Warning: Spoilers Ahead

Imagine waking up on a spaceship alongside 5 other people that you’ve never seen with no recollection of who you are, where you’ve been and what in the heck you’re doing on this ship. Imagine even further that most of the ship’s computer data has been wiped and what can be recovered tells a very sordid story on who you actually are and what your mission is. Welcome to the world of Dark Matter, as this is exactly the situation 6 seemingly random people find themselves in when the series premieres this Friday.

Adapted from Dark Horse Comics with its creator, Joseph Mallozzi, serving as Executive Producer, Dark Matter is one of 3 shows that is part of what I call Syfy’s “space-out Friday night” — the network’s Friday prime time composed of 3 back-to-back space dramas including the returning Defiance, Dark Matter, and Killjoys which is set to premiere next week. Although the general theme for all 3 shows is the same, Dark Matter sets itself apart from the rest with its tone and its focus on the characters, making the series somewhat more promising in my eyes than newcomer Killjoys and even veteran Defiance.

While the setting is on a ship and there will be missions just like past space dramas like Star Trek, Stargate, etc., the show will be more character-driven. This makes sense given you have 6 people with no memories just thrown together, and it’s going to be a journey in itself watching them navigate their day-to-day lives, the tasks they will have to perform, and the decisions they will have to make based upon the conflicting information they are told about their past lives and the little bit that they know and feel about themselves since they awoke. What’s more, expect plenty of humor from the show according to Mallozzi, which is like a breath of fresh air in a genre that is known for being super-serious.

Sounds great so far, right? Well, it gets even better. A great show cannot truly be great without a solid cast, and the series does a fantastic job in this respect. The ship’s 6 core crew members — all given a name of a number based upon the order in which they wake up — are Broadway actress Melissa O’Neil as “Two”, Marc Bendavid (“Bitten”) as “One”, Roger Cross (“The Strain”) as “Six”, Alex Mallari Jr. as “Four”, Anthony Lemke as “Three”, and Jodelle Ferland as “Five”, with Zoie Palmer (“Lost Girl”) as the ship’s Android. O’Neil’s “Two” emerges initially as the ship’s captain/leader, but with Lemke’s “Three” being very vocal about his supposed leadership skills and Bendavid’s “One” not having any obvious skills but being able to keep a cool head, something tells me a shake-up in ranks may be in the near future. Who knows, “One” may actually end up emerging as the ship’s real number “one.”

The series premiere of Dark Matter  airs Friday at 10/9c on Syfy. In the meantime, check out the below video and photo preview.

Also, it has already been announced that Dark Matter will be part of Syfy’s television line-up at SDCC next month. I will be onsite for TV Geek Talk, and so be sure to check back as we get closer to the event.

VIDEO

Sneak Peek:

Official Trailer:

Preview:

PHOTOS

 

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