Apple TV's Dark Matter returns for a trippier, more complex season 2
Apple TV's sci-fi thriller Dark Matter launches its second season on August 28th, pushing its multiverse premise further while becoming even harder to follow.
Apple TV's science-fiction thriller "Dark Matter" returns for its second season on August 28th, deepening its multiverse storyline while raising the show's already high level of complexity. Based on the novel of the same name, the series follows physics professor Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton), whose life with wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and son Charlie (Oakes Fegley) was upended after a version of himself from another world kidnapped him and took over his life.
The first season ended with the original Jason, Daniela, and Charlie entering the multiverse-traveling box in search of a peaceful world to call home. Season two follows the family as they live like nomads jumping between parallel worlds, while the show explains more about how the box works: travelers can't simply choose their destination, since it depends on their mindset when they open the door. A fearful or stressed traveler, for instance, might end up in a post-apocalyptic version of Chicago.
More characters, more confusion
The new season introduces many additional characters, most of them variants of existing ones — multiple versions of Jason, Daniela, and Charlie, as well as of supporting characters like chemist Ryan (Jimmi Simpson), psychologist Amanda (Alice Braga), and financial backer Leighton (Dayo Okeniyi). Because the show doesn't always make clear which variant of a character is on screen, and because the season jumps around in time, following the plot becomes noticeably harder than in season one.
According to the review, the series is often at its strongest when it steps away from its central plot to tell smaller, human-scale stories — such as an episode following a lone Jason variant quietly building a life in a peaceful world, or one where Charlie searches for a long-lost relative in another universe. Season two tries to balance these intimate stories with larger, more spectacular set pieces, closing with an action-heavy finale reminiscent of Christopher Nolan's films.
