S01.E02: Episode Two

[formerlyfreedom]

The crew come to terms with revelations about their respective pasts; at the same time, they face the dilemma of helping the miners against insurmountable odds or abandoning them to certain death.

 

 

[Jazzy24]

I honestly thought that Two left the guys to their fate. I liked how she handled the situation.

[thuganomics85]

Oh, Rob Stewart.  I would mourn your passing, but it looks like you've already got another role over on Killjoys.  Speaking of recognizable Canadian actors, it just occurred to me that the actress who played that miner with the crazy hair, is the same actress that plays Marci Coates on Orphan Black.  And, I didn't catch his name, but I think that the guy that Two was "dealing" with, was also on Orphan Black as Tomas in S1.

 

Still not perfect, but I enjoyed this episode more then the pilot.  As I expected, the big reveal last week has effected everyone on different levels, and I like how it threw some of them off.  And, of course, it led to One going the extra mile to help the miners.  Figured that would happen.

 

I actually didn't mind Three this time.  Even chuckled once or twice.  Not sure what was different about him.  Was he just not as mean?  Or maybe it helped that he was playing off against Six a lot, and Roger Cross had some amusing reaction shots to his quips.  I have no idea, really.

 

Did laugh and roll my eyes at One's "Who put in you in charge", and really: Two said it best.  It's not like anyone else was stepping up and they certainly didn't stop her when she did.  And I certainly have more faith in her then One, right now.

 

So, Five now is claiming she can see someone's dreams, and knows that their minds were wiped on purpose.  And judging from the final shots, I'm guessing we're suppose to believe it was one of the crew.  The most obvious "surprise" choice would be One I guess, but I'm kind of hoping it's Two or Six.

 

I do hope that if they have another mission in the future, they let Two and Five actually come along.  It was fine this time, but I don't want the women characters to be all stuck on the ship, while the guys get to have fun with their guns and swords.

 

I continue to actually get a kick out of Zoie Palmer as the Android.

[wanderingstar]

Oh, Rob Stewart.  I would mourn your passing, but it looks like you've already got another role over on Killjoys.

 

Thankfully! I really like Rob Stewart, so I was happy to see him on Killjoys.

 

I liked this episode. It felt like the story and the characters were moving forward. I particularly enjoyed Two's clever play with the rival multi-corp. And Six continued to win my heart. I also find myself intrigued by Four. 

 

I actually didn't mind Three this time.  Even chuckled once or twice.  Not sure what was different about him.  Was he just not as mean?

 

For me, it was that he came across as less obnoxious. He seemed to spout an obnoxious line every time he opened his mouth in the pilot.

[xfuse]

 

So, Five now is claiming she can see someone's dreams, and knows that their minds were wiped on purpose.  And judging from the final shots, I'm guessing we're suppose to believe it was one of the crew.  The most obvious "surprise" choice would be One I guess, but I'm kind of hoping it's Two or Six.

I'm guessing that it's Five herself. I'm surprised that there has been no discussion of who Five is and what is she doing on the ship. I get a Trance  from Andromeda vibe from her (cute but the most powerful/deadly one).

[MissLucas]

That was okay but some of the narrative structuring was off. Two just disappearing until the end of the episode was frustrating - it was clear that she'd pull a dea ex machina. What she did was clever but since there has been very little world-building so far (understandably since we're just in episode 2) we got a massive exposition dump at the end which felt a bit frustrating - show don't tell and all that. And I finally managed to recognize somebody - despite watching Orphan Black religiously I have miserably failed in that department so far. Competing-combine-lady at the end was played by Tori Higginson (Dr. Elizabeth Weir from SG-Atlantis), right?

Three was toned down this time around and I've decided that his quirk of naming his guns was a shout-out to Farscape's Winona. It looks as if the torch of 'annoyingly clichéed written character' was handed over to One this episode - he started to get on my nerves with his goody-two shoes shtick. Stop ogling Two and do something unexpected and badass (I liked Six calling him out on his predictability)!

No big surprise on Five yet - I think it was already heavily implied in the pilot that she's telepathic (or whatever you call rembering other's dreams). Six showed some hidden depths and got a lot more interesting. Four and his riddle-box remains a riddle.

MVP for me so far is the Android. Not an easy part to play because you're not supposed to show any emotions yet she looks like she's having a silent blast observing all those folks. And her attempt to make small-talk with the two goons was hilarious.
 

[nitrofishblue]

I enjoyed the second episode. This show along with Defience and Killjoys will finally take Friday night TV watching out of the dumps.

[arjumand]

Three was toned down this time around and I've decided that his quirk of naming his guns was a shout-out to Farscape's Winona. It looks as if the torch of 'annoyingly clichéed written character' was handed over to One this episode - he started to get on my nerves with his goody-two shoes shtick. Stop ogling Two and do something unexpected and badass (I liked Six calling him out on his predictability)!

 

Yes, some network suits' notes must have come back to the tune of "dial back the schtick about 80% please, or we'll write in an unfortunate airlock accident." I agree that he's meant to be Jayne Cobb 2.0, but he's not even half as good-looking as Adam Baldwin, and you need good looks to pull off that kind of assholeness (Exhibit A: James Spader in Pretty in Pink).

 

And One. Oh my god. At any point I kept expecting any one of the others to wonder out loud what he added to the team - the quality of being a big pussy? You tell me they're all sociopathic murderers and I can see it in some of the others (oh, and BTW, Asian guy is good with swords and torture - I suppose the second quality also comes from a place of deep respect), but this guy? Ugh.

 

Also, I think they blew their budget on the pilot, because we had some clear signs of it here - especially the egregious slo-mo gunfights, and the hero shot against the rainfall/hosepipe being repeated, once for Six, and once for Supposed to be the Hero, but Coming across as Useless. How do I know he's supposed to be the hero? He got to kiss the miner lady.*

I actually wanted Three to be more obnoxious this episode - about the fifteenth time one of the miners said that "help is coming!", I wanted him to start making jerk-off hand gestures.

 

One good thing - the 'let's save the miners, because all murderers are good guys at heart' storyline is over. I thought it was going to drag out for a while.

 

 

* I wasn't really paying attention, and I thought the leader was her dad. My reaction was, your dad just died, and you're already making out with random guys? But then I guess he wasn't her dad.

 

ETA edited because I forgot that Jace/One woke up first. I thought I'd like the numbers thing more than I actually do - I find myself mentally having to work out in which order they woke up to figure out who I'm talking about.

Edited June 20, 2015 by arjumand

[Bruinsfan]

I was really cracking up at the angry miner who was calling the hardened mercenaries/smugglers out as cowards for not volunteering to get shot in an uneven battle for people they met twenty minutes ago. Who would be stupid enough to do that? Other than One, of course.

 

I thought for a bit that Six was going to fly up to the Company ship and turn traitor on the rest. Would have been an interesting twist.

 

Seeing Torri Higginson was a pleasant surprise. I thought the SGA producers had napalmed their bridges with her years ago.

[Terrafamilia]

At least One seems to be competent with a gun in his hand. I'm imagining that behind the big mystery door is the production crew of some hidden-camera reality show. And the android is totally in on it.

 

I'm also seeing signs of budgetary constraint. The big battle looked cheap. Not only the execution but the conception did not seem well thought out. If they know that they might retreat to the power plant I'd have expected all the entrances to have been better defended. They represent choke points, use them. Apparently the mercenaries' memories of tactics were thoroughly scrubbed.

 

The world building still needs a lot of work. It doesn't look like there could have been more than twenty miners (budget constraints) and their stuff looked run down. But there was a huge power plant that appeared operational. Who and how many were maintaining it? Did it pretty much maintain itself? Just what is the tech level at play here? The sci-fi fan in me wants to know that the creators have put in the effort to think things through with respect to the context in which they are telling these stories rather than just grabbed a bunch of this-and-that from SciFi Tropes-R-Us, tossed them together and called it a day.

[LeGrandElephant]

My Tivo cut off the last minute or two - what exactly did River-Kaylee say about having planted the virus that wiped their memories? I heard her say she remembered waking up and doing it and then it completely cut off - did she say anything else? Was it her memory or someone else's?

Edited June 20, 2015 by LeGrandElephant

[snowwhyte]

Was it just me who thought Two looked confused when One apologized to him before stroking his face and sending him off to the planet. This being sci fi my thoughts went straight to shape shifting creature impersonating the crew but maybe One is just a bit dim.

[MissLucas]

 

Was it her memory or someone else's?

It was someone else's memory. Just as last week's dream about killing a guy was someone else's - probably One.

 

At least One seems to be competent with a gun in his hand. I'm imagining that behind the big mystery door is the production crew of some hidden-camera reality show. And the android is totally in on it.

Great theory - it would certainly explain her somewhat cheeky attitude.

I've just watched 'Killjoys' and it's clear that 'Dark Matter' does not have the same lavish budget. It really hurts the show as mentioned above.

[MrWhyt]

Three was toned down this time around and I've decided that his quirk of naming his guns was a shout-out to Farscape's Winona. 

 

I did get a good chuckle out of his "I didn't name my knife, pyscho's do that" (paraphrased) line.

[Latverian Diplomat]

I'm having fun. I feel like Three's badassery ranking is hinting that One is actually the worst of the bunch, evil past-wise.

 

I don't care for Zoie Palmer's sing-songy line readings for The Android, that's about the only thing really bugging me right now.

 

ETA: The whole "erasing your memory can make you a good person" thing is a little psychologically suspect. It would be nice if a little of their darkness showed through.

 

So far, Three and Four maybe a little (in that they seem to enjoy violence) and Two if she was planning not to come back if she couldn't strike a deal (which would have been a nice touch but no real way to work that in given the way the episode was structured). 

Edited June 21, 2015 by Latverian Diplomat

[Ariah]

And we've reached the end of the story in the comics (with one scene left out, unfortunatelly. I was actually looking forward to that).

 

The tight budget showed. The battle looked differently in the comic, and actually involved the small ship. Here it was like watching a theatre performance ("we have this one setting and we won't leave it!")

 

Anyhow, Three IS Jayne - naming his guns is yet another thing from that repertoire. Next in line? a planet with his statue and a song about it to boot.

 

As for One. I do agree that he seems pretty useless right now, which probably means he's the deadliest assasin that ever assasinated. Or that he's a prince from the dream. And deadly.

 

What's behind the big doors? I vote the real bodies of the crew, in stasis and an equippement that produces real-life copies of them in case they get killed / seriously hurt. And all the characters we've meat are just empty copies that were woken up before memory transfer. There you go.

 

Now i'll go and watch Killjoys again, because they have
a) better settings
b) better acting

c) better writting

d) more Bebop

[arjumand]

And we've reached the end of the story in the comics (with one scene left out, unfortunatelly. I was actually looking forward to that).

 

The tight budget showed. The battle looked differently in the comic, and actually involved the small ship. Here it was like watching a theatre performance ("we have this one setting and we won't leave it!")

 

Anyhow, Three IS Jayne - naming his guns is yet another thing from that repertoire. Next in line? a planet with his statue and a song about it to boot.

 

As for One. I do agree that he seems pretty useless right now, which probably means he's the deadliest assasin that ever assasinated. Or that he's a prince from the dream. And deadly.

 

What's behind the big doors? I vote the real bodies of the crew, in stasis and an equippement that produces real-life copies of them in case they get killed / seriously hurt. And all the characters we've meat are just empty copies that were woken up before memory transfer. There you go.

 

Now i'll go and watch Killjoys again, because they have

a) better settings

b) better acting

c) better writting

d) more Bebop

 

I enjoyed Killjoys, though there is a caveat - the opposite one to Dark Matter. DM was stretching out everything so much they needed slo-mo during the gunfight. Seriously, dudes. That's not when you use slo-mo. You use it when an awesome character does something awesome, like Dutch on Killjoys. On the other hand, Killjoys had too much stuff going on. After I watched the trailer, I was pumped up for a show about space bounty hunters, fuck yeah! With maybe a leetle story arc. Instead I get five or six story arcs, and it was really tiring at times. It had a desperate tone of "We're not getting fucking cancelled, ok? Not today!"

 

Now, Dark Matter. Sigh.

 

My problem is, I think, that rather than the characters all having turned into saintly figures due to their memory wipe, is that the show itself won't commit. And you can't really blame the budget for this one. For example, you have a character heavily imply he's going to torture someone. And then you cut away, the torturer comes back with the information, while we see the victim later, none the worse for wear. And I'm like, what happened here? Why is DM doing the 'cut to next scene' bit while Killjoys has no problem showing someone grinning through bloody teeth after being punched in the mouth? Aren't they on the same network?

 

It's like Mallozzi and co. want to make a gritty show, but don't want to alienate anyone who's bothered by onscreen violence, or main characters being violent. Even the gunfight was fairly antiseptic for our heroes. Now, I only watched the pilot of Stargate Universe, but I remember in SGA they never really wanted to commit to violence and its effects - a character was either dead or fine. If there was any physical or psychological trauma, it was restricted to the story arc, and then, by the next one, the character was fine.

 

And I've just realized this is part of the whole 'brainwipe makes them non-violent',and this bothers me in that I don't believe it. Especially as they still have sense memory of their skills - if Two is good at running the ship, and Four is good as sword-fighting and torture, then why wouldn't One have sense memory of psychopathing or whatever it is he does? Ok, fine, assassinating. I would have expected the fight to be more of a bloodbath with One going through those company goons like a hot knife through butter, not just competence. This seems to speak more to One being a woobie, than a killer.

 

But the main problem with the show remains the budget. In a show like this, you have to look expensive, even if you're not. And in this case, like people have said, I felt like I was watching a play/bottle episode. Or one of those fan-films.

[Mars477]

What the fuck is with Two's bellyshirt?

 

Also, whats with all of the guys (especially the dude with no remarkable combat skills at all, and the guy who can only hit things in close quarters aka the corridors of a ship) going down in the away mission while all of the girls (including Kung Fu dual pistols lady and a nigh-indestructible battle droid) staying in orbit on the ship?

Edited June 21, 2015 by Mars477

[MissLucas]

 

but I remember in SGA they never really wanted to commit to violence and its effects

Yes, that was one of the biggest weaknesses of the franchise. I remember an episode where it looked like Ronon was going to torture someone and they pulled back the very last moment. And there was another episode where an alien AI manipulated Sheppard by tapping into his innermost emotions and devising a scenario where those were acted out. He got viciously tortured because he was full of guilt and self-loathing. By the end of the episode it was all revealed as mind-f*** because the AI had wanted to know more about human nature. And everybody was walking away happily whilst I was sitting in front of the tv thinking 'Wait a moment - you just learned in the debriefing session that the highest ranking military officer who's responsible for the security of the whole station has self-loathing issues bad enough to dream up a mental scenario where he gets tortured and maimed and you don't think you need to talk about this?'

 

I don't mind some light-heartedness and I'm not keen on constant grimness à la BSG but I hope they manage to find a good middle-ground here. Hard to judge from what we've seen so far but I'm somewhat worried. They need to show us the dark side of those characters in order for their redemption - and not just by telling us over and over again that they used to be terrible people who know want to redeem themselves. Make the road to redemption a bumpy one - I'd like to see some relapse.

[AngelKitty]

I continue to actually get a kick out of Zoie Palmer as the Android.

 

Surprisingly, so do I.

 

So, the young girl, is it Five?, found the box, opened it and discovered a ring inside?

 

Why isn't anybody else curious about the big locked door?

 

I'm glad they were able to use the sets from SGU.

[xfuse]

 

They need to show us the dark side of those characters in order for their redemption - and not just by telling us over and over again that they used to be terrible people who know want to redeem themselves. Make the road to redemption a bumpy one - I'd like to see some relapse.

 

I was thinking that they were exploring the question of what makes a ‘bad guy’ bad. If it is because they were born bad or were there circumstances that made them kill, kidnap and steal. If it is the later than we won’t really see their darker nature because the experiences that caused their darker nature is gone. If you started killing people because your family was killed before your eyes. With that memory taken away then what made you a killer is also taken away.

[edhopper]

Yes, One is annoyingly preachy and the "moral compass" stuff will get old. But I have a suspicion that there is something more to him. I hope it turns out he is more of a baddass than the rest. There must be a reason he doesn't seem to fit.So far so good, and as we world build and get character developement, this could be great. Sometimes, with these shows there is an episode early on ( but after the first few) that rasies the show to a new level. "33" on BSG is an example.

[Mars477]

Yes, One is annoyingly preachy and the "moral compass" stuff will get old. But I have a suspicion that there is something more to him. I hope it turns out he is more of a baddass than the rest. There must be a reason he doesn't seem to fit.So far so good, and as we world build and get character developement, this could be great. Sometimes, with these shows there is an episode early on ( but after the first few) that rasies the show to a new level. "33" on BSG is an example.

"33" is literally the second episode, directly after the long pilot.

 

Really BSG never reaches that height again for the remainder of the show.  The episode is that good (plus the later seasons are that bad).

Edited June 21, 2015 by Mars477

[arjumand]

Yes, that was one of the biggest weaknesses of the franchise. I remember an episode where it looked like Ronon was going to torture someone and they pulled back the very last moment. And there was another episode where an alien AI manipulated Sheppard by tapping into his innermost emotions and devising a scenario where those were acted out. He got viciously tortured because he was full of guilt and self-loathing. By the end of the episode it was all revealed as mind-f*** because the AI had wanted to know more about human nature. And everybody was walking away happily whilst I was sitting in front of the tv thinking 'Wait a moment - you just learned in the debriefing session that the highest ranking military officer who's responsible for the security of the whole station has self-loathing issues bad enough to dream up a mental scenario where he gets tortured and maimed and you don't think you need to talk about this?'

 

Oh, absolutely. Remember on SGA when Sheppard was drained almost to death by a Wraith, and then restored? And it was supposed to be so traumatic that it drove other characters insane? But Sheppard was fine, no problem. Even though I loved SGA (at least, the first 4 seasons - season 5 was a trainwreck of massive proportions), it became notorious for not addressing the horrific implications of some of its storylines (Exhibit A: Lucius Lavin. Shudder).

 

I don't mind some light-heartedness and I'm not keen on constant grimness à la BSG but I hope they manage to find a good middle-ground here. Hard to judge from what we've seen so far but I'm somewhat worried. They need to show us the dark side of those characters in order for their redemption - and not just by telling us over and over again that they used to be terrible people who know want to redeem themselves. Make the road to redemption a bumpy one - I'd like to see some relapse.

 

 

As someone who really grew to hate BSG (after spending the first season adoring it and proselytizing to anyone who'd stand still long enough), I hear you.

 

And your key statement was : "They need to show us the dark side of those characters in order for their redemption - and not just by telling us over and over again that they used to be terrible people."

 

See, you'd think with people like Mallozzi who've been in tv for so long, the solution would be obvious. Dark Matter: telling you everything, not showing you a damn thing. Someone needs to remind these guys that tv is a visual medium.

[Latverian Diplomat]

Oh, absolutely. Remember on SGA when Sheppard was drained almost to death by a Wraith, and then restored? And it was supposed to be so traumatic that it drove other characters insane? But Sheppard was fine, no problem. 

 

 

To put myself in the bizarre position of defending SGA, this is an almost inevitable consquence of episodic series TV. You can put one of the main characters through the wringer, but you have to put them back where you found them by the end. And science fiction has it worse, because "the wringer" is fusion powered and incorporates alien technology.

 

Look at all the crazy shit that happend to Jean Luc Picard, some of which (to its credit) ST:TNG implied required some amount of therapy afterward, but he remained captain of the "Federation Flagship" none the less.

 

Fox Mulder also bounced back from some pretty serious trauma. 

 

That said, SGA did lean on the "Sheppard's the man" and "Rodney is the smartest person ever" tropes very, very much. To the point of tedium, really.

[MissLucas]

I was thinking that they were exploring the question of what makes a ‘bad guy’ bad. If it is because they were born bad or were there circumstances that made them kill, kidnap and steal. If it is the later than we won’t really see their darker nature because the experiences that caused their darker nature is gone. If you started killing people because your family was killed before your eyes. With that memory taken away then what made you a killer is also taken away.

Fair enough - but I don't think this is the route the show will be going down. We already have hints that these people remember parts of their past beyond their skill-sets. One slightly freaking out when Five recounted the dream, Four finding the riddle box and keeping as if he knew it belonged to him. I also think this will add emotional drama. Someone who gets hunted and chased and despised for things he can't remember is ultimately frustrating to watch - and it gives you an ethical headache. I remember a Criminal Mind episode with that plot - serial killer suffers brain injury, can't remember his crimes. That gives you material for one episode but is hard to sustain.

 

 

As someone who really grew to hate BSG (after spending the first season adoring it and proselytizing to anyone who'd stand still long enough), I hear you.

Sounds like we had pretty similar experiences with the show.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2015 by MissLucas

[MissLucas]

 

To put myself in the bizarre position of defending SGA, this is an almost inevitable consquence of episodic series TV. You can put one of the main characters through the wringer, but you have to put them back where you found them by the end. And science fiction has it worse, because "the wringer" is fusion powered and incorporates alien technology.

One word: Farscape.

[gaby4ever25]

I get the feeling that One is hiding something or holding back somehow.

[Ariah]

I get the feeling that One is hiding something or holding back somehow.

I hope he is, because so far, he's just a pretty boy with average shooting skills and semi-competent strategist. He does have a martyr complex, though.

 

Anyone here read the comic?

Because the comic ending did hint at something odd going on with One.

 

Still, I actually dread the moment David Heweltt appears in this series: I liked Rodney at first in the SGA, but he grew so obnoxious... When Malozzi stopped to even pretend Rodney was his expy, SGA became unbearable. Funny, because I could stand Shepard being "the manliest man that ever was", but couldn't look at McKay.

 

(And my favourite SGA episodes come from season 1, when Kolya took Atlantis and Shepard took it back)

[CoderLady]

Still, I actually dread the moment David Heweltt appears in this series: I liked Rodney at first in the SGA, but he grew so obnoxious... When Malozzi stopped to even pretend Rodney was his expy, SGA became unbearable. Funny, because I could stand Shepard being "the manliest man that ever was", but couldn't look at McKay.

Thanks for saying it. I hated Rodney from his first appearance way back on SG1 and grew progressively more uneasy with the character when he kept popping up, then was outright dismayed when he infiltrated and ultimately ate SGA. Maybe this will be an opportunity to see David Hewlett being something other than insufferably obnoxious. To be fair, I'd like to see that.

 

I've been thinking that Three is going to be Dark Matter's Rodney personality-wise, though. I hope not.

Edited June 21, 2015 by CoderLady

[formerlyfreedom]

Let's please take the discussion of how this show is like other shows over to the Comparisons to Other Shows topic, and stick to discussion of Episode Two here please.

[tennisgurl]

I wonder if One was the biggest, baddest, bad guy there, had some kind of revelation, and wiped his memories, along with everyone else s, so they could have a fresh start? 

 

I`m still pondering the episode and its mystery after watching it, which means if must be doing something right. 

[Featherhat]

It's like Mallozzi and co. want to make a gritty show, but don't want to alienate anyone who's bothered by onscreen violence, or main characters being violent. Even the gunfight was fairly antiseptic for our heroes. Now, I only watched the pilot of Stargate Universe, but I remember in SGA they never really wanted to commit to violence and its effects - a character was either dead or fine. If there was any physical or psychological trauma, it was restricted to the story arc, and then, by the next one, the character was fine.

This was a problem they had on Stargate Universe as well. They were so excited to do a “dark gritty show” but that mainly consisted of turning down the lights and have characters bitch at each other a little bit. They committed to even less real morally gray stuff than certain episodes of flipping SG-1, let alone BSG or Farscape.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Featherhat

[maczero]

Also, whats with all of the guys (especially the dude with no remarkable combat skills at all, and the guy who can only hit things in close quarters aka the corridors of a ship) going down in the away mission while all of the girls (including Kung Fu dual pistols lady and a nigh-indestructible battle droid) staying in orbit on the ship?

Works for me.  Two is effectively the captain.  The android knows more about the ship and its systems than anyone on the crew.  Five is a kid.  Makes more sense for these three to be on the ship than being on a delivery mission.  Although, it would probably have made sense to have One stay on the ship as well since they were concerned his bleeding heart would make him do something stupid.

 

I'm not really bothered with Four being a martial artist.  It did bother me when he started spouting "fortune cookie" wisdom.  Thankfully, he appears to be a bit of a sadist so they avoided the badass honorable assassin trope.

Edited June 23, 2015 by maczero

[Dot Com]

Works for me. Two is effectively the captain. The android knows more about the ship and its systems than anyone on the crew. Five is a kid. Makes more sense for these three to be on the ship than being on a delivery mission.

That's the thing. The reasons they stay on the ship makes sense. Therefore they should have another kick @ss non-android adult woman who can go on missions with the guys.

[maczero]

That's the thing. The reasons they stay on the ship makes sense. Therefore they should have another kick @ss non-android adult woman who can go on missions with the guys.

I suspect this dynamic will change.  They'll become more familiar with the ship so Two and the android won't always be needed on the ship.  In a way, it's more of a slight on the men.  Other than Six, I don't really get a command responsibility vibe from any of the guys.

Edited June 22, 2015 by maczero

[Black Knight]

I was wondering why nobody discussed the obvious possibility that Five is someone that the five adult crewmembers kidnapped. Kidnapping was on at least one of their criminal activity resumes, wasn't it? Even if the adults were all preoccupied with themselves, I would've thought Five at least would wonder and worry about her situation. Although the adults should think about it too, because if they did kidnap Five, Five's people will be coming for her, and so will whoever hired the crew to kidnap Five.

 

I too understand the reasons for why the women had to stay onboard the ship while the guys went down to the planet, but like others, I hope it's not always going to be like that. It wouldn't have bothered me quite as much, though, in this episode if it hadn't also meant a long disappearance of the women altogether. I know that was to set up the "surprise" that Two didn't abandon the guys and would actually return, but that was such an obvious twist. I think it would've been better to just show what Two was up to, especially since it would have given the show a chance to do some worldbuilding, and have the "suspense" come from whether she would complete her mission in time.

[Mars477]

Ideally, they'd train One to handle helping the ship in some basic maneuvers (like breaking orbit and jetting off when a bigger ship is approaching) so Two can deploy dirt side where hard decisions might need to be made. Currently he's more or less useless (and utterly superfluous).

[Hanahope]

I've decided that his quirk of naming his guns was a shout-out to Farscape's Winona.

 

Hello Jayne from Firefly.

 

I knew Two would come back with the ship because without the ship, along with Two, Five and droid, no story.

 

Almost seems to be like a roleplaying set up.  Surely if they were really the crew of the Raaza, there'd be info about what was behind the big locked door.  I like the idea of real bodies behind the door, with the copies woken up before the final memory transfer. 

[Shanna Marie]

I don't think the entire crew can be woobies with trumped-up charges against them for daring to fight the system because they were actually hired as mercenaries and expected to carry out the job, and you can only pull off the Robin Hood act of helping the underdogs against the original client once before you stop getting jobs, so they must have done something at some point in the past. Unless maybe this job was to frame them and give them real charges against them, and they needed the memory wipe to make them take the job. But that seems rather ridiculously complex.

 

Since they seem to be basically doing AU Firefly, my guess is that One/Not!Simon is the one with trumped-up charges, the prince from RivLee's dream on the run from the evil stepfather, and taken in by the mercenaries with hearts of gold (or maybe kidnapped by them), and that's why he doesn't seem to have a particular skill set other than being able to fire a gun or an obvious role on the crew.

[Raja]

I wonder if One was the biggest, baddest, bad guy there, had some kind of revelation, and wiped his memories, along with everyone else s, so they could have a fresh start?

I`m still pondering the episode and its mystery after watching it, which means if must be doing something right.

He's so blah that what makes sense to me if he was a manipulator like Charles Manson

[FurryFury]

Holy shit that One guy is super annoying. Feels like a generic action hero straight from the 90s. He even got his girl of the week, a trope I genuinely thought to be dead. Ugh. He's just the worst.

 

I didn't really like this episode more than the pilot. It was very predictable and the more interesting characters didn't get a lot of screentime. And really, show? Wasn't Three already a Jayne Cobb expy, now he gets to name his gun? Wow.

 

I hope the show steps up its game because it starts to feel really dated when it comes to its tropes.

[call me ishmael]

 

Since they seem to be basically doing AU Firefly, my guess is that One/Not!Simon is the one with trumped-up charges, the prince from RivLee's dream on the run from the evil stepfather, and taken in by the mercenaries with hearts of gold (or maybe kidnapped by them), and that's why he doesn't seem to have a particular skill set other than being able to fire a gun or an obvious role on the crew.

But from the end of the episode when we meet the "real" one it seems clear that he is as vicious as any of the others. I wonder if the dead boy may not have been the prince from the dream. One gets the sense that he and Five were linked and perhaps were fleeing together. They may have used Five's computer skills to sneak onto the wrong ship.

[AudienceofOne]

What she did was clever but since there has been very little world-building so far (understandably since we're just in episode 2) we got a massive exposition dump at the end which felt a bit frustrating

 

 

That's my one big big problem with this show so far, actually. The lack of world building is a huge gap in the show. We have "evil corporations" and "mercenaries" but what planets are they from? How does their society work? Are they from Earth? Other worlds? Is there some sort of galactic federation?

 

Holy shit that One guy is super annoying

 

 

He's the NICE GUY. Can't wait to see just how annoying that gets