Dark Matter and Killjoys: the beginnings of SyFy's attempt to get their spaceship on again

[RedEyedGhost]

6 hours ago, Wouter said:

Dark Matter's season premiere was very good. IMO it's way better than Killjoys.

Do you work on the show?  Because that's the only reason I can see for anybody thinking that it is the better of the two.  

 

22 hours ago, Eoin AS said:

Plus the characters act in a mature fashion. On many other shows D'avin's lie would have been milked for contrived drama, here he just fesses up and they have a calm conversation about the things that are going on.

I was going to blame that on the DCverse shows, but honestly, nearly all shows would have milked that cow for all it was worth.  Very refreshing. 

Poor Johnny, though, first Lucy and now Alice, when's a real girl going to fall for him?   

[Jon AS]

12 minutes ago, RedEyedGhost said:

Poor Johnny, though, first Lucy and now Alice, when's a real girl going to fall for him?   

He doesn't seem to mind so much.

[Wouter]

4 hours ago, RedEyedGhost said:

Do you work on the show?  Because that's the only reason I can see for anybody thinking that it is the better of the two.  

 

I am not at all involved with DM, though I wonder where the attitude towards DM here ("fuck it!") is coming from, as if it is a personal matter, or maybe residual anger concerning the controversial Stargate:Universe, in which Mallozi was involved?

DM and Killjoys are very different in tone and both have their proponents; they have about an equal number of viewers. The blaring-music-shoot-em-up-totally-over-the-top-style of Killjoys is not my thing; I prefer the relatively slow but preplanned buildup of DM, which got a payoff at the end of S1 and again at the very start of S2. The characters of DM also click for me, while in Killjoys I'm interested only in Johnny, Khlyen and that doctor on Westerley. Not a fan of the Dutch/d'Avin thing, which happens to be a rather large part of the show.

[Jon AS]

My issue with Dark Matter is that it sucks, at least in the first season (I'm not going to bother with the second one).

We've gone over various things that were bad about that season in this very thread.

Of the two shows, Killjoys was the one in which the writers showed an ability to slowly build up to a finale that paid off on plot points and character development seeded throughout the season. Dark Matter spent most of its time treading water, passing off "shocking twists" (usually delivered in a ridiculously cheesy fashion) as plot progress and didn't bother to develop its characters or setting.

[Wouter]

It's a matter of opinion. DM's finale paid off on plot points and character development, too.  I read the first season thread and I disagreed with most of what was written in it, I'll leave it at that.

This forum tends to "rant and rave without repercussion" about GOT, but in practice GOT is getting ever more popular and still a hit with most critics as well. The established opinion in DM may also be an outlier compared to general opinion. From viewership and general response on the internet, Killjoys and DM seem to get a similar reception.

[Pliskin]

I enjoy Dark Matter way more too (the premiere was great). I don't really care about Killjoys, but I got to say that I'm in love with Clara.

[Jon AS]

Given how successfully Killjoys used its procedural elements to build the larger story in the first season, it's kind of meta when the characters use their day job as an excuse to get where they want to go.

The running gag of Pree being some kind of super criminal is still funny, I hope we don't ever get any details or find out how much of it is actually true. I have to question the economic viability of the bar given the current state of Oldtown, though. Most of his potential customers can't have much to pay or barter with, and it's not like he'll be able to rent it out to the RAC for super secret briefings anytime soon.

 

It's also nice that, although they got the band back together really quickly, the setting has been irrevocably changed. I guess I'll have to try and remember the team's douchebag RAC boss' name now.

[Arkash]

I'm still more invested in Killjoys than Dark Matter, but damn, the second one keeps being a very sucessful guilty pleasure ! 

[GrimTuesday]

Holy shit, I'm loving Killjoys. The characters just feel so natural, and their relationships feel like as close to real as you can get with acting. Also, I love the fact that we have two major overarching villains, those being Section 6 and the Company, and it doesn't feel cluttered, as can so often happen with situations with multiple villains. I think it is because one is a shadowy cabal, and the other is such an intrigal part of the setting that episode to episode they can go back and fourth.

Also, I'm loving the stuff with Pree. I think he might be my favorite character in the show. Kind of like a really bad ass RuPaul.

Haven't watch Dark Matter yet, It's pretty far down on the list of shows I really like, and I haven't played Crusader Kings 2 in a couple weeks.

[felice]

Killjoys disposing of a minor recurring character this week hit me harder than Dark Matter killing off their leading man.

[Arkash]

True.

Although I'm pretty sure there's something more to Dark Matter's first episode cliffhanger.

Also, totally agree, GrimTuesday, there's a natural ease to the dynamics in Killjoys and a compelling universe supporting it... add to that the rock'n'roll vibe and damn, it's a really solid show ! 

[Wouter]

11 hours ago, felice said:

Killjoys disposing of a minor recurring character this week hit me harder than Dark Matter killing off their leading man.

Was that their leading man? He may have had the lowest number, I don't view him as the most important S1 character. The most important ones were the leader and the traitor, IMO. But it is an ensemble show anyway.

Edit: I liked the most recent episodes of both shows. The minor recurring character that died on Killjoys was an effective character, though I was under the impression he died already in the final episode of S1. OTOH, it surprises me that the Killjoys are still working for the Rack, and by extension, for the company.

Dark Matter pulled off the escape-plot very nicely - everybody playing their part.

[Dr. Pepper]

2 hours ago, Wouter said:

Was that their leading man? He may have had the lowest number, I don't view him as the most important S1 character. The most important ones were the leader and the traitor, IMO. But it is an ensemble show anyway.

He's the first character we meet in the series and he receives top billing.  I'd describe that as pretty close to a 'leading man'.  

Like others, I didn't care at all about his death.  He was the most bland character in an ensemble of bland characters.  Unfortunately, they twinned him already so we'll obviously see him again at some point.  Hopefully in a different body with a different actor.  

[Arkash]

3 hours ago, Wouter said:

OTOH, it surprises me that the Killjoys are still working for the Rack, and by extension, for the company.

Tss, tss, tss ! The Rack is (ahem) totally neutral ! 

[The Mother of The Others]

I cared about his death, because it looked like he was finally going to do something and be a character worth caring about after a season of... not.   So I had a sharp spike in my level of caring that lasted 15 minutes.

 

Dark Matter really benefited from the prison stint.  First the prison set was brightly lit and its sharp lines were well defined & made the show look successful, both in general and also in its portrayal of a future I could see & feel.   You could tell somebody worked hard on that set.  Season 1's drab dark gray-paint spaceship walls looked like the show hadn't shaved in days or something.  I hope they don't backslide into that again now they're out of prison.  Also, their small-talk while in the clink was more focused on content, which was an improvement over the "we're all jerks" smalltalk that had me watching a couple episodes with the volume turned down as I furiously played The Simpsons Tapped Out.   Also, the characters are creeping up on being likeable!  I liked the android this week; that's a first.   The minor had major impact on their escape with her badassery, the dilemma of the good man who turned them in and helped them escape was..... believable!  The Asian was maybe the first character who got interesting, so he just needed to keep it up and not fumble, and he took care of bizniss.   The #1 jerk also benefitted from less lines, which made his presence less oppressive & defining, and allowed the viewer to enjoy the actual episode content more, also they may be toning him down a bit? which would be good.   All in all, it was nice.   They had "enough."   Maybe the training wheels are ready to come off?

[DunderMifflin]

Dark Matter is a Riker beard away from being a very good show. 

I say 3 should get it. Season 3 is the Riker beard season so here's to another round.

I'm so desperate for spaceship shows I'm riding this one as far as it goes.

[Wouter]

On 12-7-2016 at 1:17 AM, Arkash said:

Tss, tss, tss ! The Rack is (ahem) totally neutral ! 

Yes, of course. Totally, utterly neutraI! I wouldn't want to get a warrant on me for bad-mouthing the relation the Company and/or The Rack.

 

The mother of the others;

I guess the showrunners deliberately didn't want to light the Raza like it is the TNG Enterprise.

The set of the prison was very nice, especially considering that it was only needed for 2 episodes. However, I heard that it will be reconfigured for use in later season 2 episodes.

The plan to escape the prison was quite elaborate, and I liked how everyone's part was needed in the end (even Three's dumb foray into medical). It came together nicely.

[Corvinus85]

I decided to give Killjoys another shot. Watched the whole of season 1 this past week, and watched the first episode of season 2. I suppose it could become a guilty pleasure. I really wish it had a bigger production budget. Watching the plot unfold in some giant warehouse or abandoned building nearly every episode can get old. And the only truly interesting character of season 1 was Dutch, though I am warming up to the Jacobi bros.

I may give Dark Matter another shot, too.

[Dr. Pepper]

I don't think you'll be impressed with Dark Matter, Corvinus.  The most recent episode has them doing a near repeat of season one.  Crew members lose their memories, Android is down, Five does some hocus pocus memory crawling with tech gadgets, then they struggle with who they are and who they want to be.  

This most recent episode of Killjoys was a drop in quality.  There were too many scenes with bad writing for convenience sake, as though they needed to quickly move the characters to the next stage and decided to skip some steps instead of being thoughtful about it.  That said, the characters continue to be quite enjoyable.  I already miss Pree, but Alvis is a decent enough addition.  I love that Lucy had a little jealous streak.  

[Jon AS]

Yeah, a definite drop for Killjoys.

The whole mine plot was fairly basic and never even fully commited to misleading us into thinking that there was really a crazed Killjoy stalking them, and once they killed off the guest actress the stakes were basically nil.

Pawter freeing herself was nice, but then she just got captured again, which made the whole plot of her being held captive by the Company creep in the first place rather redundant.

 

On the positive side, they keep the mysteries of level 6 and the green goo in focus, and if they move that plot at the same pace as they did the civil strife in the Quad last season, we should be getting some answers in the forseeable future.