S01.E04: Episode Four

[formerlyfreedom]

The past comes back to haunt members of the crew during a stopover at a space station, during which Four makes a stunning discovery, while Two and Five learn that some games of chance come with surprising risks. Elsewhere, Six receives some unwanted attention at a local clinic; and One and Three's attempts to sell the weapons in their cargo hold lands them at a dangerous disadvantage.

[thuganomics85]

Ah, so Six's visit to the doctor's office reveals that clones are a part of this universe on some level.  But according to Jace/NotOne, the clones only have a lifespan for days, so if cloning is a part of this, the crew must be an advanced form or something.  So many questions...

 

Show pulled off the nifty trick of putting two of my least favorite characters together, and actually making them kind of entertaining.  I was amused over One and Three getting kidnapped by Jace, and them being forced to work together to escape.  One in particular, is more interesting when he's with Three, I think.  Have a feeling thought that those two keeping Jace hidden from the rest is going to bite them in the asses.  If nothing else, One is now basically being bribed to back Three from her on out.

 

Two and Five team up and find out both have talents at gambling.  Five is an expert at the "spot the ball in the cup" game, while Two apparently knows how to count cards.  Which, of course, leads them to getting in trouble with the casino thugs, and Two having to beat up and even kill some of them.  Which, of course, freaks Five out.  In Two's defense though, the henchmen were the ones that brought knives into it.  Should of just settled for the ass-kicking.

 

Four apparently might actually be the son of an emperor, and he might have even killed him.  Yikes!

[shapeshifter]

Finally caught up with this show.

This episode had a lot of background reveal but not (yet?) the one I keep expecting (spoiler tagging in case my uninformed guess is right) that

2 and 5 are sisters

.

About who did the mind wiping:

• 5 could have wiped the memories because she doesn't want them to remember they are killers.
• 1 could have done it for the same reason, more or less.
• 4 could have done it if they didn't know he was the emperor's son.
• Both 6 and 4 have bounties on their heads. Do the others? Because if they don't, that might be why they would do it.
• 3 could have done it for a variety of dickish reasons, but how would he know how to do it?
• the android could have done it because she determined that the ship couldn't survive unless they forgot their individual agendas.
• Actually, it seems only 2 and 5 and the android would know how.

The show is reminiscent of several SG1 arcs.

I'm watching for Roger Cross.

[SimoneS]

Only the mystery about the characters' true identities is keeping me watching so good on the writers. After last night, I convinced that One/NotJace is a law enforcement officer who was planted in the group. It explains why he instinctively wanted to help the miners. He underwent surgery to look like Jace and then set the authorities on RealJace to get him out of the way. I don't think that One/NotJace did the memory wipe though. Someone else did it, likely because this person found out that One/Jace is a plant or protect One/Jace because he is a plant.

 

Three is so annoying and obvious that it won't take long for the others to figure out that scheme.

 

I agree that Two and Five are likely sisters and were partners in gambling schemes and the boy was a friend of the younger sister.

 

I like Six and Four. I bet they aren't really bad guys or at least there are explanations for their crimes.

[MissLucas]

Show pulled off the nifty trick of putting two of my least favorite characters together, and actually making them kind of entertaining. 

That was surprisingly entertaining - as was the rest of the episode actually. Although I do wish they would visit a location with daylight for a change. This show could really do with some more light - right now it really lives up to its name (could be my crappy monitor though).

 

I think that was the best episode so far because it really started to deliver background info and provided some much-needed world building. Everybody got an interesting plot (except the Android). Five and Two's plots did not reveal that much we hadn't known before but it was still entertaining. Five seems to have a past as a trickster and Two needs to work on her impulse control. Looks like the memory Five talked about in the pilot belongs to Four.

 

I also liked that they adressed the clone issue - for a moment it looked as if that was going to be the answer to everybody's identity but then Evil Eyeliner One smashed that by mentioning clones' limited lifespan. (Unless the crew are of course some very special prototypes.)

 

Not sure what to think of Three's game - it is in character. But why did it not occur to him that he might be a doppelgänger too? That'd be my main worry. However it does add drama so I'm not going to argue with it.

 

I couldn't catch everything on future Not-CNN but since it sounded like some important world-building stuff I had a look at the episode script (thanks editorgrrl!)

 

    'The fallout from the assassination of Emperor Ishida Tatsuyo continues to be felt throughout C sector as forces from the Principality of Zairon and the neighboring Republic of Pyr remain on war footing.

    Several multi-corps have dispatched destroyers to the disputed region to safeguard transit passages.

    Representatives of the Galactic Authority say they will offer humanitarian aid to refugees fleeing the area but, thus far, have characterized the standoff as "a regional conflict between two independent territories" and dismissed the possibility of direct military involvement.

    Meanwhile, the search continues for Emperor Ishida's murderer, purported to be his own son, Crown Prince Ishida Ryo.'

 

Okay, I really think writers should try to come up with better names for supposedly shady economic entities: between Mr Robot's Evil Corp, Killjoys' mega-corp Company and now these multi-corps I tend to get a bit confused.

Edited July 4, 2015 by MissLucas

[Raja]

So will Four have a redemption story or was his father a Hitler, Mao Pol Pot? The show has potential, hopefully they get a second season to tweak  it after the lessons learned from this season are digested.

That was surprisingly entertaining - as was the rest of the episode actually. Although I do wish they would visit a location with daylight for a change. This show could really do with some more light - right now it really lives up to its name (could be my crappy monitor though).

 

.

I was really noticing that also its not Stargate Universe bad....yet. Hopefully they don't also go super bright when they leave the stage and go outside on location like SGU did

[arjumand]

Lord, the cold open was dull:

 

No one will be seated during the thrilling registration scene! What a cliffhanger, ladies and gents! Will our heroes be able to dock with the space station, or will they have to . . . travel to another space station?

 

I must admit the One/Three hijinks were fun, though I hated the resolution. And Clone One (ha ha, called it! Or possibly not, maybe he's just a undercover cop who's done a face/off thingy) shows himself the dumbest of them all. I mean, the only reason I'm finding it difficult to believe he's an undercover agent is that he. is. so. STUPID. Listen, my pretty but dumbass friend. All your crewmates might have been murderers and thieves, but now they're trying to be good people (or they're clones, like you). What do good people NOT do? Throw someone out the airlock. So stupid.

 

And then the Casino storyline. Fuck me. It went on for so long - I started to wonder if this was a time dilation episode. And then, Two showed that possibly she's a clone too, if the distinguishing characteristics are that you're a fucking moron.

"What's wrong with counting cards? WHAT'S WRONG WITH COUNTING CARDS?" Are you fricking shitting me? I have never gambled in my life, and I know that Casinos consider counting cards to be the worst thing ever. And the show had better not try to tell me that she's forgotten because of the memory wipe. She's not trying to put her pants on her head, and she still kills everyone very efficiently, so there's obviously something there.

 

Oh, man, this dial-a-cliche show. You know how you can use counting cards in a storyline and make it still relevant in the 21st century? You have a character do it obviously to get caught, so as to get into the secret office and bla bla bla. Not have fricking idiots from the FUTURE try to tell mobbed up casino bosses that there's nothing wrong with it.

 

And why didn't our BleepBlorpRobot immediately turn to Three and say "You're lying." And then to One, "You're lying too." And then everyone would have looked at One and shook their heads, sadly.

Maybe Two would have said something like:

 

"I'm not angry. Just disappointed."

Edited July 4, 2015 by arjumand

[Ely]

I still like 3 the most - eventhough he clearly is an opportunistic a*hole there is something about him that makes him likeable to me. I was so naive, I didn't see the bribery coming but it's in character. I'm glad this wasn't one of those neat little episodes where in the end the two opposing characters become BFFs. I just wish 3 hadn't been portrayed to be so *unfortunate* in his decision-making because he's cleary street-smart and must have some special skills (don't they all?) but it was 1 who had all the clever ideas. Well, except for making a deal with the wrong bartender. Opsie. So that was a little unbalanced.

What I did see coming though is 2 pairing up 3 and 1 and telling them the same lame story about them having to keep tabs on each other. Speaking of 2, she still falls flat for me as the leader, yet I like her a lot better when she interacts with 5 and is just being herself.

I loved the revelation on Four. Still waters.

Show's take on the future was enjoyable. Everything's different but kind of the same - doctor's waiting rooms apparently will never change.

And OMG, the preview looked insane.

[MissLucas]

And why didn't our BleepBlorpRobot immediately turn to Three and say "You're lying." And then to One, "You're lying too."

It was established in last week's episode that she needs to be close to the person in order catch a lie. During the lie detector sessions she was actually touching them. Might be wobbly science but they got that covered. Otherwise a lot of things goind on on the ship would make even less sense since Three and One were not the first ones to lie during the run of the show.

[AzureOwl]

Looks like the memory Five talked about in the pilot belongs to Four.

(SNIP)

I couldn't catch everything on future Not-CNN but since it sounded like some important world-building stuff I had a look at the episode script (thanks editorgrrl!)

'The fallout from the assassination of Emperor Ishida Tatsuyo continues to be felt throughout C sector as forces from the Principality of Zairon and the neighboring Republic of Pyr remain on war footing.

Several multi-corps have dispatched destroyers to the disputed region to safeguard transit passages.

Representatives of the Galactic Authority say they will offer humanitarian aid to refugees fleeing the area but, thus far, have characterized the standoff as "a regional conflict between two independent territories" and dismissed the possibility of direct military involvement.

Meanwhile, the search continues for Emperor Ishida's murderer, purported to be his own son, Crown Prince Ishida Ryo.'

So will Four have a redemption story or was his father a Hitler, Mao Pol Pot?

I don’t think Four killed his father.

If we take what we learned this episode together with Five’s dream from the pilot (which must be Four’s memory) the picture that emerges is that Four’s stepmother had her husband killed but the assassins she sent after Four and his brother failed. Four crippled them and left them where she could find them. Four then goes on the run and his stepmother frames him for the Emperor’s murder. It remains to be seen if the other 100 murders he’s alleged to have committed are part of the frame-up or things he really did.

Presumably the Empress is the one running the Principality of Zairon right now and about to get into a war with their neighbor. So Four’s future storyline is the classic trope of the fugitive prince on the run from the Usurper, looking to reclaim his rightful throne. Very Space Opera. I approve.

So to recapitulate the list of enemies that the crew has to be on the lookout for, so far we have…

• Ferrous Corp looking for payback for costing them the riches of their asteroid belt find.
• The Galactic Authority
• The real Jace Corso
• The Evil Dowager Empress of Zairon and her goons

… and we’re only up to episode 4!

[Terrafamilia]

My speculation is that One was one of those sent by that mining colony to go get help (he found the pendant in 'his' room) or had some interaction with them. The plan was to get aboard the Raza and sabotage their operation but something went wrong.

 

I'm thinking that the limited lifespan of the Transfer Transport clones might be more of a marketing and economics thing rather than a purely technical thing. I'm assuming customers would find it more acceptable if the travel by proxy clones with their memories/identity would never be anything more than temporary knock-offs (otherwise the technology involved could lead to all sorts of Dollhouse like complications). The juxtaposition of the commercial and Six being identified from a DNA sample may be a foreshadowing that he at least could be a biologically stable, cutting edge, high end clone. Possibly.

Did the other commercial that we only heard in the background have something to do with downloading experiences or something like that?

 

Two has firmly established herself as that now-required stock character, the badass female who can beat the crap out of most any and all males whether they be alone or in a group. To her credit she seemed almost as shocked by her autopilot behavior as Five was when the dust settled.

 

All in all this was the best episode yet. We fleshed out some backstory for Four and got in a little needed worldbuilding - there is subspace communication but ships like the Raza are either too small for a transceiver or its builders couldn't afford it. They still have a way to go but they are going in the right direction.

 

Next week - Zombies - IN SPAAAAACE!

[shapeshifter]

...This show could really do with some more light - right now it really lives up to its name (could be my crappy monitor though)....

That seems to happen a lot on shows that would otherwise have to spend more money on special effects and/or making the stunt people look like the actors who they are representing. I don't know for sure this is the reason, but it seems like it likely is.

...Not sure what to think of Three's game - it is in character. But why did it not occur to him that he might be a doppelgänger too?....

Because he missed the episode of SG1 when the team woke up on another planet as android clones? Heh.

Hey, maybe 1 is an android!

...Okay, I really think writers should try to come up with better names for supposedly shady economic entities: between Mr Robot's Evil Corp, Killjoys' mega-corp Company and now these multi-corps I tend to get a bit confused.

Wow. I'm not sure which is more amazing: that you did manage to note all three, or that the various creators managed to name them differently. Do the shows have interns that check these things or something?

[Mars477]

Huh, Two's fight scene was actually pretty decent, especially when you compare it with the one in the pilot which was absolutely abysmal.  Too bad the rest of her storyline kinda sucked.

 

Five is still annoyingly mopey.  Four is still annoyingly inscrutable.  One's acting is still annoyingly nonexistent.

 

And Three remains the most interesting part of the cast, mostly because the show saw fit to leave Roger Cross with nothing but filler for the entire episode.

[Shanna Marie]

So, One is now going to have to start voting with Three on everything. Yeah, that's not gonna look at all suspicious when they suddenly start agreeing on everything after agreeing on nothing. Dumbest reason ever not to share the potentially important piece of information they've learned. While yeah, having an imposter on board might be unsettling, is it any worse than him being a murderer? Might it not be somewhat reassuring that he might not be as bad as the real Jace? And shouldn't the others know that the real Jace is tracking them?

[DEM]

One and Jace wore different clothes.  Even if Android needs to be up close to detect lying, it's a bit of a cheat to have her notice that "One" had different hair, but not that "One" seemingly changed his clothes twice.

 

Is One's lying wholly precipitated on the idea that the rest of the crew would be suspicious of him?  Three seems to think so, but why listen to Three?  For someone who supposedly lives and breathes "empathy and concern" he is quick to withhold significant information from his comrades. And Three is the last person to be indebted to.

 

Five continues to bug me. Unfortunately, she has a habit of pairing up with characters I like a lot (Two and Six).  Pair her with One so I can zone out, please.

 

I'd also like to see more of the crew doing little things to figure out their histories. Someone mentioned a DNA scan of that dead boy. How about a complete exploration of the ship?  Sherlock Holmes would notice that Two has a very extensive (and pricey?) wardrobe -- which might indicate that she did, in fact, have some material wealth.  The writers want to stretch out the mystery, but that's no excuse for the characters not to be more curious and proactive, even if they come up empty.  Four has the right idea.

 

P.S. Is Android lonely?

Edited July 4, 2015 by DEM

[wayne67]

One and Jace wore different clothes.  Even if Android needs to be up close to detect lying, it's a bit of a cheat to have her notice that "One" had different hair, but not that "One" seemingly changed his clothes twice.

 

P.S. Is Android lonely?

 

To be fair last time the Android saw One he was leaving with 3 to find space hookers and sell weapons. It's not too unlikely that the Android thought it was because things got messy one way or another and changed clothes while the other clothes were dry cleaned (or whatever the space equivalent is). Or the android doesn't actually care about their actions after she got rebooted to default settings.

 

As to loneliness she? may not have an idling program any more or trying to be helpful due to her main programming.

Edited July 5, 2015 by wayne67

[Ely]

Is One's lying wholly precipitated on the idea that the rest of the crew would be suspicious of him? Three seems to think so, but why listen to Three? For someone who supposedly lives and breathes "empathy and concern" he is quick to withhold significant information from his comrades. And Three is the last person to be indebted to.

 

Yeah, totally agree. Plus, he clearly has Two on his side, and we can safely say that the others would give him the benefit of the doubt. And they would rather side with him than Three. So that part was a little contrived.

But he had it coming, 3 needs someone on his side and One made it very clear throughout the episode that no one trusts him. No wonders he cons his way through the whole thing.

 

I do think Android - who reminds me somehow of Willow from Buffy (I'm oldish) - is lonely. They will probably go the Pinocchio-route with her. That's ok, I didn't mind her in this ep. They just have to be careful with her because she easily gets too much .

 

I don't think Two is wearing the sexy and expensive looking clothes for plot reasons. They're just sexing her up because she's supposed to be the leader and main women and blah.

 

ETA: For someone who doesn't care about others Three was sure upset about One (or the others) not trusting him. What was that about?

Edited July 5, 2015 by Ely

[shapeshifter]

...ETA: For someone who doesn't care about others Three was sure upset about One (or the others) not trusting him. What was that about?

Ego? Insecurity? BTW, in addition to Jane from Firefly, he reminds me of O'Neill from SG1 and a little bit of John Chrichton from Farscape.

[MissLucas]

I'd say D'Argo is the closer blueprint for Three - but only early D'Argo. Crichton is what One would be if the writing for the character was a lot better. Remember Crichton also ended up on a ship with criminals being the one non-criminal (assuming One is the innocent he claims to be).

Three's sudden attack of feels because nobody likes him was a bit surprising. I suppose it was an attempt to humanize him a bit.

[shapeshifter]

I'd say D'Argo is the closer blueprint for Three - but only early D'Argo. Crichton is what One would be if the writing for the character was a lot better. Remember Crichton also ended up on a ship with criminals being the one non-criminal (assuming One is the innocent he claims to be).

Three's sudden attack of feels because nobody likes him was a bit surprising. I suppose it was an attempt to humanize him a bit.

Sorry, I should have clarified: I just meant the writers might have used Chrichton's swagger and talk as a template for 3. Actually, Browder played the Cam the same way on SG1.

[call me ishmael]

The show seems to be developing some real cracks in its plotting. The whole three/one business doesn't make sense (wouldn't people be just as apt to seize on the possibility that they too weren't bloodthirsty killers?); if Four is who everyone thinks he is then wouldn't the company have turned him in for a reward rather than sent him to fight the miners?; since they docked under fake registration how did fauxOne find the ship so easily?; and i also thought the android was a bit odd in not reacting to his arrival on the ship given how out of character he was (one day he is willing to risk his life to save the android the next he treats it as a pointless machine?).

I'm not convinced they really know what they are doing.

[miracole]

Too much One, I really like Six and I'm interested in Four's story.  This episode was a little boring though hope it picks up soon.

 

I don't know why they keep having everyone say Five's too young for this or that I know they have her dressing in the American Eagle starter pack but she doesn't really look that young.

Edited July 6, 2015 by miracole

[Hanahope]

I'm sure that at least one of those people will be some 'high-end' type clone alluded to in that marketing promotion, if not all of them.

 

Also agreed that 4 (or his real-life counterpart) did not kill his father, but was that dream of 5 and he's being framed.

 

A bit surprised that 1 and 3 didn't tell the others about the real Jace, that there theoretically could be other 'real-life' counterparts for the rest of them too.  You just know that 3 is going to blackmail 1 with that all the time.

 

"What's wrong with counting cards? WHAT'S WRONG WITH COUNTING CARDS?" Are you fricking shitting me? I have never gambled in my life, and I know that Casinos consider counting cards to be the worst thing ever.

 

Granted, I've never had a personal experience, but its my understanding that if a casino catches you doing that, while its technically not cheating, the casino will politely, but very firmly, ask you to leave the premises.  They may/probably will let you take your money that you won, but you're done there.  At a minimum, that casino will put you on a list to keep you from gambling there again and may even pass the word around to other casinos.

[Raja]

.

 

Granted, I've never had a personal experience, but its my understanding that if a casino catches you doing that, while its technically not cheating, the casino will politely, but very firmly, ask you to leave the premises.  They may/probably will let you take your money that you won, but you're done there.  At a minimum, that casino will put you on a list to keep you from gambling there again and may even pass the word around to other casinos.

True but like the fantasy throwback episode of Las Vegas and Dennis Quaid's Vegas where the mob was running the casinos around 1960 they broadcast the mob doing a bit more then just blacklisting a counter. And maybe not as much on Dark Matter as on its stablemate Killjoys we issue death warrants because the future like the American past is a bad, bad place where civil society as we know it does not exist

[Locutus]

Add me to the "huh?" about counting cards. If you're only keeping track of the cards that EVERYONE has seen, how is that against any rules?

[AzureOwl]

Add me to the "huh?" about counting cards. If you're only keeping track of the cards that EVERYONE has seen, how is that against any rules?

 

That's the thing, it's not. Because you have to understand that casinos are actually rigged to make sure you lose as much money as possible, both in real life and in fiction, so anything that actually even the odds and gives the player a chance of consistently winning is absolutely forbidden.

 

What the pit boss in this episode said about counting cards is basically the truth in the real world as well: it's considered cheating for no other reason than because the casinos say so. And yes, it is just as arbitrary as it sounds.

Edited July 6, 2015 by AzureOwl

[Wynterwolf]

Too much One, I really like Six and I'm interested in Four's story.  This episode was a little boring though hope it picks up soon.

 

Yeah, I think that's my biggest issue so far, they are spending waaaaay more time on the characters/storylines I am already bored with (One and Three) and very little time on the ones I'm actually entertained by (Four and Six, with a side of Two and Five)

[Hanahope]

What the pit boss in this episode said about counting cards is basically the truth in the real world as well: it's considered cheating for no other reason than because the casinos say so. And yes, it is just as arbitrary as it sounds.

 

That's why casinos will ask you to leave, but they can't have you arrested, because its not really cheating.  If someone is actually cheating, the casino could call the police, as that would be like theft.  But the casino can refuse to allow you into their establishment, as they have the right to refuse to provide service to anyone they want (for a non-discriminatory reason, of course).

[Mars477]

I think the idea was that the casino was mobbed up, considering how quickly the goons went to blades over batons.  In the old days, mob casinos would fuck cheaters or "cheaters" up before releasing them as a lesson.

 

These casinos would be unlikely to do that to do a couple random civilians though, especially two civilians who are a good looking woman and a teenaged girl who could easily get the attention of the local authorities.  And for card counters its much simpler just to blacklist them.

[Chicago Redshirt]

The show seems to be developing some real cracks in its plotting. The whole three/one business doesn't make sense (wouldn't people be just as apt to seize on the possibility that they too weren't bloodthirsty killers?); if Four is who everyone thinks he is then wouldn't the company have turned him in for a reward rather than sent him to fight the miners?; since they docked under fake registration how did fauxOne find the ship so easily?; and i also thought the android was a bit odd in not reacting to his arrival on the ship given how out of character he was (one day he is willing to risk his life to save the android the next he treats it as a pointless machine?).

I'm not convinced they really know what they are doing.

 

Jace explained how he found the ship so easily: he guessed that the ship would want to dock after dealing with the miners, and so he went to the space station nearest to the miners' planet. The misadventures in the last episode presumably gave Jace enough time to catch up with the ship while it was at the station or even arrive before the ship did. Once he's there, he can presumably monitor recently arrived/incoming ships either through computerized means or visual means and find one that matches the description of the Raza. Thus, it wouldn't matter if it docks under the Azar, or whatever. 

 

As for the corporation turning Four in, there are all sorts of possibilities. They may not know about Four's being wanted for that specific crime (after all, that newscast/warrant did not come up with Ann Droid did her search); they may not have initially known about Four being part of the crew (for instance, they may have contracted with Two, had Two recruit her own crew and not know about who all Two recruited for the job); they might be behind the assassination of Four's dad and thus not want Four to get caught; Four (or someone) might have paid them off to keep their mouths shut, etc.

 

I'm not sure that an android would pick up on what was out of character behavior in general. I also think that we have an advantage of thinking it's out-of-character behavior because we have access to information that she didn't, namely that the real One and Three were being held. People do contradictory and illogical things all the time. 

[call me ishmael]

Jace explained how he found the ship so easily: he guessed that the ship would want to dock after dealing with the miners, and so he went to the space station nearest to the miners' planet. The misadventures in the last episode presumably gave Jace enough time to catch up with the ship while it was at the station or even arrive before the ship did. Once he's there, he can presumably monitor recently arrived/incoming ships either through computerized means or visual means and find one that matches the description of the Raza. Thus, it wouldn't matter if it docks under the Azar, or whatever. 

 

As for the corporation turning Four in, there are all sorts of possibilities. They may not know about Four's being wanted for that specific crime (after all, that newscast/warrant did not come up with Ann Droid did her search); they may not have initially known about Four being part of the crew (for instance, they may have contracted with Two, had Two recruit her own crew and not know about who all Two recruited for the job); they might be behind the assassination of Four's dad and thus not want Four to get caught; Four (or someone) might have paid them off to keep their mouths shut, etc.

 

I'm not sure that an android would pick up on what was out of character behavior in general. I also think that we have an advantage of thinking it's out-of-character behavior because we have access to information that she didn't, namely that the real One and Three were being held. People do contradictory and illogical things all the time.

Perhaps. But since fauxOne apparently knew nothing of the Raza but its reputation i still think it is sloppy writing and the fact that you are able to come up with possible ways to get the writers out of the 4 jam (and props to being so imaginative) shows that you need to stretch. Good writing shouldn't demand that people come up with imaginative ways to cover up seeming problems. When viewers have to concoct scenarios to explain plot holes it is a warning sign. Although if we are lucky and the show is better written than i think it is perhaps the failure of the company will turn out to be a deliberate and telling choice. But do you really have confidence so far?

I'm not sure about your last point. Clearly the android is not contradictory and illogical. Are you suggesting that she would just have written off his out of character behavior as "oh, well you know those humans"?

[xfuse]

 

But since fauxOne apparently knew nothing of the Raza but its reputation

The audience doesn't know what fauxOne knew about the Razza before the mind wipe. He could have known everything including what was behind the door. He wanted on that ship for enough of a reason he changed his face to get on.

 

 

As for the corporation turning Four in, there are all sorts of possibilities. They may not know about Four's being wanted for that specific crime (after all, that newscast/warrant did not come up with Ann Droid did her search);

From my understanding is that the Razza doesn't work for the Corporation. They are mercs so the Corporation could have just the Razza name when they were hired. It seems Razza was the name that has the reputation. To the Corporation; Two and the rest are just bodies that work on the ship and are interchangeable. All they care about is getting a job done. Four may not even been present at any of the meetings.

 

When the Android did the search they only had the limited data from the ship. One of the 'oh crap' things they lost when they ran from the station was that they didn't use the database to get more data on everyone and everything.

[call me ishmael]

The audience doesn't know what fauxOne knew about the Razza before the mind wipe. He could have known everything including what was behind the door. He wanted on that ship for enough of a reason he changed his face to get on.

I'm sorry, i was unclear. When i was talking about fauxOne i wasn't talking about the guy who is the crew member but the real Jace. To me, since he is not "One" he is the faux if that helps.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Perhaps. But since fauxOne apparently knew nothing of the Raza but its reputation i still think it is sloppy writing and the fact that you are able to come up with possible ways to get the writers out of the 4 jam (and props to being so imaginative) shows that you need to stretch. Good writing shouldn't demand that people come up with imaginative ways to cover up seeming problems. When viewers have to concoct scenarios to explain plot holes it is a warning sign. Although if we are lucky and the show is better written than i think it is perhaps the failure of the company will turn out to be a deliberate and telling choice. But do you really have confidence so far?

I'm not sure about your last point. Clearly the android is not contradictory and illogical. Are you suggesting that she would just have written off his out of character behavior as "oh, well you know those humans"?

I think we are told explicitly that he had been trying to track the Raza for some time, and that he knew that the Raza was supposed to go to the mining planet. 

 

Armed with that, it seems like a reasonable guess that they'd have to refuel, and that they'd choose the nearest space station to the mining colony to do it.

 

With regard to Four, I am willing to let the writers have some time to have an explanation unfold. I agree with you that it's an open question what is going on with Four, but am willing to cut the writers slack till they address it.

 

With regard to Ann Droid, I was saying that human beings have a higher level of emotional intelligence than her. Her level of emotional intelligence, not to mention her level of independence, are pretty low. She seems to have mostly relied on crew members giving her instructions or asking her a question and then doing what they've told her to do or giving a response. The only times I can recall her acting on her own is when she initially attacked the crew, and when she defibbed whichever crew member she helped revive.

 

We as viewers don't really know what the baseline personalities are of most of the crew, much less any of the characters. So we can't really say for sure that Jace-as-One is acting out of character for One.

 

But for discussion's sake, let's say that One would be unlikely to behave as Jace did.

 

Even if we had not expressly been shown that Jace and One are different people and that it was Jace who had come for the guns and was all snippity, we humans might have be able to see "This person who looks like One isn't acting like One has in the past. At a minimum, I should ask him what's up."

 

It makes sense to me that Ann Droid would not necessarily pick up on those cues, and even if it did, would not take further action unless given a directive. If Two asked her, "Does One seem strange to you?" I could see her saying "Earlier, I encountered him, and his heart rate was 10 percent above normal, as were his pheromones."

[call me ishmael]

Hope you are correct about the writers. I'm not seeing it yet. The characters seem like cliches.

[maczero]

So, One is now going to have to start voting with Three on everything. Yeah, that's not gonna look at all suspicious when they suddenly start agreeing on everything after agreeing on nothing. Dumbest reason ever not to share the potentially important piece of information they've learned. While yeah, having an imposter on board might be unsettling, is it any worse than him being a murderer? 

In a way, yes.  Knowing Jace is a murderer puts him in the same boat as the rest of the criminals.  If Jace is an undercover cop or a bounty hunter, then he's an actual threat to the crew.

 

 

I don't know why they keep having everyone say Five's too young for this or that I know they have her dressing in the American Eagle starter pack but she doesn't really look that young.

Depends on what you consider young.  When the show first started, I pegged her as someone in her late teens to early twenties.  Which still fits in with being called a kid by most people over thirty.  However, her mannerisms in the last two episodes indicate that she's supposed to be a minor.  I imagine the show wants us to believe she's 15-16.

[tennisgurl]

While looking at 5, I would peg her as late teens or early 20s, she comes off as younger than that, maybe closer to 15. I could see that. 

 

So we are getting a little more information on our crew...kind of.

 

I`m guessing four was set up, and is in hiding from his evil Empress mother. One is maybe some kind of bounty hunter or space cop? Maybe he was looking to catch someone else who was on the ship? 

 

I actually really like One and Three together. They should clearly get trapped in dangerous situations together more often. It does wonders for both of them.

 

I am still hoping for this show to cross over with Killjoys. 

[Reishe]

I also liked that they adressed the clone issue - for a moment it looked as if that was going to be the answer to everybody's identity but then Evil Eyeliner One smashed that by mentioning clones' limited lifespan. (Unless the crew are of course some very special prototypes.)

 

Let's not forget that we first learned about this from the commercial that Six saw in the waiting room: the disposable clones for faux-transporting only last for 72 hours.

And then the Casino storyline. ...

"What's wrong with counting cards? WHAT'S WRONG WITH COUNTING CARDS?" Are you fricking shitting me?

Even if Two had never heard that counting cards was a no-no, the first rule in being a wanted fugitive on a strange station is Don't Attract Unnecessary Attention. Win a little, deliberately lose a hand, and walk away. Come back later if you have to, with a different hair style and maybe a jacket. Don't win big. I was so disappointed b/c so far they've portrayed her as the leader with a cool head and common sense.

 

...This show could really do with some more light - right now it really lives up to its name (could be my crappy monitor though)....

That seems to happen a lot on shows that would otherwise have to spend more money on special effects and/or making the stunt people look like the actors who they are representing.

I agree that low lighting helps the set designers. but I also believe that this is partly because today's generation of scifi showrunners grew up on Star Trek, and they've all embraced the pushback that the spacey future won't be clean and shiny and well-lit. I think they see it as a badge of gritty realism.

Edited July 21, 2015 by Reishe

[AudienceofOne]

the first rule in being a wanted fugitive on a strange station is Don't Attract Unnecessary Attention.

 

 

She even gave them all a Don't Attract Unnecessary Attention lecture before they went aboard. 

 

I think the writers were shooting for a 'wacky' Farscape "everybody gets into trouble on space station" episode but the tone just wasn't right. As for the subtlety of 6 sitting in the doctor's surgery hearing the "Ad of Pertinent Exposition", that was really really clunky.

 

I actually really like One and Three together. They should clearly get trapped in dangerous situations together more often. It does wonders for both of them.

 

 

Agreed.

I think they see it as a badge of gritty realism.

 

 

That in no way extends to their perfect makeup, coiffed hair and designer outfits that perfectly reflect the character's personalities. Or was 5's outfit stored in the "Waifs R Us" locker.

 

Gripes aside, I'm enjoying this. It just needs to be a little more rounded and a little more fun.

[CletusMusashi]

I'm enjoying the show, but that was the least futuristic looking space station that I have ever seen.

I mean, the sets and wardrobe were so wrong-genre that I felt like I was watching a holodeck adventure. 

[Kuther2000]

I just binge watched the first season. I was wondering did anyone notice that the computer screen when six was at the doctor's office. It said his race was African American. Now, we don't know where he was born but I seriously doubt he would be from America especially with future information.

[sjohnson]

If you have a gene fetish, African Americans by an large are distinct from African populations because of mixing. I think their big mistake there was taking the notion of "race" seriously as something that would last indefinitely. It's hard enough to believe that corporations will take us to the stars, without adding genetic determinism to the mix. Especially in this show, where there is supposed to be the possibility that these characters can choose to change, instead of their personalities being a biological inevitability.