Dark Matter: Episode 5
July 10, 2015 11:57 AM - Season 1, Episode 5 - Subscribe

The crew are hired by their handler to salvage a seemingly deserted space freighter, a reclaim op that appears to be straightforward until a deadly cargo is uncovered and they are forced to fight for their lives.
posted by rednikki (12 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
HI DAVID HEWLETT!!!! I've missed having him on my screen. And this is the perfect role for him - it allows him to crank the "obnoxious asshole" persona up to 11.

Space zombies? Mmmm. But interesting little development with Two at the end and the super-healing. Clearly there is something unusual about all these folks.

Six is such a compassionate person. I do wonder when we're going to get some more reveals about him. He may be my favorite.

Gotta admit, I laughed hard when Android said that she'd re-initiated life support in the dying-zombies section and Six said "Oh, thank God." And then the zombies all started attacking Three.
posted by rednikki at 4:11 PM on July 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


I really, really hope the space zombies don't become a regular thing. If they do, I'm out. But I can easily see how they will becoming an ongoing plot thread, especially after somebody finds out about Two's immunity and decides to turn her into a lab experiment.
posted by sardonyx at 6:51 PM on July 11, 2015


"I really, really hope the space zombies don't become a regular thing."

I don't think that's the zombie virus itself is important -- I don't think we'll revisit the space zombies (god, I hope not). I think the "travel as your disposable clone" advertisement that we saw and One's double and now Two's mysterious recuperation are all connected. They're all some variety of those disposable clones -- they're not clones, exactly, but something else. (I don't remember if the ad actually called them clones -- maybe they're a kind of biological android).
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 8:22 PM on July 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


I think the "travel as your disposable clone" advertisement that we saw and One's double and now Two's mysterious recuperation are all connected. They're all some variety of those disposable clones -- they're not clones, exactly, but something else. (I don't remember if the ad actually called them clones -- maybe they're a kind of biological android)

Oh, wow. That would be crazy interesting way to go. Sort of like a Scud the Disposable Assassin riff where people can use disposable clone type things to accomplish dangerous tasks.
posted by humans are superior! at 10:23 PM on July 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


I'm about 95% certain that the advertisement and One's twin are related, especially since we were shown that ad in that particular episode about the twin. Given that, it seems like the virus/healing thing is very likely related.

But that doesn't include the other big puzzle piece we've been shown -- the vault. And I can't think of a way that the vault fits in with this.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 8:14 AM on July 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


My guess is that the crew are all duplicates, and the originals are in stasis in the vault. Except for One's twin, who missed the ship before it left.
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:32 AM on July 13, 2015 [2 favorites]


Ah!
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 9:03 AM on July 13, 2015


But why stash the original and the clone on the same ship? Wouldn't it be better to have the original somewhere safe in case the ship is destroyed in battled?
posted by sardonyx at 5:21 PM on July 13, 2015


Maybe the original plan was to send the clones down to the mining colony to deal with the miners and then get rid of them afterwards. Might explain why the android started attacking them as soon as she was woken up - maybe her job was to get rid of the clones....
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:21 AM on July 14, 2015


Clones or possibly other-dimensional versions. 5 did find some kind of burnt-out extra-dimensional access card after all. The vault could contain an extra-dimensional transit device. Credit to rednikki's mom for that theory.

I'm having such mixed feelings about this show. On the one hand, spaceships yay! And there are things I like about how the characters are developing, such as how 3 is trying to manipulate people to set up whatever scenario he's working out and how 2's character is being revealed. I like all the performances in general with the possible exception of 1, but I don't hate him. I just think of him as "Space Ross."

But it also feels kind of familiar and rote. It feels like it's written by people who have jobs making a sci-fi tv show, not people with a passion about an amazing story they feel compelled to tell. Some of the writing feels not lazy exactly, but... boilerplate I guess. Standard. Expected. I keep hoping something about the story or general writing will come along to elevate it. Either that or a lot more spaceship vfx, but the latter doesn't seem likely given the obvious budget constraints they're working under.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 8:13 AM on July 14, 2015 [3 favorites]


3 feels like a variation on Rodney McKay, it was a little jarring to see David Hewlett.

I like the ideas here on the clones/healing/vault mystery going. Maybe someone has developed some sort of super-healing that allows the otherwise disposable clones to live much longer than their normal 72 hour life. Perhaps with tech related to the patch the doctor grew for 6. Though, of course, the need for it also suggests that 6 doesn't have super-healing (or his injury was a lot worse and it wasn't shown in the original state as misdirection). Or maybe he's the one that's not a super-clone and is compassionate because he grew everyone else in a vat (this is my new headcanon).


It seems a little sloppy that the crew hasn't really inspected the entire ship and we have people find something new (to them) every other episode.

The show also followed an episode where the crew was about to leave 1 & 3 behind with an episode where they actually did leave 1 & 3 behind. 3 is obviously, purposefully grating (like I said, he reminds me of Rodney McKay) and this blackmail thing is a poor plot device and I'll be glad when they're done with it.

Which is to say, the show isn't exceptional, but it's interesting enough that I'll keep watching. I like the idea of a slow reveal so I'll keep going.
posted by mountmccabe at 4:28 PM on November 13, 2015


under_petticoat_rule: Clones or possibly other-dimensional versions. 5 did find some kind of burnt-out extra-dimensional access card after all. The vault could contain an extra-dimensional transit device.

This also seems like a strong possibility. Extra dimensions would fit into the title, if they're working from the theory that dark matter is mass in other dimensions.

There's gotta be some reason the show is called Dark Matter, and I'm betting it's not just because most of the crew are wanted criminals.
posted by mountmccabe at 4:32 PM on November 13, 2015


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