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Author Topic: Dark Matter  (Read 9749 times)
HaemishM
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on: June 24, 2015, 09:19:55 AM

New Syfy show called Dark Matter

I tend to be very skeptical of new Syfy shows (I still hate fucking typing that name) but this one looked interesting. After having watched the first two episodes, I'm really digging it. Basic premise is 6 people wake up on a failing starship with no memory of who they are or how they got there, but all of them have skills they don't remember getting. The archtypes are all there: hot female ship captain, earnest doofus, green-haired teenager, badass bad-attitude soldier type, quiet Asian/Polynesian sword master and the black guy pilot. The premise could have really been stretched but thankfully within the first hour you get an idea of WHO/WHAT they are, though not why they got there or how. I think this show has legs. Think it's written/produced by some of the people responsible for some of the Stargate shows.

satael
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Reply #1 on: June 24, 2015, 09:59:37 AM

The first two episodes reminded me of Firefly/Farscape which means I'll keep watching it unless it takes a total nosedive later on. The other new show Killjoys on the other hand had a bit weaker start but due to the premise I'll keep watching it and hoping for it to get better.
Hopefully atleast one of these will make it to a second season.   Ohhhhh, I see.
Tannhauser
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Reply #2 on: June 24, 2015, 10:44:03 AM

Isn't this show just Stargate Universe again?  Same premise right?  Have to admit, I did enjoy Killjoys.  Some good quips, some good action, some good world-building.  I rate it slightly above Defiance's premiere.
kaid
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Reply #3 on: June 24, 2015, 11:20:32 AM

Isn't this show just Stargate Universe again?  Same premise right?  Have to admit, I did enjoy Killjoys.  Some good quips, some good action, some good world-building.  I rate it slightly above Defiance's premiere.



Not even slightly. They have full control over the ship and are in the same universe/galaxy basically they were what appears to have been a pirate crew that had their memories wiped by something/somebody and they woke up on their ship is how it starts off.
Riggswolfe
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Reply #4 on: June 24, 2015, 11:27:47 AM

Isn't this show just Stargate Universe again?  Same premise right?  Have to admit, I did enjoy Killjoys.  Some good quips, some good action, some good world-building.  I rate it slightly above Defiance's premiere.



Not even slightly. They have full control over the ship and are in the same universe/galaxy basically they were what appears to have been a pirate crew that had their memories wiped by something/somebody and they woke up on their ship is how it starts off.

Our DVR cut off the last minute or so of episode 2 but


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HaemishM
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Reply #5 on: June 24, 2015, 11:31:45 AM

I liked Killjoys as well. It's worth watching both of them, at least so far.

I did get a very Firefly feel to the show, which is a good thing.

Surlyboi
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Reply #6 on: June 24, 2015, 01:59:21 PM

I like both this show and Killjoys. The wife remains unconvinced.

That said, hot ship captain is a Canadian Idol winner that looks completely different from her idol/musical theater days. 

Tuned in, immediately get to watch cringey Ubisoft talking head offering her deepest sympathies to the families impacted by the Orlando shooting while flanked by a man in a giraffe suit and some sort of "horrifically garish neon costumes through the ages" exhibit or something.  We need to stop this fucking planet right now and sort some shit out. -Kail
jgsugden
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Reply #7 on: June 24, 2015, 02:47:40 PM

There are some Firefly notes in Dark Matter, but linking the two is giving it undeserved praise.  They're trying to evoke the feel of the Firefly verse, but they do not have the 'lived in' feel of Firefly - not even close.  It feels more like Stargate trying to be Firefly - and not getting there. 

It isn't bad, but it isn't that good, either.

2020 will be the year I gave up all hope.
HaemishM
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Reply #8 on: June 24, 2015, 02:49:22 PM

Well, no, it doesn't have the style of Firefly, or the character dialogue. Still though, it's a decent sci-fi action series so far.

Nevermore
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Reply #9 on: June 24, 2015, 03:21:16 PM

I thought Killjoys was terrible, just to get that out of the way.

Dark Matter has an interesting premise, but I'm not sold on the show yet.  Production values were low (compared to say Battlestar Galactica).  It immediately started with people doing stupid shit and the second episode was pretty much written completely out of tired old cliches.  Still, it's summer and there's not a lot to watch and the premise is interesting so we'll see if it gets any better.

Over and out.
Threash
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Reply #10 on: June 24, 2015, 06:30:32 PM

I enjoyed both shows, Dark Matter was better but that girl on Killjoys is hypnotically hot.

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Ghambit
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Reply #11 on: June 27, 2015, 11:23:46 PM

New Syfy show called Dark Matter

I tend to be very skeptical of new Syfy shows (I still hate fucking typing that name) but this one looked interesting. After having watched the first two episodes, I'm really digging it. Basic premise is 6 people wake up on a failing starship with no memory of who they are or how they got there, but all of them have skills they don't remember getting. The archtypes are all there: hot female ship captain, earnest doofus, green-haired teenager, badass bad-attitude soldier type, quiet Asian/Polynesian sword master and the black guy pilot. The premise could have really been stretched but thankfully within the first hour you get an idea of WHO/WHAT they are, though not why they got there or how. I think this show has legs. Think it's written/produced by some of the people responsible for some of the Stargate shows.

This sounds exactly like an introductory Eclipse Phase adventure.  Hmmm.

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Surlyboi
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Reply #12 on: June 28, 2015, 12:44:04 PM

that girl on Killjoys is hypnotically hot.

The raspy-voiced English accent puts her over the top.

Tuned in, immediately get to watch cringey Ubisoft talking head offering her deepest sympathies to the families impacted by the Orlando shooting while flanked by a man in a giraffe suit and some sort of "horrifically garish neon costumes through the ages" exhibit or something.  We need to stop this fucking planet right now and sort some shit out. -Kail
Tannhauser
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Reply #13 on: June 29, 2015, 03:44:14 AM

Have to say I was nodding off during the 2nd Killjoys episode.
Ceryse
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Reply #14 on: June 29, 2015, 09:20:19 AM

I'm liking Dark Matter more than Kill Joys (low bar, though). I'll probably stick with both for now, but I'm pretty close to just dropping Killjoys. I just wish either of these was actually good sci-fi.
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Reply #15 on: June 29, 2015, 04:21:51 PM

I wish the android could act on Dark Matter.

Pennilenko
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Reply #16 on: June 29, 2015, 06:39:42 PM

I wish the android could act on Dark Matter.

She was better on that show with the hot chick that was a fairy or something.

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Evildrider
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Reply #17 on: June 29, 2015, 06:44:03 PM

I wish the android could act on Dark Matter.

She was better on that show with the hot chick that was a fairy or something.

She was better on Lost Girl, but she's always been a so-so actress.  This role actually plays more to her acting style.   awesome, for real
jgsugden
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Reply #18 on: September 01, 2015, 10:45:36 AM

Season 1 done.  Season 2 on the way.

I see Dark Matter as a low budget mix of TNG, Firefly (there are a lot of design parallels between the crews), Stargate Universe and Farscape.  This is another show where I hope they make significant corrections between seasons 1 and 2 because there is enough there to say it has potential, but there are so many problems that getting to that potential may not be worthwhile.  My fixes for it: 1.) Replace the ship - the current one feels too big and random (like the Enterprise) rather than homey (like Serenity).  2.) Give us better characters off the ship - everyone they encounter seems to be one note and boring.  3.) Never again show us Wil Wheaton.  4.) Wrap up the Tin Man storyline that has been done to death - "I'm an android with feelings, let me explore" is old news.  5.) Kill the Love Triangle storyline.  The actors are not pulling it off.  6.) Give them something to do other than survive.  They need a motivation to do something other than wander around and deal with their own issues.

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Bunk
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Reply #19 on: September 01, 2015, 11:09:15 AM

I thought the show really grew as the season went. The creator has made it pretty clear he has a story arc mapped out - which should lead to more cohesive goals for them. Don't agree with all of your comments, I thought the "other evil mercenary crew" was actually well developed for example. Wheaton was amusing, he works as a sporadic B level villain.

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HaemishM
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Reply #20 on: September 01, 2015, 11:22:01 AM

I thought Wheaton hamming it up was actually really fun. I mean, he might as well have been twirling his mustache. In fact, the only thing jgsugden said that I agree with was the android storyline. I'm not too keen on the whole "Data learns how to be human/sentient" story again. Otherwise, I loved the show.

jgsugden
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Reply #21 on: September 01, 2015, 11:49:57 AM

Wheaton was HORRIBLE.  I am shocked that anyone would say otherwise.  He looked lost.  I actually like some of the stuff I've seen him do elsewhere, but this was the weakest performance on the series so far.

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Reply #22 on: September 01, 2015, 02:54:53 PM

Wheaton was HORRIBLE.  I am shocked that anyone would say otherwise.  He looked lost.  I actually like some of the stuff I've seen him do elsewhere, but this was the weakest performance on the series so far.
Are you being serious?

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Reply #23 on: September 01, 2015, 02:59:39 PM

100% yes I'm serious.  It was shocking how bad he was in that episode. 

2020 will be the year I gave up all hope.
HaemishM
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Reply #24 on: September 01, 2015, 03:03:16 PM

Like I said, I thought he was intentionally playing it up as the kind of scene-chewer bad guy villain such a stunt casting required. It felt a bit out of place, but I thought he pulled it off just fine.

jgsugden
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Reply #25 on: September 01, 2015, 03:06:30 PM

As shocking as it might be, we disagree on this one. 

2020 will be the year I gave up all hope.
Surlyboi
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Reply #26 on: September 01, 2015, 05:22:04 PM

I liked Wheaton and agree the cheese was probably intentional. The story arc for season two sounds like a lot of "holy shits" abound. To quote the show runner, "These are very bad people and now they know who and what they were, expect bad shit to happen."

There's a possibility that Dark Matter and Killjoys take place in the same universe. The show runners are friends and haven't ruled the possibility out.

Tuned in, immediately get to watch cringey Ubisoft talking head offering her deepest sympathies to the families impacted by the Orlando shooting while flanked by a man in a giraffe suit and some sort of "horrifically garish neon costumes through the ages" exhibit or something.  We need to stop this fucking planet right now and sort some shit out. -Kail
Viin
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Reply #27 on: September 01, 2015, 07:46:18 PM

I saw WW on an episode of Big Bang Theory recently and I didn't really care for it. (Season 7?)  But this sounds interesting enough, it'll go along well with my sci-fi reading kick.

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Lantyssa
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Reply #28 on: September 03, 2015, 07:12:30 AM

That was Wheaton?  No wonder he looked sort of familiar.  Mostly though he was a creepy fuck.  The scientist moralizing while acting like the psycho didn't help.  Everything there was all just over-the-top.

I kind of hope next season is them working for the Galactic Authority to get their past transgressions cleared.  That'd be a new take on the outlaws becoming a team, and with the singularity, there's a reason for the government to need a team out to knock the corporations down a few.

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Reply #29 on: September 03, 2015, 07:16:10 AM

Wheaton IS a creepy fuck!  I liked his character in this show, too.  It was fun.  I also did think his character (which was just him) was funny and well done on Big Bang Theory.  It seemed appropriate that he would be Sheldon's nemesis. 

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Tannhauser
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Reply #30 on: September 03, 2015, 08:36:37 AM

Yeah, they've used him sparingly and to good effect on BBT.
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Reply #31 on: September 03, 2015, 08:06:12 PM

Wheaton was terrible. His acting comes off as really amateurish, like a person trying to play an actor.

Overall I like the show. My main complaint is how it started off as "we are all terrible people" but then each person got an excuse as to why they aren't actually terrible - one is an impostor, two were framed, one had a change of heart recently, etc.

I get the idea to humanize the characters but they already are starting over - to me it's much more interesting that they be genuinely awful people who maybe get a chance to start over vs oh it turns out they actually were never bad. That also raises interesting questions like is your personality really something you can change just by forgetting stuff or will you inevitably revert to type? They played with that a little (most notably Two killing those casino people) but not nearly as much as I would have thought.

I ended up liking both this and Killjoys a decent amount though. Scifi stuff that isn't based on an existing thing (or at least a well-known one) is rare and I appreciate it.

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Reply #32 on: September 04, 2015, 07:06:22 AM

I also think it would be much more interesting if they did exactly what Margalis said.  Of course, it looks like the cute guys might be villains after all.  I have a feeling the writers are going to dream up an excuse for them doing the dirty deed because they're not villains but good guys after all.  :/

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Reply #33 on: September 30, 2015, 04:36:01 PM

This is on Netflix as well as a few other recent scifi shows.
satael
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Reply #34 on: September 02, 2017, 01:39:19 AM

Dark Matter cancelled.  Ohhhhh, I see.

Too bad since I kind of liked this (wasn't great but it scratched that Firefly/Farscape itch at times).

edit: Killjoys renewed for final 2 seasons (so maybe they'll actually have a good story that gets wrapped up unlike Dark Matter which ended on a cliffhanger)
« Last Edit: September 02, 2017, 07:17:46 AM by satael »
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