The Dark Backward

Andromeda Episode Review

In which things repeat.

What Happened

The Andromeda comes out of slipstream and is attacked by a mysterious alien who tesseracts around the ship, killing things. We get to see him kill things over and over, as Trance tries to find a possible future that doesn't end with the ship blowing up.

She tries one way and Beka gets shot. Another ends with Harper dying, but even if Trance sacrifices her friend, the ship still is sabotaged and destroyed. In between all the shooting and banging, Trance learns that the alien is moving backwards through time and that it can't tesseract in slipstream.

With one last chance, Trance tells Dylan to take them to slipstream as soon as possible. The alien still gets onboard, but Dylan gets to the slipstream core fast enough to kill it.

Asked to explain what just happened, Trance tells Dylan that she can perceive and choose from a million possible futures, experiencing them all in the blink of an eye.

What We Learned

• That did not work.
• It's chasing us and that is rude.
• Harper just got that fixed.
• According to Trance, "Beka's the one." (One what is not explained.)
• Trance's bonsai tree seems to represent a finite number of chances she has to hit the reset button.
• Cracking knuckles is no more attractive when Tyr does it.
• We control our own choices. Nothing else. The rest is fate.
• If you're going to kill Tyr, he prefers you give it some real effort.
• All she has is reality and reality is never perfect.

Best Lines

Dylan: "If that's true, how do you know that any of this is real?"
Trance: "I don't."

What Did I Think?

The information about Trance is fascinating, and they do an okay job of repeating her different "futures" without being too repetitive. (Though by the end of the episode, it is getting old.) What is not necessary is the travelling backwards in time aspect of the alien. We've seen things tesseract before; why not leave it at that and skip the headache?