Dark Matters

I know, everyone who watches an anthology TV show like THE OUTER LIMITS regularly most likely has his/hers favorite Installments and this episode isn't among it (this is based on personal Inqueries I made concerning this show). When I saw DARK MATTERS in the first season of this then young show (despite the fact that this is the "second Beginning" since there was a predecessor) I immediately knew - no matter how long this show will run - it would be hard for any subsequent episode to surpass this single installment. After having seen all it's about 150 shows, despite some very good installment in between, I haven't changed my attitude. I was impressed by D.M. from the very beginning. The Cast was formidable and the SPFX especially the aliens featured on this show were terrific. But that was only the outer shell. It was the writing talent of Allan Brennert who took me under it's spell. His quality writing and his ability to combine elements of religion, science-fiction and - literally - the human soul is very fascinating and touching and, at least in my opinion, among the best even SF in literature can deliver. If you too are among those (few) who liked this episode check out his work on THE (New) TWILIGHT ZONE, especially HER PILGRIM SOUL which has similar Qualities and featuring a brilliant Gary Cole, QUARANTINE, and A SMALL TALENT FOR WAR for example.

Thank you

The reboot is often mediocre, but there are some fantastic episodes. Go out of your way to catch this one. Rock solid premise and fleshed out realistic characters.

This episode is a slight improvement over what's come before, but still leaves a bit to be desired.

First things first, the CGI has dated BADLY, but then the mid 90s weren't known for their great CG imagery so that's to be expected. That being said, if dated CGI takes you out of something you might want to skip this.

That being said, it's a decent enough story but Star Trek has done it infinitely better, and much sooner, so that might be another reason for you to skip this episode.

If you're still here, then you'll probably enjoy the episode. It's got a decent main cast in Annette O'Toole, John Heard, and Alison Hos-sack, and it does have a decent story with very few (if any) plot holes for the nit pickers among us. The end, too, is nicely wrapped up and without feeling all preachy or overly sweet, even with the 'lesson' at hand.

Some of the better entries in this series are those that take place in deep space. This is a bit of a "Star Trek Voyager" type of episode. A cargo ship has been driven into a hole of some kind where the stars have disappeared and ghosts of dead space travelers come aboard. Add to that the fact that the brother of one of the principle characters, who disappeared years ago on an explorer vessel, appears as a hologram/ghost. He imparts his contentiousness. The sibling rivalry continues beyond death. The dead man was the perfect son, sports star, military hero, and dad's favorite. However, he does have a secret that if brought up would tarnish his reputation. There are also some aliens that look like big praying mantises. They are also non-corporeal but very threatening. The issue at hand is, how does one get out of this spot and not become the next victim of this interplanetary graveyard. As with the aforementioned "Star Trek" thing, there is considerable jargon and a lot of activities taken at faith. Still, it's fun and suspenseful, and not as depressing as some of the other episodes.

Considering the 90's redo of The Outer Limits... I think the first episode of the series that I really appreciated was 'Dark Matters', which came 11 episodes into the first season. In my opinion, a show that takes that long to produce a truly interesting and enjoyable episode is probably on shaky ground. But still, it took Star Trek: The Next Generation an entire first season before it found its space legs, so there you go.

Speaking of Trek, the plot of this OL episode is one that can be found in a multitude of Trek shows: a crew of a space freighter get trapped in a strange, starless void where other ships have become imprisoned, physics go out the window and the dead can find no peace. It feels like the best kind of science fiction story, where the particulars of space travel are dealt with, but it also studies the humanity of the people who travel out into it.

'Dark Matters' features John Heard, an actor I always appreciate watching. Less so with the female lead, Annette O'Toole. I always find her a bit wooden in her roles: she's an actor you can actually see trying to act, which is not a good look for someone trying to breathe life into a character. When you place your characters into fantastic situations, you need rock solid performances to ground your audience and make the far-fetched seem plausible. O'Toole and the other weak link in the cast, Micheal Dolan as the spiritual crew member Rob, sabotage the episode somewhat.

Still though, 'Dark Matters' as a whole represents a solid episode of the series, exploring the dangers of space travel... and the darker recesses of the human heart.