Despite its best efforts, Dark Matter season 2 has great ideas and acting but struggles to find its footing when surpassing Blake Crouch’s original novel. The Apple TV show took audiences on a journey through the multiverse in season 1, as Jason Dessen tried to find his way back to his family. This led to Dark Matter season 1’s climactic ending, which showed Daniela, Charlie, and Jason1 escaping from the alternate Jason Dessens in the box. The sci-fi show could have ended there and been fine. It pretty perfectly captured the spirit of the book. The story felt complete, and Blake Crouch never wrote a sequel to Dark Matter. However, Crouch and the team at Apple TV decided to continue the story.
The only reason why fans, including myself, had hope for the second season is that Blake Crouch actually has a hands-on role in the TV show. He created the story. He knows the world. If anyone would be capable of continuing Dark Matter, it would be him.
After watching Dark Matter season 2, I can confidently say this assumption was correct. The second season of the sci-fi show felt ambitious and thoughtful. There were good ideas and a clear trajectory for the story, which is more than I can say about other shows that surpassed their source material. Unfortunately, the execution was shaky, and Dark Matter season 2 didn’t find its footing until the final few episodes, making it lower quality than the first season.
Apple TV’s Dark Matter Season 2 Feels A Little Scattered & Inconsistent
As expected, the Apple TV sci-fi show struggled to find its footing once it moved beyond its source material, though it did better than most series in this position. From season 1, episode 1 to season 2, episode 10, the story maintains its narrative integrity.
The first season seamlessly flows into the second season, albeit with a small time jump. The characters’ personalities in season 1 align with their motivations and actions in season 2. Even when Dark Matter features surprising character decisions, they make sense. There aren’t any wild, out-of-character moments. On top of that, the worldbuilding and scientific logic remain the same, with no deus ex machina rule changes for emotional effect.
The second season of Dark Matter remains a prime example of the issues that can arise when adaptations surpass their source material.
However, there are plenty of issues with Dark Matter season 2, most of which seem to stem from Blake Crouch having to create new content. Dark Matter’s intrigue and pacing became wildly inconsistent in season 2, causing a bit of mental whiplash. Episodes 1 and 2 are peak Dark Matter, then it weakens in 3 and 4. It goes back up in episode 5, then weakens again in 6. Episode 7 has high and low moments. Then episodes 8 through 10 are back up to the level they were at at the beginning of the season.
It doesn’t help that Dark Matter tries to juggle three to four storylines at any given time. Which one is most interesting varies from episode to episode. The weaker parts of Dark Matter season 2 forget that the multiversal aspects of the story are the backbone of the sci-fi show, while the stronger moments embrace the infinite number of worlds and multiple versions of the same character. No offense, but Charlie going to prom doesn’t interest me, nor does the mostly pointless investigation into the multiple dead Jason Dessens. I am, however, very interested in characters meeting different versions of themselves.
Dark Matter’s Incredible Cast Makes the Multiversal Confusion More Tolerable
Besides lacking source material, Dark Matter season 2 faced a whole new challenge. With Dark Matter season 1, we only have to worry about two Jasons until the end of the season. One has an injury on his face, making it easy to tell which Jason we’re watching. Dark Matter season 1’s brilliant ending establishes upwards of 100 Jasons, simply from Jason1’s journey back to his family. Going into season 2, there are dozens of characters to keep track of, which makes the story more confusing.
As the Dessens search for the perfect new world, they encounter more Jasons, Amandas, and Danielas from other worlds. The multiverse also allows for multiple Leightons, Amandas, and Ryans. As entertaining as multiversal shenanigans can be to watch, Dark Matter doesn’t do a good job of distinguishing one character from the next, making it hard to tell who’s who. This sometimes pays off, adding suspense and drama. Other times, it makes it difficult to emotionally invest in anyone outside the main characters of Dark Matter season 1. Even Jason2, who was one of the most fascinating characters, lost his impact because half the time I couldn’t even tell it was him.
No matter how difficult it was to keep track of the characters, the acting was so strong that I still stayed invested in Dark Matter.
All that being said, the Dark Matter cast gives award-worthy performances, and I don’t mean that as an exaggeration. They are the anchor in a very murky story. I will stand ten toes down on the fact that Joel Edgerton and Dayo Okeniyi deserve Emmy nominations for Dark Matter season 2. I wanted more of Alice Braga’s Amanda Lucas and Jimmi Simpson’s Ryan, even though they got a decent amount of screen time, because they were just so engrossing. Amanda Brugel didn’t win me over as Blair in Dark Matter season 1, but the writing and acting make her more three-dimensional.
No matter how difficult it was to keep track of the characters, the acting was so strong that I still stayed invested in Dark Matter. Unfortunately, Dark Matter’s wider scope makes one harsh reality about Dark Matter season 1 more apparent. Jennifer Connelly and Oakes Fegley are great actors, but Daniela and Charlie are the least interesting characters in the story. They come across as flatter than the others. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Connelly and Fegley give it their all, and they each have at least one episode where they truly shine.
Story Choices In Dark Matter Season 2 Make An Impact
Despite Dark Matter season 2’s story flaws, the show makes some exciting choices that pay off. Two of the best episodes of the season also go in very unexpected story directions. I’ll refrain from elaborating, as any further explanation would spoil big reveals. I appreciated that they introduced new worlds that offer meaningful social commentary about our reality.
Additionally, Dark Matter season 2 takes a step forward in representation by featuring a deaf character who communicates exclusively through sign language. They are older and use Signed English instead of American Sign Language, which could be connected to the painful part of Deaf history when public school systems mandated SEE and oralism instead of ASL.
Author Blake Crouch also serves as the creator, co-writer, and showrunner of Apple TV’s Dark Matter.
I did understand quite a bit of it without the captions. However, I don’t feel comfortable speaking as an authority on the representation or quality of signing, as I am neither deaf nor fluent in ASL. I was bothered that they shot a few scenes from behind, obstructing the view of the signing. By and large, though, I appreciated the character and the fact that almost all of episode 5 is in sign language.
Finally, the show also takes the time to explain a few scientific concepts to us, by proxy of Jason talking to another character about the box. While some viewers will already understand the quantum mechanics discussed, that scene will help the wider public understand the science behind Dark Matter. Plus, the explanation given opens the door to a deeper emotional truth that will remain important if Dark Matter gets a third season.
Ultimately, Dark Matter season 2 does a lot right, including narrative consistency and providing representation. I can easily say the season is more good than bad. That said, the second season of Dark Matter remains a prime example of the issues that can arise when adaptations surpass their source material.
The first episode of Dark Matter season 2 is available on Apple TV on August 28th, with one episode releasing every subsequent Friday.
- Release Date
-
August 27, 2026
- Network
-
Apple TV
- Episodes
-
10
