Can I just remind you how much I love this stuff? Dark Matter brings up the philosophical side of creation. If we can, should we?

We are smack in the middle of that now, in our real world, with AI, and we’ll explore how the show snuggles up to our reality later in the review.

I just hope you find all of this as fascinating as I do. And let’s not get too stuck on the small stuff. Let’s reach for the stars and think big!

(Courtesy of Apple TV)

Dark Matter Season 2 Episode 2 opened with deep, philosophical questions, and I absolutely loved it.

It began three years ago, when Jason2 visited a group of people he trusted to help him wrap his head around the project he was actively involved in — creating the box for interdimensional travel (the term they use for that just slipped my mind).

How do we deal with the uncertainty of work when we do not know the outcome? Should you take unintended consequences into consideration? Of course, it’s not that simple.

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It was nice to see a new side of Jason2, one who has friends and is welcomed with open arms to discuss his work. They were the brain trust whose opinions he valued the most, even if he hadn’t seen them in years. Their conversation was riveting — and timely.

They discussed how discovery and commerce are fantastic results, but disease and slavery also came from exploration. A vast library of knowledge like the internet opens the world to everyone, but not everyone uses it as intended.

(Courtesy of Apple TV)

We are going through that with AI right now. Most people won’t use it nefariously, but those who do could wreak havoc on our world and our species. Just this week, an Anthropic guy resigned over those concerns. The “what ifs” were too much for him.

But everyone asks these questions. If it can be done, should it be done? The question is moot. If it can be done, it will be done. The human ego and curiosity to explore are unstoppable. That’s not just a few lines from the episode; it’s been proven time and again in our real world.

The consequences of any creation will be a reflection of humanity itself. “Everything beautiful, everything terrible,” as the title goes. For every good person, there is a rotten one. If we’re lucky, it balances out. If it’s not… well, who the hell wants to find out?

Just looking at the Dark Matter characters supports the idea. For every good guy, there is a bad guy. But most rest somewhere in between. 

Look at MacNamara. His sister, Sheila, is as inquisitive as he is, and that won’t be good for the Dessens. He discovered that the family was in Chicago and San Francisco at the same time. 

(Courtesy of Apple TV)

So, just as the Dessens are settling into a new apartment and giving Charlie somewhere to call home, MacNamara is digging deeper into Jason. He’s not only found the box but also investigated it. It turns out that in every world, MacNamara is too curious for his own good.

If he’s causing trouble in one, the likelihood is he’ll cause it in another. But that should also mean that even Jason2, who made a bad decision for his own reasons, is likely good inside. A bad decision doesn’t make him a bad man.

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After this episode, I have a feeling everyone will learn that about Jason2 sooner rather than later.

Our Dessens are trying to make a new, less scintillating life in a new world. But everything is challenging.

Something as simple as Charlie is trying to fit in presents itself as frustrating. Kids his age love their music, but none of the musicians he knew from our world made the same leap in their new one. Yet that doesn’t stop him from connecting with a girl.

(Courtesy of Apple TV)

The Dessens new apartment brings Christmas and a real family celebration. Charlie even went to a school dance. They probably feel like it’s been forever since they had anything even close to what they’re experiencing now. 

Knowing Jason wants to destroy the box only strengthens his relationship with Daniela. Still, being so close to their old life makes them miss it even more. Jason can’t help but drive past the old house. It’s no longer theirs, but their memories remain. 

And it’s really not that awkward that Jason got a job at the local pub. He’s pretty good with people, and it allows him to decompress instead of thinking constantly about what he lost and the enormous job ahead of him — closing off their new world to other worlds 

Some of you brought up in the comments recently that it’s questionable whether he even can destroy the box and whether that means nobody else could get through. After all, it wasn’t in the middle of an old gymnasium until they got there. And we’ve already seen others walk through it.

Ryan and Amanda stayed the night in this world on Dark Matter Season 2 Episode 2, so asking the right questions opens a portal to the same world. Would they have still come if the Dessens hadn’t arrived first? I don’t see why not.

(Courtesy of Apple TV)

But the reasons to destroy it kept coming. 

Daniela handled seeing Blair like a champ. With a world so different from the original, I don’t understand the shared history. We’ve seen barely different Jasons spawn to try reconnecting with Daniela, but the world is so radically different, I thought someone else’s decisions created the offshoot.

Then again, I’m probably doing the very thing I said not to do: overthinking the details and not letting the larger themes breathe.

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I was even confused as to what Blair that was. Is she Jason2’s Blair? The one who was lost and trying to find her way home? Why show her in the box during the episode if it’s not that Blair? It gets a little confusing at times, doesn’t it?

But when Blair said she’d been traveling without a destination, I realized it must be the one we know. She’s being intentionally vague about her travels, and the periodic looks on her face were her rummaging for connections to the Daniela she knew.

(Courtesy of Apple TV)

I also sometimes forget that Jason was trying to destroy a box he knows nothing about. He didn’t build it. He was trying to crack into something that he didn’t fully understand. He’s got the brainpower to do it, of course, but not the history of its invention.

That makes the task all the greater, and it also opens him to distraction. That’s what he always wanted to do. He had the same dreams as Jason2, but chose a different path. There’s no reason he wouldn’t be as fascinated with it once he discovered what’s behind it.

That makes Daniela’s fear even more palpable. Jason is stressed from working by day and attempting to destroy the box by night (or vice versa), but when he gets home at night, he needs to know the safeword for her peace of mind.

Getting tattoos is another option, and I assumed they figured they wouldn’t spawn other versions of themselves with every new decision because the world isn’t technologically advanced. Would Jason have to get in the box and travel to create a new copy? Honestly, I didn’t know at that point.

But it did make me wonder why any one decision would make Daniela more comfortable than another. We saw dozens of Jasons as Dark Matter Season 1 progressed, and I don’t recall getting a specific reference point for when any one of them sprang to life from a different decision another made.

(Courtesy of Apple TV)

And there I go again. Making this far more difficult than intended. Sheesh. Sorry! Yet I can’t lie: I love this stuff, and if there is a tangent, I’m exploring it. 

When Ryan and Amanda stepped out of the box covered in concrete, we saw what happens when you block it. Others can’t use it. So perhaps it can’t be destroyed, but it can be closed, at least temporarily. That must mean you can’t have two boxes in one world. Time will tell.

What I did not expect was to see another Ryan living in his own home (they made it back to his world, or the decision process created a world so close because the decisions are closer together?). 

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I loved that Ryan finally had an idea of what Jason had been going through and how easy it was for Daniela to believe Jason2 was her Jason, though. Even knowing that encountering yourself was a possibility wouldn’t be enough to make you comfortable when you did come face-to-face with yourself.

Once again, there were Jasons everywhere, and even MacNamara had the Unknown Jason# MacNamara had commandeered to help him find Jason2. The webs really are tangled, and as mind-frakked as they make me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

(Courtesy of Apple TV)

What’s hilarious is that even when Ryan2 and Jason2 tried explaining how the decision tree works to spawn new copies and how DARPA got involved, it was still impossible to fully comprehend. As Ryan said, “Talk to me, you cryptic fuck!” But I’d add, “and do it like I’m a fifth-grader, please!”

By the end of the episode, I discovered I wasn’t too far off about Jason’s curiosity. He’s not only fascinated by the box, but he’s feeling as though he’s less than Jason2 merely because he made a different choice. 

That is more than a sticking point for Daniela. She’s not sure she can trust Jason if he can’t let this go. At the same time, she’s taking a chance by scheduling dinner with Blair. If it’s not her Blair, aren’t the possibilities for outing themselves as not being the real Dessens of this new world a bit too great?

With as fearful as she has been, I can’t wrap my head around it. Why not steer away as far as possible from anyone associated with the Dessens of that world?

Jason’s love for Daniela won out again. He may feel less than Jason2, scientifically speaking, but when it comes to having something true, Jason2 proved its importance by literally stealing Jason’s life to make it happen.

(Courtesy of Apple TV)

Jason seemed to figure that out.

The roads not traveled always taunt us, though. We saw it when Jason went to the bathroom at the restaurant. Dismantling the box doesn’t mean he’s less interested in it. His curiosity just manifests itself differently — just like the box itself.

All of the questions that were running through my head during the episode meant nothing in the end. The box manifested again, right in the same spot. If Jason wondered if he could live without it (an off-and-on toggle? Come on!), seeing it spawn again seemed to scare the shit out of him.

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The box spawns in worlds where it doesn’t exist or isn’t operational. It spawns and reconnects when necessary. And since there’s a Leighton outside of their window as the credits roll on Dark Matter Season 2 Episode 3, someone traveling to this world will seemingly always spawn a new box.

If it’s encased in cement, perhaps they can’t get through the door. But if it’s dismantled, it will respawn.

(Courtesy of Apple TV)

I guess we’re to assume the Leighton outside is the one we saw earlier in the episode. 

When it comes to getting lost amidst all of the different worlds, I felt like his door opened to the middle of nowhere when that Leighton stepped into a world with a crushing disease sucking the life out of everyone.

Tumbling back into his past to recall a moment with his father didn’t make it any more recognizable. At least I assumed that his father was battling the disease, but I wasn’t even sure if it was his father or another Leighton’s father.

If that’s the same Leighton, maybe this guy is hoping to gather his own braintrust as Jason2 once did, except with all the death, he may need to find them in other worlds. That’s what another Leighton did when he connected with another version of himself and another Ryan earlier in Dark Matter Season 2. 

But whoa Nelly, are things getting confusing! Exciting and confusing. 

(Courtesy of Apple TV)

A part of Jason will probably be thrilled to be invited to the scientific party, if that’s why this mysterious Leighton is there. Daniela will not. 

And how serious is the virus or whatever Leighton is involved with? Jason2’s discussion with his braintrust touched on the dangers of bringing diseases into unknown spaces. Sure hope his suit works!

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This season is making my head spin far more than the first. It’s easier to see multiple Jasons than to figure out what makes them appear and how the box itself directs everyone. That’s not going to stop me from pondering every last bit of this story as it’s told.

But what about you? Are you having as much fun as I am? Dark Matter represents the very best of entertainment for me. It’s deep, philosophical, emotional, and thrilling. It makes you think. Is there anything better?

Meet me in the comments to discuss it!

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