Dark Matter Review

Dark Matter, the new AppleTV+ series adapted from Blake Crouch’s novel of the same name (largely by the author, who holds writing or joint writing credits on most of the season’s episodes), is a story about the multiverse – something I wanted to get out there at the top of this review, because I know that’s a fraught storytelling device these days and plenty of folks are tired of trying to wrap their minds around the various quantum mechanics embedded in such a narrative. I will say, until an incredibly annoying final act twist that had me audibly groaning at the added complexity it unnecessarily brought to the story, much of Dark Matter is easy to understand. Which, along with some great performances from an incredibly talented core cast, is about all this series has going for it.

The crux of the multiversal dynamics at the heart of Dark Matter is the Sliding Doors principle of multiverses, where each choice you make creates a split reality wherein you made a different one. Do I go for a walk to Starbucks at lunch or go to the gym to work out? That choice creates two versions of me whose lives are now on different paths thanks to a single, rather innocuous, choice. In Dark Matter, we meet Jason Dessen (a great Joel Edgerton), a physics professor at a minor fictional college in Chicago. He’s married to his college sweetheart, Daniela (Jennifer Connolly, who gets a lot to do, even if her role lacks the emotional complexities the character deserves), and has a high school aged son, Charlie (Oakes Fegley, doing some strong work with another bland character). His best friend, Ryan (Jimmi Simpson, who gets to show off his range throughout the season), opted for the research and development track, sacrificing his personal life to dive into his work. And when Ryan wins a prestigious award for his recent discovery, he asks Jason to give up teaching and come work with him. Jason’s decision is taken out of his hands when another Jason arrives, knocks him unconscious, and leaves him in another reality where our original Jason must escape and try to find his way home through the multiverse.

Having typed that out, I realize that it does sound pretty simple, at least on paper, for a multiverse story. The series taps into the hallmarks of the great “Hero’s Journey” stories: Jason finds a partner to travel with (that would be Alice Braga’s Amanda), experiences a host of different versions of Chicago (which, as a Chicagoan, I found particularly fun), and learns just how much he loves and needs his family. Of course, the story isn’t just about Jason trying to find a way back home. We also get to see what Jason2 (the name used in the press materials and in the series for the character) gets up to, having taken over Jason Prime’s life and family. And it’s here where things in the writing start to feel a bit off. Jason2 is not Jason Prime. He’s not the man Daniela married and loves, he’s not Charlie’s father, despite looking like that person. So, much like an identical twin, his actions – particularly when it comes to Daniela – are pretty despicable. While Daniela and Charlie think – at least for awhile – that this is their husband and father, it’s pretty awful to watch him repeatedly seduce Daniela and treat Charlie with callousness. Eventually, the series calls out that Jason2 has raped Daniela – repeatedly, in fact – but the anger that comes out of that statement is from Jason Prime. We never get the chance to see how this entire situation has impacted Daniela or Charlie (and when the writing approaches trying to gauge their reactions, there’s hand-waving and both claim to be fine and just want things to be normal again). And that’s, for my money, the largest misstep in the entire series.

So much of our time is spent with Jason – whether Prime, 2, or another Jason he meets or sees along the way. Which means that while Daniela and Charlie (and, to a lesser extent, Ryan and Amanda) are key elements of what makes up Jason as a character, we rarely get a chance to see how all of this insanity has impacted them. And that causes the show to bungle its final chapter – the one with the twist that drove me up a wall – since we can’t fully empathize with characters we’ve only seen through the lens of Jason’s interactions with them. It’s a potentially fatal flaw in the show – one that hollows out a lot of the good will generated by the strong performances within the series.

And there are strong performances within the series. Each member of the main cast is asked to portray varying versions of their character in the different realities Jason encounters. And they succeed admirably, crafting avatars of their main selves that have just enough linking each character to their prime version to allow us to recognize them. And Edgerton is tasked with the monumental task of creating two Jasons, different enough that we can recognize them on sight, but still with enough similarities that they feel like subsections of a whole. And, on more than one occasion, Edgerton is asked to act against himself, taking on different emotions and a personality that makes each character clearly separate from Jason Prime. Again, not an easy task and one that Edgerton handles with aplomb.

But the story can’t hold up to the unearned twists at the end – and the tag to the season that hints at a second season should the series perform well enough (I, for one, would have much appreciated a season that ended with a clear ending). It’s disappointing, with the caliber of actors within the story and the basic premise being relatively uncomplicated and pretty easy to grasp. If only the story cared more about the rest of the tapestry of characters and not just on getting Jason Prime home to his family. Because there was more than enough story to go around.

Dark Matter premieres on AppleTV+ on May 8. All nine episodes were provided for review.