Lost in Space
An Analytic Lesson in Meaningless Causal Speculation
**Spoiler Alert — there was no avoiding it this time
Let me start with — I really enjoyed Netflix’ reboot of Lost in Space. I watched the original (in rerun). I even watched the version with Joey from Friends and the David Bowie spiders… wait, Gary Oldman. This version was excellent. So kudos. But let’s focus on the lessons we learned from Smith and the Robot…
No, not that tandem. Although I have written about them before.
Each episode, I inevitably found myself asking why? It is incredibly human and as I have written often — purely meaningless in analytic context. There really is no real why.
Let’s start with Robot
Why does the robot do anything? You can certainly guess. You can certainly theorize. But you are better off just letting it go…
We don’t even know that the robot is actually a robot in the traditional sense. The characters speculated on reboots and to some degree that model and hypothesis played out… until it didn’t. The model, however, really attempted to determine how the robot would behave… not why.
Let’s consider Will
Not Smith. Well, not yet. Let’s start with the boy character at the center of this adventure. We at least know that Will Robinson is a boy. That is fairly straightforward, but it makes it no easier for us to determine why he does anything.
In the 2018 series, he actually has a complicated backstory that makes him a bit more complex than other boys his age. What we know is that he is quite willful… hmm, is that symbolism? Only one group knows…
These Two Guys…
Sazama & Sharpless wrote this series. So I suppose they hold the key to why. Although, once you hand a role to an actor — they start calling many of the shots. Then there is the director… boy, this got complicated! Why do we care about why again?
It will help us understand…
Wait, understand?!? Did you watch this series?
So now for the Doctor…
She is not even a real doctor… boy that line gets some mileage. She should be. Her character seems to actually understand why almost everybody does everything in the story line. She is a master manipulator. Granted — she is most effective on young boys and re-programmable robots, but as already noted — this ain’t easy.
That is where Lost In Space delivers its final lesson. Yes, it was hard to fathom why anyone was doing almost anything. Even after the flashbacks and backstories, the show still left you guessing. But in the final punchline, the one character who stayed focused on why rather than how — failed miserably. Or did she?
What really was Dr Smith’s plan? Do we know? We know what she told us. Why would we trust that? Oh — there we go again…
One Final Thought…
The motivations of Dr Smith have much in common with what ultimately allowed space family Robinson to escape the planet (that no one ever named… but lets not get into the meaninglessness of labels). In the end, the answer was:
BAT SHIT!
I don’t know if that was symbolism, too. But I for one am voting that is should have been.
So take a lesson from Lost in Space (the Netflix 2018 version). Embrace the fact that how is more helpful than why. But also recognize that why is insanely human, but also often insane. Finally, recognize that bat shit is a powerful substance and embracing its existence may be the answer to your problems. Metaphorically, of course. Thanks for reading!
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