Picking up where we left off yesterday – let’s continue our rundown of Dark Matter‘s third episode..
1) So somebody in this room wiped our memories and probably killed that kid.
You’re probably all wondering why I’ve gathered you here…
TWO comes clean about what she’s learned – the fact that someone did, in fact, upload a program into the stasis pods that targeted their memories. This not only suggests someone among them was responsible for their collective amnesia, but also strongly suggests that many of their memories may now reside in FIVE’s subconscious. Then, they suddenly drop out of FTL and the Android announces there is something wrong with the ship.
Some pretty major revelations! Sure, but the aspect of this scene that has garnered a surprising amount of attention is the fish tank in the background. Gorgeous but, alas, not an actual fish tank. You’ll notice in this episode, and moving forward, that the screen at the back of the mess changes, cycling through a variety of different Earth-based nature videos – a little touch of home for our distant crew.
2) Dead bodies, hacked stasis pods, now this? There’s a whole lot of things going wrong on this ship.
Oh, there’s your problem right there.
The Android informs them there’s a problem with the ship. THREE suspects sabotage or, at least, a sabotage of the ship’s diagnostics – and he wastes no time pointing the finger of blame at our resident tech monkey, FIVE. Big brother SIX predictably rises to her defense and, again, we get a taste of how the various shipboard alliances and relationships are shaping up (something we explore over the course of this episode, this entire first season, and beyond).
I love these types of scenes that include the entire crew but, truth be told, they are incredibly challenging to shoot. Not only does the director have to cover seven different characters, but he/she also has to keep the scene dynamic. No easy task, particularly given the fact that exposition drives a huge chunk of this scene.
3) No, not the door. What’s behind the door.
Thought we’d forgotten all about the mystery door, huh?
In an obvious attempt to win himself an ally – and possibly get himself inside – THREE shows FOUR the big metal door. Anthony Lemke and Alex Mallari Jr. are great together here and I especially love this scene because it offers up a rare glimpse of FOUR’s dryer than dry sense of humor.
4) We’re bad company.
SIX is really the only other crew member capable of going toe to toe with TWO, and he does so here – a follow-up to their initial clash on the bridge. Only three episodes in and fractures are beginning to show. And, by the way, he’s not wrong about the dangers present on the ship – and the fact that it’s no place for a “kid”. As for his stab at TWO’s reasons for keeping FIVE around…well, we’ll have to wait and see.
5) It’s chocolate protein pudding day!
The crew sits down to a new-fashioned lie detector test compliments of the ship’s Android who monitors their physiological responses for tells. I noticed a few people who watched this sequence commented along the lines of: “Why are they taking turns answering each question?! It doesn’t make sense!” Dudes, seriously? The jumping between the various crew members answering the same question is a visual conceit, a fun shorthand that touches on everyone’s responses without having to cycle through each individual session. The sequence, edited by the marvelous Teresa Hannigan, is accompanied by a terrific score compliments of Brad Pinkerton.
Coincidentally (or not!) the episode aired on Friday, June 26th which, it turns out, WAS Chocolate Pudding Day!
Maybe the kid IS psychic!
6) We’re not asking.
2, 4, and 6 pay 3 a visit so they can ask him to take the lie detector test. He refuses because, as he puts it, he doesn’t “trust that robot”. If you devised a drinking game in which you’d have to do a shot every time THREE uses the term “Android”, you’d go very thirsty. What’s of particular interest in this scene is the fact that FOUR is among the trio who strong-arms THREE, reinforcing the point he made earlier during the training room sequence: He wants answers, dammit! 7) If you shoot him, you may skew the results.
Hey, you know who I love? The Android. She’s a blast to write for because she’s a delightfully humorous character – played by a delightfully humorous actress (Zoie Palmer). After informing the crew of the potential pitfalls of shooting THREE, she proceeds to grill him…
The Android detects lies AND reads palms!
And, just when we start getting some answers, the proceedings are interrupted by another shipboard emergency. This one worse. MUCH worse!
Some Dark Matter-related links to check out: Ratings – http://www.tvwise.co.uk/2015/06/dark-matter-opens-big-for-syfy-uk-with-nearly-400k-viewers/ Whoa! An incisive analysis of the show and its characters. The author picked up on certain story elements others have missed. A very interesting read: http://tv-remote-viewing.com/2015/06/27/dark-matter-walk-on-the-wild-side/ Another very interesting read: http://www.philpercs.com/2015/06/syfys-dark-matter-and-moral-aspects-of-personal-identity.html “In the show, the memory loss serves as a plot device to allow formerly evil characters to explore a newfound goodness. But, more than making for an interesting show, if my intuition that this is a plausible response in this situation, I think this suggests something deeper about us.” Melissa O’Neil (TWO) interviews Anthony Lemke (THREE): http://www.space.ca/show/dark-matter/episode/melissa-oneil-interviews-anthony-lemke/646421/ Anthony Lemke (THREE) interviews Melissa O’Neil (TWO): http://www.space.ca/show/dark-matter/episode/anthony-lemke-interviews-melissa-oneil/646418/
Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter, Dark Matter t.v.
