S02.E13: But First, We Save the Galaxy

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

The crew of the Raza works to prevent the destruction of a space station and prevent an all out corporate war.

 

[SimoneS]

Damn is Nyx dead? I would miss her if she is. Although it was kind of funny how she cried out and collapsed after she looked at the poison wound.  Ryo has surpassed heartless if he is really behind bombing the station. I wasn't surprised that he stole the Blink Drive though, just that he didn't do it when they were still on Zairon.

 I am sure that Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six will be fine. 

So the GA guy chasing them gets blown up first. Too bad he wasn't as trusting of the Raza criminals as he was of the corporation criminals, but isn't that always the way.

Was that Six's former partner staring at Three? Oh, his "manly cry of pain" reference was hysterical.

Five looked good in the wig and the professional outfit. The android was cute too bad he spaced himself.

Edited September 17, 2016 by SimoneS

[thuganomics85]

Well, I'm certainly extra glad that SyFy already renewed this, since that was one big whopping cliffhanger, with pretty much everyone in peril.  After what happened with One this season though, I definitely wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them bites it.  Not sure who though.  Only one I think is safe for sure (other then Android) is Five. 

I guess that was Six's former parter that found Three?  I thought for sure it was going to end up being a surprise appearance from whoever escaped from the other universe.  So, more then likely, another version of One/Jace.

Bummed that Kierken already got himself taken out.  Especially before he had time to interact with Android and get to see Zoie Palmer and Kris Holden-Reid share the screen again.

All the undercover stuff was great.  Especially Two in that dress.  And Three bitching about the suit.

Thought for sure Nyx and Misaki/Ellen Wong was going to end with Nyx killing her, so there would be a whole "You took someone close to me, and now I took someone close to you!" thing between her and Ryo, so I was surprised that it ended up being Misaki had poisoned her dagger.  Are we sure she isn't actually related to Oberyn and the rest of the Martells from Game of Thrones?  Not sure if Nyx will pull through or not, but I have to think Ryo will find out, and will not be happy.

Looks like Six was right.  No matter what, a corporate war was going to happen.

Curious to see where this heading next!  I hope the wait doesn't feel too long...

[wanderingstar]

Oh Ryo. Least romantic proposal ever. I did love Nyx looking at him like he was crazy and saying "You're insane!" 

Lots to love in this finale. 

Two: We could all be getting fat and rich, robbing this galaxy blind.
Three: That was my vote.

Ha! 

I also loved when Three was complaining about having to go to the space station, and Two said "I promise, we can pull a heist for our next job," and he was all "Really?" Speaking of which, I loved the corporate meeting outfits worn by Two, Three and Six.

Loved Six showing his concern for Five.

And Android tending to Nyx after Misaki poisoned her was also poignant. I hope Nyx survives.

I wasn't sure whether to trust Arrian, but turns out he was just being used by Nieman (bastard)

Is it me, or has Three been getting beaten up a lot lately.

I keep wanting to call the ruling body on this show the Corporate Congress, but then I have to remind myself that that term is from Continuum. I clearly watch too many SyFy shows!

I loved this season, and can't wait to see what they do in season 3.

[Oracle42]

That was a pretty solid finale. I appreciate that the writers aren't dumbing down the SciFi politics but I hope they spend a little more time explaining the  universe. There are some very broad strokes but i'd like some details.

I really enjoy Ryo/Two interactions. They treat each other like equals, I enjoy that. Aside from his horrifying willingness to commit murder on a large scale, I tend to find Ryo much more engaging than Four.

I wish Nyx had been written as more of a grifter than girl fighter #2. It's a more interesting skillset and she seems to show flashes of it anyway. The premonitions should give her an advantage in a fight but she should be clumsier and much better at defense than offense. Premonition doesn't teach you to fight. I like the actresses and I like her as an addition to the cast so I hope she's not dead. 

No one should ever underestimate Five. Ever.

Edited September 18, 2016 by Oracle42

[SimoneS]

5 hours ago, Gillian Rosh said:

Loved Six showing his concern for Five.

It was a nice scene. I am glad that she is over his betrayal. Six's instincts about the corporations is more on target than Two and Five's, maybe he because worked for the GA for so many years. Milo was probably predicting that the Raza will make a difference in ending the war, not preventing the war from occurring. After all, his prediction about another betrayal was on target.

Edited September 17, 2016 by SimoneS

[Oracle42]

I was annoyed that Three couldn't sit in his chair like a big boy during the meeting with the head of a major interplanetary corporation. I get that they're going for space pirate or whatever, but you can't be Mal and Jayne. Honestly, it makes no sense for Three to be the ship's #2, he has the wrong personality for it - that should be Six. 

One/Two weren't the only part of the triangle that didn't work last year. A little less soap opera between characters without chemistry and a little more space opera, please - That goes for Nyx/Ryo as well

Edited September 17, 2016 by Oracle42

[sjohnson]

First, I find very little tension in the physical peril. None of the number people in the crew are going to be killed. The superfluous Nyx is dead, with much emoting to come, that's all. 

Second, Ryo's impromptu plan to steal the blink drive interfered with his escape from the sabotage of the station. It would be too much to hope the vile monarchist scum isn't dead in his own incompetent plot, though. The show thinks space samurai are cool, not cliche. The chances that Ryo's scientists will succeed in reverse engineering the blink drive are pretty minimal. The Zairon fleet of Galactic Conquest is too serious a change. 

Third, absent One, the only person who might conceive of giving the freaking blink drive to everybody so that no one has an advantage tempting galactic conquest, the blind drive is functioning as a Macguffin instead of a plot point. The number one way for the Raza to reset the projected course of events with something that really does cause effective change: Profoundly novel technology. Chasing the blink drive in some quest for wealth and revenge without actually making a political commitment isn't more dramatic because it's *personal* in my opinion.  Any other way of using the blink drive to really make a difference is implausible in the extreme, at least to my eyes. The thing is, that means Raza will basically be spinning its wheels. In effect, the heroes got overpowered so that they aren't being driven by immediate perils or necessities. Rather than have them decide what they're going to do with this unexpected power, the show is resetting. 

[FurryFury]

That was a cool finale. So much stuff happened, and the cliffhanger was really cliffhanger-y.

I'm so upset about Arrian (?), the cute Ferrous android, dying so quickly. I was digging him and Five and boom. She looked so young and cute in that wig, BTW.

I agree with the person who said Ryo was much more engaging than Four. I love this storyline, even if his romance with Nyx wasn't developed well at all - the friendship he had with the original crew is something I've bought easily. 

Disappointing ending for Kierken. Not sure what was the point of his character. Of course he may have survived, theoretically. Maybe we'll see him as a cyborg or something in s3, could be cool.

Blink drive was really too powerful of an artifact to be left in the hands of the crew. Makes sense they'd lose it.

[Chaos Theory]

I really liked Five's story with the Android with the human chip.  So many androids running around looking and acting human has to come into play later.

The Ryo story is interesting only because he is playing both sides.  He is willing to steal from his former crew mates but when he finds out Nyxx is dead I do t think he'll be happy about it.

[Clanstarling]

Five cleans up really well. Maybe next season she will ditch her garbage can waif look.

I liked the cliffhanger. Sure, most of the cast will survive, but it's still a nice setup for next season. I was sad to see Kierkan go. He was an interesting character (until he wasn't - his refusal to even consider the possibility of a second bomb seemed pretty dense for him).

It just occurred to me that given the clone technology in this universe, risky summits like this should be attended mostly by clones (at least the representatives would come as clones). It's certainly a way to protect yourself against assassination, etc. Maybe Kierkan and the Mikkei leader (name escapes me) aren't really dead.

Looking forward to the next season.

Edited September 17, 2016 by Clanstarling

[MissLucas]

He! They sure did go out with a bang for this season. Apart from the stupid jealous Misaki plot that was a great finale. Sad to see Kierkan gone but it looks as if Truffault is going to make it - along with Five that should make an interesting pairing.

I'm not really worried about anyone of the original Raza crew, Nyx on the other hand might die. I was actually more intrigued by the Android's reaction on finding her. She looked as if she was ready to kick some ass. Speaking of the Android: I thought only Six knew the deactivation code. Looks as if Four/Ryo really made the best of their time in the AU and checked Varrick's file as well. Or how else did he get the code?

I do wonder if the crew really had not implemented some sort of fail-safe to make sure Ryo could not get his hands on the blink-drive. They knew he wanted to have it even if he allowed them to leave Zairon (which he apparently did). It would be pretty funny if it deactivates itself on contact with his DNA.

Two should have abandoned the mission as soon as she realized that Ryo wanted the meeting to go boom. It meant that they were up against two and not just one bombing plots and the odds were  doubling. Obviously that was not really an option so the sense of dread was just mounting. And once again: great score.

Funny little detail: there's a corporation called 'Pendragon'. I hope they became a major player next season - coolest name ever. (Apparently they once showed up in season one but I did not notice. Too bad that means that they're probably just there as minor player while Ferrous, Traugott, Mikkei and the Russkis (sorry, can't remember their name) are at each others throats.)

Looking forward to season 3. This season was a blast and so much better than season one. Rather unexpectedly DM became my favorite summer show. I do hope they manage to keep going at this level.

[FurryFury]

13 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

Looks as if Four/Ryo really made the best of their time in the AU and checked Varrick's file as well. Or how else did he get the code?

I assume he knew it from his Ryo memories.

 

13 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

 

I do wonder if the crew really had not implemented some sort of fail-safe to make sure Ryo could not get his hands on the blink-drive. They knew he wanted to have it even if he allowed them to leave Zairon (which he apparently did). It would be pretty funny if it deactivates itself on contact with his DNA.

 

I do hope they did something like that. That would be pretty dumb of them to not acknowledge he could try something like that eventually. And Two and Three, at least, are cynical enough to realize it.

 

15 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

Looking forward to season 3. This season was a blast and so much better than season one. Rather unexpectedly DM became my favorite summer show. I do hope they manage to keep going at this level

I'm with you. There are lots of thing to improve on, and some pretty clunky episodes in the middle of the season, but overall, I really enjoyed DM this year. And I'm still so shocked and content they've killed off One and let it stick.

[maczero]

11 hours ago, Oracle42 said:

I wish Nyx has been written as more of a grifter than girl fighter #2. 

Heh.  I posted similar thoughts in a previous episode thread. 

I won't be mad if Nix is dead.  The precog thing was interesting and the actress is gorgeous but personality wise Nyx is fairly boring.

I'm really surprised Ryo didn't immediately demand the drive when the crew was on Zairon.   I know he cares for the Raza crew and would've preferred not to take the blink drive by force, however, it was a huge risk to let the Reza leave with the hopes of stealing the blink drive later.

I'm confused by the galactic politics.  The Galactic Authority is corrupt.  The corporations are corrupt.  Is there no galactic government that oversees the GA and the corporations?  Or is the GA the government?  I just assumed they were law enforcement. 

Was there any follow up on the doctor?  Does the crew even know he's dead?  

[sjohnson]

No, the crew does not know Devon is dead. 

If Nyx isn't dead, then Android just bleakly gazing on her is wrong. (Actually, forgetting the others in the trauma of her death isn't helpful, even if it's understandable for someone with emotions.) Were she still alive, Android should be heading to the infirmary. It never seemed to me to be any question at all about her being alive. 

Kierkan is dead too, no transit clone. Working with reformist elements raises the question of how Raza's life of crime is really about anything but fun and profit. 

All my interpretations of course.

[MissLucas]

2 hours ago, FurryFury said:

I assume he knew it from his Ryo memories.

Thanks! I keep forgetting that he's got his memories back. So, I guess the whole crew knew about the deactivation code, interesting. Even more interesting: two crew members know it now (well former crew member in Ryo's case) and neither bothered to tell the others about it. In Ryo's case it makes sense but why is Six holding back? Especially after last episode when the Android becoming a liability was a major issue.

I checked back - dude hovering over Three is definitely Varrick's old partner. So that settles the question whether he survived or not. And if that guy is still running around alive I'm starting to wonder about Devon, too.

[sjohnson]

I think the only way Devon could still be alive is if he was revived in time on the Seers' ship, presumably as an information source. But I'm pretty sure he was just there to save Varrick. And the Seers were killed off as players by the Bushido Butcher.

It occurs to me that Raza has been on the scene when a research facility the size of a small town and, not one but two, space stations are blown up. I'm not much of a believer in shoot on sight, but with a track record like that, it's gotta seem like maybe Raza is an exception.

[Terrafamilia]

Devon was skulking about the lower levels of that station waiting for a contact, or something, when the Seers showed up. It's therefore in the realm of possibility that someone found and got him help before he completely bled out. But who knows if the writers have any other plans for him.

Kierkan could have been a clone. He had a scruffy beard the first couple times we saw him and his clone last week was clean shaven. That might be a little tell. Or not.

The crew should definitely have changed the Raza's access codes as soon as they left Zairon if not sooner.

If Zairon has an emperor, why is it called a principality?

I suspect Truffault had an escape route or hardened safe-room/bunker. In retrospect, she couldn't be sure the Raza crew would be successful in finding the bomb, if there was one, and so she'd make a contingency plan.

[Wouter]

7 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I liked the cliffhanger. Sure, most of the cast will survive, but it's still a nice setup for next season. I was sad to see Kierkan go. He was an interesting character (until he wasn't - is his refusal to even consider the possibility of a second bomb seemed pretty dense for him).

I am also sad to see Kierken die (at least it really looks like Kierken couldn't survive that explosion so near to him - short of him being a clone or even an Android).

Is it possible the GA had access to a private Transfer Transit facility on the station? They did say Kierken was sent directly from HQ (presumably at or near Earth) while EOS7 was far away from Earth, and he seemed to be a late arrival. I'm willing to entertain any possibility of him and his knowledge surviving, because otherwise the latest GA boogeyman would have to restart from zero again. Kierken was just getting to know the crew, on a level that ran deeper than their crime records. Then again, maybe it's just all out war from now on and the GA can't spare any resources to hunt the Raza - having bigger fish to fry.

Kierken did listen to Two in the end though, he went to check his own restricted areas for Zairon infiltrators as Two had warned him. But it was too late.

 

Well, that's a serious cliffhanger, though like most I suspect all the numbered characters are safe. Six had gotten loose and may have found his way to a ship or escape pod, Five was going with Truffault who very likely had an escape plan ready (given that she knew there was an active plot against the place), Three was found by Lt. Anders (who is confirmed to be alive - why wouldn't he be, Six also survived getting shot with a similar weapon) who hasn't been brought back to die five seconds afterwards and Two has earlier survived getting spaced, so odds are she is tough enough to make it out anyway. It's only because of One and Devon that I am not entirely sure, but particularly Two and Five have story left in them and Anders was presumably brought back to act as a foil against Six. Fours betrayal also will only have an impact if his ex-buddies Two and Three are around to feel the pain and anger. 

Speaking about betrayal, now we know who it was and sure enough: Milo was speaking to the one who would be the betrayer (though he didn't know it yet at that time). Because he surprisingly didn't attempt to take it right there in Zairon, at first I was wondering if someone else would betray the crew, like Six deciding that blowing up the station would be good for his plan to let the war happen. I'm kinda glad Four completed his betrayal instead, as last weeks ending had tainted him anyway and now Six is still somebody one can root for.

Ryo Ishida is a villain, but this episode made him more complex. He let the Raza crew go from Zairon (or at least he didn't want a confrontation at that point), he tried to talk Two and Nyx into helping him (though the attempt on Nyx was bound to fail after he dumped her last week) and he attempted to keep his old friends safe (as he was robbing them). He didn't want Nyx to die, so the next conflict for him is already on the horizon when he inevitably finds out, and now his ex-friends (Two in particular) are bound to hate him.

It was very fortunate for him that Zairon was allowed to act as representative for the independent territories - which include Pyr. The only half-suggestion the show gives to handwave that is that Pyr apparently is supported by several corporations, so maybe most of the other independent worlds don't really view Pyr as one of their own.

So far, it looked like Ferrous and Mikkei were the big opponents that the corporate conflict would revolve about, but now it looks like it's Traugott vs Ferrous. Mikkei wants to stay neutral as long as possibly, which makes sense considering that they have had a hostile relation with Ferrous for a long time while Traugott ripped them a new one with the white hole bomb. Interestingly, Corelactic (Derrick Moss) and Dwarf Star (Rook) do not seem large/influential/powerful enough to have seats on the corporate council?

It's Two who has taken One's place of moral center of the crew, as she pushes to "save the Galaxy" and is willing to risk a lot for that, both by asking Truffault's help and by physically infiltrating the station. A pity her task was made almost impossible because there were 2 different plots in place. She was very right that the GA security is sloppy though; both smuggling a bomb onboard or overpowering GA personnel at critical installations is apparently an almost trivial thing. Tension in this episode was great though, the outcome wasn't particularly predictable.

The Android will likely feel personally responsible for Nyx' death (at least, her reaction suggest Nyx was already beyond help) because she allowed Four to become Ryo again. And by extension, possibly for the people who died on the station as well.

It was a great season. A run of great episodes, only the fourth one ("We were family") and the sixth one ("We should have seen this coming") I liked a bit less than the others. My favourites are probably 9 and 10, "Going out fighting" and "Take the shot".

Luckily they did not get cancelled because even beyond the cliffhanger, lots of things are still in the air:

-who ordered One's murder, and what is the deal with Derrick Moss and his wife? Why did he join the Raza?

-What is the relation between Reynaud and Five (assuming there is one), and where did Reynaud get the blink drive?

-What's going on at Dwarf Star, with the black goo and all?

-Who escaped the alternate universe, and what will they do?

-Who fired missiles on the Raza in the pilot episode? Ferrous nor GA would make sense.

-What will happen with the blink drive? Will it end back up with the Raza?

etc.

Edited September 17, 2016 by Wouter

[Wouter]

7 hours ago, sjohnson said:

Second, Ryo's impromptu plan to steal the blink drive interfered with his escape from the sabotage of the station. It would be too much to hope the vile monarchist scum isn't dead in his own incompetent plot, though. The show thinks space samurai are cool, not cliche. The chances that Ryo's scientists will succeed in reverse engineering the blink drive are pretty minimal. The Zairon fleet of Galactic Conquest is too serious a change. 

Third, absent One, the only person who might conceive of giving the freaking blink drive to everybody so that no one has an advantage tempting galactic conquest, the blind drive is functioning as a Macguffin instead of a plot point. The number one way for the Raza to reset the projected course of events with something that really does cause effective change: Profoundly novel technology. Chasing the blink drive in some quest for wealth and revenge without actually making a political commitment isn't more dramatic because it's *personal* in my opinion.  Any other way of using the blink drive to really make a difference is implausible in the extreme, at least to my eyes. The thing is, that means Raza will basically be spinning its wheels. In effect, the heroes got overpowered so that they aren't being driven by immediate perils or necessities. Rather than have them decide what they're going to do with this unexpected power, the show is resetting. 

I don't think Ryo's succesful attempt to steal the blink drive interfered with escaping - he had already left the station and he had no reason to go back. He is safe, at least until next season with the unstable Misake near him and with a ship of vengeful ex-friends possibly gunning for him.

He may not be able to reverse engineer the drive, but if he can make it work with one of his ships that could already make a major difference, launching sneak attacks so that Pyr's leaders get nervous and get forced to spread their fleet out more to defend vulnerable points. And since it was easy to get it to work with the Raza, that would probably not be too hard (allthough the Raza's drive may be different from what Zairon uses - we still don't know where the Raza was build, AFAIK the person(s) who invented the blink drive may have been involved, which would explain why the blinkdrive is "plug-and-play" in this case).

Giving the blink drive to everyone is not a realistic option, I think. They only have one drive, and they don't understand any better than Reynaud how it works nor how it can be copied/replicated/reverse-engineered. And according to Ryo, all the major corporations are already working on it and it's just a matter of time before one fields the first system (other than the prototype of unknown origin).

Realistically, they could give the drive to one corporation, speeding up the research as a result. Which would still be a result Two would not want, as she would then be responsible for whatever that corporation does with the power it brings.

4 hours ago, maczero said:

I won't be mad if Nix is dead.  The precog thing was interesting and the actress is gorgeous but personality wise Nyx is fairly boring.

I'm really surprised Ryo didn't immediately demand the drive when the crew was on Zairon.   I know he cares for the Raza crew and would've preferred not to take the blink drive by force, however, it was a huge risk to let the Reza leave with the hopes of stealing the blink drive later.

I'm confused by the galactic politics.  The Galactic Authority is corrupt.  The corporations are corrupt.  Is there no galactic government that oversees the GA and the corporations?  Or is the GA the government?  I just assumed they were law enforcement. 

Was there any follow up on the doctor?  Does the crew even know he's dead?  

Mallozi has implicated that Devon bought it - apparently it's supposed to make a point about finding redemption through sacrifice. Nobody seems to know he is dead, except the seers who are now dead themselves.

I assume the GA has a civil arm that is acting as a kind of government, but the real power seems to lie mostly with the corporations anyway.

Ryo not demanding the drive on Zairon is anticlimatic, but it did mean that betrayal was hanging over our heads for a little longer, as Four technically did not betray the crew yet (until this episode).

I wasn't convinced by the actess playing Nyx, those last few episodes. She used the same (kind-of-laughing, looking pleased) expression often, and at times it did not seem appropriate to me. The other actors matched the gravity or levity of the situation better, IMO.

2 hours ago, sjohnson said:

I think the only way Devon could still be alive is if he was revived in time on the Seers' ship, presumably as an information source. But I'm pretty sure he was just there to save Varrick. And the Seers were killed off as players by the Bushido Butcher.

It occurs to me that Raza has been on the scene when a research facility the size of a small town and, not one but two, space stations are blown up. I'm not much of a believer in shoot on sight, but with a track record like that, it's gotta seem like maybe Raza is an exception.

Agreed on Devon.

Which is the other space station that the Raza was near when blown up? Wasn't that one in the alternate universe, or am I forgetting yet another?

[Latverian Diplomat]

7 hours ago, MissLucas said:

I do wonder if the crew really had not implemented some sort of fail-safe to make sure Ryo could not get his hands on the blink-drive. They knew he wanted to have it even if he allowed them to leave Zairon (which he apparently did). It would be pretty funny if it deactivates itself on contact with his DNA.

 

Or even just a dummy version of it with the real one hooked up somewhere else. They seemed to be completely caught off guard though, so it seems unlikely they thought to do anything like that.

I liked that Ryo pointed out that someone else will develop the blink drive again shortly, and have the power to mass produce it. That seems especially likely given that at least a few people already know there's a working one out there. And it's good to see recognition that "breakthroughs" have a short lifetime before they proliferate.

In reality, no reason Misaki wouldn't double tap Nyx once she was down. Honor clearly wasn't an issue, and Ryo would be unlikely to check her weapon, I think. But it does leave the possibility of Nyx's survival at stake.

I don't know what Space channel/Syfy contract negotiations are like, but it seems like they set themselves up pretty well to write out just about anyone if they really had to. :-) 

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 9/17/2016 at 10:14 AM, FurryFury said:

I'm so upset about Arrian (?), the cute Ferrous android, dying so quickly. I was digging him and Five and boom. She looked so young and cute in that wig, BTW.

It looked like Five borrowed Kenzi's blonde wig from 'Lost Girl'.

On 9/17/2016 at 4:45 PM, Wouter said:

-What will happen with the blink drive? Will it end back up with the Raza?

It would be interesting if Zairon's scientists broke the blink drive trying to reproduce it/reverse engineer it -- so no one has it.

Edited September 18, 2016 by ottoDbusdriver

[kryss]

My first thought was they were going to reset with some kind of time travel.  If the blink drive can take them to a parallel universe, maybe it can time travel too, possibly at the hands of the missing AU character or a surviving Two.  It was just my first thought though and not one I particularly want to see,  I'll be quite happy to feel foolish next season for even considering it :P .

 

15 hours ago, Terrafamilia said:

Kierkan could have been a clone. He had a scruffy beard the first couple times we saw him and his clone last week was clean shaven. That might be a little tell. Or not.

I wondered about this last week, Kierkan baby faced and clean shaven is quite the contrast and it would make sense that a clone would be scruff free.

[FurryFury]

I think you're giving the show too much credit with the clean shaven/scruffed thing. Of course, if the actor's free and they liked the character they can always make him survive (and vice versa). I think both he and Nyx could be either dead or alive depending on other factors (I think the other cast is safe because they probably signed multi-year contracts, but who knows with SyFy, they may not follow the rules I'm accustomed to, contract-wise).

[FormerMod-a1]

7 minutes ago, kryss said:

My first thought was they were going to reset with some kind of time travel.  If the blink drive can take them to a parallel universe, maybe it can time travel too, possibly at the hands of the missing AU character or a surviving Two.  It was just my first thought though and not one I particularly want to see,  I'll be quite happy to feel foolish next season for even considering it :P .

I thought about using the blink drive for time travel too.  But I also assumed a lot more of our crew died rather than "just" being in peril, which I realized was a faulty assumption.  So, what do I know?  :-P  

[kryss]

29 minutes ago, aquarian1 said:

I thought about using the blink drive for time travel too.  But I also assumed a lot more of our crew died rather than "just" being in peril, which I realized was a faulty assumption.  So, what do I know?  :-P  

Just because there were multiple enormous explosions on a space station with minimal warning and no means of escape?  And the explosions were 'too early' for those who planned it?  Can't imagine why you'd think they were all dead :P .

I think that's why I considered time travel, they *should* all be dead aside from potentially Two with her nanites.

[tennisgurl]

One hell of an ending to a much improved season! How will our heroes get out of this one?!?!

Sad that the cute android is dead. I was already shipping him and Five to be an adorable robot/human couple. But I liked all their stuff, and they made me care about them in only one episode, so I guess thats pretty impressive. 

Ryo is an interesting villain, but I still miss Four. He was a good calming presence to the hijinks of the more outgoing crew members. It does seem like he still has some affection for his old crew mates, even if he cares more about his throne and power. And I liked his scene with Two, especially when he called her Portia instead of Two. It just emphasizes that this is not Four anymore, and even if he does have his Four memories, this is not the same guy. 

The gang looked great in their corporate wear, I would actually really like to see them play dress up some more. And I loved the exchange Between Two and Three where she promises him a heist that he can pick. They crack me up as a duo. 

Overall, a good, fun summer season, even if there were a few missteps (pointless death of Devon, a couple meh episodes), and I cant wait to see more next season! I already miss you, Dark Matter, and I am very impressed that we have gotten to this point!

[Wouter]

14 hours ago, Latverian Diplomat said:

Or even just a dummy version of it with the real one hooked up somewhere else. They seemed to be completely caught off guard though, so it seems unlikely they thought to do anything like that.

I liked that Ryo pointed out that someone else will develop the blink drive again shortly, and have the power to mass produce it. That seems especially likely given that at least a few people already know there's a working one out there. And it's good to see recognition that "breakthroughs" have a short lifetime before they proliferate.

In reality, no reason Misaki wouldn't double tap Nyx once she was down. Honor clearly wasn't an issue, and Ryo would be unlikely to check her weapon, I think. But it does leave the possibility of Nyx's survival at stake.

I don't know what Space channel/Syfy contract negotiations are like, but it seems like they set themselves up pretty well to write out just about anyone if they really had to. :-) 

The Raza needed the blink drive to pass the GA blockade, and also to leave again if they had to do so before the blockade would be lifted again. They can't put a dummy version (it's not like they are expecting Four, or the "guests" from the alternate universe, to show up at just that moment).

Tampering with it is, as others proposed, is also unlikely to be possible as they don't realise how it works. Tampering with a "black box" would probably just ruin it alltogether.

As for the contracts, such cliffhangers may be handy for negotiations but I think that Mallozzi and Mullie really can't miss some characters going forward (I suspect Two and Five can't be dropped at this point). But if the actors don't know for sure what their gameplan is, they can't be too demanding in case they could be written out.

2 hours ago, kryss said:

My first thought was they were going to reset with some kind of time travel.  If the blink drive can take them to a parallel universe, maybe it can time travel too, possibly at the hands of the missing AU character or a surviving Two.  It was just my first thought though and not one I particularly want to see,  I'll be quite happy to feel foolish next season for even considering it :P .

It's another potential solution, allthough they can solve it without time travel too, as was done when Two was spaced. But I doubt they would go for a reset; they didn't after we lost One, either, and it doesn't look like Four will be back except as an antagonist of sorts.

Spoiler

Mallozzi did indicate in a recent interview that he already has a script with a time-travel episode planned, for S3. But it doesn't have to be the first episode, it sounded more like he considers it a fun thing to play with, as he did in one particularly good episode of SG1.

2 hours ago, FurryFury said:

I think you're giving the show too much credit with the clean shaven/scruffed thing. Of course, if the actor's free and they liked the character they can always make him survive (and vice versa). I think both he and Nyx could be either dead or alive depending on other factors (I think the other cast is safe because they probably signed multi-year contracts, but who knows with SyFy, they may not follow the rules I'm accustomed to, contract-wise).

It's not an in-house Syfy production though, the Canadian Space Channel is the main client of the production company (Prodigy Pictures) and Syfy just happens to co-order it. 

And a character like Kierken is potentially not disposable, for the overall arc that is planned for the series. But only Mallozzi and a few other know what his role is supposed to be; he could be as disposable as Shaddick was, but since they made an effort to differentiate him and since he learned a lot I hope he returns.

1 hour ago, kryss said:

Just because there were multiple enormous explosions on a space station with minimal warning and no means of escape?  And the explosions were 'too early' for those who planned it?  Can't imagine why you'd think they were all dead :P .

I think that's why I considered time travel, they *should* all be dead aside from potentially Two with her nanites.

No means of escape? That remains to be seen. The ship of the Seers was equipped with escape pods, a station like EOS7 should have those, too. Truffault went the other way from all the other evacuees and she had plenty of warning, no doubt she had a shuttle or another means of escape prepared in advance. The Marauder must have been near Anders and Boone, providing a potential escape route. And even if Two was blown out of the station she could still survive, as long as the Android can find her. 

The destruction seemed to go pretty fast, but they can easily cheat a bit by having it turned out that a significant number of people escaped anyway. And they can have their cake and eat it too, if crucial people (like the Traugott delegation) were not among the survivors.

[jhlipton]

On 9/17/2016 at 0:05 PM, maczero said:

I won't be mad if Nix is dead.  The precog thing was interesting and the actress is gorgeous but personality wise Nyx is fairly boring.

I, on the other hand, will be furious and stop watching.  I've been promoting SyFy and this show in particular for their true diversity and if they ditch The Black Girl, I'm done.

[maczero]

14 hours ago, jhlipton said:

I, on the other hand, will be furious and stop watching.  I've been promoting SyFy and this show in particular for their true diversity and if they ditch The Black Girl, I'm done.

I'm all for diversity but like I said Nyx is boring for the most part.  I'm not sure if it's the writing or the actress but Nyx isn't all that compelling.  Maybe it's a little of both.

Speaking of diversity, I have to give SyFy some credit.  Three of its biggest shows have women of color in leading roles.  Two in Dark Matter, Dutch in Killjoys and Roberta in Z Nation.  

Edited October 9, 2016 by maczero

[jhlipton]

5 hours ago, maczero said:

Speaking of diversity, I have to give SyFy some credit.  Three of its biggest shows have women of color in leading roles.  Two in Dark Matter, Dutch in Killjoys and Roberta in Z Nation. 

I do give SyFy a lot of credit -- you left off the woman of color in The Expanse, BTW.  But there is an ongoing discussion on "colorism" in the Race and Ethnicity forum on whether using "of Color" is disadvantageous to black women, since many "Women of Color" roles are filled by lighter women.  Of the 4 you mention, 2 are light and 2 are black.  If Nyx is gone, then there's only 1 one your list, and 2 if you count The Expanse.  Not exactly numbers to set the world on fire.

[maczero]

3 minutes ago, jhlipton said:

I do give SyFy a lot of credit -- you left off the woman of color in The Expanse, BTW.  But there is an ongoing discussion on "colorism" in the Race and Ethnicity forum on whether using "of Color" is disadvantageous to black women, since many "Women of Color" roles are filled by lighter women.  Of the 4 you mention, 2 are light and 2 are black.  If Nyx is gone, then there's only 1 one your list, and 2 if you count The Expanse.  Not exactly numbers to set the world on fire.

I was only considering shows where women of color had top billing so losing Nyx doesn't really take away from that number.  The skin color thing is an issue that I'm well aware of but Nyx still fits the Hollywood image of an attractive black woman.  She may not be as light as the actress who plays Dutch, but in my opinion Nyx still passes the "brown paper bag" test.  She has long straight hair and European facial features so she's not really blazing any trails for accepting black women with different looks.  Also the women on these shows have different ethnic backgrounds so I think it's fairly diverse casting.  And honestly at the end of the day, some group is always going to be lacking representation.  As it stands right now, there isn't a single SyFy show with a man of color as a lead.

[jhlipton]

What about Six on Dark Matter?

[Oracle42]

Six isn't the male lead, although he should be - in Season 1 that was One (who was awful) and I'd argue that Three was the male lead in Season 2

Has there been a black male lead since DS9? 

Edited October 14, 2016 by Oracle42

[jah1986]

Finally finished watching the entire season on Netflix and really liked this season so much better than the first. This was a great cliff hanger and am glad this show has already been renewed. I will be sad if Nyx is dead but the android was behaving as if she was dead, making no attempts to revive her or get her to medical. And was it just me or did the android look a bit angry?

I'm more worried about Five being with Truffaut (?) than I am about the rest of the crew being dead, that woman can be evil. But when are people going to stop underestimating Five?

[MissLucas]

32 minutes ago, jah1986 said:

 But when are people going to stop underestimating Five?

When she stops wearing those awful sweaters. But why should she - it's the perfect ruse. Two in the hero/villain coat and Five looking like she's lost a couple of crayons. Nobody will think twice who can cause more damage.

[Clanstarling]

Just now, MissLucas said:

When she stops wearing those awful sweaters. But why should she - it's the perfect ruse. Two in the hero/villain coat and Five looking like she's lost a couple of crayons. Nobody will think twice who can cause more damage.

It is useful to be underestimated. It's kind of a super power.

[ae2]

Is there any chance that Ryo is actually Ryo from the alternate universe?

Or am I being too naive in my optimism about Four?

Sure, it doesn't make total sense. From what I recall, AlteRyo wasn't on the Raza during the events of that episode. How could he have gotten there and gotten in the shuttle in order to latch on to our Raza? He was emperor over there, so what would his end game be?

What was the order that EmperoRyo gave the guards? It was a single word and they knew exactly what to do and who to kill. It also seemed that he had the unquestionable loyalty of the guards, even to the point of killing the people they were loyal to moments before. When would FouRyo have had time to plan that? It would make more sense if AlteRyo had been scheming and gaining their loyalty all along.

Yeah, probably being too hopeful here.

[FurryFury]

That would be disappointing. I'm actually liking the Four turning into Ryo arc and I think it has potential. Finally, a villain with a personal relationship with the heroes.

[Clanstarling]

12 minutes ago, FurryFury said:

That would be disappointing. I'm actually liking the Four turning into Ryo arc and I think it has potential. Finally, a villain with a personal relationship with the heroes.

You know, I hadn't thought of it that way. You make a good point.

[Chaos Theory]

It also adds to the actions have consequences and the idea that maybe there is a genuinely good reason it might not be a good idea for some of them to get back their memories.  We know Portia Lynn is an uncontrollable monster and now Ryo is a tyrant.  We have gotten hints at both three and six's alter egos but we have no idea what fresh hell Five's memories will unleash.  

[Redemption]

Five observations that I see few mentioning that happened in season 2 that tells us possible paths in season 3.

1.) The first has been touched on but for those that have forgotten the reason Four / Ryo knew the disable and enable code for the android is he saw it in his dream right before he gets all his memories back if you go back to the middle of the season there is a point where it is specifically mentioned by another of the crew in the dream. It is also referenced in Six's daydream and when he reads the log in the end of season 1.  It is clear without a doubt the original code for the android's unique personality was created by the combination of two and fives input meaning the whole crew (pre mind wipe) knew the disable codes, and therefore enable codes.

2.) The placement of the FTL shuttle on the hull was right where we last saw Jace Corso in a bridge of a ship in you freeze the frame you see he is looking out at the stars but not of the bridge of either Raza's not sure why noone else has pointed this out. I find no other possibility then it was Jace from the alternate reality that carried to this reality. It also explains why Marc Bendavid is still on the official crew roster for season 3 at IMDB. Either One is still alive in some form or its the alternate Jace.

3.) You see atleast 8 seperate lights leaving the space station meaning a lot of the delegation survived since the first bomb didnt go off, the overload was a more contained explosion that allowed people to escape. Clearly Five got out with Truffaut which could be a whole other storyline, along with Three on the ground looking up into the eyes of Varrick's old ga friend who is miraculously back to life who will very likely take Three to a GA prison. The real question marks are with Two surviving the vacuum of space for the second time, and what in the world is Six going to do to get out, he was smack in the center of the whole space station, his scene was awfully close to where Kierkan goes to further investigate. I am pretty sure Kierkan is dead as long as it wasn't a clone.

4.) We know for a fact that episode 304 is at the Ishida Research Station so we know the crew of the Raza goes to get the Blink drive back from Ryo. Clearly by then the crew is back together to kick some ass. https://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/2016/11/29/november-30-2016-dark-matter-season-3-day-8-of-91/ Scroll down you get to see a whole diagram of the station. Mallozzi wordpress has alot of goodies there and will all throughout filming of season 3.

5.) The way they wrote off Devon bugs me too much to actually believe he died. He has an unanswered storyline that will very likely come up. If he is dead what he was doing on the station since it clearly wasn't drug involved, they wouldn't of left such a loose end out there without it being brought up again. He stocked the medicine cabinet like he fully intended to come back, it all foreshadows a return at a very unlikely moment or atleast the crew goes to find answers if he trully is dead. 

Edited November 30, 2016 by Redemption
Added The Picture on Joseph Mallozzi's Webblog

[zxy556575]

I'm rewatching season 2 in preparation for 3 and am re-enjoying it a lot. The storylines are so much fun: the prison breakout, the continuing crew memory game, Nyx and her brother, the relentless Inspector Kierken, Wil Wheaton and his diabolical beard, Ryo's quest, the Android and her new chippiness. ETC!

Can't wait to see what else is in store.

[Clanstarling]

I'm looking forward to season 3 too.

I'm rewatching both seasons (since I exercise to recorded shows, and there's very little to record at the moment). I'm enjoying the first season right now, more than I did before. Three isn't quite so annoying in the first season now that I have season 2 Three in my mind.

[NeenerNeener]

YAY!!! SyFy summer tv is back! The scheduling for Dark Matter and Kill Joys had me really confused until I found the announcement that, although Dark Matter has 2 episodes on June 9th starting at 8,  it moves to 9 pm on June 16th. 

Edited June 3, 2017 by NeenerNeener

[jhlipton]

On the Record list!  YAY!