Tag: Zoie Palmer

Patch Town (2014): Quasi Musical Fantasy Fun

Zoie Palmer, Julian Richings, Ken Hall
Directed by Craig Goodwill (his first feature length film) and starring Zoie Palmer (Dark Matter, Lost Girl), Julian Richings (Cube, Man of Steel), Rob Ramsay (The Thundermans, Blue Mountain State), Suresh John (Bulletproof Monk, Shoot ‘Em Up) and Ken Hall (A Christmas Horror Story, Mistletoe Over Manhattan) Patch Town is a Canadian production that follows a sort of Grimm’s fairy tale version of cabbage patch dolls and their lives outside the garden where they were born.

Julian Richings plays the dual role of the man who discovers the cabbage’s secret and later  he is Yuri, the child catcher. The film tells of how each baby borne of the cabbage was frozen, in  special machine created by Yuri’s father. This invention turned the babies into dolls who were then adopted by loving little girls the world over. As the dolls became neglected, aka outgrown, Yuri collected the dolls and reanimated them into people.

Their memories were wiped so they could not remember their prior lives as dolls. The process, however, is not perfect and a few can recall their mothers. Jon (Ramsay) is one who remembers his mother, Bethany (Palmer) very well. Jon works in the cabbage patch baby factory where each day cabbages containing babies are opened up and the tiny infants removed.

The contents of the vegetables are  guarded closely and anyone caught stealing a baby from the factory are jailed and re-educated.  Jon escapes with his wife Mary (Stephanie Pitsiladis) and their stolen baby Daisy. He is aided by Sly, (John) who tries to help him fit into the real world. 

Meanwhile, Yuri is lonely and wants a bride and he choses Bethany, Jon’s former mother who has a new child, Avery (Kayla DiVenere) who Yuri want to freeze and make into a doll. 

This quasi-musical is a lot of fun to watch and full of quirky humor. Suresh John, who could be the re-incarnation of funnyman Jerry Colonna is truly hysterical in this film. John’s comic timing and delivery are exquisite and the delivery of his lines as Sly are side splitting.

Take, for example, his explanation of Santa Claus and elves to Jon.

Jon: ” Who am I supposed to be?”

Sly: “You are some benefactor named Santa Claus.”

Jon: “And who are you supposed to be?”

Sly: “I am some freakish mutation that works in a factory making toys for greedy undeserving children.”

Suresh is even good at setting up jokes for his fellow performers to serve up as punch line. Sly warns Jon not to talk to the police, whom he refers to as the fuzz, the po po and 5-Oh. Jon later retranslates this into “I’m not supposed to talk to the fuzzy Po Po.”

Ken Hall, as Kenny, is almost as funny as Suresh. This man’s manic expression while rambling about kidnapping gloves, standing by the side of the road with beet juice on his face, or stumbling over his words explaining why he kidnapped the girl and not Bethany are show stoppers.

The only complain about this film is that there could be more Zoie Palmer. As Bethany she does not have too much screen time. (Another complaint would be that her character’s lines are a tad confusing. She tries to force Jon to help her find her daughter and when he agrees to help, she immediately asks him why.  Confusing.)

The plot could be seen as a homage to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with it’s child catcher, certainly  Richings’ character resembles  Robert Helpmann’s child catcher although he is a lot more verbal than the sinister villain in that 1968 musical.  While the character of the child catching Yuri may be a homage to the film of the flying, and magical car, it is apparent that the whole storyline of cabbage patch babies is connected to those hideous dolls from the 1980s.

Or…the film really is a sort of musical Grimm’s fairy tale about babies found in cabbages. Either way, the movie is quirky fun with an unlikely hero and the brilliantly comic Suresh John as equally unlikely sidekick.

At 85 minutes the film is not overly long and the pacing is brisk, although it does drag in places. Streaming on US Netflix, Patch Town is great fun and while the songs are not catchy enough to stick in your head, they do, at least, help the story along.

This is a 4 out of 5 stars for originality, and it loses a star for not enough Zoie Palmer, but earns 4 just for Ken Hall and Suresh John who steal this film from Richings and Ramsay as deftly as if he were the child catcher himself.

Dark Matter: Episode 10 (recap and review)

The Raza crew interact with their guests
Just when it seems there is a discernible pattern to Dark Matter, the show features a “game changer” that will shock and upset you. If you have not watched all of episode 10 stop reading now or the surprise that occurs before the end credits roll will be lost. After a show where Two kicks another mercenary team leader’s a** and breaks his wrist. (And badly bruises his left testicle a fact that The Android helpfully shares with the group.) Two apparently becomes a first season casualty.

Or has she?

Watch the episode carefully and listen to the beaten leader’s little speech while he gloats at defeating Two who is shut in the air lock. He actually reveals that one reason he and his group have double crossed the Raza crew is for the collective bounty. (He also tells Two that they get to keep the ship as well, “it’s what I like to call a win, win…win.”)

While this “eviction” may result in a character’s death, one that we have yet to learn everything about, it will, at the very least, be a talking point regardless of whether Two survives or not.

The episode itself started right where episode 9 left off;  the Raza surrounded by three Ferrous ships who have ordered the ship to stand down or be destroyed. They have 30 seconds to comply.  The Raza’s FTL drive is broken, due to missile damage and as the crew and The Android talk options the opposition launches a nuclear missile aimed at the Raza.

Two tells The Android to speed up and head toward the 20 megaton nuclear missile. The plan is to get close enough to the launching ship that they will be caught in the blast causing them to disarm the nuke. The plan works. Before it does, however, the men of the Raza are pretty alarmed.

After the missile is disarmed, three more ships drop out of FTL drive that are Mikke ships. Commander Truffault from the MCS Murakami boards the Raza and after talking trash about the mercenary’s reputations, something that prompts Four into offering to cut her tongue out, she asks the group to do a job for the corporation  stealing something from a research facility. Truffault refuses to tell Two what the item is and she turns the job down.

*Sidenote* Loved the nod and wink to the 2013 science fiction Tom Cruise film “Oblivion” and the character of Sally, “Are you an effective team?” (Played by Melissa Leo in the film.) While this may not have been intentional (although with Joseph Mallozzi there can be no coincidences)  when Truffault states, after essentially questioning the teams reputation, that she is just trying offer them an opportunity to prove they are still an effective team it certainly feels like a Melissa Leo (Sally) moment.

Truffault is an annoying character, as played by Torri Higginson the commander is a smarmy and condescending a**, “See, we’re finishing each other’s sentences already,” she coos while trying to convince the mercenaries to work for the Mikke corporation.

Most of the episodes of Dark Matter have peeled back the apparent personalities of each character to reveal fascinating backstories. As each reveal is made, the crew become more real and three dimensional. Whether the information shared is through a past experience or through some action that is part of the episode, each mercenary member becomes more visible.

In episode 10, Five reveals that her talents as techno-girl are deep. The segment also shows that the team have become attached to the teen. Surprisingly it is Three who sings Five’s praises, sounding quite proud of her accomplishments. Clearly, after initially distrusting the teenager, Five has become a convert. When Five volunteers to join the heist at the Traugott research facility, Six is upset while Three supports her move.

The men on the team have a meeting and decide to over through Two’s decision. Cue a comedy moment where One is picked on by Three and the rest about his relationship with Two. He objects that just because he and Two are an item, that they do not have to be “together on everything.” When One tells Two about their group decision she does not take it well. In fact she tells One that they may just have to rethink their “sleeping together.”

*Sidenote* During their conversation, Two reminds One about what happened the last time they took a “blind” assignment. “Remember what happened,” she says. One answers in the affirmative and he references the still bandaged “healed” wound on her neck. “How is that healing by the way,” One asks. Two, still lying about the now nonexistent injury, says its “getting better.” Question: Will this “ability” to heal so quickly somehow influence the outcome of Two’s being ejected from the Raza sans spacesuit?

The team meet up with Truffault and her second team of mercenaries. The second group are not “as nice” as the Raza team and it is obvious that there will be friction. Meanwhile, back at the Raza, the Android creates a simulation of herself to record and observe her behavior. Android’s simulation is more robotic than she is, and in keeping with her “flaws” Android has set up the simulation to report only to her. When the Android replica asks if Android will tell the crew if something is not right with her programming, the robot lies and says yes. Just as she lies to Five who asks if Android is talking to someone.

The two teams are briefed and Three is alarmed to learn that they will not have weapons. Wexler (Ennis Esmer) is to break into the vault holding the target of the theft. He foolishly agitates Two and she ends up putting him out of action and into the infirmary.

*Sidenote* As usual the choreography of Two and Wexler’s fight is spot on and looks convincing. We have no doubt that the female leader of the Raza can and does defeat big mouth Wexler. Later in the research facility when Three, One and Cain (Conrad Pla) fight the security android the fighting also looks realistic, as it can when fighting a robot.

Kudos are in order for the comic exchange between Three and Five. Three, who has his own bad memories of fighting another android, calls it a robot, “It’s an android,” Five corrects him. As the fighting commences, Three states that he “hates robots,” again. “Android,” Five shouts. “Whatever,” replies Three.

The three men fight the android until Five zaps it into submission. She then breaks into the vault, not using the battery, and Three is proud of her. Earlier in the show, Five was a bit upset at having to “hide” from the other mercenary crew. After Two puts Wexler out of commission she had to ask Five to step in for him. Cue a little gloating from the teenager who then excitedly accepts the invitation. Six, needless to say, is not pleased.

After the heist is over, the other team doublec-ross the Raza crew and Wexler locks up Two in the airlock. He zaps The Android on the Raza like Five did the security robot (sorry, Android) on the research facility. When the other team take the crew hostage, Cain uses Three’s gun and he is not happy.

Wexler threatens to shoot Two out of the ship unless the combination to the the ship’s storage vault is disclosed. He then reveals that if they do not give up the code, they will then “do the kid.” Wexler counts down and as the Raza crew all look increasingly desperate Three crumples and tells Wexler the combination just before One starts to mouth the code. “Maplethorpe,” Three says, “The code is Maplethorpe. With an e.”

The code works and Wexler opens the airlock anyway releasing Two into space.

This must be the most jaw dropping episode thus far. The sight of Two shooting out into the black void leaves the viewer speechless and horrified. While we may not know too much about her backstory, there is something about Two that inspires empathy. This woman can kick butt better than anyone on the Raza, with the possible exception of Four, yet when she killed in front of Five, she was horrified.

We can only hope that Two survives what appears to be certain death. This disparate group of outlaws who are all desperately trying to “do the right thing” has a tycoon who wants to catch his wife’s murderer but continues to blur the lines of who he really is and a kid who desperately wants a family, even if they are cutthroats and thieves. It also has an android who may be the most human of the lot.

Dark Matter is part of SyFy Friday and ranks as one of the best shows on television do not miss this show.

Dark Matter: Episode Eight (recap and review)

Dark Matter: Episode Eight (recap and review) Screen Shot 2015-08-01 at 17.26.55
Last week in Dark Matter a huge chunk of Three’s backstory came to light and an entertainment Android almost killed the whole crew. In episode eight, the layers continue to be peeled back and there are some surprising revelations. The issue of One, being a copy, comes up once again. Six attempts to get a little payback on the man who made him a mass murderer and Android learns that her programming is flawed.

This show continues to surprise and delight with all the slow reveals of the characters. Three was shown to be a “heel with a heart” in the previous episode and the crew’s past came up to bite them in the butt with the evil android who was controlled by a disgruntled former victim of the mercenaries. In terms of amusement and backstory surprise the episode ranked very highly.

Transfer Transit 2.0, which was introduced early on in the series, Dark Matter’s version of Rekal (Philip K Dick – We Can Remember It For You Wholesale/Total Recall) but using clones and memories and not just memories, features heavily in this episode. Six, who learned in a prior episode about being made a patsy for a the revolution uses the TT 2.0 to continue his journey of revenge.

At the start of the show, he is seen meeting with a group of criminal’s who are going to lead him to the general. Things go south and Six is shot dead. As two of the group discuss the events, the body disappears in a puff of ash and smoke.

The Android, who was shot at pointblank range last week is still out of action while nanites repair the robot. Two lands the ship for repairs and the crew head off for supplies and some R&R. Three, who is still upset about last week’s death, has to be talked into going by Four.

Once they disembark, Six heads off on his own, much to Five’s disappointment, and the rest of the group go out for a meal. After discussing what the burgers are made of (meal worms asserts Two) they change from solids to liquids. *Comedic moment.* One stops eating his burger and Three, who decides that meal worms are not an issue, says, “You’re not eating that,” and grabs One’s burger and takes a large bite out of it.

Later, when the crew have gotten a bit drunk, Five shows up to tell them about Six and his visit to Transfer Transit. The mercenaries decide to search his room on the ship to learn where he has gone. Three heads for a closet and finds that Six has been hoarding the green food strips. “He lied,” exclaims Three, “I knew it.” When they try to hack into Six’s computer terminal by guessing his password, Three suggests trying “lying hoarder” as he eats a green food strip.

Five agrees to hack the system and the crew learn about the terrorist attack that he was responsible for. Six goes back to the group that killed him before. Despite his clone dying before transferring the memories, Six has worked out that the group were dangerous and kills them all before forcing the female leader to lead him to the general.

Back at the ship, Four suggests that they follow Six and find out what he is up to. Three characteristically refuses to be cloned and left “gift wrapped and helpless” for the GA. Five volunteers, but Two says she has to stay on the ship since the Android is out of commission. Four says he will go and One is ordered to go with him by Two.

Four and One learn what they must do to used the Transfer Transit, and reluctantly One agrees. *Sidenote* Cue another great comic moment. Even Ishida assassins will fight for the discount. When the sales person asks if Four and One are a couple, One says no. Four asks if there is a discount. When she says there is a 10 percent discount, Four replies, “Well then yes, we are a couple.” One looks completely embarrassed and nonplussed.

Six has found the general’s location and is led off to meet with him.

One is clearly terrified of the technology and keeps asking questions until the woman forces the lid on the pod closed. At the other end, as he dresses the camera avoids One’s face. Four enters the room and immediately hits One in the face. Four begins asking the clone, who looks completely different, who he is. One starts relaying information about the rest of the crew to a disbelieving Four. He finishes his description of the other mercenaries with “Three is an a**hole.”

“It is you,” Four says.

Five goes to visit Android and wakes her up. “I’m sorry,” she says. The Android asks why she is sorry and Five tells the robot that it was her fault that Android was hurt. What follows is a discussion between the two where Android says that she is a logic based program and after Five explains her reactions to Wendy and others, Android says that her programming is flawed. Five tells the robot she has feelings and congratulates her with a hug, an expressionless Android looks over Five’s shoulder as they interact.

Four and One learn where Six went. The general meets with Six and the two discuss their past. The leader is unapologetic about the killing of women and children. As they talk, he reveals that the things that made Griff a good soldier now make him a threat and he plans to kill him. He mentions that he knows Griff is checking the time and says he will be dead before his friends can arrive.

One and Four can be seen on a monitor heading to where Six and the general are talking. Six’s shuttle explodes, he set the ship to “critical” just for that reason and in the confusion kills everyone in the room and finished by choking the general to death. As the other man expires, his body disappears in a cloud of ash and smoke, like “Griff” the man is a clone.

Back at the ship, the mercenaries question One about his identity and Three is also in the doghouse because he lied about his shipmate not being the real Jace Corso and then blackmailed him. Two tells him off for both actions and she then has a go at Six. The leader is not happy that the crew are not trusting enough. They must, she insists, try harder.

Two and The Android discuss the rest of the crew after the robot’s diagnostics are read out. Two explains that the morale on the ship is low and they cannot trust each other. The Android asks Two why she has not told the others the truth about herself. Two looks concerned and unhappy.

Five goes to ask Six if he wants to see a movie on the station, “Star Wars 36 remastered.” Six turns her down. Four gets in contact with his brother Hiro, the new emperor of Ishida and One learns who he really is; Derrick Moss, heir to a fortune and a man whose wife was murdered. The main suspect is Three, aka Marcus Boone.

Dark Matter keeps stripping back the layers to show what each “number” is hiding. There are still a few crew members left who have had very little exposure in terms of backstory. Two for example. The Androids question at the end of the episode makes it seem that Two may have wiped the crews’ memories. Five still has a lot of history unrevealed and little is known about the Android.

Anthony Lemke is fighting Zoie Palmer in the comic relief stakes and these two really make this show work. As an ensemble piece Dark Matter works almost flawlessly and each week another crew member is allowed to carry a portion of the show. In terms of characters, it still seems that Five, Jodelle Ferland‘s character, knows a lot more than she is letting on.

Each episode moves the story forward while simultaneously shedding more light on each character and generating still more questions. This formula ensures attention levels do not wane and keeps the viewer guessing. Dark Matter is part of SyFy Friday and is great television that should not be missed.

Dark Matter: Episode Seven (review)

Sara in Dark Matter
Last week in Dark Matter, episode six had Five taking an extended walk down memory lane and revealing a lot more about her crew mates. Episode seven follows on from that peek at those stored remembrances, which, apart from showing just how Six got to the party, cleared up the matter of that forgotten passcode; Maplethorpe which was a former teacher of Six’s and according to him, in the memory, completely unforgettable.

Once in the vault the crew discover weapons, lots of money, an entertainment android and a woman in stasis. Thus far in Dark Matter, each episode serves to reveal a little bit more about each mercenary. Four, for example, was the son of the Ishida Emperor and was framed for his murder; part of episode six’s reveal. Another layer exposed in that episode was that Five was not in a good place when she stowed away on the ship; she was a pick pocket extraordinaire living rough with a lot of other mini-Fagin’s.

This week it is Three’s turn under the microscope. Like each episode so far, his is the main story but there are other facets of the crew that come to light, One and Two with their apparent history and hesitant steps toward a possible reunion are also looked at. The Android, as usual, plays comic relief and Zoie Palmer should get an Emmy gong for her childlike and very literal robot with a heart.

Android could well be a distant relative to the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz but her role is similar to Five’s. She has a definite purpose. What it may be is not too clear at the moment, but like everyone else’s history on board, it too will be discovered.

Five has the code echoing around in her head and she runs through the ship shouting that she knows the code. One comes into Two’s room to pass on a status report and the woman gets dressed while he awkwardly makes his report. He is most definitely interested in the leader and tells Two that they have a damaged relationship. When she laughingly repeats his allegation, he says he meant relay switch. At the end of their conversation, he gets his signals mixed and decides she is flirting with him.

Six interrupts their “discussion” to say that Five knows the code to “the mystery room.”

After the crew open the door the woman found in stasis is held in observation and Android discovers that the woman is dying of Tataryn disease. The Android explains that there is no cure. Three wants to put her back in stasis and Two says they need to question the woman. One and Six find the entertainment Android and One decides to put her together.

One is quite taken with the new robot and he gets Five to “turn her on…I mean activate her.” The new Android is named Wendy and she talks with an Aussie accent and turns out to know a lot about the culinary arts.

Android wakes the woman and we learn that her name is Sara and when she wakes up, Sara recognizes Three immediately. “Marcus, she says throwing her arms around the surprised mercenary. He and Two explain about the stasis pod problem and the wiped memories.

Sara tells about how she met “Marcus” and that she knows what he is, a criminal and a mercenary, Three apparently was wounded on her planet. Sara treated his wounds and he apparently fell in love with the woman. They learn that she is dying and he took her on board and put her into stasis to save her life.

While this episode went deep under Three’s crusty and obnoxious exterior, the subplot dealt with Wendy, who apart form having a killer body and personality, also had an ulterior motive of revenge programmed by Cyrus King. Her deadly mission was set because the mercenaries killed his men “before memory loss” and he now wants their ship flown into a star.

Dark Matter this week dealt with a few issues, one of which was Android jealousy, at one point Zoie Palmer’s Android affects several different accents, Irish, Australian, English, Scottish and, somewhat hysterically, Jamaican; “Don’t worry about it Mon” she tells One after trying out a few. After a short conversation with Five, who had her hair done by Wendy, Android decides to welcome the new member of the crew, only to be shot for her trouble.

By the end of the episode, Three turns out to have a mushy interior, even if he does not remember it and Two finally hooks up with One. The backstory of Marcus and Sara was touching and cute. The fact that Three had found someone who accepted him for who he was only to have it threatened by a incurable disease explains a lot about where his character is at now. Granted he cannot remember it, but some knowledge must exist somewhere in his mind. After all, it was Three who insisted that Sara be woken up and he also demanded that she be put back in stasis after learning that she was dying.

There were many comical moments in the episode. The hysterically funny “dunking the cosmic donut” reference, which fascinated Six, One and Three, the orgasmic dining scene and Four’s massage from Wendy all hit the right notes. One’s decision to try out the entertainment Android and his mixed signals with the leader of the group as well as The Android’s attempt to get praise for fixing the ship’s cooling systems all made this week’s episode a real chuckle fest.

The power of the writing of this series is not just the comedic moments however. The real magic is the writer’s aptitude at effortlessly mixing amusing events with tear inducing parts of the story. There can not be many who did not at least get a lump in their throat when Sara succumbs to the disease.

Each episode is reveals more about the crew and each character is becoming well rounded and three dimensional as a result. Zoie Palmer is becoming more endearing with each episode as are the rest of the crew. Anthony Lemke rocks it this week with his heel with heart story and the entire cast are hitting their stride performance wise. Kudos to guest star Ruby Rose and to the writers who came up with the fight sequences at the end; both with and without head.

Dark Matter is part of SyFy Fridays and is compelling viewing. Do not miss this show.

Dark Matter: Episode 1.5 (recap and review)

Four, Two and Six in Dark Matter
Last week’s episode of Dark Matter focussed on Four and included a major plot device that owed much to The Sixth Day, Philip K Dick and Total Recall as well as the crew being broke. This week, episode 1.5 of Dark Matter starts with Three complaining about the quality of food again and having no money.

The plot on episode five is a huge nod and wink to Event Horizon and Pandorum, along with more than a passing homage to the cult classic 1993 video game Doom. As the crew discuss ways of making money, Five mentions the vault that she, and Three, found on the ship and they all head down to discover that they need an alpha-numeric code, that no one knows.

As they stand frustrated in front of the vault door, Android tells Two that someone she knows is trying to contact her. It is the team’s handler, Talbor Calchek (played by Stargate alumnus David Hewlett who also starred in the overlooked and underestimated 1988 Canadian horror film Pin) Calchek manages to upset Android and Three dislikes the man on sight.

He does, however, have a job for the group, a ship salvage for the ISS Far Horizon. Two accepts the job and they head for the freighter’s coordinates. Once there, Five stays on board the Raza with Android and everyone else boards the ship. One and Three are teamed up again, Four and Six head towards Engineering and Two goes to the ship’s bridge to hook up the FTL drive.

Five asks Android to help her identify the item she found in storage, where she also found the dead boy in an earlier episode, and it turns out to be an inter-dimensional device that opens up pockets of space in another dimension. Five asks, “Why would somebody want to do that?” Android replies, “I ask myself that all the time…Rarely do I get a satisfactory answer.” Five then asks Android to keep the information secret. She does not, apparently trust all the crew, logic points to the ever annoying Three being the one she trusts least.

One and Three are searching for overlooked contraband and despite One being dismissive of his teammate’s arming up, both men need the weapons when they stumble across a violent creature. Before that, however, the two continue to bicker and, in their own way, bond. Although One is disturbed that Two and Three apparently had sex.

As Two begins hooking up the FTL, Four and Six find a lot of dead bodies. The injuries on the dead were caused by “bare hands and teeth.” Two decides that the rest of the FTL hookup can take place off the ship. She tries to contact One and Three but there is too much comm interference. Two is attacked by a Michael Berryman lookalike that takes a lot of putting down. After a protracted battle, where Two is bitten by this zombie-like creature, Six and Four come in and shoot it. After falling, the thing reaches out for someone’s foot and more rounds are fired into the creature.

Three and One talk about how they feel about one another and Three explains that Two came on to him and that his “nice guy” act won’t “cut it” with women like Two. The dead “zombie” turns out to be a former crew member on the ISS Far Horizon and Two tries to warn One and Three. Android finds disturbing information that reveals the crew of the freighter were affected by a viral contagion that may have been transmitted by saliva and blood.

They take Two back to the ship after Android tells them that their bitten leader can be isolated and scanned. Six asks that Android find out why One and Three cannot be reached on their radios. Four volunteers that the two men could be dead, attacked by other zombies and Six disagrees. Two says that if anything, the two may have killed each other. Four and Six agree.

The two men left on the freighter continue arguing, One swears that they are lost and going down the same corridor over and over when they hear something. At the end of the hallway, they encounter a woman chewing on a human arm. Three fills the munching zombie with rounds while One tries to get him to slow down on putting more holes in the ship’s hull.

After killing the zombie, they come to a door that is locked. One begins to open the door saying, “I’ve seen Five do this. How hard can it be?” More zombies show up and Three shoots them down as they appear. He also puts enough holes in the wall that the hull is breached and the two men are almost sucked out into space. One saves Three’s life by pulling him through the door he just opened.

Six learns that the comms problem is probably due to the men’s location near the blast site and he heads that way to find them. Four calls Android back to the infirmary; it looks like Two may be in trouble. One and Three are trapped in the room they just opened and One refuses to move till they come up with a plan.

As the two men talk, One actually embarrasses Three into thanking him for saving his life and tells him that they are now even, Three gives a breakdown of the rest of the crew that is pretty spot on, with the exception of his irrational dislike of Five.

In the infirmary the scan shows the presence of a virus. Android reveals that the freighter’s last port of call was to an unauthorized location, Taurian Alpha, a research pharmaceutical station that was quarantined. It seems that this is what caused the problem with the crew. The research lab was working on something to make humans immortal. Two learns that she has just a few hours before turning into one of those zombie creatures.

Six finds One and Three and attempts to get them out. Four offers to give Two an honorable death, she declines. Five is horrified by Four’s suggestion. Android contacts Six and tells him that if the two men on the freighter don’t leave soon, the life support system will shut down and kill them. As the oxygen levels drop the two follow a route to Six.

They find a way out, only to discover that the area has around eight zombies who are also suffering from the lack of O2. One convinces Three to just walk past them since the creatures dying. As Three reaches the room, via a ladder, Android turns on the emergency oxygen and the zombies begin to stir. One shouts for Three to get out of the room and he replies it is too late.

With a pistol in each hand Three clears the room of zombies quickly. He calls up to One, “You can come down now.” The two men escape and once back on the Raza they are scanned and there is no sign of the virus. As the time for Two to change gets closer, One convinces the crew to destroy the Far Horizon preventing the virus from reaching civilization. Two does not change and they scan her again; the virus has disappeared.

Later, Two heads to Three’s room for a repeat of their earlier activity and Three nervously declines the invitation. Two goes to her room and removes the bandage, the wound made by the zombie has disappeared.

Dark Matter continues to pile on new mysteries and introduces questions that beg to be answered. Anthony Lemke as Three is becoming a firm favorite as is his character. Three’s idiosyncrasies are truly funny and the fact that he automatically hates anyone who shares his personality traits is priceless and very revealing.

Zoie Palmer as The Android continues to be the comic relief and at the same time appears to know much more than anyone one else about the crew and their current situation. This is a winning combination of actor and script that propels both Palmer’s performance and the series into true brilliance.

Dark Matter is part of SyFy Fridays and is truly entertaining. Those who love good writing, great acting and mystery should not miss this show.

Verified by MonsterInsights