Well, that was fun. So, what did everybody think?
Episode Debrief with TheTVJunkies’ Kelly Townsend:
I think of all the characters, she’s the bonafide survivor, so in my mind it made sense to make it her, and her the Android have that connection. I loved the idea of, in the distant, distant future, her and the Android floating around somewhere between galaxies.
Dark Matter has produced some truly exceptional episodes, but this was perhaps the most important one of the series to date.
TheNerdRecites’ Christopher Hart:
This show is always at its absolute best when it pushes its own boundaries and also when it pays homage to classic Science Fiction films or tropes. When it does both of those things combined, the result is a supernova of SF brilliance and this week offered up the first episode of that ilk within Season 3.
Fun fact: showrunner Joseph Mallozzi wrote this episode. He and his writing partner, Paul Mullie, also wrote the time loop episode of Stargate: SG-1, “Window of Opportunity,” which is why big chunks of this episode feel at least tonally similar to that one.
ThreeIfBySpace’s Michelle Harvey:
Dark Matter blew me away this week with “All The Time In The World” being one of the best episodes of television I’ve ever seen. Not only is this episode a blast for Dark Matter fans, “All The Time In The World” can (and should) be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys the sci-fi genre.
Tonight’s episode carried with it an even balance of humor, excitement, thoughtfulness, and darkness to come.
Dark Matter is a show that rarely shows plot moments without reason. Things might not make sense early on in the season or they may frustrate us (Nyx’s death), but they have purpose, and I think the quick glimpses into Android’s future can tell us a lot about what’s in store for Dark Matter and the crew of the Raza.
For those like me who love a spaceship being the central location of a sci-fi series, this show is everything I need and more. Season 1 was good. Season 2 was better. And now Season 3 is shaping up to be even stronger.
It is nice to see Melissa O’Neil portraying a light-hearted version of Two. It showcases the complexities of this character, as she takes her focus off of seeking revenge and more on being a supportive leader for her crew.
This was a fun episode, which gave all the actors their chance to shine, but provided us with a brilliantly nuanced performance from Anthony Lemke as Three.
GeekedOutNation’s Jideobi Odunze:
A timeloop really isn’t that big of a stretch for the Raza Crew. They took an old concept and they did something unique to the world of Dark Matter. So much set-up came from this that you couldn’t have prepared for. “All the Time in the World” isn’t as serious as the episodes before, but it is all about the adventure when you’re out there in space. These characters have range, the new characters fit in very well, and others definitely shook you up a bit by the consequences of messing with time.
Time loop stories are risky—there’s always a chance the audience will lose patience with it, but there’s no sign of that here.
Okay, I admit I was skeptical when I heard this week’s episode was yet another attempt by a genre series to use “TheGroundhog Day” time loop trope. It sounded like an act of desperation that was showing up way too early in this show’s development. I was wrong. There was no reason to worry, the episode not only did not seem like a used up trope, but it also came off as fresh material and was witty and in places, and amusing.
Great episode. That was a Groundhog Day done right.
It’s often enjoyable for actors to be able to show off their talents, be they music or language or even dance. For those who are wondering: yes, indeed, Anthony Lemke is fluent in French.
Melissa O’Neil and Jodelle Ferland have always gotten a lot of credit for the strength of their acting on Dark Matter, but Anthony Lemke, who plays Three, has always been lurking in the background giving us one of the most lovable ne’er-do-wells on TV since Firefly’s Jayne Cobb.
Three’s complexity and Anthony Lemke’s acting really account for the lion’s share of what made this episode work. Shout out to Android for being the perfect foil in this situation.
The use of the time-loop was also a big gamble for the writers given that it is a device that has been used countless times in science fiction and fantasy shows. Thankfully they managed use the plot device to good effect without making it seem like just another clone of Groundhog Day.
How do you make a lot out of a little? This is clearly one of the questions that the writers of Dark Matter had going into this episode, given that this was fairly low-budget given that so much of the episode took place on the Raza and didn’t require all too many costume changes, either (beyond of course the Android stuff near the end of the episode).
So, what do you think of our new temporary crew members – Adrian Maro and Solara Shockley?
That reminds me – Another fan Q&A announcement coming your way!
Here’s another BTS video of that THREE-Android duet – Take #3!
Hunky man fighting in his skivvies… what’s not to like?
Please arrange for more of this in season 4.
You were right – the episode was much like Groundhog Day. Fortunately, though, #3 didn’t attempt to commit suicide over and over. Anthony Lemke did a wonderful job on this episode. Please tell him that he’s a pretty good singer too.
So, is it as much fun as it looks, getting all those actors to say and do exactly what you want them to? 😉
Well, it was fantastic, of course. And though the humour and the pace of the time looping stuff was fun and funny (and it was very much those), to me the real heart of this episode was the scenes between THREE and Sarah. Those were an excellent counterpoint, perfectly placed through the episode, to break the action and to remind us that THREE is still going through a very difficult experience aside from the loop in time. I LOVED that each time he visited her in the virtual world, he kept his distance, knowing that she would have no memory of the experience and he would have to go through it time and time again. It would be like losing her over and over again. It was only when he knew that he was out of the time loop did he feel free to feel her embrace once more, and to be open to the possibilities that her virtual existence represents.
Everyone did an amazing job on this episode, but it was really Anthony Lemke’s time to shine, and did he ever. When this series started two years ago, THREE was almost immediately my favourite character, because it was clear both in how the character was written, and how Anthony portrayed him, that THREE would be one of the most emotionally complex characters on the show. He has not disappointed once.
Those ending “future” scenes were pretty weird, especially that last one. I’m hoping we actually get to see how that future came about (although it sounds like a big downer), and what all the stuff is that FIVE mentioned. The “Double Deception”?? And the Black Ships!!
Damn, this show is good.
This episode was wonderful.
I suppose there is always a chance that the timeline may not lead us to the places that Android saw in her time jump (the butterfly effect and all), but it truly captured my imagination trying to fill in what lead her and the crew to that outcome.
I really love this show, in part because you are so interactive in sharing the thought process and “insider info” behind each episode. So, a big thank you for making what currently is my favorite TV show on air!!!!
one question, will three mastery of the French language come in use in other episode this season?
I loved the episode. Especially all the foreshadowing at the end with Android’s jumps forward.
Can I admit though, (and this is nothing against Adrian Maro) that I am a HUGE David Hewlett fan, and that having him joining the Raza as Tabor I think would have allowed you to hit the same character beats and made it amazing?
Wishful thinking, I guess.
Hat’s off to a great season start. 🙂
My favorite line from episode 4.
Three to Five — “….Hey Fiver!”
That one really gave me a good chuckle.
Kudos to whoever it was that came up with that one.
Simple, amusing and effective….and not lacking of any
sort of layered meaning.
“….Hey Fiver!”
Loved it! Really enjoyed the episode, you all did a fantastic job!
Incredible episode, but also utterly depressing if they don’t find a way to change the future. Heartbreaking, gut wrenching. The loop.. simply the best showcase of Three (well Lemke’s) … humor, drama, emotions. In some ways stepping up to provide comfort for Five now that Six is (temporarily) gone.
Definitely my favorite episode. All that homework paid off! Some great laugh out loud moments. On par with the Stargate time loop episode you worked on. Looking forward to next week’s episode.
This episode has been making my head spin so let’s break it down:
Is Future Five’s universe going to happen?
1. We know that Dwarf Star is definitely going to happen thanks to JM’s episode title clue – giving strength to the idea that the rest of the events she spoke about are going to occur. However, as @Rebekah said, there is the butterfly effect so something minor *could* happen to change the future.
Five did say: “Telling you may motivate you to try to change your future, and I can’t take that chance.” but considering the information she gave the Android already, that may be enough to have changed things already!
2. Future Five has the time clock and she touches it. She also knows that Android has about 2 minutes before she jumps. This suggests that:
a) She (or someone else) has repaired the clock since the Android broke it. Considering the Android knows that the clock *needs* to be broken (thanks to Five), it is likely that she would protest its repair or at least try to stop it. So if the clock isn’t repaired/rebuilt (and there isn’t more than one) then that future wouldn’t happen.
b) Android has told Five about the time-skip and so Five would also (most likely) try to prevent the clock from being rebuilt (unless of course there’s no other choice)
c) Five has also experienced time-skips (since whoever touches the clock is affected) and may also have jumped into the same situations as the Android. This would confirm that the future is fixed nullify the butterfly effect.
Something that occurred to me recently though was…
What if Future Five lied? Why would she tell the Android even a little bit about the future if telling her would change things? Maybe she wanted things to change – otherwise when the Android asked “What awaits us?” Future Five could just have said “I can’t tell you”.
.
I have to wonder about what will become of Ash.
Is he now an unofficial member of the crew of the Raza?…or is
just an unofficial part of the actual Raza?
I could see Ash and his many skills possibly coming in handy at
some point in the future.
So maybe instead of just “hanging out/in” on/in the Raza..maybe he
will be coming back to life in some form in the somewhat near future.
Phasing is amazing.
I normally find groundhog day type episodes tiresome as they’ve been done to death. This one was fresh though. Well done. I liked that it started with Three well into reliving his day as opposed to discovering it. And then adding a future look at time into the mix was brilliant.
The singing scene with Android will long be one of the most memorable scenes of Dark Matter.
I had a few thoughts this morning about the GothDroid scene. In the other jumps that Android had come into, it was clearly into an existing situation that was already in the process of playing out, as you might expect in a timeline that was continuous.
Yet, in the final “end of time” scene, Android appears to *arrive* because of her jump. OldFIVE even says something to the effect that she’s been waiting a long time for her. That suggests to me that that situation is a result of some kind of change to the timeline in the past that FIVE had been waiting to occur that would suddenly bring GothDroid to that place and time. That scene was definitely different (in a lot of ways) from the other situations that Android jumped to. Hmmm..
So, warm? Cold? Way off? 🙂
That episode had me in stitches, although I expected the Android time travel part to be slightly longer.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hats off to all involved, on both sides of the camera.
I absolutely loved it. Had to watch on the DVR, because … stuff. Twice, because pesky husband who had seen it live wanted to watch with me. He’s a very chatty viewer and likes to repeat punchlines he likes. Sigh. I love him dearly.
Those are glowing reviews. Everyone on DM must be on cloud 9. 🙂 I’m so happy for all of you!!!!
I do agree with Debra about being sad. The Zobot’s future seems bleak. It reminds me of the loneliness displayed in the robots of Bicentennial & A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. Unlike those two movies (they’re too sad for me to watch again), there were positive things to focus on. I’m hopeful that the Zobot’s future is not fixed. (?) I know, I know, “To be revealed”. (cue eyeroll)
My son had a great time trying to keep up with the French (he’s getting a French minor in college). I enjoyed seeing what Three did with his time. The way he, methodically, tried different approaches to test the results. The duet was a breath of fresh air. Not only showing mastery of the language but seeing the crews reaction to Three/Zobot. Fun!
Adrian Maro and Solara Shockley are wonderful additions. I’m a sucker for strong female characters and Adrian seems like a nice guy (somewhat lacking in the Raza crew’s experience). Hopefully, they aren’t “red coats” and will be reoccurring characters.
Oops Oops 🙁
@Elminster Beautiful shots yesterday. I definitely like them both equally. Thanks for sharing.xo
Adrian and Solara feel like an enrichment for the show and fitted right in, I actually like them a bit better than Devon and Nyx (the seers aren’t my favourite storyline). But I won’t get too attached, hope the “temporary” is there because they leave rather than because they go the same way as Devon and Nyx did.
It’s a redemption story and from what old-Five said – I guess at least a portion of the crew will indeed be redeemed.
Another question for the Q&A: will we ever find out more about the origins of the Raza itself? It doesn’t seem an off-the-shelf design, like Serenity (Firefly). And private warships like that probably aren’t bought in the local space-mart.
Joseph,
First thanks(again) for all the hard work that you did to create such a well-done and entertaining episode. Further, thank you(again) for this blog & for writing your personal back story for this episode. I enjoyed and appreciated that quite a bit.
It is no surprise find that you drew from a far greater body of work than just Groundhog day to write this masterful episode.
I loved how you added the concept of Chaos Theory into the story–maintaining Dark Matter’s science-fiction bonafide!
Just loved the way you introduced this GD/time loop story line. I was clueless until 3 woke from the punch–then immediately ecstatic.
Three’s progression with 5 and Sarah was written and acted so well.
Again, Anthony Lemkey killed it!!!!!!!!
It was not lost on me that when 3 said that he was not ready to talk to a computer program, he was saying it to Android. Android’s reaction was subtle and great(Z. Palmer= great!). I wonder how 3’s relationship with Android will change now.
Great and sneaky way of giving 3 alot of additional time to emotionally process/digest what happened to Sarah, and how the relationship is resurrected and begins to grow by the end of the episode.
By the way, do you know how many days that 5 spent in that loop? At start it was “a dozen times” then he learned fluent french. At least 9 months?
SteveH
I felt that the Three/Boone scenes with Sarah were out of place in an episode laced with humor. I understand that Three has lost his memories and isn’t technically Marcus Boone anymore, but he clearly has feelings for Sarah still and this didn’t seem like the episode for really going into that.
I would have liked Three and Sarah meeting for the first time and dealing with the situation they’re in to have been the episode. Granted I guess you couldn’t have done that with the Ryo Ishida storyline ongoing but I felt it would have made quite the emotional episode.
Hi Joe
@ Drea thanks. I love my new camera. WIsh I could make it take a pic of the next Dark Matter.
Elminster
Really loved the look of this episode, there was a definite comic book pop to those knockouts delivered by Solara, wouldn’t be surprised if she was the offspring of Batman and Tank Girl.
God I love that the show started smack in the middle of Three’s time loop, it just got everything amped up to 10 from scene 1. So many great lines in this infinitely rewatchable ep.
So I haven’t said enough yet about this episode. Some of my favorite scenes are of course with Three as he navigates his own personal Groundhog Day. His beating on the dining table once he realizes that he has finally convinced Two & Android with his amazing techno babble in French no less. Then the whole turning on the infirmary table as he is conversing with the Android & Two that ends with a kiss to Two’s forehead. And don’t forget the look of satisfaction and happiness when he finally finds the right words to console Fiver. His scenes with Sarah are touching – each exploration into her VR world just one step closer to his acceptance of her and this situation until ultimately they touch. The comic beats with Android, learning French, singing, any and all interactions with Adrian & Solara, Two, Five and the surprising entrance of Ash. Phasing technology. And the last 10 minutes! WTH? More mysteries. Suddenly Ryo isn’t the only big bad. This show better get 2 more seasons. I am looking forward to seeing how all this unfolds!
I’m surprised that there are any creative juices left after penning this episode! Have a great week! I have some mailbox questions for you once you’re up to them.
Great After Dark clip. Finally figured it out. Find it interesting that Zoie is not fluent in French as Anthony is. She definitely nailed it! Those are some of my favorite scenes – learning French after failing dismally in reciting technobabble. Each reset a treat. Poor Three. The dialogue is fantastic! So many memorable quotes!