Two things make The Rookie stand out from other procedurals on network TV. First, there's its title; the titular "rookie," John Nolan (Nathan Fillion)
Two things make The Rookie stand out from other procedurals on network TV. First, there’s its title; the titular “rookie,” John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), is 45 years ancient (and based on a real-life story). The second is the cast; in addition to Fillion, the main cast includes plenty of talented actors, including Melissa O’Neil as Nolan’s fellow officer, Lucy Chen. Lucy’s character arc throughout The Rookie has been pretty compelling. But before the ABC series, O’Neil wound up playing another sophisticated, compelling character in the SyFy series Dark Matter — not to be confused with Apple TV+’s sci-fi series of the same name — and her performance is just one of the many things that make it a standout in the science fiction genre.
‘Dark Matter’ Has a Great Foundation To Build On
Dark Matter is based on the Dark Horse Comics miniseries of the same name by Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie, and Gerry Brown, and begins when six strangers wake up from stasis on the starship Raza. None of them can remember how they got on the ship or what they did before waking up. The attacks from the Raza’s on-board android — not to mention other starships — aren’t helping matters. Eventually, the six learn that they are the deadliest criminals in the galaxy; they struggle to survive while also piecing together their past. But in a galaxy where they’re wanted for several crimes, that’s no simple task. Unlike most comic book adaptations, Dark Matter had its creators involved from the start: Mallozzi and Mullie served as producers on the show and also wrote or co-wrote most of the series together.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz
Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive?
The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
The Matrix
Mad Max
Blade Runner
Dune
Star Wars
TEST YOUR SURVIVAL →
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do?
The first instinct is often the truest one.
APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it.
BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don’t keep you alive.
CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who’s pulling the strings.
DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it.
EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can’t fix a broken galaxy alone.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely?
What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don’t need resources — you can generate them.
BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it.
CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity.
DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on.
EShips and credits. The galaxy is huge — you survive it by being able to move through it freely.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night?
Fear is useful data — if you’re forthright about what you’re actually afraid of.
AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant.
BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left.
CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you’re a problem, you’re already out of time.
DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn’t even know I was playing.
EThe Empire tightening its grip until there’s nowhere left to run.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust?
Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it.
BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better.
CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy.
DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can’t beat a system you refuse to understand.
EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term?
Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — tight, artificial, but with access to everything that matters.
BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is forthright.
CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions.
DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand.
EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire’s attention rarely reaches.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart?
The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
AA tight crew of believers who’ve seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose.
BOne or two people I’d trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks.
CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice.
DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last.
EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all?
Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
AI won’t harm the innocent — even the ones who’d report me without hesitation.
BI do what I have to to protect the people I’ve chosen. Everything else is negotiable.
CThe line shifts depending on who’s asking and what’s at stake.
DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people’s future, even if it’d aid now.
ESome lines, once crossed, can’t be uncrossed. I know which ones they are.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
What would actually make survival worth it?
Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it.
BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving.
CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out.
DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations.
EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else’s boot.
REVEAL MY WORLD →
Your Fate Has Been Calculated
You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t aid but notice the seams in things.
- You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
- You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
- You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
- The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are tough to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
- You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
- You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
- You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
- In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
- You read people accurately, keep your circle compact, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
- In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
- You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
- In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
- Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
- You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
- Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
- In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is expansive, deafening, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
- You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
- You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
- You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
- In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
If Dark Matter’s massive twist wasn’t enough to hook fans, its colorful cast of characters is. Each of the Raza’s crewmates stands out in their own way: One (Marc Bendavid) is determined to keep them all on the straight and narrow; Two (O’Neil) ends up becoming the leader; Three (Anthony Lemke) is a brash weapons expert who turns out to have a heart of gold; Four (Alex Mallari, Jr.) is a fairly tranquil man with a rather deadly streak; Five (Jodelle Ferland) is a tech wiz who turns out to be the only crew member who isn’t a criminal; and Six (Roger Cross) winds up becoming the Raza’s pilot while hiding a major secret.
Melissa O’Neil Is the Standout of ‘Dark Matter’
Throughout Dark Matter’s run, especially in Season 1, Two becomes a standout character due to her take-charge manner. A great example occurs during “Episode Two”; when the others discover they have a crate of weapons that a group of miners needs to defend their homes, she’s able to strike a deal where the miners get half the weapons, and her crew gets the other half, allowing them to defend themselves if needed. Yet she also has a softer side, as she bonds with the rest of the crew — especially Five, whom she grows protective of.
In “Episode Eleven,” when the mercenary Tash (Jessica Sipos) threatens to kill Five, Two ambushes her and snaps her neck. It’s an intense fight scene that’s only heightened by the sheer fury O’Neil brings to her performance. Despite Two being aloof most of the time, she genuinely cares about the others.
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Dark Matter also slowly begins to unveil the mysteries behind the crew’s past, and it leads to some dim revelations. Two might have one of the most tragic backstories: it’s revealed that she is a genetically engineered being created by a corporation, with nanites coursing through her bloodstream that make her virtually immortal. The only problem is that said corporation subjected her to unspeakable experiments once she gained sentience, leading her to break free and slaughter the scientists who created her.
Not only does Two have to deal with the corporation’s CEO (Wil Wheaton) attempting to recapture her, but she also encounters an alternate universe version of herself who’s far more ruthless. Despite this, Two manages to keep her humanity intact, especially when she learns about her past relationship with one of the scientists who created her, Dr. Irena Shaw (Zoie Palmer, who also plays the Raza’s Android).
‘Dark Matter’ Was Cancelled on a Major Cliffhanger, but Its Co-Creator Found a Unique Way To Continue It
Dark Matter would end up becoming a fan-favorite SyFy show, but it was cancelled after three seasons. The timing couldn’t have been worse, as the Season 3 finale ended on a major cliffhanger with an alien armada emerging from another universe. On top of that, Two learned that she has a daughter somewhere in the universe. Joseph Mallozzi eventually discussed the reason for Dark Matter’s cancellation, and it came down to two factors.
Unlike other shows, a Canadian production company created Dark Matter, and thus, the network couldn’t monetize it. Mallozzi also revealed on Reddit that there was a discrepancy between SyFy’s New York and LA divisions about just how much of a pull Dark Matter would have:
When we were first pitching the show, the pilot script went to Syfy’s Acquisition division in New York. They picked up the show. But as it turns out, the script had also been sent to Syfy’s Originals division in L.A. – who hated it and passed. And when they found out that the Acquisitions department in NY had picked up a project they had passed on, I heard they were decidedly Unhappy. Then the show premiered and outperformed most of their originals. Which, from what I heard, really didn’t sit well with Syfy L.A.
Despite its cancellation, Dark Matter has continued in the form of episodic breakdowns on Mallozzi’s blog. Though Mallozzi only released details for what would have been the first three episodes of Dark Matter Season 4, they had a prominent role for Two (and her alternate self), including more revelations about her daughter. While Melissa O’Neil may be well known for The Rookie, Dark Matter is the show that truly made her a star. Not only is it a “ragtag rebels in space” story in the vein of Firefly or Guardians of the Galaxy, but it also explores how people can change for the better.
Dark Matter is available to stream for free on the CW’s official website in the U.S.
Release Date
2015 – 2017-00-00
Directors
Ron Murphy, Andy Mikita, Bruce McDonald, John Stead, T.J. Scott, amanda tapping, Craig David Wallace, Gail Harvey, Lee Rose, Paolo Barzman, Steve DiMarco, Melanie Orr, Mairzee Almas, T.W. Peacocke
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Alexander Mandra
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