- Rating: 3/5 Stars
- Verdict: The second season of “Dark Matter” expands on the multiverse adventures of the Dessen family and their associates, with some exciting and affecting developments. But the storytelling still feels a bit limited for a show in which literally anything is possible, and the convoluted plot, with multiple versions of multiple characters, can be overwhelming to follow.
- Premiere date/time: New episodes premiere Fridays starting Aug. 28
- Where to watch: Stream on Apple TV
As much as I enjoyed the first season of “Dark Matter” on Apple TV, it seemed to me that the sci-fi series was just reaching the true potential of its premise at the end of the season. So I was excited to see that even though the show is based on a book that was completely adapted in the first season, it was still set to continue, with the possibility of expanding the world — or worlds — of author Blake Crouch’s source novel.
The second season of “Dark Matter” isn’t quite the freewheeling journey across the multiverse that I hoped for, but it makes sense that Crouch, who’s also the series’ creator and showrunner, would stick to the relatively somber, character-focused tone of the first season. There are still some thrilling dimension-hopping adventures in the second season of “Dark Matter,” which travels further across the multiverse than it did previously, but this isn’t “Sliders.”
It’s a contemplative drama about personal bonds and the consequences of every little choice that people make in their lives, with occasional murder hornets.
‘Dark Matter’ picks up right where the first season left off
Even people like me who watched every episode of the first season might want to consult a recap of the often convoluted story, because “Dark Matter” season 2 drops viewers right into the action with no chance to play catch-up. That’s especially disorienting in a show that features multiple different versions of nearly all of its central characters, especially brooding physicist Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton).
In the first season, an alternate version of Jason used a multiverse-hopping device (which everyone just calls the Box) to travel to the prime Jason’s universe and essentially steal his life, posing as the original Jason alongside Jason’s wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and son Charlie (Oakes Fegley). Meanwhile, the original Jason teamed up with Jason 2’s colleague and former girlfriend Amanda Lucas (Alice Braga) to try to find his way back to his own universe.
There were numerous detours along the way, and the second season is made up almost entirely of detours, starting with the reunited Dessens living a seemingly peaceful life in a new universe until one of the many (many, many) other Jasons shows up trying to reunite with what he believes is actually his own family. An act of violence against this latest Jason forces the Dessens to flee what they hoped would be their home, getting back into the Box to travel to a new universe where they can live in quiet comfort.
Of course, that can never happen. The efforts of other Jasons (including the now-repentant Jason 2, whose actions are responsible for the whole situation in the first place) continue to disrupt the multiverse, while Jason’s fellow travelers Amanda, Ryan Holder (Jimmi Simpson), Leighton Vance (Dayo Okeniyi) and Blair Caplan (Amanda Brugel) embark on their own multiversal missions that cause and/or solve new problems.
‘Dark Matter’ gets more sprawling and ambitious in its second season
It is, to put it mildly, a lot to keep track of, and Crouch (who co-wrote all 10 episodes with Jacquelyn Ben-Zekry) doesn’t give the audience a chance to pause and take stock, with most episodes careening back and forth across multiple storylines with multiple Jasons. Unlike, say, Tatiana Maslany in “Orphan Black,” Edgerton and the other actors aren’t playing wildly distinctive versions of their characters.
For the most part, the variations among Jasons, Amandas, Ryans, etc., are minor, and while that raises intriguing questions about the nature of self, it also makes the show a bit unwieldy, especially in significant moments that require an emotional connection to a particular character’s arc.
There are some solid new additions, especially Margo Martindale as a retired nurse whose home becomes a sort of way station for interdimensional travel, and whose spotlight episode is the highlight of the season. Chris Diamantopoulos plays two versions of a hard-nosed investigator determined to figure out the true nature of the Box, although his threats are not quite as urgent as they appear to be when he shows up in the first episode, interrogating a Jason who seems thoroughly demoralized.
In terms of the new worlds, most are just slightly differentiated from our current, actual world, which helps with budgetary concerns but can make the prospect of each new door opening in the Box a little less enticing. The murder hornets from one memorable world in the first season don’t come back, but there are multiple brief apocalypses and occasional exciting action sequences.
More intriguingly, the Dessens spend much of the season in a tech-deficient world that resembles the 1980s, and Crouch and Ben-Zekry come up with some clever extrapolations of how society would progress without microchips.
Verdict: ‘Dark Matter’ remains an affecting if convoluted sci-fi drama
Even with all the universe-hopping, the show never loses sight of the core relationship among the main Dessens. There isn’t the clear through line of Jason trying to find his way home that drove the first season’s narrative, but there are other personal traumas that the Dessens have to deal with, including complex relationships for both Jason and Daniela with their parents (or versions thereof).
Edgerton and Connelly handle most of the heavy emotional lifting, while Okeniyi plays up Leighton’s world-changing ambitions via the creation of what amounts to a supervillain team made up only of himself. Brugel, promoted to series regular, brings the most levity as the hardened but pragmatic Blair, who survived way too much time with those murder hornets.
The second season of “Dark Matter” isn’t as fresh or as streamlined as the first, but it continues to expand the possibilities of Crouch’s storytelling, and a couple of largely standalone midseason episodes point to even more expansive opportunities. The travails of the Dessens remain compelling for now, but with an entire multiverse to explore, “Dark Matter” should be thinking bigger and weirder. Maybe it will get closer in season 3.
The second season of “Dark Matter” premieres Aug. 28 on Apple TV
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow Tom's Guide Entertainment on TikTok and Instagram.
