Quibble: Surely it's not 'impossible' to orbit a black hole? Perhaps it's impossible inside the Event Horizon. Perhaps that's where they were supposed to be. Why they wouldn't be able to escape.
Which reminds me, the security officer, Jefferson,
This episode (nevertheless) reminded me of the film 'Event Horizon' which was great for the first two thirds, and then turned rubbish and theological. I hope this doesn't go the same way.
So far I'll give it the benefit. The atmosphere was nice and gritty, the different society conveyed elegantly, and the plot whapped along with gusto.
I'm sure other people will have more profound observations to make, but I just thought this was the type of tough SF adventure I like.
My son tells me some of the sound effects are from 'Doom', so I wonder if it will turn out to be a computer game or something? I hope not.