LOST IN SPACE
Stranded passengers struggle to survive on ‘Origin’
What if “Lost” were set in deep space?
That’s sort of the premise behind YouTube Premium’s newest sci-fi drama, now available, in which a group of diverse, disparate, often disagreeable people awake from suspended animation on a spaceship far too early in their voyage and discover something has gone awry.
They seem to be alone. The ship’s crew and the thousands of other passengers are gone.
As they struggle to find answers, the deserted ship called Origin seems to be almost a death trap. (For one, it quickly is.)
They learn they are actually not alone — but what’s with them varies from dying to dead to coming to kill them all, hee hee, in a twist that might give you “Thing” vibes.
The 10 episodes that make up the first season vary the space shenanigans with flashback sequences on Earth (shades of the J.J. Abrams ABC hit) that explore the pasts of our survivors, explain why they wanted to make the journey to colonize a planet called Thea and inform their current behaviors.
Tom Felton — Draco from the “Harry Potter” films and CW’s “The Flash” — is the biggest draw here among the international cast and the most recognizable face. He plays Logan, an anxious wreck of a man hiding his own secrets.
But Shun (newcomer Sen Mitsuji) and Lana (Natalia Tena, “Game of Thrones”) get the backstory treatments in the first two episodes.
Shun is a Yakuza assassin far too adept at his work, torn between his bloodthirsty boss and his brother, a cop, who tries to steer him in another direction.
Lana is a hired bodyguard to a senator and his precocious 10-year-old daughter, and she picks the wrong moment to become distracted, with wrenching results.
These stories don’t break dramatic ground, but they are executed well enough with ramifications that play out on Origin. Shun, for example, might well fall back on old habits while Lana is traumatized by the thought of taking care of another person.
Other notable survivors include Lee (Adelayo Adedayo), a woman whose affinity for computers unlocks tantalizing information, and Henri (Fraser James), whose boasts could have fatal repercussions.
While the flashbacks are expansively shot, the spaceship set is starkly minimalist and might well be an empty warehouse. The exterior of the ship, while detailed, resembles a corkscrew crossed with a toilet brush.
Paul W. S. Anderson, best known for the films “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” and “AVP: Alien Vs. Predator,” directed the first two episodes, which might explain why there are so many jump scares. A few are effective; most are just people innocently sneaking up on others.
In the second episode, Logan complains, almost on behalf of the audience, “Can everyone stop hurling themselves around corners?”
Despite the schlocky space adventure, the series just might hook you because of its flawed protagonists.
“Origin” could be the start of something spooky.