he was put to sleep – “iced” – Takeshi was a renegade revolutionary with extremely deadly set of battle skills. 250 year has changed a lot and he soon realizes that everything he fought against during his life has now become a reality. But he doesn’t have much time to enjoy his new body. He is informed that he has been awakened by mega-rich businessman Laurens Bancroft. He needs Kovacs’ help. See, weeks ago Laurens was murdered. He has been restored to his old backup and has no recollection, of course, of what happened to him. Everything leads to conclusion that he killed himself. But Laurens, who has been living for 300 years, will not accept the fact that he would just end his life. Takeshi needs to find his murderer. And then he will be free.

Kovacs (Kinnaman) gets instructions from Bancroft (Purefoy)

To complicate things, Kovacs pretty soon realizes that a lot of weird things are happening. Firstly, police detective Kristin Ortega has 24/7 surveillance on him. Second, he immediately attracts attention of some high-level criminals. Third, he realizes that the body he has now has belonged to someone who had his own share of enemies. And lastly that Laurens has extremely deep secrets. After all, you can’t just avoid death and not proclaim yourself a God.

Structure

First season of “Altered Carbon” is 10 episodes long. Series starts literally as classic film noir. Character has hateful monologues about reality and what not, there is a “damsel in distress,” soon Kovacs finds a sidekick, in a form of AI hotel proprietor. Somewhere around episode 4 show slowly takes a turn into more of action-fantasy genre. Kovacs’ investigation takes him to investigate various underground gambling, fighting and prostitution dens. Series really slows down somewhere by episode 6, unfortunately. There are multiple twists that basically put Kovacs on completely different track from his main investigation. Of course, it all is tied together in the end and season finishes with strong comeback and offers an ending that will not disappoint.

Kovacs (Kinnaman) punches his way out of zero gravity fight club

There is a lot of social commentary. Series is full with philosophical discussion on what is soul and why should we avoid death. I liked how the world was setup – although the technology to replace bodies exists only the richest of them all can afford it. Regular people still struggle as they used to do before. Yes, if you die you get a new body, but this body can be anyone’s. Early in the first episode we see six-year-old girl, who has died in accident, given a body of older woman. You should have paid, they tell her parents. There is also religious people, called Neo-Catholics who refuse to be revived when they die. Police though has permission to bring back to life criminals for interrogation or victims to testify in court. This world is so rich and

very vivid, it almost makes total sense.

Style

“Altered Carbon” stylistically resembles Blade Runner in every single aspect. Neon lights, rain and gloomy scenes make dirty city even dirtier. But unlike another Netflix crap called Mute, “Altered Carbon” offers totally immersive world. Virtual reality and AI simulation plays a big part, which somewhat give series a new edge. Also I really enjoyed the action scenes through the series. I have double feelings about is Kovacs’ backstory. Directors intentionally withhold information, thus artificially moving plot forward. Up until episode 4, we are given almost no clue about who he was and what he has done and then suddenly there is almost 2 episodes devoted to his past.

Kovacs (Kinnaman) holds his body hostage

If I say that “Altered Carbon” has a lot of nudity, it would be an understatement. There is just a LOT of it. Mind, it is not more than Westworld and definitely less than Spartacus, but you will be surprised how many naked female bodies are there. One scene involves a fight with a dozen of totally nude clones. People are complaining that it is distracting. I don’t think it was distracting a bit, but then again even without nudity the series would have lost anything. It was just at times redundant, that’s all I am saying.

Acting

I have to give it to producers for a bold statement. “Altered Carbon” doesn’t have any A-list actors. Instead the cast is relatively unknown. Surprisingly they all deliver very precise performances. Joel Kinnaman plays new Kovacs and he is strong, cynical, sarcastic, unbending, and smart. James Purefoy is Laurens Bancroft and he is a total charmer as gazillionaire with God complex. I specifically liked the casting of Martha Higareda as

Martha Higareda kicks ass as detective Ortega

detective Kristin Ortega. She has short, dark complexion with curvy figure and is visually total opposite of basically every single female actress on the show. Higareda completely owns her part. She is strong, independent woman, who will not stop until she reaches the bottom of it. Since Kovacs is cynical and unemphatic, Ortega offers us a moral beacon for the most part of the season. Also I will mention Dichen Lehman and Ato Essandoh. Both deliver solid performances that require emotional investment.

Summary

“Altered Carbon” starts very strong, offers immersive world, interesting story and worthy heroes. Unfortunately pacing slows down drastically towards the middle and diverges from main storyline. But it is able to recover towards the end and deliver satisfying ending. Looking forward for Season 2.

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Structure

Format of the show stays mostly same as the first season, with some minor changes. While the premise of the first season was to have mobile studio tent in various countries, in this season this

Three supercars, representing past, present and future are ready for drag race

idea was abandoned. Tent is permanently set in the home town of Clarkson, thus there is a very little variation to the scenery outside. On the other hand, this enabled the program to have a Celebrity Face Off. A novelty for this season, it sets two “celebrities” with some very ambiguous common trait (men who live with a bear, drummers of bands starting with letter “P”, etc.) to race in one on one on their race track. Which is a fresh air compared to dreadful Celebrity Brain Crash in first Season.

The structure of the show is very fluid. It might start with one of the hosts reviewing a certain car. It would then veer off to Conversation Street, where hosts discuss various auto related news and gossip. Then the program would continue either with a new film from another host(s) or continue where it left off. Celebrity Face Off segment then follows. Or this might be totally abandoned for some challenge to answer a question (that, to quote the hosts “no one needs to have an answer”).

Reviews

This is a car show. And weirdly enough, you can’t really call it a car show. There are no vigorous tests, no standards to compare the cars to. And no consistency

May and Hammond observe Clarkson trying to fit in new Ford GT

in reviewing the cars either. Clarkson maybe doing his thing, complaining that he can’t fit in the saloon. Hammond would make the car go at incredible speeds. May would seek comfort and stability. Each of the hosts have their own criteria for judgment. And each review is followed by a commentary of other hosts to the reviewing host. Which basically consists of complaining, bickering and calling each other “moron”, “imbecile”, “idiot” or any combination of these words.

In that, the program has a lot of comedy elements into it. Various dumb and pointless challenges, though scripted, provide chance for the hosts to do their thing. Which is to entertain viewers. And entertain they do. Show is full with sarcastic, borderline non-PC remarks by Clarkson, witty comebacks by May, complete ignorance by Hammond. So if you are watching it to find out the specifics of, say, McLaren Sienna, you will be in a surprise.

Cars

Hammond testing Ripsaw tank in Dubai

Speaking of cars, this season features an amazing selection. Season starts with three incredible supercars – Lamborghini Aventador, Honda NSX and Rimac Concept One. Then in a-la classic “Top Gear” challenge, the hosts compare is it worth driving new Ford GT from Central Park in New York City to Niagara Falls or taking public transport to get there. In another episode, trio compare three (well, maybe more) pre-owned Jaguars to prove their worthiness as a used car. Then Clarkson takes a magnificent Bugatti Chiron on a GT ride in Alps, Hammond drives a tank called Ripsaw in desert and through the mall, and May tries to put out fire in modified Lada Riva. Tesla Model X, Lamborghini Huracan Performante, McLaren 720S – these are only some of the cars featured in the show.

Verdict

While even less coherent than first season (which one was actually pretty weird to begin with), the show stays fun to watch. It still delivers on the premise of having Clarkson, Hammond and May bring their witty comments on the cars and what-not. The structure is very confusing, but you get used to it. From technical point the show is just incredible to watch. Slow motion, close-up shots of cars, filled with the cars speeding through the corned seems like a dream. A dream that some day you will be able to sit and drive the cars show hosts are reviewing.

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