Dark Matter Season 3

[Gary7]

Season 1 started out pretty interesting. I thought maybe it was going to be a little like Stargate Universe--people waking up on a strange abandoned ship, don't know where they are, what to do... But then of course, very different direction.

The series develops really well. There are many unexpected surprises and turns. I think the production value is excellent and the acting superb. This really should have been a hit show with the potential for a run like SG-1. Now just getting into Season 3, I started reading up more on it... pissed off as all hell to learn it ends prematurely with this season. What a waste. This is such an unusual sci-fi series. I could really see it gathering a cult status and then perhaps enough pressure to get going again. If only Mallozzi could get over that contractual barrier...

The blink drive is an Deus ex Machina like tech... total game changer. This series could go off in many different directions with this capability. And I like it infinitely more than the ridiculous "spore drive" of Star Trek Discovery.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Mallozzi's blog apparently documents the likely direction in which the series was headed regarding the hanging plot threads. However, I haven't visited that site for some time. I assume the crew would have to pull the warring corporations into an alliance to defeat the aliens.

 

[Gary7]

Mallozzi's blog apparently documents the likely direction in which the series was headed regarding the hanging plot threads. However, I haven't visited that site for some time. I assume the crew would have to pull the warring corporations into an alliance to defeat the aliens.

Mallozzi is pretty active as of late. So he's pursuing the story in on-line comic book form. Don't know how far he'll take it. Dark Matter was originally expected to run 5 seasons. I'm about 3/4 of the way through Season 3... I'd read about the aliens but hadn't gotten to that episode yet. Pretty sensible plot device given how the story line was going. So much more possible beyond that. Definitely an alliance would be necessary, but would require the Raza finding some way to restore trust. Common enemy is usually an excellent vehicle for that (e.g. USA - Russia).

 

[Christopher]

Definitely an alliance would be necessary, but would require the Raza finding some way to restore trust. Common enemy is usually an excellent vehicle for that (e.g. USA - Russia).

Actually it's a pretty terrible way of doing that. It doesn't solve the problems that create the tension, it just puts them on hold and lets them simmer under pressure until the common enemy is beaten, at which point the tensions erupt worse than ever -- e.g. the US and the USSR after World War II was over. Or race and gender relations within the US at the same time. During the war, everyone embraced the idea that we had to set aside our differences and work together for the common good, but afterward, all those differences were still there and nothing had been done to solve them, so the old tensions returned with a vengeance. So the idea that a common enemy solves anything in the long run is a total falsehood, and a heavily overused and lazy trope.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Or maybe the corporations go back to being on a cold war footing with the Raza holding them in check. @Gary7 - apologies for the spoiler.

 

[Gary7]

Actually it's a pretty terrible way of doing that. It doesn't solve the problems that create the tension, it just puts them on hold and lets them simmer under pressure until the common enemy is beaten, at which point the tensions erupt worse than ever -- e.g. the US and the USSR after World War II was over. Or race and gender relations within the US at the same time. During the war, everyone embraced the idea that we had to set aside our differences and work together for the common good, but afterward, all those differences were still there and nothing had been done to solve them, so the old tensions returned with a vengeance. So the idea that a common enemy solves anything in the long run is a total falsehood, and a heavily overused and lazy trope.

If the US, Britain and France hadn't made an alliance with Russia, you think that would've been a better idea?

The urgency of the situation demands something to be done, else the enemy could destroy them all. Yes, sometimes forcing enemies to become allies in the short term doesn't help the relationship after the 3rd party enemy is defeated, but how that is managed could make a difference. It requires a continuation of some diplomatic efforts on the original situation, prior to the 3rd party enemy.

 

[Christopher]

If the US, Britain and France hadn't made an alliance with Russia, you think that would've been a better idea?

What??? I'm not even remotely saying the alliance wasn't necessary. I'm saying that it didn't work as a permanent solution to the conflicts. The US and the USSR became even worse enemies after WWII than they'd been before. The common enemy was only a temporary postponement of their conflict, not a cure for it.

And what I'm saying is that if the writers of a work of fiction create a massive, intractable conflict, and if the only way they can think of to get out of it is to toss in an alien invasion that everyone has to unite against, that's a lazy copout, a diabolus ex machina that lets them conveniently sweep the conflict away without having to do the work of actually solving it. That's got nothing to do with whether it's a good idea for the characters to do in-universe, because I'm not talking about the characters' strategic decisions, I'm talking about the writers' creative decisions, which is an entirely different conversation.

 

[Gary7]

I thought the implication from what you'd said was that uniting two non-allied nations to fight a common foe wasn't a good idea because it doesn't adequately solve the diplomatic problem. Just because we have precedent of it not working out doesn't mean it's inherently a bad idea. A joint conflict fought together may forge a new camaraderie. I think it rests heavily on how the relationship is managed. There were a number of issues afoot in WWII whereby we could have managed things differently and possibly arrived at a better outcome. But of course, that's presuming good faith on both sides. Russia wasn't acting in good faith--they had and still have an intention for dominating the European continent. Perhaps a cooperative on rebuilding with less "dividing up of spoils" may have been more fruitful, given how much the Russians had lost in the war.

Face value, I wouldn't necessarily call it a cop-out for the writers to unite two major factions by using a common foe... as it all depends on how it's managed. Sometimes there's nothing you can really do about it; two major corporate factions have amassed tremendous military might and are ideally poised for a fight, then aliens show up. If the aliens hadn't shown up, it may have been possible to stop the conflict with the Raza and its blink drive being the Deus ex Machina element that helps broker a cessation of hostilities. There is also the matter of the united fight. Because it could end up that one corporate faction comes out of the conflict in worse shape than the other and thereby loses much of their leverage for demanding concessions, and thus might be more compliant to negotiation.

 

[Christopher]

I thought the implication from what you'd said was that uniting two non-allied nations to fight a common foe wasn't a good idea because it doesn't adequately solve the diplomatic problem.

No, that's confusing two different issues. Obviously it's a good idea in the short term, but it's not a permanent fix in the long term. If it were, there would've been no Cold War, and the US and the Soviets would've been fast friends from 1945 onward. If it were, then racism in the US would've ended completely in the 1940s instead of flaring up into renewed violence and conflict in the '50s and '60s. Fiction likes to use a common enemy as a permanent solution, but history shows clearly that it's a temporary patch at best.

Face value, I wouldn't necessarily call it a cop-out for the writers to unite two major factions by using a common foe... as it all depends on how it's managed.

Sure, any trope can be made to work, but this particular one is overused and hackneyed.

Sometimes there's nothing you can really do about it; two major corporate factions have amassed tremendous military might and are ideally poised for a fight, then aliens show up.

Again: I'm talking about the writers' creative process here in the real world. It's bizarrely backward to say that the writers are trapped by the situation in-story. The writers created the situation in-story, every single bit of it. They could have created it in a different way to begin with, a defter way than writing themselves into a corner that required a complete plot swerve to get out of.

If the aliens hadn't shown up, it may have been possible to stop the conflict with the Raza and its blink drive being the Deus ex Machina element that helps broker a cessation of hostilities.

By definition, that's not a deus ex machina, because it was seeded in the story clear back in the first episode, with the mysterious circuit card that Five found in her possession that eventually turned out to be a stolen piece of the experimental blink drive. And that drive was being worked on by one of the corporations and was a prize in the competition between them. So it's an integral part of the corporate arc in the way an alien invasion in a previously humans-only SF universe isn't.

 

[Gary7]

Again: I'm talking about the writers' creative process here in the real world. It's bizarrely backward to say that the writers are trapped by the situation in-story. The writers created the situation in-story, every single bit of it. They could have created it in a different way to begin with, a defter way than writing themselves into a corner that required a complete plot swerve to get out of.

Well yes, we could critique this entire part of the story arc and not bring in this "powerful corporate factions in opposition" dynamic and instead set up a different kind of conflict to address. But we're already past that. The point in question is how to deal with an alien invasion under the circumstances, whereby a peaceful diplomatic solution could be achieved once the aliens have been vanquished (if not, well, any direction is up for grabs). With the "overused and hackneyed" story element already in play, how would you resolve it?

By definition, that's not a deus ex machina, because it was seeded in the story clear back in the first episode, with the mysterious circuit card that Five found in her possession that eventually turned out to be a stolen piece of the experimental blink drive. And that drive was being worked on by one of the corporations and was a prize in the competition between them. So it's an integral part of the corporate arc in the way an alien invasion in a previously humans-only SF universe isn't.

"Deus ex Machina is now the phrase used to describe any situation where something unexpected or implausible is brought in to the story line to resolve situations or disentangle a plot." The Raza suddenly showing up and more powerful vis-a-vis the blink drive could be construed as such. The blink drive is a "super power" far greater than anything else conceived. Complete game changer. Anyone who has it is virtually unstoppable. "You can't hit me." Literally, a God mode.

 

[Christopher]

Well yes, we could critique this entire part of the story arc and not bring in this "powerful corporate factions in opposition" dynamic and instead set up a different kind of conflict to address.

Or set it up in a way that there's a natural endgame that arises organically from within the story. Like I said, the problem is that they deliberately wrote themselves into a corner because they knew they could cheat their way out of it with the invasion.

At the very least, if they wanted an alien invasion to be the resolution to the arc, they should've seeded the idea sooner, made it more integral to the storyline. Say, have evidence of aliens show up earlier in the series and have the competition to control access to their technology be the motivation for the corporate conflict.

With the "overused and hackneyed" story element already in play, how would you resolve it?

That's still the wrong question. Supposedly the series' overall 5-year arc was conceived in advance, at least in broad strokes. The time to figure out a good ending for an arc is when you first develop it.

"Deus ex Machina is now the phrase used to describe any situation where something unexpected or implausible is brought in to the story line to resolve situations or disentangle a plot."

The key words there are "brought in." What makes something a deus ex machina is that it's introduced out of nowhere, that it wasn't part of the narrative before. Like if your heroine is being chased by a relentless serial killer throughout the movie and then, right at the climax... a crate falls out of a passing cargo plane and crushes the killer. Or if you're telling a naturalistic, present-day locked-room murder mystery with no speculative elements, but then reveal on the last page that the victim was killed by a demon who entered the locked room through a dimensional portal. It's a non sequitur, something the author's hand does to cheat a solution that has nothing to do with the previously established story elements or character actions.

Just being implausible doesn't do it, because lots of things in fiction are implausible, at least in real-world terms. What matters is whether it's plausible within the narrative, and that's a function of whether the foundations for it have been laid. The murder being the work of a demon isn't as implausible if you establish up front that the story is in a world where demons exist. That way it isn't a non sequitur but an organic development. It's not about the plausibility in real-world terms, but the plausibility as an element of the narrative you've been presented with. Since blink drive was seeded from the start of the series and well-developed in seasons 2-3, its use as part of the resolution of the story arc would not have been an unexpected or implausible turn in the story.

The Raza suddenly showing up and more powerful vis-a-vis the blink drive could be construed as such.

It might be sudden for a subset of supporting characters, but not for the audience or for the main viewpoint characters through whom the audience experiences the narrative. "Deus ex machina" is a term of literary criticism, defined from the audience's perspective.

 

[Gary7]

"That's still the wrong question."

Well, you're basing this all on what has been exposed thus far--we don't what Mallozzi had defined for seasons 4 and 5, so it's unfair to slam this story arc as if it was intended to be ended in a predictable overused and hackneyed fashion. I just wanted to know how you'd deal with the crisis of the two corporate factions dealing with the alien invasion, but you choose to avoid answering it on the grounds that you insist the whole story arc be rewritten to avoid the situation to begin with. Well, that pretty much flips the game board, scattering the pieces. No point in continuing.

 

[Christopher]

I just wanted to know how you'd deal with the crisis of the two corporate factions dealing with the alien invasion, but you choose to avoid answering it on the grounds that you insist the whole story arc be rewritten to avoid the situation to begin with. Well, that pretty much flips the game board, scattering the pieces. No point in continuing.

At the moment, I'm busy figuring out how to tell a story I'm actually getting paid for. You want me to figure out how to tell a different story, then cut me a contract.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Has there been any announcement yet when the series might continue in either a Dark Horse comic book or a script form? Please don't research this for me unnecessarily. I've looked through Mallozzi's blog but didn't see anything recent. Google search didn't turn up anything but perhaps I was using the wrong parameters. Mallozzi talked the once about a possible miniseries to round things off (like happened with Farscape and Sense8) so maybe that's in the works.

 

[Gary7]

At the moment, I'm busy figuring out how to tell a story I'm actually getting paid for. You want me to figure out how to tell a different story, then cut me a contract.

I wasn't asking you to develop a full fledged plot with all the accouterments for publication. Just your thoughts... but if it requires payment, then I'll pass. Good luck on your story project.

 

[Gary7]

Has there been any announcement yet when the series might continue in either a Dark Horse comic book or a script form? Please don't research this for me unnecessarily. I've looked through Mallozzi's blog but didn't see anything recent. Google search didn't turn up anything but perhaps I was using the wrong parameters. Mallozzi talked the once about a possible miniseries to round things off (like happened with Farscape and Sense8) so maybe that's in the works.

Check the Reddit for Dark Matter. Mallozzi seems to be more active there than on his blog.

 

[Christopher]

I wasn't asking you to develop a full fledged plot with all the accouterments for publication. Just your thoughts...

I could swear I already offered some suggestions about other directions they could've taken.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Check the Reddit for Dark Matter. Mallozzi seems to be more active there than on his blog.

Thanks, but I don't like to touch social media if I can avoid it. This board is as social as I get and I can be too antisocial at times.

 

[matthunter]

At the moment, I'm busy figuring out how to tell a story I'm actually getting paid for. You want me to figure out how to tell a different story, then cut me a contract.

Actually, at the time you posted this, you were posting on a BBS, so expect BBS type discussion. You wanna get paid, get on with the work you were meant to be doing, mate.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Actually, at the time you posted this, you were posting on a BBS, so expect BBS type discussion. You wanna get paid, get on with the work you were meant to be doing, mate.

Maybe we need to stage an intervention? He has complained he doesnt have money to see major films (like Marvel movies which we discuss here)...not even on $5 Tuesdays...so he needs to maybe a take a break or limit his time...I have noticed the same thing for myself with cell phone games