Dark Matter: Welcome To Your New Home, Said The Spider To The Fly!

Welcome WormholeRiders dedicated to seeking Dark Matter!

Hey there, everyone!

Dark Matter is back and so are we at #TeamWHR to cover one of our favorite science fiction series!

It has been a long hiatus while Joe Mallozzi and Paul Mullie and cast and crew develop new stories and cool plot twists, not to mention snappy dialogue and witty comebacks.

Season two begins with the Raza crew stripped of their clothes, whereas season one began with them stripped of their memories!

Developed and Produced by Joe Mallozzi, “Welcome To Your New Home” was wonderfully written by Paul Mullie and Directed by the goddess of science fiction Amanda Tapping. Perhaps best known for their work on the MGM Studios Stargate franchise, Mullie and Tapping worked on all three Stargate series, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe.

Mullie remained active working on Transporter: The Series and the television mini-series Delete after the Stargate franchise was placed on the shelf after seventeen successful series years.

Tapping, has continued acting in several successful series including Supernatural, Motive and Killjoys all the while embarking on a successful career transition as a successful Director to the sheer delight of her admirers worldwide!

Welcome To Your New Home:

Again, they are in unfamiliar surroundings, not sure how they got there or what happened to them.  They have also been split up, with three of them dropped into the Galactic Authority prison. The other three; One, Five and Six, follow different and exciting paths. I really like the way the writers have split up the characters.

This clever method allows for more of the story to be told. We learn more about the corruption in the Galactic Authority and in One’s own company. We discover new characters which move the story along in new ways. This series continues to be well written. The actors are believable and the sets and special effects continue to impress. Titled, Welcome To Your New Home, the new place is not exactly all that welcoming.

In the very first episode of season two, we learn that Space prison is not a fun place to be. Naturally, just like Australia’s historic Botany Bay, the prison of the future is not easily reachable for family or friends to visit and definitely not easy to break out of.  In fact, since it is on a moon, it has the reputation of being impossible to escape from.

We meet new characters, Nyx (Melanie Liburd) and Devon (Shaun Sipos) as they encounter Two, Three and Four in the Galactic Authority prison.

One and Five wake up in a minimal security area with no idea what is going on.  Six is their first visitor. He has a brand new identity, and mission, which does not please One or Five.  Six is wearing a GA (Galactic Authority) uniform and believes he was working undercover and honestly doing the right thing.  I think someone is going beyond wiping memories and possibly manipulating them, but time will tell.

Six (Roger Cross), also known as Varrick has a chat with an old acquaintance/friend named Lt. Anders (Jeff Teravainen). Although he is a GA commander, he seems like a really decent guy.  He realizes the system is broken, but there’s not much he can do about it.  Six, on the other hand, goes digging. 

He learns that Five’s (Jodelle Ferland) real name is Emily Kolburn, she is 16, and her parents died when she was a baby.  She ran away from an orphanage at 12 and has been a street kid ever since.

It seems that in the future, humanity still has not learned how to make things better for its innocent victims. This is definitely not Star Trek.

We learn that, even decades into the future, nothing much changes. Money still talks. One’s (Marc Bendavid) previous cushy lifestyle continues, even when he is in trouble. One, also known as Moss digs into his wife’s murder and begins to doubt the story of her murder.  Three (Anthony Lemke) also known as Boone, has a record, but as a thief, not a killer. 

The only evidence they have is testimony from a former security guard.  But Darius (Doug MacLeod), acting CEO of CoreLactic Industries, is quick to dismiss his concerns. One is a bit of a conundrum. Instead of using his privileged position to aid his friends, he focuses on his murdered wife. Six comes to see him.

Their chat focuses on his concern that he cannot trust Darius. I do not blame One. The guy seemed sleazy from the beginning. He would make a good politician. Not only does Darius try to dissuade One from trying to get more information on his wife’s murder, the individual with possible information suddenly turns up dead. Obviously, there is much more to the murder than meets the eye.

Since the rest of the Raza crew are behind bars, so to speak, they demonstrate that prisons of the future may look tidier, but prisoners use the same tricks they have always used to get what they want. Like, knocking the crap out of each other, causing self-injury to get a mini vacation in the infirmary, a prison riot, and, I am sure, knowing these people, an attempted jail break or two.

We meet Nyx (Melanie Liburd) when she saves Three (Anthony Lemke) from some guys he supposedly screwed out of some money. 

Naturally, Three has no idea what is going on. He is so good at getting into trouble without even trying, it has turned into a bit of humour in the show. The bad guys have a healthy respect for Nyx. They do not challenge her. They just walk away like Nyx runs the place. 

Two (Melissa O’Neil), also known as Portia Lin, who happens on the scene, takes on Nyx and ends up in solitary, where she discovers a holographic program that takes her to an open field where she can interact with others prisoners while in solitary.

Two spends some time with Nyx, giving them an opportunity to have a chat.

Meanwhile, Three provides a bit of comic relief. Three, as always, is looking to make his life easier. In this case, prison. He is the one who first discovers the cushy life of an injured infirmary patient after a couple of ill-timed duck and weaves in his cell with Nyx. Three finds himself in the Infirmary, which does not seem too bad – better food, and an attractive nurse (Megan Vincent). So, once released and assigned to work in the laundry, he re-injures himself to get out of the boring job of ironing.

Then he finds out the old guy who gave him the earlier tip about how to game the system, is now in the psych ward getting electroshock therapy when it was discovered he was hurting himself. 

This is where we meet our second new regular character, Devon (Shaun Sipos). He has a small role in the first episode, but it looks like he will be an interesting character.

Four (Alex Mallari Jr.) minds his own business for the first few minutes of his incarceration. This does not last long. Four takes crap from no one, so he quickly gets involved in his first prison riot.

Amazingly, it is quickly brought under control by one lone guard who initiates a high frequency sonic blast that disables all of the prisoners. The guards are not affected thanks to specially created ear buds that protect them from the sound.

Four gets the honour of meeting the Big Bad of the episode, Arax Nero (Mike Dopud). Nero warns him to stop acting like a mercenary and “toe the line”.

It seems that Nero has built a tidy little empire for himself in prison and does not want anyone messing it up.) Four now carefully considers the guy who gave him the earlier tip about how to game the system; The miscreant is now in the psych ward getting electroshock therapy when it was discovered he was hurting himself! 

This is where we meet our second new regular character, Devon (Shaun Sipos). He has a small role in the first episode, but it looks like he will be an interesting character.

Later, Four, Two and Three commiserate over the unfortunate developments that have befallen the crew.

Although there may be a way out of a prison where there never has been an escape, they do not know what it is, yet.

We observe that the leader of one of the prison gangs tell them all to behave and not make waves. Doing so only make makes “an impossible situation even harder”.

Five’s situation to me, is the most precarious. She is left in a holding cell for most of the episode, although, Six visits her often. Six is initially accused by Five of being a traitor. He does his best to explain to her about his situation. Eventually, she seems to grudgingly accept it. He provides Five with a device that she hacks into, providing both of them with new information that moves the story forward.

As the episode ends, Five is on her way to a group home on the planet. This seems to be her end of story, when things change suddenly. The Galactic Authority has other plans for her. A great choice for character of Commander Shaddick is Franka Potente, who has an impressive resume of television series and films to her credit.

The Android (Zoie Palmer) gets a small piece of the story in this episode. With the GA taking possession of the Raza, they also consider the Android as part of that ownership.

However, the Android has other ideas. Placed in a chair and ordered to give up her data files, she simply refuses to do so.  The subtle expressions on her face show she is enjoying her newfound sense of autonomy.

As usual, Mallozzi and Mullie create a surprise ending to this episode which I will not reveal. If you have not seen the episode, you do need to watch it. It actually made me hold my breath for a moment as I thought, “Oh, wow!”

There are many unanswered questions as the episode ends:

• What is Five’s key to the pocket universe?
• How did Jace Corso get to One?
• Are any of the prisoners connected to the Galactic Authority?
• Now that Six has learned more about his past, how will he use that information?
• Will Three ever manage to be anything but his own worst enemy?

 

I am looking forward to the next episode, “Kill Them All” on Friday, July 8 at 10/9c on Syfy in the U.S and Space Channel in Canada.

Thanks to Kenn for staging additional images, the featured video, and, many thanks to you for stopping by WormholeRiders News Agency!

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Regards,

Thank you.

ArcticGoddess1 (Patricia)