I thought the two episodes were a good start to the Season, although I do agree that the way they just dumped the new characters from last season was a bit odd. I was surprised that they just killed Nyx so quickly, I honestly expected them to find some way to save. I just hope the find out Ryo didn't actually kill her, because that kind misplaced blame storyline drives me crazy. It will be interesting to see where they take Ryo's relationship with Misaki now that he knows she killed Nyx. I just hope they don't make Five's sister someone we've run into before.
At least Marc Bendavid is, by all appearances, still on good terms with Mallozzi so unless it's an availibility problem (and DM doesn't have a massive budget to force priority over other shows) I don't think there is anything weird going on. I do agree that it looks like Anders is taking over Kierken's role, in many ways. Having said that: nor in the show, nor (to my knowledge) in interviews has it been confirmed that Kierken is dead. He can be brought back as easily as Anders' was. Just as Anders gunshot hits weren't deadly (turns out he was wearing a bulletproof vest), Kierken on EOS9 can still be a clone body. The Sarah thing was already suggested in the S1 season she died in (albeit only teasingly), and apparently she will appear more often (and I guess, dole out more Three backstory). In a similar way, I expect that the Blobby Monster is connected to the creepy old man that Alexander Rook was talking too after Two escaped his facility (the first time, end of S1) and will be revisited when Dwarf Star is the focus of an episode again. One and his wife - Mallozzi has confirmed that more revelations about Three (and the others) are coming this season. Three still is being accused of being the killer, and allthough we now tend to assume he is actually innocent this has never been confirmed. This story pretty much has to be picked up again. Devon's story was unceremoniously dropped - that's the only time I wonder what the point was. The conversation between the Android and Ryo was golden. This kind of dialogue is what the shows excels at - along with heist episodes (Ep 2 was superb). In some ways this is a reset, but losing two out of 7 crew (original) crew members is significant and the goals and, to some extent, attitude of the remainder have changed quite drastically. S3 appears to be "Two going against Ryo" and that can hardly be called a reset. There was an interview, sometime during or right after S2, where Mallozzi confirmed that the Seers are still out there. They must have faced a leadership crisis though, post S2. I thought the Seers were not the strongest part of S2 and I'm not in a hurry to see them back, though.
This is actually the promo for Ep4. Mallozzi has confirmed this on his blog (mistake by Scifi). See an ep3 sneak peek here:
Hmph. Thought tonight's episode was rather lame. The first two were rather exciting and interesting. This one? Not so much. Seemed very routine.
I hope Six isn't gone for good. I hope it's more that he has his own parallel plotline running through the season and occasionally intersecting with the others, as with Ryo. Then again, given how much in demand Roger Cross is, maybe they need to plot the seasons to accommodate his occasional absences. Like how Six was shot in the second-season premiere and spent the next couple of episodes in stasis.
The end of his arc with the General felt a bit empty. The story wasn't directly about him but this colony's struggle against Traugott (?). Multiple plots clumsily juggled. Two new regulars, the Android discovers Sara and hasn't told anyone about her conversation with Ryo, more universe worldbuilding, yea!-former crewmembers namedropped, Six/Griffin/Cal choosing a new destiny-which doesn't seem well thought out as his undercover ID is still in effect how can he avoid the GA, the surviving Traugott enforcers would surely inform their superiors about the intervention of the Raza, leading to the GA coming to investigate. If they knew they wanted Six to depart the ship for while, killing Nix seems even more of a disappointment. Particularly when the newest arrival is a former special forces expert, et al. Why add her when Nix could fill that role on the crew? Too many plot threads crammed in, not sufficiently developed.
I think maybe that was part of the point. I loved how Roger Cross played it afterward -- he didn't feel any triumph or satisfaction at killing the General, but just seemed sickened and ashamed by the line he'd crossed. The recurring theme lately seems to be that whenever they try to do something good and noble, it ends up being messy and ugly. So I don't really see it as the end of the General arc -- I see it as the beginning of Six's arc of having to face his own impurity, to try to make amends for his sins. He could blame the General for what he did to that space station, but what he did to the General was his own unilateral choice, and he has to live with that. I respect the show for not treating that act of violence as a happy ending. Good questions. Maybe an actor-availability thing, or maybe they intend to take this new character in directions Nyx couldn't have gone.
Just want to point out that I was pleasantly surprised to see Sun-Hyung Lee and Jean Yoon (the actors playing the scientists in Ep 2) appearing together. They are the stars of Kim's Convience, a show I love and have had the pleasure of seeing them perform live in the theatrical version. This performance was testament to their versatility as actors and a joy to watch.
I wonder if David Hewlett was offered his role back and was unable or unwilling to take the offer up?
I really hope this isn't the last we see of Six, I'm a big fan of both the character and Roger Cross and I'd hate to lose him. The stuff with colonists and the Tralgot guys was OK, nothing amazing, but not bad. The general showing up felt a bit random, but it did add an interesting complication to the situation. Six just shooting him point blank like that was a bit of a shock. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Sara. Adrian and Solara seem like they should be good editions to the cast, although I was surprised to see them just write Tabor off like that.
You're right, I had to go back and rewatch. It looked like there were more Traugott mooks shown during the episode than were seen in their execution pile, which had me tninking they weren't all dead. So Six's staying isn't as messy as I'd first imagined. Ferris Corp was supposed to nuke the colony but didn't succeed, so they wouldn't bother informing the GA, Traugott showed no interest in supporting their detachment, so they won't be investigating. The only loose end is what was done with the General's men, they wouldn't be stupid enough to let them leave would they? Surely his people will wonder why he's vanished with no communication. And come looking for him at his last known location.... Sadly, Six can't even use the fact that he's dead, so the General's legend will live on.
I checked on the official site's recap, and it's acutally Tralgot, not Traugott. It sounded to me like they saying they were saying it with a u too, but I guess they must have just been them pronouncing it weird.
The last episode gave me a bit of déjà vu, looking at a list of episodes I'm thinking maybe of episode two from the first season.
I wonder if the parallel -- or rather, the contrast -- was intentional. In episode 2, helping a colony gain independence was what first brought the amnesiacs together (more or less) as a team trying to do good. This time, though, a similar plight ended up breaking them apart, both physically and philosophically.
How long do you suppose the crew of the Raza can continue to take advantage of their "baddest of the bad" rep as pitched by Adrian when all that's left of the original team are Two and Three? The character dynamic aboard ship is changing rapidly and it's only a matter of time before outside forces start to figure that out.
Ryo got his Darth Vader sending out bounty hunters moment though he didn't say "No disintegrations" to anyone.
Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention -- episode 2 of the season gave us the first hint we've had about how far in the future the show might be set, by establishing a minimum. When Five was accessing Ryo's childhood memories, we saw Teku say in his history lecture that the Royal House of Ishida had endured for 400 years. Presumably that means Zairon was founded at least that long ago, and interstellar travel must've been invented some significant amount of time before then. So I'd say that puts the show a bare minimum of 500 years in the future, quite possibly a good deal longer. I gather there's an episode coming up where the characters time-travel to the present day. I suspect we'll get more definite information then about just when the show is set.