Well I'm enjoying it. I like stories of heroism and helping the helpless. It used to be a common theme but, these days, everybody wants to subvert things so that the bad guys aren't really so bad or the good guys aren't really so good. Or you can't tell which is which.
Sometimes I like to just see a bunch of clearly good guys doing clearly good things in a kick-ass way!
Maybe I'm just old-fashioned
Having said that, it seems they used to be bad and obviously there is an intriguing mystery going on about their memories and what happened to them. There's still plenty to explore and discover about what's going on so I'm really happy with how it's going up till now.
But that is exactly what this is. Bad guys who aren't so bad. But doing it within the constraints of a family friendly TV show. Which doesn't help.
I don't like where the bad guys are really bad - like Breaking Bad or Dexter where the main characters are unremittingly evil & not a hint of good to them - so if we have to have a 'bad' lead(s) I do like some ambiguity so Dark Matter should suit me to a T. But rather than making the characters complex & layered within a tantalizing mystery, in DM they are stereo types we've all seen before in what would normally be the compulsory Sci-Fi 'Tabula Rasa' episode. Even the name of the ship is 'Rasa' . It's all a bit old hat & hackneyed.
its alright so far, does seem in danger of becoming bog standard by the numbers sci fi though
the score is brilliant though, very mass effecty from the xbox games trilogy.
i will stick with it, i just hope its not visiting a new world every week
i think the murder profiles may be faked for some of them possibly. a few twists and turns left yet, i mean that huge door is a biggie. be nice if there are loads of new crew members behind it!
But that is exactly what this is. Bad guys who aren't so bad. But doing it within the constraints of a family friendly TV show. Which doesn't help.
Yeah but they don't act that way. Apart from the weapons-guy, they all seem to be pretty decent people who want to do good. So I'm happy to root for them without having to have mixed feelings about it!
But rather than making the characters complex & layered within a tantalizing mystery, in DM they are stereo types we've all seen before in what would normally be the compulsory Sci-Fi 'Tabula Rasa' episode. Even the name of the ship is 'Rasa' . It's all a bit old hat & hackneyed.
That's a good point about the ship's name, actually, I hadn't thought of that. Tabula Rasa means "blank slate" whcih is what they are. Either that's fourth wall breaking irony from the creators or it's another clue that their whole situation has been engineered from scratch right down to the ship's name!
The thing about stereotypes is that they got to be that way because they happened a lot. They happened a lot because people liked them. It's classic superhero stuff really. Team of people each with their own special abilities grouping together to help the helpless. What's not to like?
Originality is all very well but sometimes a good things is worth repeating
Having said that, I've got nothing against layers. You want to see character interaction and development but you're not going to see lots of layers in the pilot story. How can we hope to get to know them in any detail when they don't even know who they are themselves?
There's certainly lots of scope for layers and ambiguity given their apparent pasts and the basic premise of their memory loss and criminal backgrounds.
Maybe it won't catch on but I'm a guy of simple tastes. It works for me
I'm on my 5th run through of ME3 (although it's been quite a while since I last played)! I have a character for each class in ME1 and ME2 and I need to finish each of their stories.
Make sure you get the Extended Cut DLC. The ending is a bit of a let down without it!
I'm on my 5th run through of ME3 (although it's been quite a while since I last played)! I have a character for each class in ME1 and ME2 and I need to finish each of their stories.
Make sure you get the Extended Cut DLC. The ending is a bit of a let down without it!
Ep2 was pretty much the same as every other show where everyone shoots off a shed load of ammunition and nobody (important) gets hit. Cowboys, spooks, corporate hit-men, black ops, criminals, interstellar mercenaries - same old, same old... :-O
Ep2 was pretty much the same as every other show where everyone shoots off a shed load of ammunition and nobody (important) gets hit. Cowboys, spooks, corporate hit-men, black ops, criminals, interstellar mercenaries - same old, same old... :-O
What got me was that all the bad guys seemed to have incredible looking body armour and even swords and pistols seemed to have no problem penetrating it. Maybe they should ditch the plastic armour and go for Kevlar?
Ep2 was pretty much the same as every other show where everyone shoots off a shed load of ammunition and nobody (important) gets hit. Cowboys, spooks, corporate hit-men, black ops, criminals, interstellar mercenaries - same old, same old... :-O
I realised that ep2 wasn't keeping my attention after about 10 minutes ... reckon I'll likely give the rest of the series a miss. Not much good stuff on at the moment.
Episode one, security android has no memory of attacking the crew-"I have no memory of such an attack". Episode two, when told she'd attacked the crew......"Yes, as a result of a programming directive which has since been erased"!! Contradiction in terms there methinks!
I didn't get why the young girl started crawling through the vents.
She was told to hide. It's a decent size ship. She could have just went to her quarters, or any other quarters or room.
Instead she crawls through the vents on;y to appear at samuri guy's quarters and then starts going through his stuff.
Odd writing for filler and a slight plot development.
Episode one, security android has no memory of attacking the crew-"I have no memory of such an attack". Episode two, when told she'd attacked the crew......"Yes, as a result of a programming directive which has since been erased"!! Contradiction in terms there methinks!
I din't find it odd. She was told that she'd attacked them and the crew openly discussed the fact that she'd been reprogrammed in front of her. So she would have been perfectly aware that she had attacked them and had her programming erased even if she didn't have her own memories of it. For that matter, the ship's computer may have recorded both the attack and the reprogramming and she has access to those systems.
I didn't get why the young girl started crawling through the vents.
She was told to hide. It's a decent size ship. She could have just went to her quarters, or any other quarters or room.
Instead she crawls through the vents on;y to appear at samuri guy's quarters and then starts going through his stuff.
Strangers were about to board at any moment. It was much safer to be in the vents than in the open corridors.
It would be easy to land up in a random room if you're just crawling through vents but we are also led to believe that there is something psychic about her so she may have been drawn to his room and to the box.
I thought this week's was a bit of a nothing episode. Anything relevant we found out will probably be in "Previously on Dark Matter" in the next episode. About 3 sentences.
Not a good sign. Although the final scene was promising.
I thought this week's was a bit of a nothing episode. Anything relevant we found out will probably be in "Previously on Dark Matter" in the next episode. About 3 sentences.
Not a good sign. Although the final scene was promising.
Episode 3 and we have filler already.
The final scene was enough for me to come back next week.
It was a self-contained adventure with some drama involving the crew. There were parts which contributed to the overall arc but, even if there weren't any I don't see why series have to have an arc in order to be worth watching. Every episode of the original Star Trek or Doctor Who or a myriad other popular series would be considered filler by today's standards.
It was a self-contained adventure with some drama involving the crew. There were parts which contributed to the overall arc but, even if there weren't any I don't see why series have to have an arc in order to be worth watching. Every episode of the original Star Trek or Doctor Who or a myriad other popular series would be considered filler by today's standards.
I have never understood that criticism
Well after having caught up I totally agree with you I don't see every episode having to progress the overall arc
Suffice to say I'm really enjoying dark matter right now
ETA .. Which means it'll be cancelled within a week;)
It was a self-contained adventure with some drama involving the crew. There were parts which contributed to the overall arc but, even if there weren't any I don't see why series have to have an arc in order to be worth watching. Every episode of the original Star Trek or Doctor Who or a myriad other popular series would be considered filler by today's standards.
I have never understood that criticism
It's called 'filler' for a reason.
They are normally throwaway episodes that add nothing to the show, be it story arc or artistic value. Mostly done to save on budget, as well as because the writers have run out of ideas.
They are normally throwaway episodes that add nothing to the show, be it story arc or artistic value.
A stand alone episode is not always a filler. It's not unusal for even arc heavy shows to have early stand-alones. These aren't fillers as such. Whilst not offering anything new to the arc in terms of story development, they do advance the arc in terms of character relationship development. Whilst not always great viewing, they are necessary at the early stages of the story.
Mostly done to save on budget, as well as because the writers have run out of ideas.
Whatever you want to call it I just thought it was a poor episode - and it's only the 3rd.
While I, personally, enjoyed the episode I think you hit the nail on the head. I think the description "filler" episode is just being used to describe an episode that people don't enjoy!
Something can only be filler if there is something to fill. If you expect a progression and see no progression. Not everything needs progression, however. That's just a modern thing. There's nothing wrong with each episode presenting a new scenario for the crew to overcome. It doesn't have to refer to past events or lead to new events to be entertaining. That's why I've always objected to this "filler" label. I don't see why a standalone show should be considered irrelevant or surplus to requirements just because it doesn't advance an overall arc. Some of my favourite shows from back in the day had no arc whatsoever.
Having said that, we did see progression. We found out about the dead boy, we found out some new capabilities of the android and how different crew members see her. We saw alliances and mutiny which progress the dynamic between the crew. We saw the revelation of the door being pursued more and we saw the rest of the crew finding out about Five experiencing their memories and the ramifications of that.
Lots of existing mysteries being developed and new ones added. So I really don't see how it qualifies as filler even from an arc progression context.
Comments
But that is exactly what this is. Bad guys who aren't so bad. But doing it within the constraints of a family friendly TV show. Which doesn't help.
I don't like where the bad guys are really bad - like Breaking Bad or Dexter where the main characters are unremittingly evil & not a hint of good to them - so if we have to have a 'bad' lead(s) I do like some ambiguity so Dark Matter should suit me to a T. But rather than making the characters complex & layered within a tantalizing mystery, in DM they are stereo types we've all seen before in what would normally be the compulsory Sci-Fi 'Tabula Rasa' episode. Even the name of the ship is 'Rasa' . It's all a bit old hat & hackneyed.
the score is brilliant though, very mass effecty from the xbox games trilogy.
i will stick with it, i just hope its not visiting a new world every week
i think the murder profiles may be faked for some of them possibly. a few twists and turns left yet, i mean that huge door is a biggie. be nice if there are loads of new crew members behind it!
Yeah but they don't act that way. Apart from the weapons-guy, they all seem to be pretty decent people who want to do good. So I'm happy to root for them without having to have mixed feelings about it!
That's a good point about the ship's name, actually, I hadn't thought of that. Tabula Rasa means "blank slate" whcih is what they are. Either that's fourth wall breaking irony from the creators or it's another clue that their whole situation has been engineered from scratch right down to the ship's name!
The thing about stereotypes is that they got to be that way because they happened a lot. They happened a lot because people liked them. It's classic superhero stuff really. Team of people each with their own special abilities grouping together to help the helpless. What's not to like?
Originality is all very well but sometimes a good things is worth repeating
Having said that, I've got nothing against layers. You want to see character interaction and development but you're not going to see lots of layers in the pilot story. How can we hope to get to know them in any detail when they don't even know who they are themselves?
There's certainly lots of scope for layers and ambiguity given their apparent pasts and the basic premise of their memory loss and criminal backgrounds.
Maybe it won't catch on but I'm a guy of simple tastes. It works for me
I love Mass Effect. My favouirte RPG of all time. Can't wait for the new one
as for DM, i wonder how long their names will be numbers? lol
Missed that one too ... Might see if it's On catch up
EP1 was okay as a opener, set up some good ideas
EP2 was a disaster. The gun battle was one of the worst pieces of Sci-Fi I have see for years and looked straight out of a 70's B Movie.
I will try Ep3, but this looks to be doomed for me.
What got me was that all the bad guys seemed to have incredible looking body armour and even swords and pistols seemed to have no problem penetrating it. Maybe they should ditch the plastic armour and go for Kevlar?
I realised that ep2 wasn't keeping my attention after about 10 minutes ... reckon I'll likely give the rest of the series a miss. Not much good stuff on at the moment.
She was told to hide. It's a decent size ship. She could have just went to her quarters, or any other quarters or room.
Instead she crawls through the vents on;y to appear at samuri guy's quarters and then starts going through his stuff.
Odd writing for filler and a slight plot development.
I din't find it odd. She was told that she'd attacked them and the crew openly discussed the fact that she'd been reprogrammed in front of her. So she would have been perfectly aware that she had attacked them and had her programming erased even if she didn't have her own memories of it. For that matter, the ship's computer may have recorded both the attack and the reprogramming and she has access to those systems.
Strangers were about to board at any moment. It was much safer to be in the vents than in the open corridors.
It would be easy to land up in a random room if you're just crawling through vents but we are also led to believe that there is something psychic about her so she may have been drawn to his room and to the box.
Not a good sign. Although the final scene was promising.
Episode 3 and we have filler already.
The final scene was enough for me to come back next week.
I have never understood that criticism
Well after having caught up I totally agree with you I don't see every episode having to progress the overall arc
Suffice to say I'm really enjoying dark matter right now
ETA .. Which means it'll be cancelled within a week;)
It's called 'filler' for a reason.
They are normally throwaway episodes that add nothing to the show, be it story arc or artistic value. Mostly done to save on budget, as well as because the writers have run out of ideas.
While I, personally, enjoyed the episode I think you hit the nail on the head. I think the description "filler" episode is just being used to describe an episode that people don't enjoy!
Something can only be filler if there is something to fill. If you expect a progression and see no progression. Not everything needs progression, however. That's just a modern thing. There's nothing wrong with each episode presenting a new scenario for the crew to overcome. It doesn't have to refer to past events or lead to new events to be entertaining. That's why I've always objected to this "filler" label. I don't see why a standalone show should be considered irrelevant or surplus to requirements just because it doesn't advance an overall arc. Some of my favourite shows from back in the day had no arc whatsoever.
Having said that, we did see progression. We found out about the dead boy, we found out some new capabilities of the android and how different crew members see her. We saw alliances and mutiny which progress the dynamic between the crew. We saw the revelation of the door being pursued more and we saw the rest of the crew finding out about Five experiencing their memories and the ramifications of that.
Lots of existing mysteries being developed and new ones added. So I really don't see how it qualifies as filler even from an arc progression context.