Reborn

What would you do if you had a second chance to be you? Would you be better? Worse? The same? How would you decide?

In SyFy's Dark Matter, that chance is given to six strangers who wake up on board a spaceship with no memory of who they are or how they got there, even though they seem to have retained several aspects of their personalities and skills -- many of which seem to connect to the astonishing variety of weaponry on board with them. Orginally a limited-issue comic book, Dark Matter was a part of SyFy's sudden recollection that science fiction involved more than flying sharks and bad CGI crocodile mutants. It just finished its third season, so this may have mild spoilers for viewers who haven't watched the whole show.

During the course of the first season, the crew of the Raza discovered they almost all had rather colorful pasts, and in bits and pieces began to re-learn their histories. But while they re-acquired factual knowledge about their pasts, they didn't actually regain the experiences, meaning that what had shaped them before didn't shape them now. They were able to respond to situations and circumstances very differently than they had before their memories were wiped because they were now truly new people. At first just a few begin to really explore this concept but eventually they all commit to new paths, even choosing to retain the numbers they gave each other when they awakened instead of using their old names.

At its best, Dark Matter keeps this question at the top of whatever adventure or caper the crew is handling -- who would you be if you didn't have to be you? Over three seasons that issue has fallen a bit lower down on the narrative ladder but the show's strongest episodes keep some focus on it. The exploration is helped by some really good actors in several of the roles, especially Melissa O'Neil as Two, Roger Cross as Six and Anthony Lemke as Three. Jodelle Ferland as Five and Zoie Palmer as the ship's android given a little less to work with but are still very good.

Season Three has some weaknesses, as the former Four, Alex Mallari, Jr., continues his struggle to rule the Zairon Empire as its rightful emperor, Ryo Ishida. He chose to have his memories, stored in the ship's computer, restored as a way of helping him regain his throne. But the turmoil of the court and the corporate war raging across the galaxy make that a harder task than he thought, and Ryo's ruthlessness threatens his former shipmates. Mallari is perfectly fine as a stoic warrior type, but the court intrigue storyline asks more of him than he currently has available in his actor quiver. The strands that weave through him are some of those season three weak moments.

Even so, Dark Matter was one of the network's stronger shows, with strong characters, some witty dialog and a general story arc that, while not perfectly defined, did seem to have some direction.

SyFy announced today (Sept. 1) that it cancelled the show; whether it plans for some kind of movie to resolve the Season 3 cliffhanger is as yet unknown. If we're lucky, this move will leave room for more episodes of Z Nation and Wynonna Earp, which means that much more time to read books.