Dark Matter (2024 TV series)

This article is about a science fiction television series launched in 2024. For an unrelated science fiction television series released in the 2010s, see Dark Matter (2015 TV series).

Dark Matter is an American science fiction television series created by Blake Crouch, based on his 2016 novel of the same name. The first season premiered on Apple TV+ with two episodes on May 8, 2024 followed by seven more released on a weekly basis.^[1] In August 2024, the series was renewed for a second season.^[2]

Dark Matter
Genre	Science fiction Drama Thriller
Created by	Blake Crouch
Based on	Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Showrunner	Blake Crouch
Starring	Joel Edgerton Jennifer Connelly Alice Braga Jimmi Simpson Dayo Okeniyi Oakes Fegley
Theme music composer	Jason Hill Jake Pinto
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	9
Production
Executive producers	Blake Crouch Joel Edgerton Jakob Verbruggen Don Kurt David Manpearl Matt Tolmach
Producers	Dustin Bernard Jacquelyn Ben-Zekry Jeff MacVittie
Cinematography	John Lindley Jeffrey Greeley
Running time	46–59 minutes
Production companies	Matt Tolmach Productions Mountainside Entertainment Sony Pictures Television
Original release
Network	Apple TV+
Release	May 8, 2024 (2024-05-08) – present

Premise

A physicist in Chicago is warped into an alternate version of his life, leaving him to fight to return to his life to prevent the alternate version of himself from taking over his family.

Cast

Main

• Joel Edgerton as Jason Dessen, a physicist who unwillingly travels between alternate realities after being abducted by his counterpart (Jason #02).
• Jennifer Connelly as Daniela Dessen, Jason's wife.
• Alice Braga as Amanda Lucas, Jason #02's girlfriend and partner who tries to help Jason #01 find his way back home.
• Oakes Fegley as Charlie Dessen, Jason and Daniela's son.
• Jimmi Simpson as Ryan Holder
• Dayo Okeniyi as Leighton Vance

Recurring

• Amanda Brugel as Blair Caplan
• Aina Brei-Yon as Dawn Lawrence
• William Smillie as Matt

Production

It was first announced in December 2020 that Apple TV+ had entered into development of a series adaptation of Blake Crouch's novel, with Crouch set to act as showrunner and head writer.^[3] The series was officially greenlit in March 2022, with Apple ordering 9 episodes and Joel Edgerton cast to star. Louis Leterrier was set to direct the first four episodes.^[4] By September 2022, Jennifer Connelly, Alice Braga, Jimmi Simpson, Oakes Fegley and Dayo Okeniyi joined the cast.^[5][6][7] In December, Amanda Brugel would join the cast in a recurring role.^[8]

Production began in Chicago on October 4, 2022, and Apple TV announced that the series would premiere on May 8, 2024.^[9]

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 82% approval rating with an average rating of 6.9/10, based on 57 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Dark Matter's intriguing ideas are spread a tad thin over its season-long runtime, but fans of foreboding sci-fi will find its residue addictively sticky."^[10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[11]

Episodes

No.	Title [12]	Directed by	Teleplay by [12]	Original release date [13]
1	"Are You Happy in Your Life?"	Jakob Verbruggen	Blake Crouch	May 8, 2024 (2024-05-08)
Jason Dessen, a college physics professor, lives with his wife Daniela and son Charlie in Chicago. When his friend Ryan wins the prestigious Pavia prize, Jason attends his celebration at a local bar (the Village Tap). As he is walking back home, he is held at gunpoint and abducted by a masked man who takes him to a building site, forces him to remove his clothes and surrender his phone, and injects him with an unknown substance which gradually renders him unconscious. As Jason falls unconscious, the masked man asks Jason if he is happy with his life, and if he ever thought about what other lives he could have lived, to which Jason says yes. When he awakes, Jason finds himself in a laboratory facility (Velocity Labs) where he meets lab psychiatrist Amanda Lucas and Velocity CEO Leighton Vance — who he recognizes — both of whom are delighted that he has "returned". Uncertain and disoriented, Jason escapes the lab and returns to his house, where he again meets Amanda, who says she lives there with him; the interior décor of the house is completely different, and there is no sign of Daniela or Charlie. Meanwhile, Jason's abductor is revealed to be another version of himself (Jason #02), who enters Jason #01's house and seduces Daniela.
2	"Trip of a Lifetime"	Jakob Verbruggen	Blake Crouch	May 8, 2024 (2024-05-08)
The Velocity team scrambles to find Jason #01 while he checks himself into a hospital, where he learns that he is a world-renowned physicist who has not been seen in public for over a year and there is a mysterious psychoactive compound in his system. Escaping impending psychiatric confinement, he manages to track down Daniela — now a successful artist — at her latest art exhibition. When Jason, Ryan, and Daniela talk after the show at Daniela's house, she tells Jason #01 that he (in fact, Jason #02) approached her before his disappearance and confided his regrets regarding ending their relationship long ago and the possibility that she would never see him again. Despite being puzzled and concerned, Unlike Ryan, who did not believe Jason's explanations, Daniela agrees to help Jason #01 resolve the discrepancies he has identified in his life and environment. He realizes the paths between the Jasons diverged when Daniela became pregnant, when Jason #01 decided to stay and Jason #02 decided to leave. Meanwhile, despite initially struggling, Jason #02 settles into his blissful life with Daniela and Charlie. Suddenly, Dawn (Velocity security) breaks into Daniela's condo, kills her, and captures Jason #01.
3	"The Box"	Jakob Verbruggen	Blake Crouch	May 15, 2024 (2024-05-15)
He agrees to work with Velocity, claiming he wants to regain his memories. Jason #01 studies Jason #02's research and realizes the latter discovered a method to travel between dimensions by sealing the traveler inside a metal box and injecting them with a chemical compound to inhibit areas of the prefrontal cortex and induce a state of superposition. Meanwhile, Jason #02 becomes uneasy about Ryan's presence at his house in Jason #01's world. Jason #01 tries to procure more information about Jason #02's research from Ryan in Jason #02's world. Jason #01 is discovered as an imposter by Leighton, who tries to force the truth out of him, and Ryan from Jason #02's world is implied to be killed. Amanda breaks Jason #01 out of confinement, hoping to return him to his own world, but when they are discovered, they both enter Jason #02's box, intending to flee. Inside it, they inject the chemical compound and appear in a corridor filled with doors. Leighton follows them into the box. Meanwhile, in Jason #01's world, Daniela notices Jason #02's change in personality.
4	"The Corridor"	Celine Held & Logan George	Blake Crouch	May 22, 2024 (2024-05-22)
Jason #01 and Amanda find themselves in an infinite corridor with doors leading to infinite alternate realities. They use the ampoules and go through numerous doors hoping to find Jason #01's reality, but every world they visit happens to be desolate and ruined. They find themselves in a frozen Chicago, where after rescuing Amanda from a blizzard and while recuperating, the pair realizes that the doors respond to their overall mental state when opening them. Meanwhile, Jason #02 quits his job and approaches Leighton in Jason #01's world, hoping to procure funding. After Jason #02 previews the box's capabilities and explains its function, Leighton agrees to pay Jason #02 a lot of money in return for providing him with ampoules. Daniela and Charlie discuss Jason's (in fact, Jason #02's) change in demeanor after he missed their deceased son Max's remembrance, while Jason #01 and Amanda bond inside the box, and an injured Leighton from Jason #02's world emerges from the box to a devastated world.
5	"Worldless"	Celine Held & Logan George	Megan McDonnell	May 29, 2024 (2024-05-29)
Jason #01 and Amanda enter a world where Blair from Jason #02/Amanda's world, a lab employee who went missing after volunteering to enter the box months before, resides. Despite living in a dangerous world, Blair does not want to risk returning to the box until she is ready, believing it is nearly impossible to navigate the corridor. She also cautions Amanda to figure out her own path forward while aiding Jason #01 in his quest. Despite trying to keep their intentions clear and emotions checked when opening the doors, Jason #01 and Amanda keep finding themselves in uninhabitable worlds. They visit a world engulfed by a deadly plague where Charlie died and Daniela is dying, and then a world in which Jason is an incarcerated criminal. There, when Jason #01 visits his home, Daniela calls the police, and he is assaulted by Charlie. Meanwhile, in Jason #01's world, Jason #02 reveals to Daniela that he quit his job and encourages her to do the same. She begins to feel left out of their marriage. To secure Leighton's funding, Jason #02 visits his own world to procure more ampoules, and learns that Jason #01 and Amanda escaped via the box.
6	"Superposition"	Roxann Dawson	Megan McDonnell	June 5, 2024 (2024-06-05)
At Jason #02's behest, Daniela starts painting again. Unaware of Charlie's nut allergy, Jason #02 accidentally feeds him nuts. At the emergency room, Daniela notices needle marks on Jason #02's arm and later confides in Blair, who suggests Daniela should follow him. After Jason #02 embarrasses her by displaying an unfinished painting at a charity auction, she overcomes her initial reluctance and follows him to his storage unit, finds the ampoules, and enlists Ryan's help in discovering the compound within. Meanwhile, Jason #01 tries to describe his world in writing to focus his mind to better the chances of finding his reality, but he and Amanda still end up visiting worlds similar but not identical to his own. Exhausted, they take time to rest and explore their surroundings. Meanwhile, Jason #02 meets Jason #01's world's Amanda for a therapy session. Ryan confronts Jason #02, believing that he stole his research, as he synthesized the same compound Daniela provided from Jason #02's storage unit. After discussing their compounds' separate applications, Jason #02 takes Ryan via the box to an alternate, more progressive Chicago, and strands him there. Jason #02 then returns to Jason #01's world and encloses the box with concrete.
7	"In the Fires of Dead Stars"	Roxann Dawson	Blake Crouch & Jacquelyn Ben-Zekry	June 12, 2024 (2024-06-12)
Daniela becomes suspicious of Jason #02. A detective visits the Dessen household to inquire about Ryan, who was reported missing by his girlfriend. Ryan was last seen with Jason #02 before his disappearance. Daniela confronts Jason #02 about the drug, and to appease her, he admits the truth about its basic purpose, but does not mention Ryan, Jason #01, or the box and his travel to alternate realities. He then reopens the box and uses it to replace Ryan with another from a different world. Meanwhile, on Amanda's recommendation, she and Jason #01 visit a more progressive Chicago for a break from their month-long fight-or-flight state of being. Amanda claims that to choose the world, she did not think about people, but of ideas and concepts that would make a world worth experiencing. After exploring it for a while, Amanda decides to stay behind. She invites Jason #01 to do the same, to which he declines, wanting to get back to his own world. They both share a kiss before heading their separate ways. Jason #01 starts using his ampoules in more attempts to return to his world, which he does using his last ampoule. Before confronting Jason #02, Jason #01 visits a store to buy self-protection gear. After he leaves, a near-identical Jason enters the store.
8	"Jupiter"	Alik Sakharov	Ihuoma Ofordire and Megan McDonnell	June 19, 2024 (2024-06-19)
A Jason who returned to the world attacks Jason #02, who eventually kills him. Daniela visits Ryan, who claims to be her mechanic. When asked where his memory ends, he mentions having drinks with someone Daniela confirms is Jason via a photo. From his hotel, Jason #01 is spotted and followed by another Jason. When he enters the Village Tap to lose him, he meets another Jason (Jason #03) there. Every decision Jason #01 made while inside the box created another Jason; those who made the right choices ended up back in his world. Jason #03 eventually leaves, warning Jason #01 not to interfere with his reunion with his family. Jason #02 takes Charlie for a tour of the University of Chicago, and spots another Jason following them. He sends Charlie away and surreptitiously kills the other Jason. Jason #01 lets himself be arrested for smoking inside a restaurant to get Daniela alone with him. She comes to believe his account, and promises to later meet him with Charlie. After incapacitating Jason #02, Daniela and Charlie flee the house and two other Jasons along the way, and reunite with Jason #01.
9	"Entanglement"	Alik Sakharov	Blake Crouch & Jacquelyn Ben-Zekry	June 26, 2024 (2024-06-26)
The Dessens take refuge at the holiday residence of one of Charlie's friends. Jason #01 finds an online message forum where Jasons who arrived in his world try to decide who will get to stay with Daniela and Charlie. Daniela later sends a message informing the Jasons that she chooses Jason #01. At the Dessen residence, Jason #03 restrains Jason #02, and lures Blair, hoping to have her track her car (which she lent to Jason #01) to find the Dessens. When Jason #03 tries to force her to comply, she overpowers him and elicits the truth. Several Jasons invade the Dessens' hideout, and some are killed by each other. Jason #02 arrives, saves Jason #01, and helps the Dessens escape. In the car, Jason #02 left a box of ampoules and an audio recording in which he apologizes for his actions. Realizing that they are no longer safe there, the Dessens decide to find a better world for themselves and arrive at the box's location, which is crowded with Jasons who eventually decide to let the Dessens go. At the reality corridor, the Dessens walk through a doorway. Meanwhile, Leighton from Jason #01's world enters the box and injects another ampoule, Blair #02 leaves the world where she met Jason #01 and Amanda, and in the progressive world, Amanda is approached by Ryan, who appears to have been preparing and testing a chemical, possibly that used in the ampoules.