The Perfect Stargate Replacement Debuted 11 Years Ago (& I’m Still Mad It Got Cancelled)

Cable TV had so much variety in the 2010s that science fiction had a bigger share of the programming slate than ever before, including entire networks like Syfy. As time has gone on, and the streaming era has begun, it’s become clearer and clearer that Syfy’s programming was criminally underrated. The network and its productions were almost always done in the spirit of genuine love of the genre, even if the resources to realize the stories onscreen were limited.

11 years ago, on June 12, 2015, Syfy and the Space Channel premiered a sci-fi show that had a massive twist in its pilot episode. That pilot sparked 3 seasons of some complex sci-fi storytelling, built on wonderfully rich lore and character study. It was walked in the footprints of shows like Lost, Firefly, and Battlestar Galactica, while still managing to distinguish itself as a unique blend of sci-fi and mystery. And if you missed it, then the great news is that it’s not too late for a rewatch.

Read Next

10 Sci-Fi TV Series That Deserve A Second Chance

Dark Matter Was Lost Meets BSG

Syfy’s Dark Matter (not to be confused with Apple TV’s ongoing TV show of the same name), follows a group of six passengers who are in cryostasis aboard a starship called Raza. They wake to find they have no memories of who they are. They assign themselves numbers 1-6 as names, based on the order of awakenings, and set out to investigate their own identities, as well as the circumstances that led them to the Raza. SPOILER: The pilot episode ends with the crew finding out that they are one of the worst criminal mercenary groups in the entire galaxy. With no memory of their former selves, each character is torn between the new person they could become and their darker truth of who they’ve been.

Events in each epiode would reveal new clues or reveals about each character, and/or flashbacks that could change viewer perception of characters and events entirely. Over time, each character got either moderate or extensive development (depending on their arc), and became far more interesting and complex than it maybe initially seemed.

Dark Matter Deserved a Chance to Be the Next Stargate

Some sci-fi shows run heavy on vibes and lore (Stargate), but Dark Matter was actually cooking with some deep thematic material, right from the start. The pilot has a wonderful hook to it, and quickly puts it upfront that the show will be dealing with the nature of identity, and whether we can ever be our best selves, while still trapped in the circumstances of our lives.

The initial ensemble mystery show didn’t last longer than Season 2, before Dark Matter‘s universe expansion started to overtake the core premise of the show. Still, that world offered lots of opportunities for spinoffs or prequels, not to mention the fact that the show ended on a massive cliffhanger. But such is the fate of some shows; you can currently stream Dark Matter (2015) on The CW website. And talk TV with us on the ComicBook Forum!