Dark Matter scyfy series

[Hopeless]

So anyone watch this yesterday?(US released yesterday mind you!)

It's for release this Monday at 8pm over here in the UK so figured I'd set this up in advance.

Based on a graphic novel the story is interesting but can its Stargate derived creators bring it successfully onto the screens of scyfy?

Yeah a tough crowd!

So what do you think?

[JadedDM]

I didn't realize it was based on a graphic novel.

I liked it. Of course, it's only one episode so it's hard to make a definite judgment, but I'm interested in seeing what happens next.

Kind of iffy on the whole 'Asian guy really likes swords' stereotype, but otherwise, good characterization so far.

[An Enemy Spy]

I wasn't aware that liking swords was an Asian stereotype.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Knowing martial arts is a asian stereotype, being a katana is a sword stereotype. Asians with swords is only really a derived stereotype of the previous two.

[Mando Knight]

Wait, SyFy is actually remembering its roots, or did this take the place of the two or three time slots of Stargate or Star Trek per week that they used to have to appease its old audience?

[Rodin]

Wait, SyFy is actually remembering its roots, or did this take the place of the two or three time slots of Stargate or Star Trek per week that they used to have to appease its old audience?

SyFy: The wrestling and horror channel that changed it's name from Sci-Fi because none of the advertising people could keep a straight face.

The death of that channel is one of the major reasons I don't have cable anymore.

[BannedInSchool]

SyFy: The wrestling and horror channel that changed it's name from Sci-Fi because none of the advertising people could keep a straight face.

IIRC, they actually said they changed the name because they thought "Sci-Fi Channel" was too geeky and didn't want to scare the mundanes away.

[Mando Knight]

SyFy: The wrestling and horror channel that changed it's name from Sci-Fi because none of the advertising people could keep a straight face.

The death of that channel is one of the major reasons I don't have cable anymore.

I looked on TV Guide, and apparently they've cut back on the amount of WWE they show, so it rivals how many slots older Sci-Fi shows get (that is, this week it's basically a few airings of ST VI: Undiscovered Country). Fortunately, there are a few newer shows (Dark Matter and Defiance) that get more than one slot a week each.

On the other hand, what they don't fill with Ghost Hunter junk is Paid Programming. At least USA still uses 7-hour blocks of NCIS three times a week as filler...

[BannedInSchool]

Although as competition game shows go, Face Off has little BS. They do their makeups, they get judged by professionals, someone goes home.

[LoP]

Watched it; seems like a decent starter space sci-fi show for someone new to the genre, and that means, yes, its kind of a retread of stuff people have already seen. But I'm hoping it gets clever, and takes these obvious spacer crew tropes and turns them on their head when these amnesiacs begin choosing whether to embrace who they were or who they are.

[Pex]

I've heard comment it's a remake/rip-off of the cult classic British show "Blake's Seven".

Spoiler

Show

Having no idea it was a comic book graphic novel, I was 90% certain the characters were all criminals with a 10% chance they're part of an experiment, volunteered or otherwise, 5 minutes into the episode. I hope the show doesn't remain as predictable.

[JadedDM]

It's interesting how many Stargate actors they're getting in this show so far. Torri Higginson had a brief little scene in episode 2 (entitled "Episode 2;" I guess they are not naming the episodes, perhaps as a reference to the characters being nameless?). Also, I heard that David Hewlett is supposed to show up at some point. Plus, the actors of both Five and Six have guest starred in Stargate.

[Pex]

I'm glad the show isn't going to mindwarp the audience. I was little concerned that at the end of episode one where they learn their identities that it would be a fake out. Due to corruption of the ship's computer code who they learned they were wouldn't be the truth. However, events of the second episode confirm the validity of the identities and what their current mission was supposed to be. Who wiped their memories, why, and what's behind that door I accept are the metamysteries of the show to be learned as the season progresses. As long as information we do learn as it comes up is truthful then the show does not insult its audience I can enjoy the reveals as they happen.

[Rodin]

So far it seems like they're trying for a Firefly-esque feel. Mysterious chick with possibly psychic powers, check. Small independent outposts with a rural/western feel being screwed by the major powers, check. Folks with mysterious pasts that we'll learn about as we get further into the show, check. Band of outlaws that have to keep a low profile, checkity check. Starting up the shuttlecraft the exact same way Wash does, oooh that's a big check.

Not that there's anything wrong with it, of course. I'm tentatively enjoying the show so far. Found it better than Killjoys, anyway.

[Joran]

IIRC, they actually said they changed the name because they thought "Sci-Fi Channel" was too geeky and didn't want to scare the mundanes away.

They can also trademark SyFy the "word".

[JadedDM]

So far it seems like they're trying for a Firefly-esque feel. Mysterious chick with possibly psychic powers, check. Small independent outposts with a rural/western feel being screwed by the major powers, check. Folks with mysterious pasts that we'll learn about as we get further into the show, check. Band of outlaws that have to keep a low profile, checkity check. Starting up the shuttlecraft the exact same way Wash does, oooh that's a big check.

Not that there's anything wrong with it, of course. I'm tentatively enjoying the show so far. Found it better than Killjoys, anyway.

Yeah, I noticed the Firefly similarities, myself. Two kind of reminds me of Zoe, while Three seems very reminiscent of Jayne. And like you said, Five seems to have some kind of psychic thing going on like River.

It's not exactly the same, though. There's no equivalent to Mal or Inara, for instance.

[Pex]

They're really harping on Three being the Jerk. Someone had to be the Jerk. They need conflict and don't want to rely on guest star of the week. Two apologized for him, but I'm not convinced. I hope they don't take this too far and have him be the Jerk every episode or every other episode to complicate the Plan just because he has to be the Jerk.

[dancrilis]

They're really harping on Three being the Jerk. Someone had to be the Jerk. They need conflict and don't want to rely on guest star of the week. Two apologized for him, but I'm not convinced. I hope they don't take this too far and have him be the Jerk every episode or every other episode to complicate the Plan just because he has to be the Jerk.

I actually think that Three had a serious point in the most recent episode (as of time of posting this).

Spoiler: Episode 3

Show

The 'correct' side risked the lives of the entire crew to save what might have been a broken android (depending on how damaged the shock had been), and in doing so nearly lost one of the crew.

Had the android and Six been single episode characters rather than main cast it is possible that the ending would have been Three chewing everyone out for costing the life of one nameless human to save one nameless android.
And had it been a different guest ship the entire crew of that ship might have been lost.

I would be annoyed at Five stealing the ammo as if they had encountered boarders seeking a bounty she would have left him unarmed, but she is a kid and kids are granted some leeway.

I actually think that One is the real weak point of the show with his constant whining.

[Pex]

Spoiler

Show

Hmm. I'm unsure what to make of the reveal One is an imposter. Presuming he is the one, pun coincidental, to have erased the memories, there has to be a reason and this is what they went with. It's still possible he's not responsible but just got caught up in it. Personal theory now is he's a Galatic Government Agent sent in under cover. The Real One being inconveniently delayed in joining the Raza was purposely done to allow it to happen. I was a bit disappointed with this storyline, but I'll let it go and see what happens. Now, of course, he's Three's female dog.

On the lighter side, sort of, it's good to see how One could be the criminal he is. Having shown himself to be a goody-two-shoes, the Real One showing up allows the actor to play Evil Bad Guy. The contrast is noticeable. The actor surely had fun with it, and the audience gest convinced One could be the criminal he's described as being.

[JadedDM]

I noticed in the opening credits that Amanda Tapping directed this one. <3

I'm kind of perturbed that we are four episodes in and yet, we still have no idea why the show is called "Dark Matter."

Anyway:

Spoiler: Episode Four

Show

I'm not sure if One was cloned, has a secret twin, or really went through reconstructive surgery. But...I'm almost certain that cloning technology that was on the TV ad at the doctor's office has something to do with their current predicament. The way the process works is, you get into a pod, your memories are transferred to a clone elsewhere, the clone expires in a couple of days and all the memories are transferred back to you.

Now consider the group's current situation. They woke up in pods and discovered their memories had been transferred to Five's subconscious.

Maybe they are all clones, but are somehow able to survive longer than they are supposed to. I suppose we'll find out if we find any more doubles of the crew. Not sure, but looking forward to finding out.

[Pex]

"Dark Matter' refers to memory loss. It's slang.

Spoiler

Show

The clone commercial felt too obvious to me. I'll allow for the possibility it's related even with its similarity to Total Recall, but it had too much of a blazing neon sign for my taste to be the Answer.

[JadedDM]

I have never heard the phrase 'dark matter' be used in that manner. Is it a Canadian thing?

[BannedInSchool]

Hrm, if people are going to talk about it and it's not SyFy's own idea, then I'll have to catch up on it.

[Hopeless]

Just a thought

Spoiler

Show

given how wanted they are courtesy of that reaction in the clinic maybe to be able to have time to relax they use that transpod system to spend a few days off the ship as someone else BUT this time something went wrong and that caused the partial amnesia?
What if what Five remembers isn't exactly accurate since IF she was a stowaway who got into a spare pod to survive and her presence caused the fault which is why those memories got filtered through her.
Assuming she has no way of realising what they were doing after all if she has never encountered that transmitting their memories to a "clone" for a few days off maybe she doesn't know what really happened and just made the wrong assumption about her admittedly hazy recalling of a dream she thinks wasn't hers?

[Cheesegear]

I have never heard the phrase 'dark matter' be used in that manner. Is it a Canadian thing?

It refers to White and Gray Matter. White Matter loss (AKA 'Dark Matter') is associated with Alzheimer's, and other neurodegenerative diseases.

[Joran]

Hrm, if people are going to talk about it and it's not SyFy's own idea, then I'll have to catch up on it.

SyFy's been running a few Canadian shows as "Syfy Originals"; funny enough, I recognize two of the actors, the android and Six, from two other Canadian shows brought to the US through the same process, Continuum and Lost Girl.

A network like SyFy needs original programming, but can't afford to pay for all new programming, so it imports in stuff that fits the genre. Sometimes they share production costs, like for Killjoys, which SyFy is co-producing.

I've been enjoying Dark Matter and Killjoys this season.

[BannedInSchool]

SyFy's been running a few Canadian shows as "Syfy Originals"; funny enough, I recognize two of the actors, the android and Six, from two other Canadian shows brought to the US through the same process, Continuum and Lost Girl.

It was actually an ad for Continuum that didn't call it a "SyFy Original" that led me to the Canadian site for that show, and me giving it a look thinking it must be Canadian then.

[Joran]

I noticed in the opening credits that Amanda Tapping directed this one. <3

I'm kind of perturbed that we are four episodes in and yet, we still have no idea why the show is called "Dark Matter."

Anyway:

Spoiler: Episode Four

Show

I'm not sure if One was cloned, has a secret twin, or really went through reconstructive surgery. But...I'm almost certain that cloning technology that was on the TV ad at the doctor's office has something to do with their current predicament. The way the process works is, you get into a pod, your memories are transferred to a clone elsewhere, the clone expires in a couple of days and all the memories are transferred back to you.

Now consider the group's current situation. They woke up in pods and discovered their memories had been transferred to Five's subconscious.

Maybe they are all clones, but are somehow able to survive longer than they are supposed to. I suppose we'll find out if we find any more doubles of the crew. Not sure, but looking forward to finding out.

Spoiler: One and the others

Show

I think One is an imposter.

The crew on the ship don't have their memories, but still have their personalities. One is the only one of the criminals that isn't a jerk; he was the main driver in trying to help the miners. He doesn't share the personality of his copy.

Two: Seems practical, does care about others. However, she clearly has fighting prowess and isn't shy about killing.
Three: Jerk
Four: Maybe even more of a jerk than Three.
Five: Who knows, she wasn't listed among the crew.
Six: Seems nice, but his DNA matches that of a criminal, so he's at least a clone if not the real deal.

[Hopeless]

Spoiler

Show

One is definitely not who he think he is.
If the other One was telling the truth who did he talk to, to explain why he missed his flight?
I think they pulled the plug on the Raza the amnesia was to disable them long enough for their other ship to track down their mayday and destroy it.
Maybe One is a Govt Agent or maybe he was bringing those weapons to the miners' after all perhaps Five might be more important since I got the creepy vibe in ep 1 when she was talking to Six.

What do you think?

[Fiery Diamond]

Spoiler

Show

One is definitely not who he think he is.
If the other One was telling the truth who did he talk to, to explain why he missed his flight?
I think they pulled the plug on the Raza the amnesia was to disable them long enough for their other ship to track down their mayday and destroy it.
Maybe One is a Govt Agent or maybe he was bringing those weapons to the miners' after all perhaps Five might be more important since I got the creepy vibe in ep 1 when she was talking to Six.

What do you think?

First off, I'm loving this show.

Anyway, I think you're on to something. Here's what I see:

Spoiler

Show

One is not Jace, but instead an imposter.

One is definitely a good guy. He may be, as you suggest, an agent tasked with disabling the Raza so the attack at the beginning could wipe them out. He may be, as you alternately suggest, the one bringing the weapons to the miners and the amnesia was so the Raza would help him out. But I'm almost certain that he was NOT working alone. Android suggests that the communal mindwipe of everyone was a hurried and unintentional tactic which was originally meant to be more targeted, and perhaps not hit the perpetrator. I think she's on to something.

Five is WAAAAAAY more important than we've seen so far. At first I thought that five might be a captive or something - she's clearly not part of the original crew. When she started on the vents, however, my thoughts immediately went to "stowaway." I think that One, Five, and the dead kid may have all been a team. One infiltrates, Five and kid stow on board, plans commence - but something went wrong. Just how Five ended up in life support sleep if she was originally a stowaway is a mystery, but "captive" comes to mind.

Two was probably the Raza's captain. She's a fairly decent person, balancing deadliness, guile, practicality, and empathy.

Three is just a big jerk and fits right in with ?mercenary pirate."

Four is a prince who took the fall for the murder of his father, which wasn't his fault (according to Five) - but he is deadly, ruthless (he ripped out someone's eyes!), and heartlessly practical.

Six... I have no idea. Six really doesn't seem as bad as three and four. Six is about on two's level when it comes to good and caring versus practical and deadly.