(pictured left-right) Judy Robinson, Pilot Don West, Dr. Maureen Robinson M.D., Colonel John Robinson, Robot, Will Robinson, and David Robinson.
Has anybody seen the 2004 Lost In Space Pilot that actually liked it? I was very shocked and surprised to discover it for myself just a few days ago. I REALLY liked it, although most viewers absolutely HATED it. I loved the look...the new ideas...new characters...and that they weren't going to neccesarily have or rely on a Dr. Smith character. Here's a quick synopsis if you haven't seen it yet.
The year is 2097, and Colonel John Robinson is a highly decorated military leader. In 2082, the Earth was attacked by aliens...and John led the military forces that defeated the aliens in an attack known as "Robinson's Raid". In 2097, now a highly reveared and admired military Colonel, John has retired and plans to move he and his family to a colony planet called Nova. John Robinson's family includes: his doctor/wife, Maureen; his eldest son, teen-age David; his teen daughter, Judy; his second son and third child, ten-year-old Will; and his infant daughter, Penny. (Note: David and Judy Robinson appear to be practically the same age. It is possible that they could be fraternal twins. But this fact is unknown.)
The Earth Military has a big send-off going-away party for John, who is a military celebrity. At the party, Judy meets a young military pilot named Don West. Since it's her last night on Earth, Judy sneaks out of her home to a party and reunites with Don...and falls for him hard. Don, however has no idea that Judy is the daughter of the famous John Robinson. Judy sneaks back home in the morning in time to pack. John confronts David about his poor school/academy scores. David refuses to talk and it's a stalemate. Maureen sences that David feels inferior to his celebrity military father...and tries to convince John to confront David and tell David that he (John) loves and respects him. John stubbornly refuses saying that David 'knows' that he (John) loves him. Before the family leaves their Earth home, they discovers that Will (who is a genious) has built a robot in a building near the house. Will builds the robot to protect himself from his school bullies. The family packs and travel to a space station called "The Jupiter" orbiting the Earth.
The Jupiter has many pods which will house the space travelers and will separate from the Jupiter when they reach the planet Nova. The Robinson family are assigned the second pod named the Jupiter II. There is still a bit of turmoil between David and John, who can't seem to reconcile their father/son relationship. The family leaves the pod to explore the Space Station Jupiter and meet the other space fairing families. The commander of the Space Station Jupiter asks for John to come to the command room immediately. John asks David to accompany him, but he refuses. John then asks Will who excitedly goes with him. Judy comes across Don who is also aboard the Jupiter. Don discovers that Judy is the daughter of John Robinson and almost craps his pants. Don is now afraid that his military career is in jeopardy (apparently Judy and Don had some type of sexual tryst after the party the previous night). Don tells Judy he can never see her again and walks away from her.
Meanwhile, John and Will are in the command room. The commander tells John that they are getting some strange signals and if John can help. John discovers the signals are from the aliens who had attacked them previously. Soon the entire space station Jupiter is surrounded by alien ships. John tells the commander to tell all families to rush to their pods immediately, and then to jettison all the pods and abandon the Jupiter Space Station, which is now crawling with the strange reptilian-like aliens.
Alone in the Jupiter II Pod, Maureen cradles her infant daughter Penny. As Maureen holds her daughter, she sees that the door to the pod is being opened. Suddenly an alien steps inside and fires a laser at Maureen and Penny. Maureen manages to sidestep the shot...then she hits a switch that causes the door to slam shut...instantly hitting and killing the alien.
On her way back to the Jupiter II pod, Judy is attacked by an alien. Don saves her, and takes her back to the Jupiter II pod. As John and Will make their way back to the pod they find David who joins them. As they near the pod, they are attacked by aliens but make it inside the Jupiter II pod. However, in all the confusion, Will was quickly taken by the aliens before the pod door shut.
Refusing to leave the Space Station without Will, John leaves in search of his youngest son. John eventually locates Will and kills the alien. They both make it back safely to the Jupiter II Pod and the pod door shuts. The Pod now has only seconds before it jettisons from the space station. As the seconds tic down, Maureen asks John where David is. Bewildered, John asks his wife what she means. Maureen proceeds to tell John that David had subsequently left the pod in order to search for both John and Will.
The countdown has terminated and the Jupiter II has jettisoned from the space station. Outer space is full of explosions as the space station and other capsules ignite. John sees Don at the controls of the pod and demands for Don to take them back to the exploding space station so that he can save David. For a moment, we see David running inside the space station. It is exploding all around him and he has no place to go...on either side of him are aliens carrying laser guns. Knowing his fate, David stops running and closes his eyes as the aliens descend upon him. The entire space station explodes.
The Robinson family views this with wide-open eyes full of shock. Maureen weeps as she holds her infant Penny in her arms and whispers "David" as the station disintegrates.
Now the alien ships are after the Jupiter II. They are having a power shortage and are being outrun. Will gets up and opens a huge box aboard the Jupiter II. The robot he created is inside. Will turns the robot on and connects it with cables to the power grid of the Jupiter II. With the extra power from the robot, the Jupiter II goes into hyper-drive and escapes the aliens. However when the hyperdrive shuts down, they have no idea where they are. John, who is seated beside Don at the control console, introduces himself to Don. An embarrassed Don shakes hands with his idol and hero, John Robinson.
The Robinson Family are heart-stricken at David's loss...especially John Robinson. John regrets that he and David were at odds with each other when David was killed. With David's death, John no longer has the chance to confront David about his (John's) love and respect that he has for David. The reconciliation between father and son is now impossible.
Don announces that there is little power, food, and water. Judy asks aloud if they are going to just die stranded where they are in outer space. John looks at his grieving wife as she cradles Penny. John then takes both Judy and Will into his arms and promises them that he will find a way for them to get home. John also promises his mournful family that he will find a way to get David back. The scene then moves to the battered and broken Jupiter II. It has been heavily damaged and fuses and broken wires and cables are lying everywhere. Then the scene moves outside where we see the Jupiter II hovering in suspended space...broken and all alone. This is how the pilot ends.
The pilot can be found in youtube if you want to see it for yourself.
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No wonder it never got green lighted beyond the pilot.
