DARK MATTER – Season 2 Episodes 1 & 2 – SPOILERS

According to The Android, the time between her activation in the Raza’s infirmary in Episode One, and the crew’s incarceration by the Galactic Authority in Episode Fourteen was a little over 47 days. This means that each of the first 13 episodes lasted an average of three and a half days in real time, if no time elapsed for the crew between episodes.

You’d think a bunch of badass rogue mercenaries would dress with a little more flair (though Three looks good in anything), but of the Raza crew, Five (Jodelle Ferland) is the only one with any fashion sense, and even she is beginning to look a little threadbare. Ship’s Android, model number 6641619-8, (still without a name) is still wearing that bland blue uniform, although indications are that later in the season she will change into a much prettier white one. In all fairness, the crew hasn’t had much time to pay attention to wardrobe.

Five‘s true identity has been determined. She is sixteen year old Emily Kolburn, whose parents died in a shuttle accident when she was very young. Emily grew up in an orphanage, ran away at the age of 12, and since has been living on the streets. Emily is 5’4″ tall with blue eyes and dark hair (in case you were curious about that), and lots of people are after her. Alicia Reynaud (Inga Cadranel) is among her pursuers, though we haven’t been told exactly why. It probably has something to do with that mysterious key card Five found on the dead body in the Raza’s cargo hold in Episode Four, the one The Android said was probably “part of some larger system designed to access pockets of extra-dimensional space.” (see previous post)

The Galactic Authority’s Chief Inspector Shaddick (Franca Potente) gets nowhere in her attempts to get Five to rat on her shipmates, and The Android (Zoie Palmer) is refusing to cooperate as well. (The Android states that her loyalty is to her crew.) Shaddick, being a logical sort, takes Five to see The Android, points a gun at Five’s head, and tells The Android to give up her information, or Five will be shot. Unknown to her, Six is preparing to sabotage the prison power supply. When the lights go out, Five orders The Android to “Kill Them All”.

The Android follows Five’s command. The last of those in the room to die is Shaddick, who cowers in terror as she waits to be shot. (DARK MATTER Androids do not follow Asimov‘s Three Laws of Robotics. In Season One, Wendy the Pleasure Droid accepted programming that made her kill.)

Five’s weapon of choice during the escape is Bubba (Three’s big gun). Apparently Bubba has a non-lethal setting, because when Five shoots Misaki (Ellen Wong) to end her swordfight with Four, Misaki (aka Han Shireikan of the Imperial Guard) is not killed by the blast. She seems to just have the wind knocked out of her. Five, then, is not indiscriminately lethal.

Six, who we used to think was the insurrectionist Griffin Jones, is in actuality Lieutenant Kal Varrick of the GA Special Investigations Unit (which explains why he got everybody busted at the end of Season One). He changes from disillusioned revolutionary to disillusioned cop and aids in the crew’s escape, but is severely wounded in the process. The prison doctor (who came along for the ride) hasn’t the equipment to fix him. Five puts him in stasis.

The most interesting bit of tech in these episodes is used by Commander Truffault (Tori Higginson), who gets Three (Anthony Lemke) to look her in the eye when declining her offer of a deal, and somehow initiates an eye-to-eye transfer of a map of the prison. For this to be possible, Three must, without knowing it, have an at least partially bionic eye. (He would probably have noticed the presence of a contact lens.) She might have sent a low-energy laser data pulse down the optic nerve of a normal eye, but Three’s eye glowed green after the transfer, indicating a mechanical implant.

It might be that Truffault aided in the crew’s escape because she also wants
to get her hands on Five.

One is likely dead, having been shot many times by Jace Corso at the end of the first episode. This leaves little hope for another appearance by his lawyer Felicia Brand (Trenna Keating). Nyx Harper (Melanie Liburd) joined in the escape and most likely will remain a member of the crew. It seems possible that she might have been planted there by some corporation or other.

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NOTES

Tori Higginson (Commander Truffault) stars as Dr. Michelle Kessler, a therapist who treats werewolves, zombies and other beings with ‘supernatural afflictions’, in the web series INHUMAN CONDITION. Among other cast members are Clara Pasieka (Reign, Bitten) and Cara Gee (Strange Empire). The first eight chapters of the 33 episode series are up on YouTube (KindaTV), and new episodes are posted each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Marc Bendavid (Jace Corso) will be Phil in SUMMER IN THE CITY. It is about Taylor (Vivica A. Fox), a small town store manager who is called upon to run a Manhattan clothing boutique. But the reality of big city life is more than Taylor bargained for. As she slowly settles into life in New York City, she meets Phil, a realtor who clearly wants to be more than friends. SUMMER IN THE CITY will premiere on The Hallmark Channel on 13 August at 9pm.

Franca Potente (Shaddick) is Anita Gregory in THE CONJURING 2, in which paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren travel to North London to assist a single mother with four kids who is living in a house haunted by a malicious spirit. The film was pulled from French cinemas shortly after its release because of what The Guardian called “troublesome occurrences of loud laughter, hysterical yelling, and violent altercations”. This effect was apparently seen only in France. The film is currently playing in theatres across the US and Canada.