Apple TV’s ‘Dark Matter’ Season 2 Is an Enjoyable Headache | Review
Apple TV’s Dark Matter returns with a fast-moving second season that expands its multiverse story but becomes increasingly difficult to follow. The review finds it initially compelling, particularly through Joel Edgerton’s performance, yet argues that too many alternate Jasons, storylines and philosophical ideas leave little room for emotional or thematic depth.
Seven months after the Dessen family apparently reaches safety, another Jason arrives claiming to be the original, forcing them back into the Box. The season also follows Amanda and Ryan’s attempt to return home, Leighton’s plan to exploit other universes, and an investigation into the bodies of alternate Jasons; Jennifer Connelly is praised for Daniela’s fearful, unravelled portrayal, although the reviewer feels she is underused. Its questions about regret, identity and ambition are promising, but the review says the show repeatedly introduces ideas and worlds before rushing away from them.
- Ambitious multiverse drama becomes overcrowded and confusing.
- Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly provide strong performances.
- Big ideas receive too little time to develop.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters would argue that the season’s proliferating timelines and versions of Jason are the point: they make the viewer experience the disorientation and moral uncertainty inherent in a multiverse story about identity, regret and choice. Its brisk pace, committed performances from Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly, and willingness to pursue several characters across different worlds can be seen as ambitious television that rewards close attention rather than reducing complex ideas to simple answers.
The case against
Critics would argue that ambition needs structure and emotional focus to land, and that the growing number of alternate Jasons, subplots and brief visits to new worlds turns intriguing complexity into confusion. From this perspective, the series raises meaningful questions about family, ambition and selfhood but moves on too quickly to develop them, leaving strong performers and potentially rich characters such as Daniela insufficiently served.