Dark Matter (TV Series, Season 2)
Apr. 4th, 2017 04:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroMonths ago, on a damaged spaceship, six people emerge from stasis pods with no memory of who they are or what they’re doing, but at least some useful skills intact. They’ve subsequently learned a lot—though possibly not enough—about their pasts as ruthless mercenaries, but they’ve also been captured and imprisoned by the Galactic Authority.
My review of Season 1 is here.
They keep the reveals coming fast and hard: Six was an undercover agent the whole time--Griffin Jones was a fake ID--and he knew he was a cog in the system. Then the first episode ends with One being shot by Corso, just as the conspiracy about his wife's murder is being fleshed out. Most of the hanging threads from Season 1 get resolved over the course of this season, though plenty of new questions crop up.
Do the twists and turns and betrayals get to be too much? Maybe. They end up with a lot of balls in the air, and frankly, killing off a bunch of the recurring antagonists is probably for the best. They introduce plot points like candy, but they also resolve them reasonably well.
I appreciate that the group survives not just because they’re awesome space bounty hunters with the best skills, but also because they happen to be in the middle of a dozen competing powerful factions—it feels much more realistic that they can constantly slip the net of one side because three other sides get mixed up in it. (This is the way you do an evil conspiracy, IMHO. There’s never just one, and the reason they’re beatable is because they’re made up of perfectly competent individuals with conflicting agendas and imperfect information.)
The plotline with the Android’s “upgrade” to be more human-like makes it clear exactly how good an actress Zoie Palmer is. She remains the best part of the show with virtually all of the best lines. Three's tendency to be the plot's punching bag is rather amusing--he's the Miles O'Brien or the Harry Kim of this series. If something terrible is happening, it's happening to him. This is a weird and perverted observation, but the costume designer seems intent on hiding the fact that Jodelle Ferland (Five) has boobs. I'm guessing it's to emphasize the "young and innocent" nature of her character and to contrast against Two's perfect hourglass, but something about it struck me as odd.
The certainly knew they were getting a third season, given that this one ends with Nyx dying, Four gone completely off the rails and stealing the blink drive, and the rest of the cast on an exploding space station. Also: What the hell was the alien-thing in Three that Two's creator put there, and what is he really up to? Who or what did the crew bring back from the alternate universe? What was the deal with One's wife and his corporation?
Overall: While this season was a little more uneven and “out there” in terms of sci-fi technobabble, I reiterate my earlier opinion that it’s solidly entertaining.
My review of Season 1 is here.
They keep the reveals coming fast and hard: Six was an undercover agent the whole time--Griffin Jones was a fake ID--and he knew he was a cog in the system. Then the first episode ends with One being shot by Corso, just as the conspiracy about his wife's murder is being fleshed out. Most of the hanging threads from Season 1 get resolved over the course of this season, though plenty of new questions crop up.
Do the twists and turns and betrayals get to be too much? Maybe. They end up with a lot of balls in the air, and frankly, killing off a bunch of the recurring antagonists is probably for the best. They introduce plot points like candy, but they also resolve them reasonably well.
I appreciate that the group survives not just because they’re awesome space bounty hunters with the best skills, but also because they happen to be in the middle of a dozen competing powerful factions—it feels much more realistic that they can constantly slip the net of one side because three other sides get mixed up in it. (This is the way you do an evil conspiracy, IMHO. There’s never just one, and the reason they’re beatable is because they’re made up of perfectly competent individuals with conflicting agendas and imperfect information.)
The plotline with the Android’s “upgrade” to be more human-like makes it clear exactly how good an actress Zoie Palmer is. She remains the best part of the show with virtually all of the best lines. Three's tendency to be the plot's punching bag is rather amusing--he's the Miles O'Brien or the Harry Kim of this series. If something terrible is happening, it's happening to him. This is a weird and perverted observation, but the costume designer seems intent on hiding the fact that Jodelle Ferland (Five) has boobs. I'm guessing it's to emphasize the "young and innocent" nature of her character and to contrast against Two's perfect hourglass, but something about it struck me as odd.
The certainly knew they were getting a third season, given that this one ends with Nyx dying, Four gone completely off the rails and stealing the blink drive, and the rest of the cast on an exploding space station. Also: What the hell was the alien-thing in Three that Two's creator put there, and what is he really up to? Who or what did the crew bring back from the alternate universe? What was the deal with One's wife and his corporation?
Overall: While this season was a little more uneven and “out there” in terms of sci-fi technobabble, I reiterate my earlier opinion that it’s solidly entertaining.
