Defiance, “Of a Demon in My View”:

Nolan and Irisa are Brazil-bound, but they don’t make it far. Their convoy is attacked and massacred, and Nolan is carried off.

He awakens in the ruins of Old St. Louis. Kindzi has decided she wants to “enchant” him. His only hope of escape lies with T’evgin, but he is paying the price for his negligence.

Elsewhere, Berlin reappears without much explanation, and it’s up to her and Irisa to find out what happened to Nolan.

This is a episode that needed to happen, showing Kindzi clearly take her place as the main villain of the current arc, but I can’t say it was an especially memorable or interesting episode.

I’m hoping there’s more to Berlin’s story than she’s letting on so far. Right now it just seems kind of random and out of the blue. And as for Kindzi’s story, it was really rather predictable.

That said, I do want to take this opportunity to do something I’ve neglected to do in past reviews: praise the actors behind the Omec.

Now, it is true I’m no fan of the Omec. I think they’re an unnecessary complication for the greater plot of Defiance and that there are far more interesting things the show could be covering, but none of that is the fault of the actors, who put on an excellent performance.

Conrad Coates is both majestic and terrible as T’evgin, and Nichole Galicia manages a potent combination of scintillating sensuality and skin-crawling creepiness as Kindzi. They’re both chillingly alien and radiate power and confidence.

It’s unfortunate such talent is being wasted on a relatively dull plot.

Overall rating: 6.9/10

Dark Matter, episode ten:

Trapped by their enemies and out of options, the crew of the Raza receives unexpected aid from the corporation who helped them resolve their issue on the mining planet back at the beginning of the series. This also means more of Tori Higginson, which pleases me.

But nobody saves a gang of ruthless mercenaries without strings attached. This particular corporation needs something stolen from a rival.

Two is reluctant, but the rest of the crew talks her out of it. Her distaste for the mission grows as they are forced to band together with another squad of mercenaries, the leader of which quickly gets on Two’s bad side.

You don’t want to be on Two’s bad side. It’s not a healthy place to be.

With their engineering expert out of commission, the two crews need another technical wizard to complete the mission: Five.

Meanwhile, Sally creates a new sub-program to analyze her behaviour for potential issues. I’m willing to bet cash this program ends up going crazy and taking over her body at some point.

This was an unusually tense episode, with twists and peril from beginning to end. The other mercenaries are the first bad guys on Dark Matter I’ve genuinely disliked. I want to see the General die on principle, and Four’s step-mom is pretty evil, but these guys are the first ones I really want to see beaten to a bloody pulp at the earliest convenience.

Episode ten is also a rare case of Five getting to play the hero, which is cool. I realize it’s a difficult thing to write, but I do wish sci-fi would have the geekier characters save the day more often. I mean, most of the people who watch these sort of things are more on the nerdy side; why do we always see the jocks and fighters take center stage?

Two also puts on possibly her strongest performance to date in this one. I think this is the first time I forgot I was watching Melissa O’Neill and only thought of her as Two.

Judging by the ending, I think we’re about to learn just who, and what, Two really is.

I’m not sure this is a bad thing, but this was one of the few Dark Matter episodes that didn’t give every character something significant to do. Six, Three, and Four are there, but they don’t contribute much to the plot or have any memorable scenes, and their arcs don’t advance at all.

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Defiance, “When Twilight Dims the Sky Above”:

Man, Nolan and Irisa really have traded places.

The Votanis Collective has come to Defiance, but not for war. They seek to make amends for Rahm Tak’s atrocities, and they offer the the town of Defiance much needed assistance and protection.

There’s a price, though. The Collective fears the Omec, and they will only complete their alliance if the town can broker a peace deal with T’evgin.

That would be a hard enough on its own, but there are complications. Nolan’s recent trauma has caused his mind to come unhinged, and he sees enemies everywhere. Meanwhile, T’evgin’s negligence has allowed Kindzi to escape and cause fresh mischief.

Oh, and Datak’s back. Just to make things a little more volatile.

It was nice to finally see the Votanis Collective take an active role in the story — Rahm Tak doesn’t really count. I’ve wanted to see more of the VC for a long time now. This isn’t much, but it’s something.

I also liked Stahma standing up to T’evgin — this was another very strong performance from her. And of course it’s great to see Datak back in action.

On the other hand I kind of wish Defiance’s alliance with the VC had just gone through smoothly. I know it’s not the most dramatic option, but the people of Defiance have suffered enormously for a long time, and I think a clear win is overdue. Endless tragedy gets exhausting after a while.

Plus, again, I want to see more of the VC.

I’m also a bit perplexed that Irisa didn’t really do anything to raise the alarm about Nolan’s madness. Doesn’t make a lot of sense. She knew something was terribly wrong, but she made only one — fairly weak — attempt to stop him and then apparently forgot about it.

Overall rating: 7.2/10

Dark Matter, episode nine:

Considering the history and temperaments of the Raza crew, it is perhaps a bit surprising it took this long for the bonds between them to start coming undone.

Shortly after Six’s little vacation, Four does the same (minus the cloning shenanigans) in an attempt to reconnect with his half brother and seek vengeance against those who stole his throne.

Four isn’t the only one feeling a distinct lack of team spirit, though. Recent revelations have taken One’s hatred for Three to new heights, and Six is crushed under the guilt of what the General tricked him into doing, causing him to lash out at anyone who comes too close.

Meanwhile, Two continues to beat the drum for trust and teamwork despite being the most dishonest person on the ship.

Episode nine once again illustrates that Dark Matter is very good at giving every cast member something to do, with pretty much everyonet having a strong performance. There is a slightly greater focus on Four, Five, and Six, though, and since those are my favourite characters, it’s no surprise I enjoyed this episode.

At this point I’m about 99% convinced Two was behind their memory wipes, so now what I’m wondering is why she did it. She doesn’t seem to have a clear purpose in mind for the crew, but just wiping their memories and hoping everything would work out doesn’t seem like a terribly good plan, either.

I’m also curious how the crew will react once they find out. The more she preaches about trust and honesty, the deeper she digs her own grave for when they find out the truth.

Overall rating: 7.6/10