Dark Matter (TV Series, Season 3)
Oct. 14th, 2017 01:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroAs predicted, we open with a rewinding to see how all the characters survived the space station exploding, and the first episode is dedicated to getting the band back together. The surviving members, that is.
It occurs to me that, especially given their willingness to kill off main characters, they’ve never really managed to establish a fully-function Trek-esque crew. Two is the captain, Six is the pilot (for the shuttle, at least), Five is sorta-kinda the engineer…but really, it’s that everyone except Five is the security officer. It’s a crew entirely of Worf. The Android does all the repairs, most of the technobabbling, the medical treatments, flying the ship—really, she’s handling 90% of what Federation officers spend their time on.
Six leaves the ship in episode 3, seemingly with his major plotline (dealing with “the General” and his rebellion) unceremoniously resolved. (And they bring in two new characters at the same time.) Three gets some character development in the Groundhog Day episode, which he comes out of with slightly more emotional depth and with knowledge of French. Then they turn around and dump the new characters, and after teasing Six’s death repeatedly over the course of an episode, return him to the status quo.
The ubiquitous “they travel in time to the present day” episode, we finally got a timeframe for when the series takes place: Approximately 600 years in the future. (Which puts it well past in theoretical date of any Star Trek series.) They don’t actually give any timeframes for how long the series has gone on, mind you—since the beginning of the first season, this could have been a few months, three years (my person preferred guess) or more. I suspect it’s being left nebulous so that, for instance, they can bring in Six or Two’s children at whatever age they want.
They hit a bunch of sci-fi trope episodes over the course of the season (Groundhog Day, evil twins, time travel to the present, trapped in a shrinking space bubble, etc.) but they're clearly having fun with them, so I can't complain too much. Stock sci-fi can be fun! I also approve of the foreshadowing various plotlines with the time-travel bit, and the implications that 1) the future is immutable and they’re fulfilling what they’ve already done, and 2) Five and the Android survive.
When last I heard, the fate of season 4 was uncertain. I sure hope it gets made, given the number of hanging threads there still are: Black-ship aliens have just invaded. Six, the blink drive and a giant shipyard have gone “somewhere.” Alt-Portia has Three. (And Alt-Boone and Alt-Tash are still out there.) Two has a daughter, kept with someone trustworthy. (Also, Two is currently possessed by an alien.) Five has a sister, and her adoptive mother is someone important. The Android is connected to a conspiracy by androids to overthrow humanity, as is Sarah. There are still several items from Future-Five’s list that haven’t come to pass.
Overall: Assuming there is a Season 4, I’m in.
It occurs to me that, especially given their willingness to kill off main characters, they’ve never really managed to establish a fully-function Trek-esque crew. Two is the captain, Six is the pilot (for the shuttle, at least), Five is sorta-kinda the engineer…but really, it’s that everyone except Five is the security officer. It’s a crew entirely of Worf. The Android does all the repairs, most of the technobabbling, the medical treatments, flying the ship—really, she’s handling 90% of what Federation officers spend their time on.
Six leaves the ship in episode 3, seemingly with his major plotline (dealing with “the General” and his rebellion) unceremoniously resolved. (And they bring in two new characters at the same time.) Three gets some character development in the Groundhog Day episode, which he comes out of with slightly more emotional depth and with knowledge of French. Then they turn around and dump the new characters, and after teasing Six’s death repeatedly over the course of an episode, return him to the status quo.
The ubiquitous “they travel in time to the present day” episode, we finally got a timeframe for when the series takes place: Approximately 600 years in the future. (Which puts it well past in theoretical date of any Star Trek series.) They don’t actually give any timeframes for how long the series has gone on, mind you—since the beginning of the first season, this could have been a few months, three years (my person preferred guess) or more. I suspect it’s being left nebulous so that, for instance, they can bring in Six or Two’s children at whatever age they want.
They hit a bunch of sci-fi trope episodes over the course of the season (Groundhog Day, evil twins, time travel to the present, trapped in a shrinking space bubble, etc.) but they're clearly having fun with them, so I can't complain too much. Stock sci-fi can be fun! I also approve of the foreshadowing various plotlines with the time-travel bit, and the implications that 1) the future is immutable and they’re fulfilling what they’ve already done, and 2) Five and the Android survive.
When last I heard, the fate of season 4 was uncertain. I sure hope it gets made, given the number of hanging threads there still are: Black-ship aliens have just invaded. Six, the blink drive and a giant shipyard have gone “somewhere.” Alt-Portia has Three. (And Alt-Boone and Alt-Tash are still out there.) Two has a daughter, kept with someone trustworthy. (Also, Two is currently possessed by an alien.) Five has a sister, and her adoptive mother is someone important. The Android is connected to a conspiracy by androids to overthrow humanity, as is Sarah. There are still several items from Future-Five’s list that haven’t come to pass.
Overall: Assuming there is a Season 4, I’m in.
