Syfy’s lovable crew of misfits is back with the double feature premiere of Dark Matter tonight and these first two episodes are better than ever. The Raza crew are fighting to survive after the explosion of EOS-7 and basically are all found in precarious life threatening positions. There are no guarantees that everyone is going to survive this and it’s that rush of adrenaline that makes this double feature opener so epic. These first two episodes have set the bar high for what we can expect out of the Raza crew and Dark Matter in season 3. Let’s jump right into a deeper look at the back half of this double opener, “It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way.”
Image Credit: NBC Universal (Photo by: Stephen Scott/Dark Matter Series 3/Syfy)
With everyone safely back on the Raza, our gang must come up with a plan of action. An all out corporate war has begun and only the Raza crew knows the truth about who destroyed the space station. Do they pick a side and join the fight, or take matters into their own hands regarding their (former) friend Ryo? Five is willing to take one for the team, accessing Ryo’s once hidden memories to see if she can figure out where he might have taken the Blink Drive. While experiencing his past, she discovers that Zairon has a hidden research station deep within the Lancor Nebula, which seems the most likely place for him to take the drive. We know that Ryo (I refuse to call him Four after his behavior) wants to try and replicate the technology behind the Blink Drive and this stealthy research station is the only lead the crew has. Unfortunately, being tucked into a nebula, they won’t be able to stay for long due to radiation concerns. Two banks on the station relying on the secrecy surrounding it to be the greatest defense it has, and if they can get in and out quickly they just might get away before Ryo is able to show up and attack them back. The crew has to decide if, after getting back the Blink Drive, if it’s worth going after Ryo. Revenge is kinda what they do, but he was a member of their crew for a time, which makes his betrayal sting that much more and the itch to take him down that much stronger. Six I think has the clearest mindset on the matter, yes Ryo killed Nyx, but putting their own lives on the line to take him out isn’t going to do anything to bring her back.
Smash and grab…it’s just my style. – Three
Almost on cue, we jump to Zairon to one of the biggest influences on Ryo’s recent poor life choices, Misaki. I’m just going to get this out of the way now, she is literally psychotic and if Ryo doesn’t watch himself, she will be the downfall of his entire character. It’s clear she is not a fan of Ryo’s new adviser and considering her background, it’s probably only a matter of time before he too is dead. To reiterate her crazy, she recalls a story about training for the guard. She beat a much bigger boy in one of her first victories, he and some buddies found her afterwards and beat her up. After they all graduated into the guard, she picked a night to follow them around after dark. 3 blades against her own, she took out one of his eyes and hamstrung the other two, ending any hope they would of had serving in the Royal Guard. The main boy eventually came after her again, but Misaki reassures that they never found his body after that. I mean really, if looks could kill she would have an insane body count credited towards her. She is one that the Raza crew is going to need to keep an eye on.
Speaking of the Raza, they’ve arrived at Ryo’s secret research station and are preparing to break in. Android and Five are going to stay on the ship, Six will man the Marauder and Two and Three will be the muscle needed to get the drive. Ryo is warned that the station is under attack and sees the video footage, he knows damn well it’s the Raza and sends a clone of himself there to try and stop the situation. The team on the research station aren’t just going to make it easy though, they refuse to let the crew dock and board, noting that if they destroy the station they too lose the drive. The clock is now ticking and the crew has to do something quick.
Ryo’s clone questions the lead scientists on if the Blink Drive is operational enough to be used. They hesitate, technically yes, but it hasn’t been calibrated for something the size of the station, it would be a very iffy move but Ryo doesn’t care, he tells them that they do not have time to wait for reinforcements. He put the station on lock down to try and slow the arrival of Two and Three, but pressures the scientists to use the Blink Drive. Over on the Raza, Android picks up some interesting energy signals coming from the nebula and just like that, the entire station is gone, though not to Zairon like Ryo hoped, the entire nebula and research station is in a pocket of nothing. There’s no way to set up navigation for the Blink Drive now, if they tried to jump back they would have no way to direct where to go.
Image Credit: NBC Universal (Photo by: Stephen Scott/Dark Matter Series 3/Syfy)
The Android tells Five that there is still a strange reading coming from where the space station used to be, and they decide to look into that before leaving the area. Five goes to check on something and almost immediately passes out, waking up in one of her past memories. She’s in a repair shop with an older man who is teaching her how to fix machinery, he says that her name is Emily. We see a sweet scene between Five and her mentor, who keeps telling her that she’s got a good head on her shoulders and that she really should consider pursuing this as a career. He suggests that she attends a tech college to further her education, which she knows she can’t afford. He offers to help her pay for the necessary tuition, she can pay him back by helping out around the shop, maybe taking over one day. The Android interrupts the dream, asking her about the status of her task, Five doesn’t tell her what’s just happened.
Back on the research station, we’ve run into yet another problem. The null space that the station is sitting in appears to be shrinking, at the current rate, they’ve got about half hour before the entire station will be consumed in a weird white mist, disappearing from reality altogether. Six has also noticed that the strange white wall is coming closer and closer, meaning that the time crunch is even more important now. They’ve gotta get to the Blink Drive and get out of there before it’s loo late entirely. Two and Three encounter Ryo’s clone, who suggests that they stand down and let his scientists calibrate the drive so they can get out of there. Once they arrive at Zairon they’ll be released unharmed. Ryo refuses to release the lock down on the station so that the other scientists don’t get overcome by the wall of nothing. Two argues with Four, telling him to drop the security system on the station so they can rescue his scientists and get everyone out of there alive. Realizing that nothing will come from this conversation, they shoot the clone and try to reason with the scientists directly. Two and Three make a deal with the lead scientist, they go save the trapped scientists the he will find a work around on the lock down so that the Marauder can be used to get everyone out of there.
Image Credit: NBC Universal (Photo by: Stephen Scott/Dark Matter Series 3/Syfy)
Five and the Android determine that the anomaly coming from the station might be one end of a tear that the station created when it used the Blink Drive. That anomaly might be the only way to get the station back into real space. Ryo calls the Raza and asks if they know what is happening with the station. He asks to speak with a human crew member when Android tells Ryo that Nyx is dead, he killed her when stealing the Blink Drive, which comes as quite the surprise to Ryo.
Five falls into another memory, this time one of her hoodrat friends is encouraging her to leave with them, they bought passage on another ship to get pick pockets of rich tourists elsewhere. She tells Five not to trust the old man, that he was talking with the sergeant at the GA attachment. Worried that he is going to rat all of them out, she again pressures Five to come with them. The Android has to wake Five with a stimulant and she admits to being in her old memories and that this isn’t the first time this has happened. The Android has been sending a signal into the anomaly and is waiting for a response, it’s the only thing she can do for now about the missing Raza crew members.
Back on the station, Two and Three have met up with Six and find the main scientist dead with the Blink Drive missing. Whoever took the drive can’t be far, the station is literally collapsing in on itself. They chase her down and unfortunately have to kill her when she refuses to give up the Blink Drive. Two grabs the drive and they get back to the Marauder to calibrate it and get the hell out of there before it’s too late. Two notices the repeating yet irregular tone and suggests targeting that as the point of origin for the Blink Drive. They are successful and the Marauder makes it back to the Raza with just enough time to jump away from the incoming ships Ryo has sent.
The Android explains that the mind probe is most likely what is causing Five’s memory spells and that it’s only going to get worse, eventually taking over completely and leaving her in a dream state permanently. The Android explains to the rest of the crew what’s been happening with Five and suggesting the only solution is isolating the old memories like the rest of the crew. Only problem with this is that there is no guarantee that Five’s new memories, made after they awoke from status won’t be affecting. We see one last emotional interaction between Five and her mentor, where she admits that this is all just a dream and it’s being fixed. She accuses him of going to the GA and he decides that regardless of if this is real or just a dream of a memory, she deserves to know the truth. Five apologizes to him if she hurt him in any way, but that there is nothing she could do about that now. He admits that the only reason why he was speaking with the GA is that he was trying to get information about her family. She interrupts him saying that she knows her parents died, nothing more to it. He drops the bomb, Five has a sister who was adopted when she was just a baby. Before she can learn anything else the memory fades away, and Five wakes back up on the Raza.
They didn’t tell you everything. They didn’t tell you that you have a sister.
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