Dark Matter: Episode Nine

August 7, 2015 2:13 PM - Season 1, Episode 9

Four abandons the ship to embark on a reckless mission to reclaim his past and the crew are left wondering whether they should rescue him or let fate run its deadly course.
posted by rednikki (12 comments total)

I am out of the country right now and can't actually watch the episodes. It's massively frustrating because based on the episode summaries it's finally clicked into gear!
posted by rednikki at 2:13 PM on August 7, 2015

I was a little confused in this episode. It really seemed like 4 remembered his upbringing, but he didn't get his memories back, did he? Isn't he just going off his research? I couldn't figure out if I missed something or if the writers were being lazy.

I have mixed feelings about 4's storyline. It's great that the show is creating some substantial roles for asian actors, but it seems to come from a totally orientalist mindset. I was really hoping this would be a show where an asian actor would be cast in an interesting role because he was the best choice for the role, not because they wanted to do a (kind of threadbare and cliche) feudal Japan storyline and thus needed an asian actor. It just seems out-of-touch, a throwback in the wrong way.

Space Ross finally had some decent scenes that didn't involve cringe-worthy interactions so that was nice.

I really like 6 and the actor who plays him.

I have some deep thoughts about the presence of the wrong kind of ambiguity in this show, but I'm going to have to wait until I have a real keyboard in front of me to post those.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 8:46 AM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

I had the same problem, it seemed like some of those flashbacks were 4's, although it was ambiguous. When Mentor Guy remembered 4 saving his life, he could have been the one having the flashback, but then #4 acted like he remembered those events too.

#3 did mention during this episode that he was starting to "almost" get some memories back, I wonder if we were supposed to imply that #4's memories were returning too?

The most frustrating thing is that these aren't the same people. Their memories were erased. If I woke up with no memory and found out that my stepmother had killed the emperor and put my brother on the throne, my immediate response wouldn't be "I must seek revenge." That revenge would belong to the old me, not the new one. I would have more of a detached understanding of it.

Similarly, #6 tried to kill The General, and he feels guilty for the act of terror he committed. Space Ross almost shot #3 because he killed his wife, which isn't really something that happened to him, it's something he read in an article.

At least he didn't try to hug anyone though.

Agreed that the super-ultra-Japanese storyline for #4 is disappointing.

On the plus side, the father/daughter thing between #5 and #6 is working well, I think. They had good chemistry from the first episode. And the android is hilarious, I loved her concern about being "weird", #3's reluctance to reboot her, and her matter-of-fact report that three deadly warships had materialized at the end of the episode.

Still absolutely no background about #2. And at this point shouldn't everyone be asking why she still has that bandage on her neck? Or has it only been a few days?
posted by mmoncur at 9:55 PM on August 8, 2015

I kind of wonder if even though they don't have concious memories of their past lives, maybe they have some sort of emotional memory. Maybe that's why One never liked Three and why Four cares about retaking his throne.

I wondered too about Four's memory, but I think it was just what he was told combined with what his mentor told him. Being smart, he didn't let on that the tale was new to him.

I did not understand why he stabbed his mentor at the end of all the fighting. It seemed like a weird thing to do in lightif it being someone that might have some loyalty to him.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 10:54 PM on August 8, 2015

The stabbing at the end was "to send a message". I.e. "Dear Brother, please note that I am angry and intend to retake my throne, and to show how serious I am about this I've stabbed the guy you sent for me, even though he was someone I respected. Be afraid."

I thought the stabbing was out-of-character with Ryo, the prince, but maybe in character with #4, the guy who woke up 2 weeks ago and has no memories of any of this loyalty stuff. "There's a chance for me to become rich and powerful, and stabbing this guy who I have no emotional connection to brings me one step closer to that."
posted by mmoncur at 7:56 PM on August 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

I can fanwank what was going on with the flashbacks, but I still think it was bad writing. We shouldn't need to fanwank it.

And I agree about the orientalism -- you'd think that they'd be more sensitive to that stuff in Vancouver.

I found the killing of the mentor disturbing in the sense that while we can infer the motivation that mmoncur describes, from a writing perspective that's a characteristic act of a villain, not a hero. All things being equal, not only am I okay with moral ambiguity, I prefer it. But this isn't that kind of a show. Maybe they wrongly think that they're that kind of a show? But up until now, the show has repeatedly signaled that even though these are people who have done bad things in the past, it's the case that they might have had reasons for them or might have been coerced or manipulated into doing them, and, anyway, they keep seeming like basically good people, even Three. So it seems like an off-note and I kept expecting there to be a revelation of the hidden reason before the episode ended (such as Four somehow knowing that he was a coconspirator with the stepmother).
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 11:36 AM on August 10, 2015

To be fair, Mentor Guy did try to capture and/or kill #4 several times earlier in the episode, so if you look at it as #4 (who met Mentor today and had no memories of him) doing it, killing him might be simple self-preservation or revenge.

I like the idea that everyone got a fresh start from the memory loss - maybe #3 was a bastard before, but he's better now, and #4 was an honorable and noble and innocent prince, but he's a bastard now.

But I'm already getting that familiar feeling from The Walking Dead where I realize that we in Fanfare are thinking and theorizing about this way more than the actual writers did...
posted by mmoncur at 6:46 PM on August 10, 2015

MY LAST BIT OF "DARK MATTER" OPTIMISM:

I'm hoping for a twist later in this season where we find out the whole reason everyone's memory was erased was so they could be manipulated by someone who has been feeding them false information. (i.e. convince #6 that he had a reason to kill the General, convince #4 he has a reason to kill the Emperor, etc.)

Not sure why they'd want Space Ross to kill #3 though.
posted by mmoncur at 6:57 PM on August 10, 2015

It kills me how 3 refers to Space Ross as "pretty boy" considering that he's the most off-putting of all the male characters. Look at Curtis from 24 over there! Handsome and kind and not creepy!
posted by something something at 8:34 AM on August 13, 2015 [3 favorites]

Maybe they wrongly think that they're that kind of a show? But up until now, the show has repeatedly signaled that even though these are people who have done bad things in the past, it's the case that they might have had reasons for them or might have been coerced or manipulated into doing them, and, anyway, they keep seeming like basically good people, even Three.

Might not be a coincidence that it's this same episode where Three says something on the other of them not changing and continuing on to be the same sort of people they always were. There's a lot of this sort of talk in this episode about the inevitability. Six thinks it's inevitable they'll come to a bad end and Five should get gone, though to some extent that's about repercussions of actions they can't remember. One is suddenly hell-bent on some revenge. Only Two pushes back on this for exactly the you don't remember shit reason.

I think Four's actions here might not be so inconsistent with his "muscle memory" of being a spoiled, entitled asshole.

I had the same problem, it seemed like some of those flashbacks were 4's, although it was ambiguous. When Mentor Guy remembered 4 saving his life, he could have been the one having the flashback, but then #4 acted like he remembered those events too.

I wonder if we're supposed to take from the way the flashback plays out to think that this is what he was told by Five. The portion with the Emperor telling him that he should have gone through with the swing was for certain what we've seen before. The next bit between them immediately follows. Is the implication that Five experienced that and we just didn't see it? But she did relate it to Four. I think that was during the bit where we're cutting back and forth between Five and Six's perspective in the dreamstate so it's not a total cheat.

May well be total fanwank though. *shrug*
posted by phearlez at 2:15 PM on August 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

I can't remember now, does 4 recognize Akita? Or does he just wait for Akita to say who he is?

And later his "Anyone else would have been left dead in the snow" makes it sound like 4 remembers Akita, far beyond what he has been told by 5 and what he has found in online searches.
posted by mountmccabe at 10:20 AM on November 19, 2015

"Anyone else would have been left dead in the snow"

I think the implication there was that only Akita was a skilled enough swordsman to beat him.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 9:09 PM on December 25, 2015