Do our memories make us who we are? What if they were taken? What if you woke up one day and your past had disappeared? Could you find yourself again? Or would you choose to be different?
And what if you forgot your sins, but they didn't forget you?
(Spoilers throughout)
Show summary: Six people awaken from stasis with amnesia aboard a starship called the Raza. They begin the search to reclaim their identities and figure out what happened to them. Revelations of their past set in motion events that threaten to ignite a war between two mega-corporations, the Galactic Authority, and a multi-planetary empire.
Costumes/Visuals: This show is rife with dark visuals. The crew of the Raza wear all black clothing and the ship itself is a series of clean, but utilitarian dull grey halls and low-lit rooms. This serves in stark contrast to the opulence of the Zairon Empire and the color of life in the corporate colonies and stations.
The two exceptions are the crew's Android, who's blue suit and bright blonde hair mark her out as different immediately, and "Five", a teenager who dresses like a color blind 80's punk band member. As the only non-human aboard the ship, and the only one who knows her purpose (at least at first), the Android is innocent and fulfilled in a way that the crew can never be. It's a subtle but vital part of the tone and theme.
Since this is a show that takes place in the far future, complete with space ships, huge space stations, nano-tube space elevators, and space age weaponry, you get a lot of CGI shots of things happening (you guessed it) in space. This being a SyFy show, the quality of the CGI isn't amazing. However, the aesthetic is more Aliens or Firefly than Star Trek, and the complete lack of aliens of any stripe helps ground the show a little more.
Music:
I can remember the opening credit music, which is mostly a pounding, metallic rhythm section, but that's all. It's short and fits the shows visuals, but it's not something you'll want on in the car.
Action:
The show is a cross between the A-Team, Firefly, and Mission:Impossible in space. The crew are mercenaries who take jobs hauling cargo, extracting VIPs, and performing infiltration or security contracts. Each of them is skilled and/or lethal, even the kid genius, their different abilities requiring cooperation to keep the ship intact and the jobs complete.
People are shot, pummeled, stabbed, slashed, and blown up. Ships fire at one another in space naval battles. Airlocks open and vent characters to space.
Acting:
This is the show's strength. The main cast has good chemistry and several veteran character actors to lend depth and clarity to the performances. You may recognize some of their names: Anthony Lemke, Roger Cross, Torri Higginson, David Hewlett, Hiro Kanagawa, Rob Stewart, and Franka Potente.
Even the relative unknowns like Zoie Palmer and Jodelle Ferland turn in good performances, particularly Palmer's near motionless and expressionless Android.
Unfortunately, there's also this Wil Wheaton guy playing basically the same smarmy jerk he always plays.
Writing:
Based on a comic book of the same name by Paul Mullie and Joseph Mallozzi (who are also executive producers), the writing for the show defies the SyFy mold by being pretty good.
The premise is an interesting one: what happens if you take a bunch of unrepentant, murderous thieves and take away their memories? Are they still the same people? Or will they make different choices?
Then the plot twists come. One of the crew isn't a normal human, a couple aren't who they appear to be, and one is a stowaway kid that has no connection to their past. The memory wipe was not an accident, but a deliberate act by someone on the crew.
This leaves the ship and its crew on a mission they don't understand, with a cargo they can't access, and enemies they don't know about. The mystery propels the story in the first season and the cliffhanger ending was very well executed.
Things fall off in the second season, but the scope of the stakes ramp up as we bring in parallel dimensions, potentially devastating technology, and the complete restoration of one character's memories and the attendant changes in his relationship to the crew of the Raza.
The dialogue is well written on the whole, the characters have distinct voices and clear motivations (both pre- and post-mindwipe), and their actions make sense in light of those complex realities.
Where it falls down, the show does so because the writers undermine their own premises. Anthony Lemke's character "Three", for example, is shown to be a lethal combatant and expert marksman. Yet he's constantly beaten or outshone by other members of the Raza crew and is used as the bumbling idiot foil much of the time. Call it Worf Syndrome. After he loses his fifth fight, it's hard to believe he does some of the things he does, or vice versa.
Also of concern is the pacing. We spend a lot of time veering off into sub-plots to resolve the various backstories of the crew members and not all of them are that interesting to watch. Additionally, the resolution of some sub-plots can feel forced, suggesting studio meddling.
Conclusion:
While not a perfect show nor an entirely original premise, the execution of the themes is accomplished with a reasonable amount of skill in Dark Matter. The visuals won't blow your mind and the story may not keep you up at night trying to parse out whodunit, but it is an entertaining ride nonetheless .
Come for the mystery, stay for the sci-fi action. And never forget who you are.
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