Based on the novel of the same name by Blake Crouch (who has also created the series), Apple TV+’s new science fiction show “Dark Matter” premiered episodes 1 & 2 today. Starring Joel Edgerton and Jeniffer Connelly, the alternate reality premise has been done in so many ways in the recent past that it has now become predictable and common. However, Jakob Verbruggen, who directs the first two episodes, does a good job of laying down a show whose ambiguity hardly matters. Thus, the focus becomes entirely on the realities of choices that humans make and the consequences of said choices.
In the following article, we will explore episodes 1 and 2 of Dark Matter and what every twist and turn means for these characters. Please be aware of spoilers, as they might ruin your experience if you haven’t watched the show.
Dark Matter Episode 1 “Are You Happy in Your Life?” Recap:
Episode 1 of Dark Matter introduces us to Jason Desan (Joel Edgerton), a physicist who lives in Chicago with his wife, Daniella (Jeniffer Connelly), and teenage son, Charlie (Oakes Fegley). He is a professor at a local college, and his wife handles art trades. His life is fairly simple, but we can understand that he is not internally satisfied with where he is. This is made worse when his friend Ryan (Jimmi Simpson) calls him up to tell him that he has won a Pavia (a famous grant promising loads of money to physicists who would like to work on one of their projects). It is clear that Jason is unhappy because he expected the Pavia to be given to him as we see him secretly working on a project.
Anyway, Ryan is a dear friend, and he invites Jason to the local bar for a celebratory drink. Jason doesn’t want to go, but when Daniella insists, he walks into that bar to congratulate his friend. This is where Ryan proposes that Jason join him in developing a neuro-tech company with their old rich friend Andrew Dareb chipping in. Ryan offers him money that is way more than what he makes as a teacher, but knowing that the company would be in San Franciso, he tells Jason to consult Daniella once before saying yes or no to his offer.
After having a drink and reminiscing about what he should do, Jason starts walking back home. He dodges Daniella’s call because he is down and confused. Later, while he is closer to his home, he is forced to get into a car at gunpoint by a masked man who later takes him to an abandoned place. The masked man asks him to strip all his clothes before he injects him with some drug that makes him unconscious. When Jason wakes up, he tries to reason with the masked man, but all he can make out is this one question that he asks, “Are you happy in your life?”
Now, I am sure Jason is happy in his life with his family, but the question is proposed to him exactly after he has lost on winning the Pavia and is looked down on by a colleague who offers him a job instead of the other way around. So naturally, he would answer ‘yes’ to that question.
Next, when Jason wakes up, he is in a quarantine facility with the doctors, making sure he is okay. When he properly wakes up, he meets Amanda (Alice Braga), who claims to know him. However, Jason is confused and doesn’t respond. He later meets Lighton (Dayo Okeniyi), who he recognizes as an old colleague. We slowly learn that Jason is now in an alternate version of his reality, where he has just woken up from an experiment that he had been conducting for months. He is the co-founder of the facility he is in, which is called ‘Victory.’ All of this information is too much for Jason, who is unable to figure out what’s going on. So in haste, he runs away after freaking out.
Who is the masked man?
The ending of episode 1 of Dark Matter features Jason getting to his house somehow, only to realize that everything there, including the furniture and his family, has changed, and inside the house, he finds Amanda waiting for him.
Alternatively, we also see the masked man arriving at Jason’s house; however, his mask is not on him anymore, and we see that he is another version of Jason who has returned to Daniella. The ‘Other Jason’ seems to be more confident and aware of where he is, allowing us to believe that it’s him who has turned things messy for Jason.
Dark Matter Episode 2 “Trip of a Lifetime” Recap:
Episode 2 of Dark Matter opens with Jason running out of this new home with Amanda in it when people from Victory show up. He goes to the local bar to ensure that he is not crazy, but the regular bartender doesn’t recognize him. So, he decides to go to a hospital to get his head checked, but nothing shows up in the CT Scan except for a high concentration of psychoactive drugs that the Other Jason had injected into him.
Talking about the Other Jason, we can clearly see that one of the reasons for his choice to take over Jason’s life was Daniella. He wakes up in their bed after making passionate love with her and slowly tries to acclimatize himself to the house.
Back at the hospital, Jason runs away after he finds out about an art showing curated by the Daniella of this reality. She is not married to him, and in this reality, Jason has everything he ever wanted including the Pavia grant. Anyway, to get some answers, he rushes to Daniella’s art showing after avoiding contact with the people from Victory.
The obvious metaphors of the show are also present in Daniella’s installations, which are dedicated to the Jason of this reality. Jason is a little relieved to finally see a similar face in the other Daniella, but he is still without any answers about what has happened to him. Later, after the show he sits down with the other Daniella and the other Ryan to tell them a hypothetical scenario of what actually happened with him. They are not amused by his story, but other Daniella, who has a soft corner for Jason, allows him to stay at her place.
Back in Jason’s reality, the other Jason slowly tries to impress and win over Daniella by actually paying attention to her. In the first episode, we briefly saw how Daniella is not really happy with how her life turned out, as she had to leave painting and the art world to make a life for her family. The other Jason is aware of it and leverages it to swoon her.
What had happened between the other Daniella and Jason in the alternate reality?
As confusing as these terms may sound, the premise is pretty simple. The lives of both the Jasons were pretty much the same until Daniella got pregnant. In Jason’s reality, he chose to have the child and a family, but the other Jason chose his work and research over her. The other Daniella had to abort the child, and her life became all about her art. At this point, we are not too sure, but I think the other Jason also regretted his choice later on in his life and wanted Daniella back in his life in spite of having a decent partner in Amanda.
Dark Matter Episode 2 “Trip of a Lifetime” Ending Explained:
Talking about Amanda, Jason tagged along with the other Daniella tricks her to get out of their house. He then enters to find clues about everything that has been going on, collecting things from their place that can help with piecing things together.
What does Jason discover about the Other Jason?
Among the other Jason’s documents, Jason discovers a prototype of a box (pretty similar to Schrödinger’s cat experiment) and comes to the conclusion that the other Jason managed to create what he had been working towards all his life. Basically, the other Jason has managed to create a large version of the box that Jason was trying to make. He believes that the other Jason has actually managed to superimpose an actual human being into the box, allowing the person to travel across multiple realities.
Is the other Daniella dead?
The ending of episode 2 of Dark Matter sees Jason and other Daniella coming really close to each other on the possibilities of a life that she did not have. They share a kiss and are about to get cozy when someone knocks at the door. When Jason goes to the door, Dawn (Marquita Brooks) charges in with a gun and shoots the other Daniella in the forehead before tasing Jason.
Assuming this is a fatal shot, the other Daniella might be dead, causing a more messed up scenario in the fabric of time. Since the entire thing begins and ends with her, we can expect multiple time jumps or reality jumps in the upcoming episodes as Jason tries to figure out how to get back to his family.
