Six people and an android wake up together on a ship in space with no memory of who they are or what they are doing there. Labeling themselves in numerical order of waking, One through Six and Android soon discover most of them are actually a notorious mercenary kill squad. Or are they? Some of the most wanted and capable mercenaries in the galaxy Our heroes face a choice: do they continue their lives as killers for hire, or do the better angels of their nature prevail? Do they even have these better angels?
Created by veterans of Stargate Universe and it’s preceding series, (Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie) Dark Matter by season 2, is just now starting to feel like something that belongs on cable. It is by no means bad television, but from time to time the show business bones show through. After the mid-season break, hair is inexplicably different and actor flab has waxed and waned. Significant portions of the show use the same four sets (bridge, corridor, dining room, personal quarters) and like Stargate, planet side excursions often look a lot like Vancouver with a little extra neon or grime. Fight scenes have a certain generic, mass produced quality. Costumes seem to imply a significant stagnation in future fashion. I could buy almost every outfit on the show at the mall across the highway, provided it’s form fitted and black.
Which, if you’ve ever enjoyed Star Trek, Stargate, Farscape, or even Battlestar Galactica and Firefly, none of this should be a deal breaker for you. The enjoyment for Dark Matter and the shows above comes from the high level concept and the relationships you develop with each character. Not every episode needs to drive you pell-mell toward the season finale as long as you learn something new about someone on the crew or see them resolve their differences and pull together. With Dark Matter, the layers and the process is part of the fun.
And there are a surprising number of layers. Dark Matter is a show about identity and consequences and the questions raised by both. Are our heroes responsible for actions they can no longer remember or committed unwittingly? Are we inescapably a product of our upbringing? Is redemption even possible? Self discovery, both figurative and literal is central to the ongoing story line. Who you are, who you think you are, who you want to be, and the forces of circumstance upon it all are addressed from a variety of angles, from the tabula rasa android becoming more and more human, to the sweetheart girl mechanic transforming into a cold blooded mercenary.
As such, by design, Dark Matter is richer in it’s second season than it’s first. With better budget, blossoming characterization, and hard earned emotional heft, the shorter seasons avoid the grind of longer shows and leaves us with just enough questions to keep us guessing.
