Apple TV+’s Dark Matter is presented as a fast-paced science-fiction thriller combining memory-altering and alternate-reality themes associated with Severance and The Man in the High Castle. Adapted by novelist Blake Crouch from his 2016 book, it follows physics professor Jason Dessen after he is abducted and wakes in a version of life where he never married or became a father; the article argues that its emotional focus on returning to his family grounds its high-concept premise.

Jason learns that his captor is an alternate version of himself, who has developed a device enabling travel between parallel universes and has taken Jason’s place with his family. The first series comprised nine episodes, and the article says a second, ten-episode run is due to return, promising further exploration of the multiple worlds, their dangers, and the conflict between Jason and his double.