Dark Matter: Season 2 Finale Review

This Dark Matter review contains spoilers.

Dark Matter Season 2, Episode 13

With both of the two Dark Matter season finales viewers have enjoyed thus far, the reaction has been similar: utter amazement and shock at the chaotic ending followed by pensiveness at the plot threads left dangling. Where some may have cried out last season at the betrayal of Six, others are this year no doubt bereft at the treachery of Four. Regardless of any remnant dissatisfaction, though, there can be no argument that this show knows how to end a season.

“But what about One?” fans might ask. “Was he the one on the alternate, FTL-capable Marauder or not?” Unanswered questions, however, are nothing new for Dark Matter. Last year, viewers might have asked the same about the pocket-dimension key which ended up being so central to season 2 and its finale. Who’s to say the same won’t be true of this loose end as well in season 3?

Viewers might similarly wonder about the fate of Four, who appears to have been subsumed into the more dominant and purposeful personality of Ishida Ryo. But, like Six before him, is he not capable of returning to the fold, even though he sabotaged the Eos 7 summit and destroyed the station? Perhaps Four, the blankest slate on the memory-wiped Raza crew, is gone forever, totally absorbed in his desire to win the war for Zairon and bring the galaxy under his “benevolent” but authoritarian rule.

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As for the rest of the crew, are viewers to believe that they were caught up in the blast? Surely not! Truffault had Five in tow, perhaps headed to an escape pod of some sort, but Three was beaten senseless while Six ran with no destination in sight. Two was caught in a secondary blast but with her nannites will surely recover, but how will she and the others escape?

Not to mention the poisoning of Nyx at Misaki’s jealous hands! Although the relationship between Nyx and Four was brand new, it’s difficult to blame Misaki, who has known Ryo a lot longer, for defending her position and perhaps her future at the emperor’s side. With most of the Raza crew in seemingly mortal danger, this cliffhanger certainly has upped the ante even compared to last season!

Anyone who didn’t swoon at the appearance of Five as an attache in disguise has a heart of stone. Jodelle Ferland is definitely in the running for MVP with some of the season’s best performances, and that’s in a strong field of competition (most notably Melissa O’Neil as Two and Anthony Lemke as Three). Who could blame the Ferrous android for having a passing infatuation? Especially since it most certainly saved her life!

The whole idea of the summit, the alternate universe in which war had already taken place, and the red herring assassination plot by Ferrous was a brilliant backdrop for Ryo’s theft of the blink drive. The political intrigue has always been in the background of Dark Matter, but it was on full display this week, adding depth and richness to the universe the show inhabits. Along with the League of Autonomous Worlds, a clear picture has formed of the power dynamics at play.

Of course, it won’t come to fruition until next season, but until then, viewers are left with a smattering of not-so-idle questions. Why was the supposedly dead Lieutenant Anders standing over Three? What will become of the Android’s emotional awakening? Will Ryo be able to duplicate the blink drive? And still that lingering question: what about One? It’s the sign of a great finale when mysteries like this linger, and the hook is still firmly set in the Dark Matter audience’s attention as they suffer through the long hiatus.