Dark Matter: Welcome to Your New Home Recap

Synopsis of 2×01: The crew of the Raza find themselves locked up following their capture at the hands of Six and begin hatching a plan to escape. Meanwhile One faces the new reality of his situation and Six takes matters into his own hands.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Season 2 of Syfy’s explosive new show Dark Matter picks up hours after the events of last season’s finale, where Six revealed his true allegiance and dutifully turned his friends over to the Galactic Authority, the police entity of colonized space.

Two, Three, and Four wake up dazed and confused and soon find themselves as inmates at a remote prison site on a moon, with measly living accommodations and plenty of criminal inmates to deal with.

Meanwhile, One and Five wake up in a very different section of the prison, with much more decent accommodations. Still looking for answers as to who sold them out, they are shocked to find out that the true identity of their betrayer is Six.

Six reveals that in reality, he is actually a lieutenant and that he was an undercover agent originally tasked to bring in the crew of the Raza. While off world on a recent mission, Six discovered his true identity and mission and felt compelled to obey and uphold the law. I’ll admit, I understand where Six’s loyalty is coming from, but is he really going to ignore the last few weeks/months he has spent and endured with his new friends?

Six claims that the Galactic Authority has not decided what to do with One and Five, but that the others must answer for their heinous crimes. A woman interrupts the group, claiming to be One’s attorney and demands his immediate release. Having been comfortably relocated to a luxurious apartment, One soon finds that stepping back into his real identity, as innocent Derrick Moss, is harder than anticipated.

One refuses to change his facial features in light of his apparent upcoming trial and he soon receives a visitor, a man named Darius, who is the acting CO of One’s company. One has been doing research of his own though, and has indiscreetly looked into his wife’s murder and Boone’s role in it.

One believes Boone is innocent and asks for Darius’ help to track down a lead. If there’s one thing One hasn’t quite learned yet, it’s who to trust and it is painfully clear that Darius is up to no good and may have other intentions in mind.

Back in prison, no one is surprised to find that Three is the first to attract trouble. When a mysterious woman named Nyk demands that Three give her his ration card, Two valiantly steps in and the two women hash it out with their fists. While the two women are equally matched, the guards interrupt and incapacitate all three of them, sending Three to the infirmary and Two and Nyx to solitary confinement.

Meanwhile, The Raza’s favorite Android is dealing with problems of her own. Full of sentient humor, the android refuses to cooperate with the authorities and with her own form of sass, declines to turn over her records.

While Two and Three are left to suffer their own fates, you might have wondered what Four was up to. Knowing Four wouldn’t manage to stay out of trouble either, Four picks a fight with some fellow inmates, forcing the guards to initiative a lockdown, but there’s a catch. With the distant future technology at their beck and call, guards have no need to get involved physically and instead use a sonic disabler, releasing a high pitch ring, rendering all the inmates null for a short period of time.

After his riot stunt, Four meets with a boss of one of the prisons. When Four calmly defends his actions and claims he was simply testing the prison’s riot protocol and response time, the boss coldly responds that no one has ever broken out and advises him not to try it or they will have more to worry about than the guards.

Six soon discovers that the trial for the crew of the Raza has been effectively postponed and learns that Varys, the prison commander is pushing for a quick trial, while others are pushing to lengthen it. It sure sounds like Six is going to get caught up in a deadly game of politics.

Six visits the Raza as it sits aimlessly in space as property of the Galactic Authority. As Six wanders the abandoned halls, I’m struck with how much I actually miss this ship and hope our nameless rogues find themselves back on the ship soon. Six visits Five, who still remains locked up in staff quarters, and asks for Five’s help in privately cracking a data file.

Back on the planet, One’s personal search leads nowhere, as Darius shuts him down, claiming his lead is a dead end. Darius insists he put his former friends behind him and return home to reclaim his company and legacy. One doesn’t appear that agreeable however. Shortly after, One receives a visit from Six, and One shares with Six his suspicions about Boone’s innocence in the murder of One’s wife.

Two’s time in solitary confinement hasn’t been uneventful either. The prison has created a sort of virtual reality in hopes of sending solitary confinement prisoners to a remote reality where they can work out their differences with each other without physically hurting one another. Two finds herself speaking with Nyk and the two oddly strike it up immediately, both independent powerful woman who seem to share a common interest… escaping.

Five manages to crack the file Six provided and grimly shares with Six that the GA knew about the plan to bomb the planet and stood by and let it happen. Enraged, Six confronts his friend, a fellow officer, and learns that before he lost his memories, he was aware of the GA’s plans. His friend fearfully warns him not to push back against the system.

After One is released, she, Two, and Three finally meet up for the first time since they set foot in the prison and discuss what they’ve learned. One reveals that she has struck up a partnership with Nyx, believing she may know a way out of the prison.

With terrible odds and unlikely partnerships, the three of them begin their daring and dauntless plan to escape from the inescapable prison. As Five is led away to be transferred planet side to a group home, she is interrupted by the Chief inspector of the GA’s serious crimes division, who claims she is now taking over the case and Five won’t face serious charges if she cooperates with the Inspector.

Back on the planet, One prepares to head home, but it would seem that fate has other plans for him, as he is rudely greeted by none other than his charming alter ego, Jace Corso, who proceeds to then point blank shoot One in the chest and head.

God, I really hope this was part of a grand master plan, because it really looks like One has bitten the dust for good. One has been one of my favorite characters from the start and his awkwardness and noble backbone has been a staple of the show and I would hate to see Marc Bendavid and his character leave the show. Even if they kill off One, Marc is still playing Jace and although not as endearing as One, Jace is still a badass character.

Despite that heart wrenching last moment, Dark Matter’s season 2 premiere is off to a good start. While the first episode was a bit slow, there’s no doubt that the writers are building things up and introducing new characters for the challenges that lie ahead.

I’m particular intrigued by Melanie Liburd’s Nyx, as she could make a great addition to the crew if executed well. Here’s to hoping that the crew of the Raza won’t spend that long locked up and will quickly execute their plan to escape.

Don’t miss next week’s explosive episode of Dark Matter on Friday at 10 pm on Syfy!