User reviews

I'm not going to write a rave review of this show, many others have done it before me, it was a really good series, the stories were well crafted, it was high standard in the world of sci-fi were you see a lot of cr***. I just want to direct you to the writer and creator Joseph Mallozi's blog to read why it was cancelled and wasn't saved, which demonstrates once again the haughtiness of "money making moguls" in networks deciding that we, the viewers, are just bottom lines and they're just milking the milky way however fast they can. Disrespecting loyal fans is no longer a tenable posture in the industry, especially when dozens of awful shows get produced that don't have the level of quality this one had, especially in the sci-fi genre and on SYFY. Besides The Expanse, there wasn't much being done towards giving sci-fi afficionaos the real deal. Personnaly, I believe in the downfall of the $ all-mighty culture of the entertainment industry that disregards viewers' choices especially when they're loyal to the series. We too can unite and fund movies-series outside the realm of the establishment if need be. It's about time WE decide not the networks.

This show didn't necessarily break any new ground in the Sci-Fi genre, but was certainly more enjoyable than much of the vile dreck currently on television (a single shot of Melissa O'Neil strutting down the ship's corridor with a gun on each hip is more entertaining than all 22 seasons of "The Bachelor").

The combat scenes, whether with guns, swords or hands and feet, are well-staged and cohesive. The real heart of the show was the relationships between the characters, all of whom wake up at the beginning with no memory of who they are why they're on this starship. Considering that seemingly everyone in the universe is trying to kill them for one reason or another, they decide it's best to stick together.

It's a shame that the SciFy network abruptly yanked the show after a cliffhanger in the third season. They at least owe the cast and crew, and its fans, a two-hour movie to wrap things up.

Just purchased on Vudu so I could rewatch the series. I really enjoyed this series when it was on. Great everything. Always looked forward to a new episode. Syfy really messed up when they cancelled this. I just cannot fathom what was going on in their brains. They also screwed up with the Expanse, which they replaced with Vagrant Queen (?) which isn't even fun bad. Still a mystery.

Im not even a Scifi fan i watched the first episode out of pure curiosity it was on tv and nothing else was showing ..

Then i found my self being so positively surprised and curious that i started watching the show and became a steady watcher a the lead actors did a great job also enough humor action suspense in it ....i don't get why they stopped the show also the android was so funny and great everything they tried to do in the show had a potential of being GREAT ...

THEN they just cancelled it i mean WTF why the show was great even a NON scifi fan like me liked the show

I wasn't too happy with the storyline in the 3rd season, but overall I enjoyed M more than almost any other sci-fi show in recent years. I include Expanse in this comparison---clearly a better show in many ways, but not much damn fun, to be honest. Dark Matter's writers kept us entertained for three seasons with some frolicking interstellar hijinks. The actors made a good ensemble. Whatever the secret sauce the DM team used to turn a pretty silly concept into a tight, interesting show, I wish they would share it with the Expanse team.

I just finished watching Dark Matter Season 3 on Amazon Prime & was frustrated to see this 9 out of 10 show ( would be 10 out of 10 with 2 more series no doubt ) was another victim of NBC's Syfy channel ridiculous cancellation policy ( just as the show gets really good they cancel it, instead of promoting the show so TV fans actually watch the first few episodes & see how it grows into a very good show. Many great shows such as "cheers" as a classic example take time to build an audience but great writing & acting will win out eventually & build that loyalty ).

For TV stations & streaming services to build up a loyal fan base you have to at the very least give your viewers the "the promise of closure" as now I do not want to watch anything made by NBC or Syfy ( & thinking of cancelling Amazon for cutting short "Sneaky Pete" which was awesome & now letting us watch a great show in Dark Matter but without taking over the project with a promise of some closure.

If you don't give your TV viewership the respect of closure then you can not then expect any of them to give you their loyalty. It really is simple that any TV show that is cancelled should be given an extra 6 episodes ( or a movie ) with sufficient notice to tie up any loose ends if at any point the show is cancelled in mid story arc.

So like many TV fans now if I see something is made by NBC or any of their subsidiaries such as the SyFy channel I now choose not to bother to start to watch as no one wants to start reading a great book but then not have it end with the necessary closure any great story needs ( unless a sequel is guaranteed ). The only way to make these people learn is to boycott their products until they take responsibility for their past cancellation errors & give each show a fair chance to give closure to the fans. So simply put give all these cancelled shows someone a movie to tie up the story ( as bring back original actors even if you have to book them up 2 or 3 years in advance to get the key actors, as you can tell the fans the closure will happen ( guaranteed ) in the next 2 to 3 years & get them back as your TV station fans ASAP. You already have a fan base that will once again return as loyal fans so long as you first give the fans their respect by finishing the stories.

Respect & loyalty all come from TRUST you build up as a brand over time.

It was a fun ride while it lasted. The writing was pretty good, as it balanced action with character development, and the world building was not bad (could have easily been better though). The casting was pretty good, although the woman that played 5 could not overcome the fact that she did not look the age group of her character (no fault in her acting). The premise was novel for a TV series, and it made the multiple converging and diverging plot lines make adequate sense. Some good supporting actors, largely borrowed from other series that were ongoing at the time, worked well. The show had a good look to it, and the ship The Raza (sp?) was great. The Achilles Heel of the show would have to be the fact that the biggest and baddest villains in the galaxy make a grand entrance in the final episode (season 3) and . . . The show was cancelled. Ouch. Seriously. I watched it on TV when it first came out, and I watched it again over a few days recently. It was still entertaining. One note, is that another show called Killjoys was out at the same time, and I think that this was the better of the two shows.

I won't go into detail with spoilers, BUT abrupt cancellation of this series that has a rabid cult following left the plot hanging at the most unspeakably bad critical point I could possibly imagine!

Similar situations with the wonderful but woefully short lived Firefly and the earlier but much longer running and similarly popular Farscape led to fan outcries and wrap up movies, though I'm not sure this cliffhanger could have been resolved in less than a season short of actual unabashed divine intervention...

Premature cancellations seem to have become a far too common occurrence - one almost wonders how the redoubtable Babylon 5 was allowed to finish gracefully, though its sequel series did not fare so well

It's sci fi for for sci if fans. This show fills a gap that was left by galactica and stargate universe and the like. I liked it so much I decided to get on and leave a review in hopes that it wouldn't get canceled by the anti sci fi overly critical critics. It is a major challenge to take on a show set in space with the ships, technology, characters, plot, and in this case they are on the right track. Just look at the ship set, it's awesome. After seeing the typical bad reviews I am convinced there is a plot to keep sci fi from staying on the air. The bad reviews sound like the people who originally hated firefly and look what happened there. It's nice having a new show without vampires, zombies, and high school drama that you can turn to when you want something in outer space with FTL. This show is great, has a smile on my face, and has me waiting for the next show.

(Reviewed during Season 3).

Six people, four men and two women, awake in a spaceship with no memory of the past. As they can't remember their own names, they name themselves by the order in which they awoke - One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six. Over time they discover who they are and why they are on the ship. However, their pasts are bound to catch up with them, including deals and enemies made in those pasts. More importantly, considering all the dangers and adventures awaiting them, they might want to learn to trust each other and work together...

This series initially reminded me a lot of Firefly - a small, diverse group of people on a space ship, experiencing all manner of adventures while dealing with personal demons, mistrust of companions and relationships with each other.

Quite a big comparison, with Firefly being the greatest sci fi series ever made, so Dark Matter was always up against it in that regard.

And fall short of Firefly it does, but not by a large margin (in Season 1, at least). Dark Matter doesn't have the same warmth and character depth and development as Firefly. Firefly's future world was more innovative and nuanced and its adventures more engaging.

However, I can't fault Dark Matter's action and intrigue. Broad plot is quite original and the sub-plots engrossing and innovative. Fairly watertight plots too. The character-based side, though, as mentioned before, not in Firefly's league, is still pretty good. The fact that the six people are effectively a blank slate at the start helps, as everything from there is character development.

Plus, unlike Firefly, this got a second season...

Unfortunately, the producers shouldn't have bothered. From Season 2 onwards the mystery, intrigue and character development dried up and the series became a conventional sci fi action movie. By the middle of S2 I was watching it purely out of habit, and in the hope that something new and original happens, and after Episode 1 of S3 I gave up.

I tried to watch this once but felt the characters were wooden. The plot seemed a bit slow. I came back to it after I couldn't find any new sci-fi to watch. After episode 5 I fell in love with the show. The plot thickens, the characters become developed, and it becomes more "sci-fi".

If you love Firefly, you will love this. Although Firefly's characters are more lovable, Dark Matter's characters are more interesting. Dark Matter has better effects, production value and plots but you will grow to love the characters as much as Firefly's characters.

I didn't get into this show when it first came out in 2015, because the first episode implied a dour, serious and depressing sci fi show. Thankfully this time around I believed the IMDB ratings and sat through the first few episodes. After establishing the back stories and the world, Dark Matter starts to shine with gripping twists and plots that make you come back for more.

Much of the time watching it, I think to myself how thankful there are 3 seasons because the episodes are so great. It's the Firefly we could have had, the Firefly we deserve.

Given my snap impression of this show was that it was a Firefly knockoff, I'm really glad that I kept watching, as any similarity really is in that they're a bunch of outlaws on a ship and that 5 has some Kaylee/River-esque abilities...and that 3 and Jayne both fulfill the same stereotype.

Anyway, I find this series very watchable, and am currently in the middle of the final season.

Good show not a remake / spin-off especially considering the lack of anything close to good sci-fi in the past 20 years or so (space opera). I thought The Expanse was going to end this nothingness of the past years but in the end was pretty disappointing too. It seems to be a trend cancelling good or potentially good shows and keeping the trash going like Killjoys. Well, we will keep re-watching legendary shows like StarTrek, Farscape, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica and the likes since there's nothing else going on and there's no sign that anything good will happen in the near future.

It's like no one on the planet has any imagination left or if there are any they are probably stopped by the crass incompetence that seem to be allover those places where the shows get approved.

There's no originality anymore, no good stories and when they are they get cancelled like this one. It seems we are done with good sci-fi, now it's the era of half baked and stupid shows to fill the TV's air time and waste ours.

We've been moaning about Firefly being shut down and the gap it left behind for ages and finally a worthy show comes along and fills that gap and it's pretty similar as well which in my view does not hurt at all.

I can not understand why people complain about Dark Matter, compared to previous success-series like Firefly, Babylon 5 and even Farscape to name a few. Remember the first episodes of those when we first saw them? Took a while to digest and then they grew on us, immensely. A show some times need a full season to mature and in my honest opinion Dark Matter deserve a full season and a second to show what it can be capable of.

Where Firefly used three hot chicks to draw people in at the beginning, imho, Dark Matter does not even need this. A lot of potential, and my wish for Santa this year is to let this show at least get a second season before any decision is made about its future. Pretty please, with sugar on top.

Actors, writers, directors and staff need time to mature with the show.

EDIT: Season one is over and what a season it was. I am so happy to see that season 2 is already cleared for next year. Awesome show, a big thanks to those everyone involved in making it!

If you are a fan of science fiction like me then you might like this series. It reminded me a little bit of Firefly, a show that I really liked but that they sadly wrote off. I never understood why they didn't make other seasons of Firefly because it was refreshing and good for this genre. Dark Matter though isn't as good as Firefly but it has the merit to have good stories every episode. I rated it much lesser then Firefly though because the actors are just okay without being great and because the special effects are a bit low budget. But apart of that the story is easy and pleasant to follow. I will watch the second season in the hope their budget will be a bit higher with nicer special effects.

This series starts off great, love the characters and the universe this story plays out in. Season 2 has some less intriguing episodes, but still delivers! Season 3 is the clincher though! Everything is brought full circle and a whole new element is revealed! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Please don't leave us hanging!

Three more seasons!

Three more seasons!

Three more seasons!

!!!!!

U don't need to be a syfy fan to like this show, the story lines are good but nothing to ponder over, but sometimes that's a good thing just to dive into the story and action scenes. I love syfy and this show does a brilliant job in fulfilling my needs. Space exploration, other worlds, research, corporations, vigilantes, wars, combat, technology and the blink drive! When they talk about technology it does have some reference to reality which may be entirely possible in a few 100 years, or it just could be the fact that i'm such a geek when it comes to these things. Reminds me of an old classic PC game "Masters of Orion". The close combat sequences sometimes seems too choreographed, but still enjoyable. All the characters are real bad-asses but trying to do good which is probably my favorite part of the show.

I've held off a bit before posting a review. The first few episodes of Dark Matter felt like they could go either way - descent into predictability and mediocrity, or rise into engrossing characters and ideas. After seven episodes, I'm convinced: it's the latter, and then some.

Each episode has been better than the last. Dark Matter is showing the same strengths that made Stargate SG-1 and it's spin-offs so addictive. Strong, likable characters. Solid performances by actors you may not have seen a lot of times before. Story lines that often seem breezy and lightweight, yet conceal a lot of clever writing - courtesy of Mallozzi and Mullie, two of the key writers on Stargate.

The most recent episode is a great example. The crew finds an 'entertainment android' and assembles it. What follows is a nice bit of fencing with our preconceptions. Yes, the android can perform sex - and we get the predictable jokes. But it can also cook, which is far more important, given the crew's short rations. And it also harbors some nasty surprises. The story mixes humor, suspense and even tragedy. Sure, it's 'just' traditional space opera. But space opera deftly handled, to the point where it becomes absolutely compelling.

This is all the more amazing, considering the less-than-promising concept upon which Dark Matter is based: a crew wakes up on a starship, with no memory of who they are. It sounds like a recipe for cookie-cutter tedium. But four or five episodes later, this collection of apparent stereotypes has become a tight group of multifaceted characters, just as likable as Stargate's Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson and Sam Carter. I really didn't think Mallozzi and Mullie could pull it off. But they not only did it, they did it in fewer episodes than I could have imagined.

No, this is not Shakespeare. It's unapologetic genre fiction. If you found Stargate SG-1 too corny, or too silly, then forget Dark Matter. But if you've got a place in your heart for sci-fi adventure painted boldly on a huge canvas, Dark Matter is a must-watch. Don't give up after one or two episodes - give it a chance to build, and it won't disappoint.

The only possible downside is the originating network: SyFy. A network run by boobs who persistently greenlight - then almost immediately kill - excellent new shows. I'm gritting my teeth, and fervently hoping Dark Matter will be allowed to build the cult following it deserves, over many, many seasons.

Real shame this show had to end, really enjoyed the character chemistry! I guess all good things have to come to an end