'Severance’ Meets ‘Black Mirror’ in Apple TV’s Near-Perfect 2-Part Sci-Fi Thriller

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    Image via Apple TV</figure>

The idea of alternate universes has fueled sci-fi stories for decades, from cult classics like Sliders to upcoming blockbusters like Avengers: Doomsday. Dark Matter ups the stakes by putting character over spectacle, exploring how both Jasons operate in different worlds. Jason 1 fights against impossible odds, including a series of increasingly uninhabitable realities, to get back home. Jason 2, on the other hand, makes decisions that benefit him, not the family he stole. It doesn’t hurt that Edgerton makes both Jasons feel like distinct characters, from Jason 2’s secretive movements to the sheer determination fueling Jason 1. Blake Crouch told Space.com that he wanted a character-driven approach for Dark Matter, as it helped audiences accept the crazier concepts baked into the narrative.

“But when the book came out, it was the first story that went all in and committed to the idea of the world in a grounded, emotional, character-driven way. And we always try to stay true to that identity. Sometimes the multiverse can be fun shock and awe when it comes to showing how wild and crazy different worlds can become. But for our characters, everyone is just shades of the same core character. And I think that approach hopefully keeps it from falling into some of those trope traps.”

“But when the book came out, it was the first story that went all in and committed to the idea of the world in a grounded, emotional, character-driven way. And we always try to stay true to that identity. Sometimes the multiverse can be fun shock and awe when it comes to showing how wild and crazy different worlds can become. But for our characters, everyone is just shades of the same core character. And I think that approach hopefully keeps it from falling into some of those trope traps.”

Season 2 of Dark Matter flips the script by focusing on Daniela and how she deals with the twin traumas of uprooting her family to live in another world and accidentally murdering an alternate Jason who comes to visit them. Jennifer Connelly pours a wealth of emotion into her performance, particularly in the Season 2 episode “What The Universe Is Made Of”. There, she shares a touching reunion with an alternate version of her stepfather, Gabriel (Gil Birmingham). From the scenes they share, it’s clear Daniela wasn’t close to her world’s Gabriel, and she’s using this chance to try to rectify that mistake. This simple, yet powerful moment is what makes Dark Matter worth watching.

• The Wachowskis’ 1999 film won four Academy Awards, including Visual Effects and Film
  Editing.
• Bullet time was shot with a rig of roughly 120 still cameras firing in sequence around the
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• Keanu Reeves trained in martial arts for about four months before a frame was shot,
  recovering from neck surgery the whole time.
• It opened the same year as Fight Club and eXistenZ, in a run of films about not trusting the
  world in front of you.

• Mad Max: Fury Road won six Academy Awards in 2016, more than any other film that year.
• George Miller storyboarded the entire film as roughly 3,500 panels before there was a
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• Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth carried the prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in 2024.

• Blade Runner 2049 won Roger Deakins his first Oscar for cinematography, on his fourteenth
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• The film also took Best Visual Effects, 35 years after Ridley Scott’s 1982 original.
• Villeneuve shot it on large-format film and kept the fog and rain practical on set wherever
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• Denis Villeneuve’s Dune won six Academy Awards in 2022, including Cinematography and
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• Dune: Part Two arrived in 2024 and brought in Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Christopher
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• John Williams’ score was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and became the
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• Andor took the galaxy somewhere colder and earned Emmy nominations for drama series in both
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• The saga now runs across eleven feature films and a growing shelf of series on Disney+.

Will ‘Dark Matter’ Return For Season 3?

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV

While Dark Matter hasn’t received the same accolades as its fellow Apple TV sci-fi series, it has fans — including Silo author Hugh Howey, who called it “the best show airing right now.” With such high praise, you would think Apple TV is racing to greenlight another season, but there’s no word on a potential Season 3. Season 2 even ends with the potential for future stories, as Daniela travels to alternate worlds to find her and Jason’s son Charlie; she succeeds, right as Jason deploys a code that disables the universe-hopping “boxes” his alternate self created.

It would be a shame if Dark Matter doesn’t get more seasons, as it showcases Apple TV at its best. A stacked cast, a compelling concept, and incredible performances make this worth watching, whether you’re a sci-fi fan or not.

Dark Matter