Dark Matter - Pilot - Review: "6 Characters in Search of a Plot Twist"

Conceptually, Dark Matter is ideal pilot material: 6 attractive people wake up with as much knowledge about themselves as the audience has, so zilch. From there we learn together through their actions who these people are. This is the stuff of absurdist drama really, questions of identity and moral theory, though such questions take a firm backseat to the space shenanigans we’d expect from a SyFy space opera. This isn’t to say Dark Matter isn’t worth watching; in fact it’s pretty a fun ride.

The series opens to near-pitch black, a lens-flared star in the distance, pushing in on a motionless ship in the middle of nowhere, and it’s not looking good inside. Sparks are flying, emergency lights are on, and life support is at 15%. This is the world we blink into along with “One”, a handsome fella with perfect good-guy jaw who trips out of a steaming pod into the chaos. Running aimlessly through live wires barefoot (!), he finds a control panel and pokes at the touch screen as dumbfounded as a senior citizen holding his first iPhone (same, buddy).

 A figure rises behind him, and lo we have our first ass-kicking. Said figure takes One down without much trouble and makes her way to the control panel to... restore life support? Maybe you guys should ask questions before the punch throwing, eh? But in that, we have our first quick glimpse into the nature of these characters. On that note, a bulky shadow who is more guns than man appears backlit in the doorway and demands, “Who are you?” to which they answer simultaneously, “I don’t know.” NO ONE KNOWS, now it’s a party.

Their numbers grow as they walk about the ship shoeless and de-pod the rest of the crew, the last of whom amusingly just freezes in the pod for an extra moment like, “Um no thanks, strangers, I’m good in here.” The crew deduces they are on a ghost ship and must have been in stasis for a long journey, probably to deliver the massive amount of weaponry they find on board. Unfortunately, no one has much of idea as to how they’ve lost their memories. They’ve conveniently named each other in order of appearance, though we all learn this is not to last the pilot. Three is a puncher, clearly, itching for a fight. The dominant woman who restored life support is Two, of course. Number Four is a quiet, stone-faced young man, Five, a pattern-mixing young girl with bright hair, and Six is a brawny bear of a guy affectionately nick-named “Tiny”. The crew breaks into pairs to explore the ship.

Numbers Three and Six, the most macho, discuss who should be in charge (“You could be second in command!” aka alpha male shade being thrown) as they discover a small shuttle on board. Meanwhile, beta males One and Four wonder how long they’ve been hibernating (How hungry are you? Do you have to pee? I would probably not be useful in space) and chat about their memory loss, defining for the audience exactly what they can and can’t remember. It’s noted that Two “just knew” how to restore life support when standing over the controls, One knows what a pod is and how to, like, button a shirt but not his own name; no one on board has retained any episodic memory of their own existence. To further illustrate this notion, Four happens upon a room filled with swords he is apparently very comfortable handling (and jumps from 0 to very sexy with the terrifying flick of a wrist, might I add).

The crew’s search and inventory leads to the most useful, but inherently dangerous find yet: a scary robot lady in a touch-activated pod. The Android (she has no personal designation) emerges and efficiently stomps the guys out in a pretty stellar fight scene, hilariously intercut with Two declaring that a “security protocol” has been activated. Honestly though, I was partly cheering the Android on, assuming she was on some level kicking 3’s ass for calling her “sweetcakes”.

 Around this point the episode starts to lose momentum, getting a little muddled with so many potential clues and loose threads to pull. The Android is very cool, gamely toeing the uncanny valley line, but as the crew reigns her in she ultimately becomes an exposition bot for the rest of the episode, pointing the crew to the ship’s original destination: a small planet not too far away. It’s suggested there might be a mole on board, perhaps one of the six sabotaged the ships data storage before whatever happened that caused the memory loss, and everyone’s wheels continue to spin; another puzzle piece to process. Without much else to do, everyone hunkers down and hopes to find answers when they land.

There are some nice character-building moments as they try to rest, echoing each person’s unique approach to deciphering their lost identities. One pokes through his things, stuck on his own unfamiliar reflection in a shiny mug, and finds a very deco pendant under his pillow. Four works at a Japanese puzzle box he’s found on board. Five has hit her head and should probably seek medical attention? That is not great for you. She does seem to recall the giant mysterious door that Three is concurrently discovering for himself. Thar be secrets, apparently, which Three unsurprisingly tries to shoot out, to no avail.

 As the final act begins and the crew prepares to land, we lose some of the claustrophobic tension that was driving the episode. Of course, it’s not a Sarte play, we have to get off the ship eventually, but we end up landing on a poor mining planet colonized by village people clichés (not the fun roller-disco kind, either). The villagers’ sob story boils down to an impending slaughter by urban legend, a race of alien/lizard/chupacabras called the “Raza” sent to eliminate all life from the planet so it can be commandeered by the ominous “Multicorps”. The villagers are expecting a relief shuttle with weapons any time now, a teenager there even has a cute deco pendant identical to the piece One found under his pillow! They all share knowing looks: obviously, they are the cavalry.

 The crew each reacts to this news earnestly, and the raw wound that is their burgeoning, toddler morality puts them in firm disagreement on what to do next. One is aghast that anyone would even consider leaving these kind people to certain death, though Four astutely points out that the battle cannot be won even if they stay to help, so why stay at all. Three was ready to bounce five minutes into the conversation on planetary mining. It comes down to a vote: One, Five, and Six against Three and Four, with Two left to break the tie. She splits the baby, keeping half the weapons on the ship to sell later and releasing the other half (and a fighting chance) to the miners.

 As the crew transfers the weapons to the miners, their first ethical decision put into action, they are called up the ship. The Android has uncovered a cash of corrupted files… on the crew! Finally, some answers, probably good news, guys, amirite? I mean, they just did a nice thing and gave perfectly sellable weapons to those in need and- oh crap, they have been wanted criminals this whole time. The Raza isn’t a race of evil space dementors, it’s the NAME OF THE SHIP. Yes, the numbers have names now, and history, and extensive rap sheets to boot; careful what wish for, amnesiacs!

 For the record:

 Three (Anthony Lemke) = Marcus Boone: murder, assault, kidnapping, piracy

 Six (Roger R. Cross) = Griffin Jones: murder, assault, smuggling

 One (Marc Bendavid) = Jace Corso: murder, assault, kidnapping, trafficking, theft

 Four (Alex Mallari Jr.) = Ryo Tetsudo: murder, assault, piracy

 Two (Melissa O'Neil) = Portia Lin: murder, assault, arson, theft, piracy

The big twist is handled well. It’s not an absolute shock, but the information is dropped at just the right time to have some impact for the characters (Six/Griffin seems genuinely hurt to discover he’s a murderer). I had actually gotten fairly comfortable calling them by number, so I do hope it sticks around to some extent, even I can see why they’d shy away from it, as Battlestar Galactica did plant the flag on long-term numbered characters. In that vein, Dark Matter assumes its audience is fairly genre-savvy, or that we’ve at least seen a handful of Stargate episodes, and it has some fun playing with those expectations. It fails, however, in building a story big enough to match the philosophical weight of the concept, but there may be enough to form a solid foundation.

The actors do seem to be having a good time with the premise, though it’s easy to get lost in sci-fi clichés when you have no backstory to work with. They are overall very likeable, bringing enough nuance to their roles to keep things interesting. That being said, Three/Marcus is particularly obvious as a poor man’s Jayne Cobb, which fell flat for me in spite of a few good zingers. Alternately, Zoie Palmer stands out as the icy Android, the ultimate blank slate: devoid of personality beyond programming, but also mysterious and somehow a little snarky.

 A premise like this is an expository best case scenario, often used in a bottle episode of an established show, so we can contrast the characters we know and love with their alter-egos, but for Dark Matter it provides fundamental, establishing moments for these nameless people. As Two/Portia constantly implores the Android to “show her”, the premiere searches for interesting ways to reveal information. Even as they learn who they were, who they will become is still in the air. Like the crew, we’ll just have to find out as events unfold.

 Post Script:

Five (Jodelle Ferland) is a particularly intriguing little bug. She seems to have earned an A+ in scary high school assassin biology, reconstructed that glowing handheld foosball table (Sorry, what was that thing? I’d definitely not be useful in space)… Also she has other people’s memories of tearing someone’s eyes out?? Can’t wait to see her rap sheet.

Two/Portia trolling One/Jace in his briefs = thumbs up

Six/Griffin seems to recognize what a “Marauder” class shuttle is? I may be reading into that though, he’s possible just reacting to what a cool name “Marauder” is.

No one on the mining planet asked for names?

“I vote against her voting.”

They have their names, but how long before they get their memories back? How will this affect who they’ve become in the meantime?


What did you think of the Dark Matter series premiere? Post your big laughs, eyerolls, and lingering questions below!

About the Author - Lindsey Salazar

Lindsey is an unabashed TV, film, and book nerd who lives and works in Los Angeles. Watch this space!

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