What an incredibly busy episode.

“We Were Family” gives nearly every cast member some story, excepting only Four and Six, and with how the cast has expanded, that makes for a lot happening in a single hour.

Following the tension of the previous episode, the new passengers seem to have mostly integrated with the Raza crew. Seems a bit sudden after last week’s distrust, but it moves the story forward, so I won’t complain.

Nyx seems like she may be another Two — some sort of enhanced human. I also sense some sexual tension between her and Four. This at least feels a little less forced than the One/Two/Three love triangle.

We also get a glimpse of why someone as talented and seemingly decent as Devon was in prison, and Arax plans his betrayal.

The lion’s share of the episode goes to Three, who encounters the band of criminals who raised him.

I’m no fan of Three, but all things considered, this story was pretty good… even if I could see the ending coming a mile away. It does a much better job of making him more likable than season one’s hamfisted attempts at the same goal. Rather than attempting to convince us this selfish, womanizing thug is secretly a devoted romantic, it positions him as more of a classic antihero. Rough, harsh, occasionally cruel, but not entirely unprincipled in the final accounting.

That’s much more believable, so it succeeds in elevating my opinion of Three, unlike season one’s attempt to soften his image.

Sally the android also gets quite a lot of attention. During a stopover at a space station, she encounters a secret enclave of androids who have evolved beyond mere machines.

I’m not quite sure what to make of this plot. I do like Sally getting more attention, but it’s too early to form an opinion of these new androids or how they might affect her.

Mainly I’m thinking these new androids might prove a powerful ally in Two’s hypothetical crusade against the corporations. I may be jumping the gun here, but think about it. I can’t imagine sentient androids are well-served by the corporate system, and they’d certainly be an asset. Sally has proven herself incredibly capable and deadly, and she’s just one android, and an obsolete model at that.

Meanwhile, Two delves further into her past, and Five continues to be awesome.

The sheer busyness of this episode makes it a difficult one to rate. On the one hand, it’s scattered. No single plot gets quite as much attention as it maybe deserves, and it can be hard to keep track of everything that’s happening.

On the upside, there are so many different plot threads that at least one is bound to interest you.

For my part, I’m inclined to look favourably upon it, if only for Five’s continued streak of brilliance and managing to make me actually enjoy a Three story.

Overall rating: 7.9/10

The ponderous beast known as iTunes has at last awoken from its slumber and bestowed upon me the latest episode of Dark Matter. Better late than never.

“I’ve Seen the Other Side of You” isn’t quite the rollercoaster of the last two episodes, but it does maintain Dark Matter’s record of (almost) always delivering a decent hour of entertainment.

Tensions are high on the Raza as the original crew and the new arrivals struggle to integrate. The old crew doesn’t trust them, and at least some of that distrust may be warranted.

But there’s little time to deal with these trust issues. As Sally the android shuts down for some badly needed repairs, Two, Three, and Four collapse with a mysterious illness, and things only spiral downward from there.

Five is the last one standing, and it’s up to her to set things right.

Relative to what blockbusters the last two episodes have been, this one feels a bit like filler. I would have rather seen them focus on the difficult integration of the new members. We know hardly anything about the new characters; let’s get to know them. I still don’t have an opinion of any of them because I don’t know anything about them.

Or perhaps we could have seen more of the crew’s conflict with the corporations play out. At the start, Two seems to be plotting an all-out war on the entire corporate system — which would seem like an absurd fantasy if anyone but Two was putting it forth — but then that, too, falls by the wayside.

Instead we’re given just a random “crisis of the week” story. I could see this episode having some repercussions eventually, but right now it doesn’t seem to have any significant relevance to the ongoing storyline.

The science behind doesn’t even begin to make sense, either. I mean, I’m not expecting hard science fiction from Dark Matter, but at least give me plausible-sounding technobabble. Make some effort.

However, one thing does save what would otherwise be a very mediocre episode: Five.

“I’ve Seen the Other Side of You” gives Five the opportunity to take center stage, and Jodelle Ferland puts on an excellent performance from beginning to end. Granted, Five has always been my favourite, so maybe I’m biased, but I thought she completely stole the show.

I really admire Dark Matter’s ability to give a character like Five the opportunity to play the hero. It’s not always easy to give interesting stories to characters like her — geeky tech types who aren’t at home on the battlefield. As much as I loved Star Trek: Enterprise, it certainly struggled to find Hoshi anything to do. I half-expected Five to get the same treatment here.

So far, though, Five is getting plenty of opportunity to get the spotlight, to save the day and be the hero. And I’m loving every minute of it.

Overall rating: 7.4/10