The cast of "Dark Matter"

Canada has done a pretty good job over the years of developing and producing sci-fi shows. Series from the late '80s, such as "Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future" and the Jerry O'Connell-starring "My Secret Identity," have a Canadian connection. The Stargate television franchise, "Lexx" and "Andromeda" from the late '90s/early 2000s all have strong canuck ties, and recent shows such as "Lost Girl, "Continuum," "Killjoys" and the critically acclaimed "Orphan Black" are all, as it would happen, exclusively Canadian-produced series that have been picked up by U.S. networks.

"Dark Matter" is another one of those recent series that hails from the Great White North, and it's been steadily gaining in popularity on both sides of the border. The fifth episode of season 2 premieres Friday, July 29, on Syfy.

From the minds of Canadian writer-producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, "Dark Matter" actually started off as a limited comic book series, and was first released in 2012. The comic books were well received, and the series -- which was initially intended to be a TV show -- realized its original dream, and was picked up by the Bell Media-owned Space network and developed by Prodigy Pictures, a production company based out of the Toronto area, with Syfy jumping in soon after.

The first season received generally positive reviews, and viewership was solid enough for both Syfy and Space that the former wasted little time in renewing "Dark Matter" for a second season -- a mere four days after the season 1 finale aired Aug. 28, it was announced there'd be a second season.

It works out well for Mallozzi and Mullie, since Mallozzi has said on a couple of occasions that not only has this series been brewing in his mind for five years, there's also a five-year plan for the show.

"All of the major revelations that come out have not only been planned since last season, they've been planned since five years ago," Mallozzi said in an interview with TheTVJunkies.com. "I've been sitting on this show for many, many years, and in that time I've gotten the opportunity to flesh out the backstories."

At a media event for "Dark Matter" in February, he expanded on his five-year timeline. "One of the things that drives me nuts about mystery shows is they hold on to the mystery too long or they never answer it," he said. "I wanted to accelerate the story. I have a five-year plan. I know where each year will end. ... There's not going to be a happy ending for all of [the characters], like in real life."

Those main characters -- named in the order that they awoke from stasis in season 1, plus one Android -- have already seen a bit of a shakeup. At the start of season 2, Two (Melissa O'Neil, "Canadian Idol"), Three (Anthony Lemke, "The Listener") and Four (Alex Mallari Jr., "True Justice") were left to deal with the general populace in the maximum-security prison Hyperion-8. Five (Jodelle Ferland, "The Cabin in the Woods," 2012) was left to cope with the realization that Six (Roger Cross, "24") was a traitor. The Android (Zoie Palmer, "Lost Girl") was being threatened with being rebooted, and One (Marc Bendavid, "Bitten") was -- spoilers! -- killed by Jace Corso (also Bendavid).

Zoie Palmer stars in "Dark Matter"

There were also two new faces added to the regulars for season 2, both based out of Hyperion-8 (at least to start). Nyx (Melanie Liburd, "Runaway Island," 2015) is a tough-as-nails inmate at the detention facility who, in this season's premiere, gave Two a run for her money as the fierce female lead. Devon Taltherd (Shaun Sipos, "Melrose Place") was at one time a top surgeon, but now he works at Hyperion-8 as a medic and has a dark past.

The cast draws a lot of praise for "Dark Matter," but for their parts, Mallozzi and Mullie are no slouches in the sci-fi genre. Both were heavily involved in the acclaimed Stargate television franchise, together working on 148 episodes for "SG-1," 99 episodes for "Atlantis" and 40 episodes for "SGU." They also co-wrote the 2013 miniseries "Delete" as well as four episodes of TNT's "Transporter: The Series" starring Chris Vance ("Rizzoli & Isles"), which is based on the Jason Statham Transporter movies.

Now, fans can get set for the fifth episode of season 2, which teases the return of a dangerous familiar foe (Jace Corso, anyone?) and the Android going undercover. If you're still aching for "Dark Matter" in the days between each episode, Mallozzi regularly updates his personal blog -- josephmallozzi.wordpress.com -- with cool behind-the-scenes information and even a contest or two.

Catch a new episode of "Dark Matter" when it airs Friday, July 29, on Syfy.