S02.E04: We Were Family

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Three reconnects with his former crew; the Android finds herself in unique company.

 

 

[MissLucas]

And another sneak-peek

Spoiler

That pretty much looks as if Five back in 1.6 when she was memory-tripping as a farm-boy was not experiencing One's memories but Three's. Since she had told Six she did not recognize the boy's face in the mirror most of us had assumed it must have been One. This would also explain why Three was adjusting pretty fast to life in the wild with Sara. Well played show.

[SimoneS]

I don't get how the crew is trusting these new people so much.

I figured that Five stole the card back when she hugged him.

Three is the fastest draw in the galaxy. Great to see Nigel Bennett is still working.

At least Two and Four miss One. I miss him.

Good to see the Android getting some love.

[Chaos Theory]

Is anyone else really impressed with this season so far.

I liked that the farm memory from last season belonged to Three after all.  

Yes Androids storyline has been done a thousand times most recently an entire series is based on the idea (Humans) but it is still a good one and I thought it was done especially well.  

Five is continuing to be the boss of season 2.  Extorting Three and then picking Whats his faces pocket to get the key back.   She is turning into a right and proper criminal. 

[wanderingstar]

"I can't help but think I've been a terrible influence on you. I have mixed feelings about that."

Don't know how they did it, but Three has become one of my favorite parts of this show.

So Android found fellow androids. Interesting. I am guessing that won't be the last we see of them. I wonder if they have anything to do with Commander Nieman's comment that a war is coming (e.g., a war between the androids and the humans)

I want to know what Devon injected himself with.

So happy Six is back! 

And I'm guessing Arax won't be let back on the ship after trying to steal the time travel key from Five's quarters (kudos to Five for sneakily getting it back).

Ooh, next week,

Spoiler

the return of Jace Corso!

 

Edited July 23, 2016 by Gillian Rosh

[thuganomics85]

Glad to a Three-centric episode.  Still can't believe that I almost despited him in the pilot, because he's really become one of my favorite characters on the show now.  Not surprised, but glad that it was his memories of the farm that Five was seeing back in season one.  Also saw the "had a gun drawn under the table the entire bit" coming, but that was still a good way to take out his "mentor."

Totally suspected that something was up with Five hugging Arax, so her stealing the key back was expected, but still fun.  She really is coming into her own, now.  It's almost scary how easily she can manipulate someone, if she puts her mind to it.  Everyone underestimates her.

Android's new story totally reminds me of AMC/BBC's Humans.  I'll see how it goes, but I'm kind of hoping she doesn't take the chip, since I was never a fan of Zoie Palmer's performance on Lost Girl, so I think the reason I like her here is because she's better at playing a more robotic character then a normal one, for a lack of a better word.

So, Devon is some kind of junkie, huh?  And Nyx has some kind of special ability that makes things slowdown whenever she fights, so she can better predict what her opponent will do.  Interesting!  And so think Four was kind of getting into her.

Six is finally back.  Liked his interactions with Two, but I have to think it might take the rest of the crew longer to move past what he did.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

So, pretty much all the (original) crew, despite having major criminal records, were 'made' that way by extenuating circumstances in their life prior to acquiring their records; ie., they weren't actually born (or manufactured) and lived with the intent to be bad/ruthless people.  Don't know why, but the idea that not one single person is an actual criminal, just because they want to be, seems kinda very boring to me.  Hell even Five had bad luck early in her life, which got her into living off the streets to pick-pocketing to stowing away on the Raza before it started the 'kill the colonists' mission.  Really think this is where they could[/should] have had Corso come back as a regular, to 'fill a void', but seems like he's only just going to be a spotty guest star (at least the rest of this season).

"A war is coming".  Or basically all the rival corporations will start outright fighting each other.  How very cliche.  *yawn*

Terra Prime, ie Earth, was established in canon tonight - and Two/'Rebecca' was there at one time.  That is nice & interesting to know.

Dislike this opinion all you want, but I find myself liking and looking forward to the Android's scenes & storylines as much or more than the rest of them.  Actually quite interested in seeing her use that 'humanity chip'.  And now we find out that someone made her 'special'.  Can't help it, I'm intrigued about her and that upcoming storyline. 

[zxy556575]

My guess is that Seven (heh) is sick, but junkie is also a possibility.

Oh, Three, you murdering bastard. I liked him hitting Five up for a loan and telling her not to touch his guns. He's becoming quite the exasperated big brother to her.

Android, the (former) One, and Two are my favorite characters, but Five is coming on strong this season. Well, I pretty much love the show unconditionally and have since the pilot.

[Wryly]

Nyx can magically become a master at any weapon, with no training? No fair. No fair, madam. And combat slows down for her?

And how the hell did Three win that standoff? It was three against one at nearly point blank range. He didn't even seem to be wounded after.

[AlliMo]

2 hours ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

So, pretty much all the (original) crew, despite having major criminal records, were 'made' that way by extenuating circumstances in their life prior to acquiring their records; ie., they weren't actually born (or manufactured) and lived with the intent to be bad/ruthless people.  Don't know why, but the idea that not one single person is an actual criminal, just because they want to be, seems kinda very boring to me. 

If they committed criminal acts, then they were criminals. Nobody is born a criminal - circumstances+choices is how criminals become criminals. Showing what circumstances and choices led them to become criminals is character development.

[SimoneS]

That the android's flaws were deliberately programmed adds a new element of mystery to her story. I am sure that we will meet her programmer in the future and find out why.

[Raja]

6 hours ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

.

Dislike this opinion all you want, but I find myself liking and looking forward to the Android's scenes & storylines as much or more than the rest of them.  Actually quite interested in seeing her use that 'humanity chip'.  And now we find out that someone made her 'special'.  Can't help it, I'm intrigued about her and that upcoming storyline. 

I just hope that they don't go the Star Trek TNG movie route with Data having an on/off switch. One thing I noticed the undercover android did kiss her with her neck registration visible with the rest of the people paying no mind that the dude was kissing the equipment. Since Almost Human pushed its "bang bot" episode forward breaking their own story line to add sex I have come to the theory that the first  reason for the human form robot would be the sex industry, Maybe I should have known when Data announced he was fully functional in the second TNG episode.. It would be much easier and useful for your robot running a starship to be running around on 8 legs

 

A couple of enhanced humans, a android exploring humanity, ex cop disgusted with the man, a kid and even a royal on the run. This show is hitting every angle

[sjohnson]

Three won because he's magic when the plot needs him to be. That's obnoxious enough. But my BS detector really rang when Nigel Bennett tried to kill Boone for no reason except it allowed Boone to kill him without actually being a premeditated murderer. You don't try to manipulate someone with a story like that, then don't wait to see how it worked. Then after all that effort to make Boone sympathetic (yes, killing someone is intended to make someone attractive by making them a winner...see Five in Kill Them All,) they mess up by having him just tell the kid he'll take him home. The kid's old home is gone, just as surely as if Boone burned it down. And no, I don't think the script killing off the others quite makes Boone a redeemer. On the one hand, he's making jokes about Five/Emily being influenced by him (really?) but he doesn't notice how awkward it was with the kid whose father was murdered in his crime? The character is really just such a random sequence of moments to me. He's so arbitrary it seems fitting that no one can explain why these people actually bothered to invite him along.

Mike Dopud is personable, but I'm tired of Arax. 

Nix Nyx, as far as I'm concerned.

"Devon" as Five/Emily's love interest? Well, depends on who he is I suppose. What is he in prison for?

[MissLucas]

Well, Five came finally clear about the stolen key and how she came on-board. That's good. And I knew that hug was Five returning to her old pick-pocket days, though I wondered how she knew. But she's really one step ahead of everybody else these days which considering all that has happened to her recently isn't that surprising.

I guess Devon has a drug/addiction problem. Not the most interesting plot but maybe there's more to it. At least he knows that staying on the Raza is a dangerous decision to make. Arrax on the other hand seems to have lost his place on the ship already. Unless they decide to come after him in order to get to the folks behind him. Speaking of which I thought evil general dude (who will always remain Olivier with the freak tail for me) had been killed in the pilot.

While Nyx' fighting skills are mysterious and set up another riddle for this season, I was much more impressed and actually amused by her social skills when she manipulated that clerk/sales assistant into doing their research work for them. (Was that a British accent out of nowhere?). Almost as good was Two's WTF face during that scene. Probably the first time Two made me laugh. And was that the first time someone mentioned earth on this show?

Three's mentor knew the jig was up when Three returned alone so him pulling a gun on Three made sense for me without that being a plot device to give Three an excuse to kill him. I would also have been okay with Three killing him without such a narrative 'trigger'. It was an intriguing plot because Three chose to become a different person than he used to by refusing to go along with the team's plan. But the murders of the team and of his mentor - though they can be justified - shows that shaking off your past is not quite as easy. It fits into the overall theme of the crew trying to find redemption yet leaving behind a trail of bodies.

And the Android got a Pretty Woman shopping trip! (Well almost - but it was still awesome. Still waiting for the hair to come down.) The rebel Android faction will sure come back. But I do hope the Android does not use the chip. I'd much rather see her explore her path on her own and see how far she comes with her original (not) flawed design. The toothbrush was for Five? I really wanted to see that play out but there was no time I guess. I also think those scenes were some of Zoe Palmer's best work on the show so far. (And on a side-note: the Android disappears for several hours and nobody on the crew seems to care? Yes, they knew she wanted to explore the station but given how often the Raza gets into major trouble because the Android is out of it you have to wonder about their relaxed attitude with her taking a stroll when her model is clearly not designed for blending in.)

Another excellent episode. I must say the show is really stepping up its game this season.

Edited July 23, 2016 by MissLucas

[Chaos Theory]

Quote

Well, Five came finally clear about the stolen key and how she came on-board. That's good. And I knew that hug was Five returning to her old pick-pocket days, though I wondered how she knew. But she's really one step ahead of everybody else these days which considering all that has happened to her recently isn't that surprising.

They had been suspicious of Arax and Two asked Five (or possibly all the original crew) to keep an eye on him  Five bugged her own room so when she saw Arax enter she knew he was up to something.   Hell they are probably suspicious of all the new people.  They are all criminals after all so keeping an eye out is actually smart.  

[GenieinTX]

11 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Android's new story totally reminds me of AMC/BBC's Humans.  I'll see how it goes, but I'm kind of hoping she doesn't take the chip, since I was never a fan of Zoie Palmer's performance on Lost Girl, so I think the reason I like her here is because she's better at playing a more robotic character then a normal one, for a lack of a better word.

 

I hated her and her character on Lost Girl.  I also am liking her so much better here.   That black dress was a little too much of a throwback to LG.  However, I do like this story.  I watched Humans also but kind of don't mind they are retelling it.  But I don't want her to go full on human, at least not for a while.  I like her so much better as robotic.

Go Five.  She's like the cutest badass in the galaxy. 

[FormerMod-a1]

Since I don't watch Humans, it reminded me more of Data/Lore (Star Trek TNG) and Cyclons (BSG reboot).

[Impish Dragon]

8 hours ago, lordonia said:

My guess is that Seven (heh) is sick, but junkie is also a possibility.

 

My mother and I were talking and thinking Android is Seven.  Then realized that with the addition of the two newbies, this would make Android, Seven of Nine.  

[atomationage]

8 hours ago, lordonia said:

My guess is that Seven (heh) is sick, but junkie is also a possibility.

I also think the Android should be Seven.  I thought the androids were the best part of this episode.  I dread watching more backstories for the newbies.  The name of this episode could have been Space Cowboy Three.  So Nyx has a superpower, Arax is an easy mark, and Devon is a junky. . I don't really care.   It looked liked they were showing a different actor playing Derrick Moss on the news.  They've lost the sexual tension between Two and One.  I don't see pairing her up with anyone currently on the screen.  Three is not leading man material, IMO.  Four and his stupid ninja fights are boring me.  Five has grown up a lot, but she still seems too innocent for Devon.  I've glad Six is back.  He could be the main character if they would allow it.   .I hope the next episode is better than this.

I finally finished watching Lost Girl.  I don't know why I kept watching, except probably hoping for a better ending. 

[Chaos Theory]

Lost Girl was pretty Good for the first few seasons and I love the actress who plays Android.  Almost all shows with robots/androids as leads do the ho sentient are they really.  What does that make humans when they develop free will? 

[tennisgurl]

This season has really stepped up its game from last season. I liked last season pretty well, but I wanted more world building and character development. This season has given us plenty of both, and, as I have said before, it seems like the cast has finally gelled, plus the newbies are likable enough to stick with, at least for awhile. 

I love the relationship between Three and Five, especially in this episode. Their big brother/little sister dynamic is really cute, and I found her concern for and his fondness for her to be really endearing. Three might be my favorite character these days, which is pretty impressive considering how much he annoyed him when the show first started. I liked getting his backstory, even if it was a sad one. I think it fit him really well. 

I assume mentor guy knew that Three was going to kill him, so thats why he tried to take the shot before he could. 

Yea, Six is back from filming some other show in Canada! Missed you!

[sjohnson]

The kid is basically Boone himself, a child at the mercy of the man who basically killed his father. Quite aside from the dangers of crossfire and stray shots, Nigel Bennett could have threatened the kid the moment the door opened, and he knew it. So I have to wonder again why he took the shot before he found out if the story worked. If he never thought it would, there are better ploys, like threatening to kill the kid. You have to wonder what he wanted from Boone in the first place.

Crap like this is exactly why they would have restored their memories.

Edited July 23, 2016 by sjohnson

[themadman]

5 hours ago, MissLucas said:

While Nyx' fighting skills are mysterious and set up another riddle for this season, I was much more impressed and actually amused by her social skills when she manipulated that clerk/sales assistant into doing their research work for them. (Was that a British accent out of nowhere?). 

 

The actress is actually British so it's her American accent that's fake. :)

[MissLucas]

Ah thanks! I'm not a native speaker so I wasn't sure if I had not just imagined the accent-switch. Nice to know that even in the distant future a British accent can be useful.

[Terrafamilia]

When mandroid asked our womandroid if he could kiss her and she blurted out her chirpy little "yes" almost before he could finish asking, I cracked up. I'd hate for her to loose her upbeat dispassionate frankness if she were to use the emo-chip.

I don't know if it's an acting choice or not since I haven't seen her on anything else but I kept wanting to tell her to stand up straight.

[Uncle Benzene]

Well hello there, Zoie Palmer. How you doin'? Mercy.

I thought the Nyx/Four sparring was all kinds of hot.

And Three is about halfway to Sawyer at this point, no? Seems way more Sawyer than Jayne these days, anyway.

[ottoDbusdriver]

11 hours ago, lordonia said:

My guess is that Seven (heh) is sick, but junkie is also a possibility.

My money is on junkie -- especially with his response AFTER taking the shot.

11 hours ago, Wryly said:

Nyx can magically become a master at any weapon, with no training? No fair. No fair, madam. And combat slows down for her?

I'm thinking that Nyx might be an android with those kind of adaptive skills.

4 minutes ago, Uncle Benzene said:

I thought the Nyx/Four sparring was all kinds of hot.

It was pretty hot.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

13 hours ago, AlliMo said:

If they committed criminal acts, then they were criminals. Nobody is born a criminal - circumstances+choices is how criminals become criminals. Showing what circumstances and choices led them to become criminals is character development.

Very true - and I could have worded my original statement better - but I personally just find it just the slightest bit boring that not one single person is a criminal because they were just a bad person all their life [ie, their 'brains were wired wrong'] and did horrible things for their own amusement or choice.  Now that would be a potential storyline, IMO;  if the rest of the crew found out that one of them was an actual sadistic criminal just for the hell of it before the memory wipe and then keep it a secret (or try to) while doing all they could to make sure that person never regained their past memories & personality.

Just my own little "if I were the creator/a script-writer" fantasy of the show as a whole.

[Wouter]

18 hours ago, Gillian Rosh said:

"I can't help but think I've been a terrible influence on you. I have mixed feelings about that."

Don't know how they did it, but Three has become one of my favorite parts of this show.

So Android found fellow androids. Interesting. I am guessing that won't be the last we see of them. I wonder if they have anything to do with Commander Nieman's comment that a war is coming (e.g., a war between the androids and the humans)

I want to know what Devon injected himself with.

So happy Six is back! 

And I'm guessing Arax won't be let back on the ship after trying to steal the time travel key from Five's quarters (kudos to Five for sneakily getting it back).

 

Three has really become a nice character, allthough that started around ep 5 of season 1. He started showing depth then, by not betraying One's secret.

Commander Nieman is most likely referring to a hot war between the major corporations (Mikkei being an obvious opponent for Ferris Corp, but Traugott and others may also join the fray). Arguably, such a war has been looming in the background ever since the pilot episode concluded with Mikkei stealing Ferris' thunder, due to the Raza switching sides.

My initial impression was that Devon is a junkie. No doubt we will find out what's that all about. Luckily it didn't mean the operation went wrong.

Arax is off the ship. I have to say, I'm surprised he got off alive (assuming Reynaud didn't have him killed for failing his assignment). I don't object to Mike Dopud returning later, there seems to be unfinished business here.

16 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

And Nyx has some kind of special ability that makes things slowdown whenever she fights, so she can better predict what her opponent will do.  Interesting!  And so think Four was kind of getting into her.

Six is finally back.  Liked his interactions with Two, but I have to think it might take the rest of the crew longer to move past what he did.

The conversation between Six and Two was golden. Considering Two has the most reason to be angry with Six (other than maybe Five), her forgiveness/understanding is remarkable (and quite a change from her Portia Lin persona). After all, as leader of the crew Two was beaten by Six' manipulations in the final game, he made her turn on One, made Five turn on herself and then finally got the shockstick treatment by him. And yet she is quite happy to have him back. So am I, would love to have Six back as part of the team.

I'm glad that they addressed Nyx' uncanny combat ability, and as it turns out she seems to have some super-abilities of her own. And from her description, it's not similar to what Two is/does with her nanites.

I also wonder why Nyx was in prison. It's still possible that she has an agenda that will only come out by the end of the season.

13 hours ago, Wryly said:

And how the hell did Three win that standoff? It was three against one at nearly point blank range. He didn't even seem to be wounded after.

Three was always like the dreaded gunslingers from old westerns. I guess we're supposed to think that he is just that fast/good, and if he was smart he may have been wearing a bulletproof vest.

9 hours ago, SimoneS said:

That the android's flaws were deliberately programmed adds a new element of mystery to her story. I am sure that we will meet her programmer in the future and find out why.

I'm not wild about the direction the show may be taking the Android (I prefer her robotic ways, like others wrote), but it was nice to get an indication (I'm not 100% sure yet we can take the word of the humanlike Android as gospel) that there is no malfunction. The origins of the Android, and from the Raza as well, remain mysterious.

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

This season has really stepped up its game from last season. I liked last season pretty well, but I wanted more world building and character development. This season has given us plenty of both, and, as I have said before, it seems like the cast has finally gelled, plus the newbies are likable enough to stick with, at least for awhile.

I think the cast gelled well in S1. When they dined together in a space station in ep8 last year (the infamous "transfer transit" episode), the interaction between One, Two, Three and Four was really convincing IMO.

3 hours ago, sjohnson said:

The kid is basically Boone himself, a child at the mercy of the man who basically killed his father. Quite aside from the dangers of crossfire and stray shots, Nigel Bennett could have threatened the kid the moment the door opened, and he knew it. So I have to wonder again why he took the shot before he found out if the story worked. If he never thought it would, there are better ploys, like threatening to kill the kid. You have to wonder what he wanted from Boone in the first place.

 

My feelings about this episode are a bit mixed, and part of it is indeed that it isn't 100% clear why Bennett's character wanted Boone back with them and involved in that particular case. I get that he used to be a willing accomplice and that Bennett's character may have taken pride in that, but it was very risky to first lie to Boone and then involve him in a hostage situation. It also seemed to go very quickly from setup (the last seconds of ep3) to being resolved; I think a plot like that ideally needs a few episodes (or even a season-long arc) to really get a payoff, which would allow Boone to find out the truth only after some time with them. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

I'm trying to figure out who's closet Five is stealing those awful Xmas sweaters from.  I thought this was the future.

[Chaos Theory]

Quote

I'm trying to figure out who's closet Five is stealing those awful Xmas sweaters from.  I thought this was the future.

Bad fashion is eternal?  

Quote

My feelings about this episode are a bit mixed, and part of it is indeed that it isn't 100% clear why Bennett's character wanted Boone back with them and involved in that particular case. I get that he used to be a willing accomplice and that Bennett's character may have taken pride in that, but it was very risky to first lie to Boone and then involve him in a hostage situation. It also seemed to go very quickly from setup (the last seconds of ep3) to being resolved; I think a plot like that ideally needs a few episodes (or even a season-long arc) to really get a payoff, which would allow Boone to find out the truth only after some time with them. 

I think it was simply a case of Bennett believing that Boone had "redeemed" him by forgiving him for killing his parents.  I do agree that the story could have been a two parter showing the two of them acting like they probably use to only to have the bottom fall out.  However the episode did what it wanted to do.  Show that Boone/Three had an ideal life before Bennett killed his parents and he was made not born that way.  

In alot of ways this episode could have been called  "Born This Way.".  Both Boone and Android learned alot about themselves.  Boone wasn't  born a criminal bastard jerk he was made one and nothing went wrong with Android programming.  She was "born" this way.    

Edited July 24, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[MissLucas]

10 hours ago, Wouter said:

My feelings about this episode are a bit mixed, and part of it is indeed that it isn't 100% clear why Bennett's character wanted Boone back with them and involved in that particular case. I get that he used to be a willing accomplice and that Bennett's character may have taken pride in that, but it was very risky to first lie to Boone and then involve him in a hostage situation. It also seemed to go very quickly from setup (the last seconds of ep3) to being resolved; I think a plot like that ideally needs a few episodes (or even a season-long arc) to really get a payoff, which would allow Boone to find out the truth only after some time with them. 

I wonder if they will go back to Three's backstory. There is some interesting (i.e. awful) trauma there. The dynamic between him and Tanner must have been close to the one of a kidnapping victim who spent years with his/her kidnapper and came to accept him as a father figure out of sheer survival-instinct. And they often go to great length to please their kidnappers and all sorts of emotional lines get blurred.

When Tanner claimed that Boone hat forgiven him there was a flicker of conflict in Boone's eyes - maybe he had to kill Tanner in order to not think too much about that particular aspect of his past. From an outside perspective it's easy to say: 'You were just a kid. Classic case of Stockholm syndrom.' But if you're the person affected it can't be that easy to brush off. Especially not when it seems you went the extra mile without being prodded to do so. I'm not sure the writers are willing to go that deep but I would be damned impressed if they do.

Edited July 24, 2016 by MissLucas

[DEM]

On 7/23/2016 at 3:21 PM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

I personally just find it just the slightest bit boring that not one single person is a criminal because they were just a bad person all their life [ie, their 'brains were wired wrong'] and did horrible things for their own amusement or choice.

Two was the perfect candidate for this.  After all, as Dr Frankenstein showed us, building a person on a lab bench is not a great recipe for stable mental health.  I guess she is kind of like this, what with the intermittent bursts of homicidal violence. OTOH, she's the empathetic commander and the one who's most resistant to getting her memories back. I don't know what that's supposed to mean. Irony, I guess?

[krimimimi]

On July 24, 2016 at 0:26 AM, Wouter said:

My feelings about this episode are a bit mixed, and part of it is indeed that it isn't 100% clear why Bennett's character wanted Boone back with them and involved in that particular case. I get that he used to be a willing accomplice and that Bennett's character may have taken pride in that, but it was very risky to first lie to Boone and then involve him in a hostage situation. It also seemed to go very quickly from setup (the last seconds of ep3) to being resolved; I think a plot like that ideally needs a few episodes (or even a season-long arc) to really get a payoff, which would allow Boone to find out the truth only after some time with them. 

Given the short seasons, I'm fine with some accelerated or truncated storylines, so the primary focus remains on the interactions between our characters (including the new additions) and not a *lot* of time spent on others, like Android's new friends, or Three's old team. (Though I *do* like that they spend a chunk of their budget on people instead of effects. That generally makes a more interesting story for me.)

I suspect there was some truth in Tanner seeing a form of redemption in raising Boone. And if that's the case, I bet there would also be a kind of relief in seeing Three was apparently still criminal even without any memory of Tanner. With no memories of Tanner or Boone's parents, Three, on the surface, still seems to be pretty much the same old Boone, as we saw last week. What a relief it could be to think you apparently didn't cause that. 

What Tanner will have missed is that lack of memories of something isn't the same as its lack of influence, because that is still there, even if diminished: the reality Three currently finds himself in is partly so because of Tanner. Three is a wanted criminal with the options of a wanted criminal available to him. That definitely limits his choices and will drive some decisions. Not remembering Tanner's contribution to that doesn't change many of its effects. The Raza's crew may have woken with no memories, but the situations they are responding to (at least initially) are created entirely from those other, unknown lives. (Sort of like Scott Bakula's character on "Quantum Leap" - "Oh boy.")

Somewhat perversely, I'm also fine with not completely understanding Tanner's motivations, because it puts us in the same boat as Three. (But it would be problematic for me if they took advantage of that too often.) The crew will on occasion find themselves in situations where, with a very imperfect understanding of everyone's roles, they will need to make decisions that could cost them or others their lives. How they navigate that will be what determines what kind of people they're becoming.

The crew remains handicapped, now also by their own choices to not regain their memories (at least for the moment), when dealing with people they used to know. But the flip side of that is they are no longer behaving quite predictably in terms of their past behavior, and that will cause some problems for those other people as well. This illustrated that quite nicely. (Another example recently was Six shooting his friend and colleague in 2x01. They don't have the emotional ties to their past experiences to weight their decisions, even if they have the knowledge of those lives. We were friends / We were family.)

Last week, Three found that rocket ship in his lockbox that we see his mother hand him in the beginning of this episode, so I do believe the old Boone remembered his past and was at least somewhat aware of the problematic nature of his relationship with Tanner. By the time he would have been able to act on that, he may well have been too far gone (Stockholm Syndrome) or in too deep to want to, but otoh, he did save that toy as one of his few possessions. We also don't know the truth of how he was left by them for dead. I loved that he didn't try to chase answers he was never going to get from Tanner or his crew. Three could ask all he wanted, he would never be able to trust their answers, and I hate when shows pretend otherwise. 

Finally, I kind of like their new simplified world view. They seem to be interested in pursuing a form of justice - for One, or here for Boone's parents. That in a system with a death penalty (Four was to be executed, iirc, for patricide/treasonous acts) that justice, particularly when executed by criminals, can be deadly should come as no surprise.

[call me ishmael]

I thought this was a disappointment after the previous weeks.  Basically we are now advanced along the Data plotline (will Brent Spiner play her creator?), now have a more explicit but predictable war is coming (do they have winter in space?), and something to do with earth prime (so i guess it will turn out that 2 is the result of a Foundation experiment having gone wrong).  But at least we found out a bit more about 3 (whose improvement i think is that he is no longer forced to play off of One but gets to play off against Five).  

But nothing that really sets up the world any better or really moves the plot along.  And next week we are sruck with Jace Corso again.

I do wonder if Five isn't significant in some way besides the fact that she stole the key.  I can't help but think (or maybe hope) that Evil Corporate Lady really meant it when she said "there you are princess."

[FurryFury]

I didn't mind Android's storyline for completely shallow reasons: the Mandroid (love the name!) is hella hot. 

Quote

I do wonder if Five isn't significant in some way besides the fact that she stole the key.  I can't help but think (or maybe hope) that Evil Corporate Lady really meant it when she said "there you are princess."

I hope not. We already have a space prince in Four.

[Wryly]

I was a bit of a nervous wreck when the Android was around all the other ascended androids. For a killing machine, she is pretty innocent and vulnerable to manipulation. I was worried they were just out to exploit her. She was separated from the crew and the android gang could have captured her at any time, really. I'm looking forward to what she acts like when she installs the chip, though. Assuming it functions as advertised.

On 7/23/2016 at 3:33 PM, ottoDbusdriver said:

My money is on junkie -- especially with his response AFTER taking the shot.

Yeah, and he seemed to hesitate guiltily before injecting it, too. I've been waiting for his dirt to surface. So far he's been acting like a blond version of One, but he wasn't thrown in prison for saving puppies from burning buildings. Or, hell, maybe he was. I could see one of the corporations putting him in jail for that so long as the puppies belonged to a rival company.

On 7/23/2016 at 7:03 PM, ottoDbusdriver said:

I'm trying to figure out who's closet Five is stealing those awful Xmas sweaters from.  I thought this was the future.

Five gets dressed every morning by aiming six or seven T-shirt launchers at herself and firing them remotely. She then wears whatever sticks. Another method she uses is pouring her laundry into a large pool, swimming through the pool naked, and when she emerges she has her outfit for that day. It is not currently known from whence her articles of clothing come, but it is believed that she is in possession of a TARDIS which she only uses for wardrobe purposes.

I seriously love Five though. I just hope she starts carrying knives or preferably a small gun under all those clothes. Girl needs to arm up.

[Wouter]

16 hours ago, call me ishmael said:

I thought this was a disappointment after the previous weeks.  Basically we are now advanced along the Data plotline (will Brent Spiner play her creator?), now have a more explicit but predictable war is coming (do they have winter in space?), and something to do with earth prime (so i guess it will turn out that 2 is the result of a Foundation experiment having gone wrong).  But at least we found out a bit more about 3 (whose improvement i think is that he is no longer forced to play off of One but gets to play off against Five).  

But nothing that really sets up the world any better or really moves the plot along.  And next week we are sruck with Jace Corso again.

I do wonder if Five isn't significant in some way besides the fact that she stole the key.  I can't help but think (or maybe hope) that Evil Corporate Lady really meant it when she said "there you are princess."

Pumpkin she said, not princess. It remains to be seen what the relationship, if any, between Five and Reynaud is.

I disagree that the plot hasn't been moved. Two is starting to get proactive, first with regards to the murderers of One, and I expect her to go after the corporations soon. Allthough the plot revolving the Android may not be everybody's cup of tea, things are moving. And we learned things about Three and Devon.

Two was made by that company called "Dwarf Star Technologies", we knew that already. Merely the location of the HQ is new info, and by that we finally learned that Earth is still alive (and possibly kicking) in this world.

War is looming, but don't expect anything like an interstellar variant of "Game of Thrones" soon. Budget doesn't cover that, I'm quite sure.

[call me ishmael]

1 hour ago, Wouter said:

I disagree that the plot hasn't been moved. Two is starting to get proactive, first with regards to the murderers of One, and I expect her to go after the corporations soon. Allthough the plot revolving the Android may not be everybody's cup of tea, things are moving. And we learned things about Three and Devon.

Oh, I liked the android plot line (even though it is about as derivative a science fiction story line as you can get) because I think she is a great character.  But I don't really think that anything else moved forward and I am somewhat tired of them thinking that plot movement means throwing out yet another mystery about the characters' pasts.  

Thanks for the clarification on pumpkin vs. princess.  I keep hoping that there will be something interesting about 5 besides her being magic.

[atomationage]

18 minutes ago, call me ishmael said:

I am somewhat tired of them thinking that plot movement means throwing out yet another mystery about the characters' pasts.

ICA.  This is the first episode of the series that I haven't saved.  If the next one isn't better, Dark Matter is over for me.  

[Wouter]

On 23-7-2016 at 3:46 PM, MissLucas said:

And the Android got a Pretty Woman shopping trip! (Well almost - but it was still awesome. Still waiting for the hair to come down.) The rebel Android faction will sure come back. But I do hope the Android does not use the chip. I'd much rather see her explore her path on her own and see how far she comes with her original (not) flawed design. The toothbrush was for Five? I really wanted to see that play out but there was no time I guess.

The toothbrush was for Five, and the scene was cut for time. The showrunner shared the deleted scenes (quite a lot of them) on his blog and this image was part of it:

https://josephmallozzi.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/screen-shot-2016-07-25-at-7-26-48-pm.jpg

[MissLucas]

Aww, she even tied tiny a ribbon around it (definite proof her programming is seriously flawed)! Thanks for posting!

[maczero]

On 7/23/2016 at 3:24 PM, Terrafamilia said:

When mandroid asked our womandroid if he could kiss her and she blurted out her chirpy little "yes" almost before he could finish asking, I cracked up. I'd hate for her to loose her upbeat dispassionate frankness if she were to use the emo-chip.

Her responses to his requests kinda creeped me out.  She seemed very childlike. I imagine she would cheerfully say "okay" to a more pervy request.

On 7/23/2016 at 3:33 PM, ottoDbusdriver said:

 

I'm thinking that Nyx might be an android with those kind of adaptive skills.

It was pretty hot.

I hope not unless she turns into a nemesis for Two.  As for the fight between Nyx and 4, the only thing I kept thinking about is that 4 was looking a little doughy compared to last season.

On 7/25/2016 at 5:27 AM, Wryly said:

 

Five gets dressed every morning by aiming six or seven T-shirt launchers at herself and firing them remotely. She then wears whatever sticks. Another method she uses is pouring her laundry into a large pool, swimming through the pool naked, and when she emerges she has her outfit for that day. It is not currently known from whence her articles of clothing come, but it is believed that she is in possession of a TARDIS which she only uses for wardrobe purposes.

Too funny!

[jhlipton]

There are far too few black women on TV, especially in SF, so I hope they keep Nyx for quite some time.  (She's not bad to look at either!)

 

On 7/23/2016 at 6:11 AM, sjohnson said:

The kid's old home is gone, just as surely as if Boone burned it down.

His mother, and the rest of his family is still alive.

On 7/23/2016 at 9:20 AM, Impish Dragon said:

My mother and I were talking and thinking Android is Seven.  Then realized that with the addition of the two newbies, this would make Android, Seven of Nine.  

Too funny.

[CletusMusashi]

Somebody needs to make a video of just every single scene of Zobot saying "Okay!" in her odd perky monotone.

[jhlipton]

Okay!

[Clanstarling]

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 3:48 PM, maczero said:

I hope not unless she turns into a nemesis for Two.  As for the fight between Nyx and 4, the only thing I kept thinking about is that 4 was looking a little doughy compared to last season.

I noticed he didn't seem quite as buff as well, and then felt bad for noticing.

My take on Nyx is that she's like Two - created by the research lab in a slightly different experiment.

BTW, loved the sneaky nod to Harry Potter (when they said they worked for Belletrix at the clone travel place).

On ‎7‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 3:21 PM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

But I personally just find it just the slightest bit boring that not one single person is a criminal because they were just a bad person all their life [ie, their 'brains were wired wrong'] and did horrible things for their own amusement or choice.  Now that would be a potential storyline, IMO;  if the rest of the crew found out that one of them was an actual sadistic criminal just for the hell of it before the memory wipe and then keep it a secret (or try to) while doing all they could to make sure that person never regained their past memories & personality.

One thing I always find interesting in forums is how we respond differently. For me, that kind of remorseless character is boring and aggravating and I want them killed off as soon as possible. I'm interested in what makes people do what they do (in whatever genre), and born that way doesn't work for me. At least, if they're not trying to overcome their basic urges.

On ‎7‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 6:11 AM, sjohnson said:

Three won because he's magic when the plot needs him to be. That's obnoxious enough. But my BS detector really rang when Nigel Bennett tried to kill Boone for no reason except it allowed Boone to kill him without actually being a premeditated murderer. You don't try to manipulate someone with a story like that, then don't wait to see how it worked.

I responded to this very differently. I thought Nigel knew he had to kill Boone the minute he walked in the door alone. His story seemed to me to be more a ploy to distract him so that he could get the drop on him.