Dark Matter Episode 2.04 We Were Family

Three reconnects with his former crew; the Android finds herself in unique company.

Remember that cute toy spaceship Three found in his lockbox at the end of last week's episode? It's featured in a flashback to Three's childhood in which young Three hides in the closet as an unseen assailant seemingly kills both of his parents. This mystery bad guy finds young Three cowering in his hiding place, though a flash of light ends the flashback before we can get a good look at him. Ain't that always the way?

Back in the present day, the crew of the Raza, ever under-supplied and on a budget, prepare to do a little shopping as they approach a space station. Devon needs medical supplies, especially plasma, if he's going to operate on Six... though Arax certainly doesn't like the fact that there's "a cop" on board the ship. Three definitely sees his point, as Six has already shown that his loyalties and motivations can be.. conflicted.

Elsewhere on the ship, Four continues his martial arts training and finds a formidable sparring partner in Nyx. She describes herself as a "quick learner," able to anticipate her opponent's moves. Where did this ability come from... and how can the crew of the Raza use it to their advantage?

Meanwhile, Five has drawn a sketch of the large tower that overlooked the alley in which she and Two did battle in last week's episode. What is this dark, despairing place in Two's past, where "something bad" happened to her? Two, accompanied by Nyx, takes the sketch to the space station's Transfer Transit 2.0 hub, where the receptionist runs it through the database and discovers that it's a headquarters for Dwarf Star Technologies, the company run by Two's creator, Alexander Rook. It's also located on Terra Prime... otherwise known as Earth. Might this be the location of a future adventure..?

Elsewhere on the space station, Five and Devon go shopping for medical supplies... accompanied by The Android, who has asked to join them so she can "study human behavior." It would appear that a good-looking fellow shopper is studying her behavior, stepping in when she's accosted by a security guard. This mystery fella is named Victor, and when The Android shows him the toothbrush she was going to shoplift and give as a gift to one of her fellow crew members, he asks her to accompany him.

Meanwhile, Three took out a loan from Five (and she expects him to pay it back, with interest) and is spending it at the space station's watering hole. He's soon approached by the men we met at the end of last week's episode: Larcan Tanner, and his associate, Alok Gar. A third companion, Axtin Fellows, is with them as they sit with Three, whom Tanner refers to as 'Titch.'

So who are these guys? Three's old crew, it would seem... the ones who abandoned him at a Serillium mine, once upon a time. They swear it's only because they thought Three was dead.. and when they discovered he had survived, Tanner did everything he could to track him down.

Tanner was a drifter whom Three's parents hired to work on their farm. It was Tanner who rescued young Three from the closet as the house and barn burned to the ground. Three's parents were apparently killed by thieves, whom Tanner tracked down and made sure died "long and hard".. though not before they gave him a scar on his chest, just to remember the occasion. From there, Tanner adopted Three as his own child, and now they're reunited upon Three activating the tracking device in his lockbox (as seen at the end of last week's episode).

"Welcome home, son," Tanner says to Three. It's all very surprising and touching, though are we the only ones who are a little suspicious of these jokers?

Meanwhile, in a secluded area of the space station, Victor introduces The Android to his friends, Miranda and Ruac. They're all androids, too! Ruac, who's a little elitist, points out that The Android is an older model without the 'emotional simulators' that make them appear even more human. Victor disagrees, showing them the toothbrush she planned to give as a gift, "a unique expression of genuine gratitude."

The Android has long struggled with the possibility that her programming may be flawed or compromised due to her getting.. well, emotional, every now and then. When she once again mentions this possibility, Victor offers to run a diagnostic to see just how 'broken' she might actually be.. if at all.

After Victor finishes his data scan of The Android, he explains that he and his friends don't have owners. They're survivors who pass nearly perfectly as humans... and The Android could be just like them courtesy of an upgrade module she needs but plug in. The Android, taking the upgrade chip but not using it, seems genuinely intrigued.. and even more so when Victor tells her that they're going shopping.

Back on the Raza, Four shows Two a newscast reporting the ongoing investigation into the murder of Derrick Moss, aka One. It would appear that there is a "person of interest" the authorities are pursuing, which intrigues both Two and Four.

As Devon prepares to operate on Six, Five expresses her anger and sadness over being betrayed by her friend. She still cares about him, though, and Devon assures her that he's going to do his very best to help him. As Five leaves the room to get him some coffee, Devon injects himself with some sort of drug. Are we getting a hint as to why he was a prisoner at Hyperion-8? Anyway, whatever Devon took, it was either too much or too little, as he's got the shakes as he prepares for surgery.

Meanwhile, Arax is lurking about and up to no good. He's once again contacted Alicia Reynaud, the businesswoman who's got it in Five, telling her that now's a good time to come and pick up her package. Reynaud asks if he can keep Five at the space station until she gets there, though Arax says this would be a lot easier if she just tells him what she's after...

Arax breaks into Five's quarters and rummages about, eventually discovering a steel box in which he finds a black key card.. the same item that got Five's homeless pals killed after she snatched it from some unknown mark back in Season 1.

Arax runs into Five in the corridor and asks how the surgery on Six is going.
Five is visibly distraught, too emotional and anxious to be in the room as Devon performs the operation. Arax assures Five that she's going to be all right; ultimately, her fellow crew members care about her and will help her through this. Appreciative of the kind words, Five hugs him and walks off. Arax smiles, seemingly happy that he can hand over the item Reynaud is after without putting Five in harm's way.

Back on the space station, Victor sits in the lobby of the fancy Del Farra Designs, where he's purchased a gorgeous dress for The Android. She looks stunning! And, dare we say it, never more.. human?

After their shopping spree, Victor refuses The Android's invitation to meet her fellow crew members, as "humans can't be trusted." He asks her to consider what she's learned today.. and reveals the results of her diagnostic.
It would appear that she's 'different' not because of a programming error, but due to intentional design; indeed, her creator made her special. Victor says goodbye with a kiss, which seems to delight The Android.

Back on the Raza, The Android considers the upgrade chip given to her by Victor. Will she take the plunge?

Meanwhile, Three is on a woodland planet with his new-old crew, preparing to steal the payroll from a mining company. They've enlisted the services of a fella named Jacobs to deliver the loot via shuttle, though Three is disturbed to discover that the crew has kidnapped the poor guy's son to insure his compliance. Jacobs refuses to take them to the shuttle until he sees his son. Fellows brutally guns down Jacobs, though Gar assures an increasingly agitated Three that the kid's safe with Tanner.

As the crew walks to the shuttle, Three asks one of the goons, Lang, about the scar that Tanner has on his chest. Lang reveals that Tanner actually got it at a poker game... NOT from any confrontation with the alleged thieves who supposedly murdered Three's parents. An enraged and heartbroken Three guns down every last one of the crew and goes to a cabin to confront Tanner.

At the cabin, Tanner sits at a table, silently watching the now fatherless child, Len, eat his soup like a good boy. A scowling Three enters and takes Len to the adjacent room, closing the door behind him. Three sits across from Tanner and, at last, the truth is revealed: it was Tanner who murdered Three's parents in a drunken rage after Three's father accused him of stealing. When Tanner found young Three in the closet, he felt a renewal of purpose; he raised Three as his own son, teaching him how to be a thief and a scoundrel.. and a survivor.

And here's the kicker: Three, before he lost his memories, knew that Tanner was the one who killed his parents. And he forgave him.

That was the old Three, though. The new Three now pulls his gun and shoots Tanner dead."Come on, kid, I'll take you home," he says to young Len, returning the child to his mining colony community.

At the space station bar, Alicia Reynaud meets with Arax, psyched to finally get her hands on Five's mysterious key card. Her excitement turns to bitter disappointment when she realizes Arax has given her the wrong key card.. courtesy of Five's excellent pickpocketing abilities utilized when she hugged Arax. Five's been suspicious of Arax and his lurking about, so she's been keeping tabs on him via hidden security cameras. The key card -- which, according to The Android in Season 1, is capable of "accessing pockets of inter dimensional space-time" -- is still in Five's possession.. and people are still out there who are willing to kill for it.

Back on the Raza, it would appear that Devon's operation on Six was a success. Six regains consciousness, finding Two watching over him. Two assures him that the crew has forgiven him for selling them out to the Galactic Authority, though Six wonders if he can ever truly forgive himself.

Three visits Five in her quarters and pays back his loan, during which Five realizes that the memories she experienced in Season 1 of living on an idyllic farm with loving parents were actually Three's memories. Three just wishes he could remember...

The episode ends with Alicia Reynaud getting chewed out by Commander Niemen of the Ferrous Corporation (whom we haven't seen since Season 1, Episode 2). He tells her there's a war coming.. and the Raza gang holds the key to victory.