Warning: General spoilers ahead

Well, I was going to start this Preview by saying that a good deal of Friday’s episode of Dark Matter can be summed up with 2 choice words, but since those words would be too spoilery, I would have to refrain from including them. That was until I saw the below promo released for the episode. Because of that, we can assume it’ll be OK, and the show’s publicity police won’t come and track me down.  So, back to those 2 words….”Groundhog Day.”

Oh yes, as the promo indicates, the episode centers around Three (Anthony Lemke), and he’s caught in some temporal loop, causing him to repeat the same day over and over again. The episode also doesn’t waste any time getting to that point, with the opening sequence focusing on Three walking down the hall, hinting that Adrian (Mishka Thébaud)  is about to drop his breakfast tray, that the issue the Android (Zoie Palmer)  is working on isn’t a relay switch, and that what Two (Melissa O’Neil)  is looking for is behind her nightstand. Totally sucks for Three, and what makes it even worse is no one on the Raza believes him. Three is the joker of the crew, and so, it’s no surprise that most believe this is just another one of his games.

So, before before they can even focus on what may be causing the anomaly, Three first must convince someone — anyone — that he’s not just bullshitting the crew. So, how does he propose to do that? Well, I won’t spoil that part, but I will say it involves a hilarious sequence of scenes of Three learning French, how to speak tech geek-speak, and the crew is even treated to a most memorable duet with the Android. While these scenes are, by far, the best part of the episode, the real crux comes when they uncover the cause of the anomaly.

It turns out that a single device is the root cause, and its origin may surprise you. The Android is key in figuring out how the device works, and in the process, learns some very disturbing things about the Raza and its crew, and even about herself. For the past couple of episodes, I had been wondering where this season may be going, and what the Android uncovers I think may offer a glimpse into that. On a positive note, the device also manages to disrupt Ishida’s (Alex Mallari, Jr.)  initial attempt at taking out the crew of the Raza. So the day isn’t entirely a complete sh*tshow.

All in all, Friday’s episode is a very enjoyable, knee-slapping, light-hearted hour of television, and one where Anthony Lemke really shines in his portrayal of Three. It’s been a while since we had a Three-centric episode, and this one reminded me of what a great talent Lemke brings to the role and how fortunate the series is to have him.

Episode 3.04 of Dark Matter  is titled “All The Time In The World” and airs Friday at 9/8c on Syfy.

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