With shades of Philip K. Dick “We Should Have Seen That Coming” has a lot going on and the show has turned even darker. (Of course it has a lot going on, Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie are the creators of this brilliant sci fi tale.) Dark Matter last week saw The Android kick arse, in more ways than one, and Six released from his “holding cell.”
The newest installment shows the crew trusting Nyx, a drug heist, a rescue and a precognitive predicting that the Raza crew will be betrayed yet again. By one of their own. The question is who?
There are clues there.
Before coming up with a very short list of suspects we need to look at the episode in greater detail. Nyx has flashbacks to her life before prison and the Raza. This memory reveals that she is not pumped full of nanites or an android. She has precognitive abilities and she uses these to escape.
The Android investigates the messages erased by Arax before he tried to recover the key. Two notices that The Android is wearing a different outfit and she has “reverted to type.” The Android explains that, in essence, she prefers the familiarity of her “real” self versus the upgraded version. She still has the upgrade, however, just in case…
Two briefs the Raza crew on the identity of the woman Arax was dealing with; Alicia Reynaud. She is, Two says, corporate elite and sits on a number of boards partly owned by Ferrous. Five makes a tentative connection between Reynaud and the “time” key.
In order to investigate, Two suggests a heist to build their coffers. Nyx makes a suggestion; drugs. A hallucinogen called “Shadow.” Five and Six are not pleased to be drug dealing. Three gets the line of the episode with “Stop making me ask ‘What’s that.'”
The Raza attacks the ship carrying the party drug. Nyx, Two, Four, and Three board the ship. They take stun weapons from the occupants they shoot down and Nyx knows exactly where she is going. Two follows.
Four and Three grab the drugs and Nyx grabs a young man who turns out to be her brother; Milo. The crew grab Milo and their “booty” and head back to the Raza. Hansmeed and his people are in close pursuit.
Once Milo is on board, the crew learn that Milo and Nyx were part of a collective mind. (This brings to mind “The Borg” on Star Trek: The Next Generation – and of course Minority Report. Another lovely touch.) Similar to the “precogs” in Minority Report the collective mind works out probable outcomes with a high rate of success.
Milo is the key, as he is the most powerful, and Hansmeed wants the young man back at any cost. The ship follows Raza as it jumps from place to place. Six and Three hide the Marauder on a toxic planet.
Devon takes a box of Shadow for himself and later he takes a dose of the stuff. Five suspects something is up with their new medic. Nyx and Milo explain what they did for Hansmeed and what the drug was used for. Shadow, they explain, enhances the ability to link minds to the “Seers.”
Four takes time to speak with Milo, after Nyx asks him to learn about her brother. Milo tells him that he knows a member of the crew will betray the rest…again. Four leaves the young man an apple and a knife.
Two confronts the enemy ship and tries to bluff Hansmeed.
She fails.
The seers take Milo back. Four escorts the him to the ship and tells him that the group do not necessarily have to win. Later, Milo takes himself out of he equation using the weapon that Four gave him.
Perhaps the most disturbing thing about “We Should Have Seen That Coming,” apart from Milo’s end, is his prediction of another betrayal. Initially, the impulse is to run down the original crew members and wonder who will play Judas this time.
However the list of suspects should be much shorter; Devon and Nyx.
Nyx because of her brother’s death. She will eventually work out that Four had a hand in it. This alone propels her toward the top of the list. However it is Devon who wins the “crew member most likely” to do a Benedict Arnold to Team Raza.
Devon took the Shadow drug. It may be a hallucinogen, but as Milo points out, it also strengthens the ability of the seers to connect with the collective mind. As Milo pointed out, everyone has a touch of precognitive ability in them.
Putting on a “seer” hat it seems pretty certain that Devon will inadvertently betray his new crew because of the Shadow. (Using that same soothsayer cap it is clear that the person Milo says could change history will be Five.)
This season of Dark Matter is darker. There are corporate storm clouds gathering and the crew of the Raza is stuck right in the middle. They are currently in the eye of the dark hurricane that is approaching.
Just before the end credits another disturbing even occurs. The seemingly indestructible Two, with all her nanites, has a spasm in her right hand. It does not take a seer to work out that this is bad.
Dark Matter airs Fridays on SyFy and Space TV. Miss this and miss the best science fiction on television.
CAST:
- Marc Bendavid – One/Jace Corso
- Melissa O’Neil – Two
- Anthony Lemke – Three
- Alex Mallari Jr. – Four
- Jodelle Ferland – Five
- Roger Cross – Six
- Zoie Palmer – The Android
Guest Stars: Melanie Liburd – Nyx, Shaun Sipos – Devon, Mpho Koaho – Milo, Daniel Fathers – Hansmeed and Inga Cadranel – Alicia Reynaud.
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