Plot: Season two picks up with the Dessens as they settle into a quiet life in a world that finally seems safe until the unimaginable forces them to run once again. As Jason’s obsession with the Box deepens, Daniela’s growing paranoia pushes her to the brink, threatening to tear their fragile stability apart. Elsewhere, Amanda and Ryan join forces in a desperate attempt to find their way home. With Blair determined to stop him, Leighton relentlessly chases his grand vision of creating a perfect world.
Review: The first season of Dark Matter was an astounding blend of solid science-fiction storytelling with a hard emphasis on the science. Existing in a complex world where alternate realities exist and can be accessed through a machine devised by Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton), the first year of Dark Matter was a thriller focused on identity and the competing interests of parallel versions of Jason, each of whom had his own motivation for replacing the original iteration. With solid supporting turns from Jennifer Connelly, Oakes Fegley, Alice Braga, Jimmi Simpson, and Dayo Okeniyi, Dark Matter was a hit with audiences, even if it was somewhat divisive amongst critics. The sophomore season continues the showdown between alternate realities but changes the narrative into a broader, conspiracy-laden ensemble series that shows the competing interests in the universe-hopping technology. Giving us glimpses at new variations on Chicago and Earth as a whole, Dark Matter‘s second season is an improvement on the already fantastic concept introduced back in 2024.
While the first season showed three primary Jasons, all portrayed by Joel Edgerton, the second season expands that number significantly. We also get many more variations of Amanda Lucas (Alice Braga), Daniela Dessen (Jennifer Connelly), and Leighton Vance (Dayo Okeniyi), along with new characters in various different realities. The first season gave us Jason#01 as well as variants Jason#02 and Jason#03, who were all vying for their place with either Amanda or Daniela, depending on which path they wanted to shift to from their respective realities. With a finale that saw Jasons #01 and #02 reconcile and then escape, we find this new season showing the original Jason, along with his wife and son, lying low in a peaceful world, while back on the prime Earth, the authorities are trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Dark Matter has always been a show you need to pay attention to, and this new season shifts things just enough that it is easier to follow the plot despite the stakes becoming significantly higher.
Running for a full ten episodes, one chapter longer than its first season, Dark Matter is now focused on the Dessens running from those who would do them harm and gives all of the characters more invested stakes in the power of the massive black box that links parallel Chicagos and countless variations on the Windy City. One of the most fun elements is just how insane these differences are and the visual wizardry that Apple Studios’ budget can conjure. From warzones to AI-enhanced advertisements, weather disasters to the loss of gravity, this ten-episode run has some pretty bonkers visuals in store for audiences. But, while the budget has increased the visual grandeur of the show, Dark Matter is very much about the characters and their interactions. Season one spent a lot of time skirting the technology that allows for travel between worlds and season two is anchored on desrtroying it for the good of mankind. Jason turns against the invention he spurred forward, which allows for allegiances between Ryan Holder (Jimmi Simpson) and Amanda in the world Jason exiled them to, while Leighton Vance and some of his doppelgangers turn towards the dark side and come into focus as the potential primary villains of this series.
As great an actor as Joel Edgerton is, he takes a bit of a backseat this season to the rest of the cast. Jennifer Connelly has a significant uptick in her screen time as she copes with the fallout of the events from the season premiere, as well as the tenuous relationship with Jason and their son, Charlie. Oakes Fegley gets to deal with Charlie’s ongoing stress of never settling down and the risks to his parents’ lives, as well as his own. Jimmi Simpson, who is capable of everything from wacky comedy as in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to his fantastic role in Westworld, gets an expanded role as Ryan and Amanda share a lot of this season together. Simpson and Alice Braga have solid chemistry, and when all of the characters are working together, Dark Matter feels much more expansive than it did when it was just the duel narratives of Jason versus Jason. We also get a good deal of time with Blair Caplan (Amanda Brugel) and a mysterious new character played by Chris Diamantopolous.
In adapting his own novel, showrunner Blake Crouch wrote several episodes of the first season solo along with co-writing some alongside Jacquelyn Ben-Zekry. For season two, which picks up with an original storyline developed for the series after the first season finished adapting the source material, Crouch and Ben-Zekry share credit on all ten episodes as co-writers. Alik Sakharov is the only director returning from the first season with Gwyneth Horder-Payton (Rabbit Hole), Charlotte Sieling, Amit Gupta, Guillermo Navarro, and Nick Murphy credited on the other nine episodes. The entire season feels bigger and more dangerous than the first, blending conspiracy-laden story arcs with character-driven sequences that give the entire cast meaty material to dig into. There are standout moments throughout the entire season along with a new pyramid device that is even more terrifying than the mysterious cube. By the end of the season, Crouch and Ben-Zekry have successfully turned this from a second season into the middle chapter of an even bigger tale.
What started as a limited series has spawned an impressive and improved second season that works to broaden the concepts that Blake Crouch introduced in his novel and made the series even more fascinating to dig into. Complex scientific ideas become engaging and thrilling subject matter in a show that demands your attention and easily earns it. This season is better in every way and is somehow scarier, more exciting, funnier, and easily one of the better shows on television. Living in the Chicago area, I always love seeing this great city portrayed on screen, and when it can be transformed dozens of times in ways that defy imagination makes it even more intriguing. Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly are fantastic together, while the entire ensemble steps it up compared to the first season. Where the finale leaves us and what could happen in a third season of Dark Matter should make fans incredibly excited to see how this season unfolds.
Dark Matter season two premieres on August 28th on AppleTV.
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