Jourke Rourke (normal human) @jourke-rourke - Tumblr Blog

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Fan blog for SyFy's Dark Matter (2015) [available here]

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I will happily take gifset requests and will consider video requests

A bunch of my gifs are over on tenor so you can use them on Discord. All are tagged with #dark matter syfy. If you want a specific gif crossposted, let me know and I'll do it

Major spoiler tags: #s1 spoilers, #s2 spoilers, #s3 spoilers

Organizational tags: #gifset, #vid, #song vids, #text post, #analysis, #request

Other tags: #faves, #concussion crew, #teamwork makes the dream work

if you're here about the other notorious-criminals-turned-found-family-anticapitalist-freedom-fighters show, then leverageposting is intermittent under #leverage. godspeed.

that's probably it. now check out these vids i'm proud of them

#gotta make sure the hard knock life vid is still pinned (for blake's sake)#also that second vid serves as a sort of trailer if you're curious about the show

You know how Two was originally planned to be an android instead of the bio synthetic whatever, right?

do you have any thoughts about them changing it? Im rewatching rn and I think Two being an android would have been a much more shocking/y reveal in ep 11 and would have really added some spice to the androids identity crisis.

Thoughts?

Hmm! Really interesting question. I think I prefer her being more human, to be honest? The purported reasoning behind the change (‘a machine couldn’t be a romantic interest’) is really stupid, but it still might be a better play overall. It does depend on exactly how mechanical she was going to be, but if she’s anything like the Android (even with the upgrade), I don’t really see how she could’ve kept that hidden for weeks in close quarters. It’s not just ‘weird zombie bite wound’ that would be an issue, but literally any cut or nick would immediately expose her, and given how often they’re in fights, that seems problematic? And even assuming she doesn't need to 'charge' like the Android, a lack of need for sleep + food + water would give her away pretty fast, so I just don't see it working as well as a reveal multiple weeks in. Either the crew would have already been major-league suspicious by then, or she would've had to be taking steps to conceal it the whole time (which, to be fair, would have had its own kind of impact!).

But those are more practicalities, I suppose. From a character perspective, I think I still prefer her being more human, because it offers more of a spectrum of machine-humanity instead of being dichotomous? It puts Two in a unique spot where she can sort of ‘pass’ as human a lot easier in a variety of situations, whereas the mechanical androids have to work a lot harder to conceal their origins. So her position is a little less precarious, but it’s also very contingent on her not calling attention to it- e.g. she can’t effectively advocate for the simulants in S3 without revealing that she’s one, because otherwise she’d lose what little leverage she has and just get destroyed with them.

And I think it’s also a nice character move to have her not fully understand some of the Android’s struggles, and question whether the Android actually ‘feels’ anything (over Five’s objections). She wants to believe that true personhood and emotion come from having a human brain, because otherwise there's genuinely no difference between her and any other android off the shelf, and she does not want to confront what that would mean for her. So she can be both uniquely sympathetic to their plight (as someone who could be subject to the same classification in an instant if somebody rats her out), and also view them as 'other' and want to distance herself from their struggle a bit due to her own difficulties in processing what her non-humanity means for her. Which I like!

But all that said, her being more mechanical could have led to equally interesting routes. The audience is very clearly meant to view Two as essentially human and deserving of human rights- hence why we see her experiencing human connection and emotions and reactions long before we learn about her backstory, and why the show and all the protagonists treat her as indistinguishable from the other humans. So having her then revealed as fully mechanical would be big for the Android's arc, since it highlights human compassion being contingent on one's degree of conformity to social expectations- that people view Two as more deserving of rights solely because she expresses emotions in a way that's more legible to humans, while other androids with the same capacity are ignored unless they conform. But we do still wind up getting exploration of that with the upgrades in S2, so at least it's not a complete loss.

Would be interested to hear more of your opinion on it, if you want to share!

(Also going to tag @elderly-worm as an android-opinion-haver who might have a take)

#y'know i didn't really go into this planning to make a trans allegory but it actually does work #dark matter syfy #dark matter #text post #ask #sorry i haven't posted in weeks i AM alive the semester's just been insane. been planning to do a rewatch of dm very soon #dark matter android #dark matter two

Dark Matter (2015) // S03xE06 // "One Last Card to Play"

#dark matter #dark matter syfy #gifset #rourke og #dark matter two #dark matter three

me whenever anybody questions my process

#very relatable buddy #dark matter #dark matter syfy #gifset #rourke og #dark matter three

Dark Matter (2015) // two + five (& some bonus other folks)

#dark matter #dark matter syfy #gifset #rourke og #dark matter two #dark matter five

The Pitt (2025) // Ship in a Bottle [Fin]

the man, the myth, the legend: mister martyr complex himself, in the dejected flesh

#definitely a lot punchier than i normally go for. which is a fun challenge!#not dm #the pitt #rourke og #vid #song vids #michael robinavitch #robby robinavitch #dana evans #the pitt s2 #the pitt season 2 #noah wyle #katherine lanasa #the pitt edit #thepittedit #thepittsource

Dark Matter (2015) // S03xE09 // "Isn't That a Paradox?"

#dark matter #dark matter syfy #gifset #rourke og #god i love the android just like. silently buffering. 'how many layers deep do i have to explain the 21st-century economy to cover this one

Dark Matter (2015) // S03xE05 // "Give it Up, Princess"

#dark matter #dark matter syfy #gifset #rourke og

doctors hate me for my acidotic swag and casual dismissal of internal bleeding

#not dm #the pitt #ramblings #rourke og #something to look forward to for the morning i guess

Dark Matter (2015) // early-mid three

#feeling the blue-green at the moment i suppose #dark matter #dark matter syfy #gifset #rourke og #anyways i've been terrible at posting lately but i got accepted to grad schools (eu) this week :D

Tbh I think the young genius, anxious, wanna be part of the gang but feeling out of depth around others, big ol' puppy dog eyes, etc are good parallels between javadi and Five. They both also have big "I'm just a girl" moments or at least want to have that kind of thing imo. Can't see Whitaker in the same situation - unless he's like Das with all of the runaway kids and not Five and even then kind of a long shot.

I guess! I think most of it just comes down to the emotional intelligence for me. like Javadi seems genuinely unprepared for the social dynamics of an adult workforce. five is fully prepared for and understands the social dynamics of the crew by s1e3, she's just willing to go 'well that's stupid. stop it' when somebody's being a jerk. i'm not really sure what an "'i'm just a girl' moment" means/would look like but I think both characters do pretty fine all things considered?

I suppose I'm thinking less about the characters themselves and more about their role in the group dynamic and broader story. but yeah they're very different shows and obviously the characters aren't going to neatly map one-to-one onto each other. so i'm certainly not going to tell you you're wrong here, particularly when I think i'm inherently biased about it due to my own personal pettiness

#dark matter syfy #the pitt #ask #text post #oops. saved this one as a draft instead of posting it a couple days ago lmao

How about McKay Two coded

And why isn't javadi clearly Five?

hmm. i could get with mckay/2! I think Dana also has some two vibes to me, but that's partially just because of her position.

I don't really think of Javadi as five-coded, I guess? I think Five's youth sticks out to me a lot less than the fact that she's consistently kind and nonjudgemental, latches onto abrasive-but-caring characters because that's what she's used to dealing with, and wants to help everybody she meets regardless of morality. hence why I see Whittaker as more similar. I actually almost wrote down Javadi as one-coded (similarly inexperienced, but has a tendency to react with judgement and frustration), but uh. I thought that might seem mean ig.

#dark matter #the pitt #ask #text post #to be fair i'm also a little biased because i uh. don't really like javadi lmao #she's fine! i get her purpose & can see the intent & she has some good moments. i just don't really vibe w/ her much

What do you think about the latest Pitt episode?

oh boy!! hm. I have no idea how detailed of an answer you want for this one but I thought it was pretty good, all things considered? Not much interesting going on with the medical cases, but lots of good character development. I mean everybody's miserable and I hate it but it's good writing. robby's spiraling and he's dragging the entire department down with him while trying to convince himself he's a martyr for refusing to let it go.

uhh, in order and most relevant to the stuff I've previously mentioned on here:

HUGE fan of the Santos/Whittaker discussion there. very glad to have confirmation that Whittaker does in fact see straight through Santos and realize how much she cares. it would suck if he thought Santos actually resented him this whole time.

between the ‘I was hoping Robby would give you some fatherly advice’ and her absolutely short-circuiting when put on the spot about being a softie, she has no hope of fooling anybody anymore. i hope Javadi never lets her live it down

also santos better ditch that scalpel because our girl is scaring me

I liked the santos/langdon development this episode too? no major revelations, more just confirmation of what had already been heavily implied. Normally I like the subtler route, but hopefully this was blunt enough finally to put an end to all the arguing.

it's a nuanced situation and I can empathize with everybody involved, which is good writing. I think a lot of it comes down to Robby's decision to cover up Langdon's stealing being a massively bad idea, even though it seemed merciful at the time.

santos has the guy she blew the whistle on reinstalled as her direct superior with zero protections from retaliation (after he spent an entire season demonstrating his willingness to leverage his position over her and gaslight her to cover up his own failings). i'd be pissed too.

langdon has no way to actually take responsibility and come clean without revealing that Robby knowingly concealed multiple felonies, which would wreck the department beyond repair. robby's made it impossible for him to prove himself and earn forgiveness in the ways they want. he's been set up to fail.

al-hashimi is supposed to be taking over the ED for three months and her predecessor didn't bother to warn her that a senior resident committed multiple felonies and they conspired to cover it up in a ruse that she will need to maintain while still mentoring everybody involved. and i thought MY job onboarding was bad.

dana is pissed that Robby made things worse for everybody through his own bad choices and now has the audacity to act like he's the victim here, when it's literally his JOB as chief to handle situations like this with grace.

anyways I'm assuming they're building to an endpoint where Dr. Al-Hashimi comes in clutch, talks things out, and finds a way for everybody to work together. she's got a lot more patience and compassion than Robby, and I think that's how they'll set her up as a capable successor. I'm DAMN sure she could've come up with a better plan than 'uh. stick langdon in triage for a couple hours?' if she had been informed of key information to begin with.

uh! closing thoughts.

joy, beloved boundary-setting queen. sad to see you go but good for you

mohan deserves some tomatoes to throw at robby's head for the way he's treating her. mckay gets some too as a treat

santos should switch (at least partially) to the night shift. i think she'd mesh better with abbot than al-hashimi and it'd give her some space from langdon.

still holding out hope for a rouge ambulance crushing robby's bike. it's getting dark out there soon and the bike is black. i can dream.

#not dm #ask #text post #the pitt #the pitt spoilers #anyways. diagnosing: santos three-coded. robby six-coded. whittaker five-coded

Rewatching anon again, back to it. Wendybot episode and Sarah's introduction. What an episode.

I know there are probably tons of posts on that ep because so much happens there but I never noticed the moment Three tells Five he'll give her all the time he can (to take back bridge control). Dude looks and sounds like he's ready to die just to help out. I know it's the default setting for all of the crew lol but I'm choosing to believe Sarah's words (that he's a good man) had a big share in this.

I'm also wondering when exactly Two sussed out his intelligence to tell him stuff "in code" when Wendy was monitoring comms. How did she not assume he'll blow their cover somehow? And the fact that he wasn't confused and understood immediately somehow when Five didn't? Hmmm

YEAH. the three development in this episode is insane and I think you're right that it is in large part Sarah- but also, maybe more importantly, how Two reacts to it? I think her line about 'against all odds, it turns out there's someone in this universe who doesn't think you're a total jerk' is really telling. like Three spends the first several episodes going 'i'm BIG and STRONG and EVIL!! don't mess with me!' primarily as a defense mechanism. so I think having Sarah come around and be like 'actually you're not and that's pretty cool? we met when you were weak and helpless and I was fine with that and took care of you and liked having you around,' and then having Two react positively to that instead of ragging on him for being sentimental, does a lot of the legwork for his character development.

the 'talking in code bit' IS in fact very funny. I guess it helps that she established that Five was with him, so it would be patently ridiculous to tell him to ignore Five and go handle the ship's systems himself. like he SO obviously has no clue how to do that that it caused him to go 'okay clearly something is going on here.' presumably he's been the diversion a lot of times given that he is loud and obnoxious and has a lot of guns that he loves drawing attention to, so I guess it kinda just kicks in.though there's a side possibility that Two actually didn't expect him to get it at all and that's why she made sure Five was with him (so that five would realize what was going on and explain it). and then in the switcherooni of the century they just didn't.

#dark matter syfy #text post #ask