The second season of Dark Matter is beginning impressively, but I have some questions that I hope will be addressed.

      Dark Matter has officially returned on Apple TV, with the season 2 premiere occurring seven months after the chaos of the previous season. It's known that Dark Matter Season 1 utilized all the content from Blake Crouch’s original novel. In a sense, that storyline had concluded, although it left numerous questions for the characters navigating the repercussions.

      If Crouch had relinquished the rights and moved on, I would have dismissed this season as merely a ploy to capitalize on the success of the first season. However, he has co-written every new episode with Jacquelyn Ben-Zekry, taking the narrative in directions that his book did not explore.

      In the first episode of Dark Matter Season 2, the focus is predominantly on establishing the current situation. While a great deal unfolds as we see the characters' states and circumstances, the narrative is genuinely captivating and raises several intriguing points.

      Questions I hope Season 2 will address

      The episode begins with agent Mitchel MacNamara confronting a heap of genetically identical corpses, mistakenly assuming it involves cloning. He is clearly mistaken, but watching him pursue the truth will be a continuous storyline this season.

      The primary question arises: how did all these other versions of Jason meet their demise? The Season 1 finale presented a chaotic convergence of doppelgangers in the same reality, yet the show hasn't clarified if these deaths resulted from Jasons turning on each other or if a specific Jason was trying to safeguard the secret of multiversal travel by eliminating potential witnesses. This is a mystery that could evolve in many ways, and MacNamara’s inquiry promises to guide us through all possible avenues.

      If every decision creates a new Jason, what about everyone else?

      Jason, Daniela, and Charlie have spent seven months attempting to enjoy a normal existence in the woods, but that doesn’t last long. Another Jason, frantic and unhinged, confronts Daniela alone at the house, refuses to leave, and compels her to shoot him. Disposing of the body drags them back into the chaos, and once they are inside, nothing unfolds easily.

      Apple TV

      Every decision births a new Jason. This principle governs the entire multiverse, which is why so many Jasons populate it. But now that Daniela and Charlie have also navigated through that same chaotic space, albeit to a lesser extent than Jason, does this imply that other versions of Daniela and Charlie exist elsewhere, influenced by choices we've never observed? The show hasn’t explored this yet, and I’m curious if the writers plan to address this or simply hope it goes unnoticed.

      Here’s what we discovered, however

      Ryan and Amanda spend the majority of the episode believing their box is useless. They have moved it to a different area of the city, and Amanda theorizes that the relocation severed whatever connection powered it initially. They think they are stranded.

      Alice Braga and Jimmi Simpson in Dark Matter Season 2 Apple TV

      But they’re mistaken. When Jason briefly leads his family into that same realm, the encounter results in the creation of a new, functional box that Ryan and Amanda can utilize. I suspect the next episode will reveal whether they can effectively use it, confirming that moving a box does not necessarily terminate its connection to a world. As long as someone out there continues to think about that world, the link remains intact. This bodes poorly for the Dessens, who wish to vanish completely by destroying the box once they find their next preferred world.

      My thoughts on the Dark Matter season 2 premiere

      One episode is insufficient for a complete evaluation of a season, and I’m not going to claim I fully grasp this show yet. However, Episode 1, “A Quiet Life,” achieved what a premiere is meant to do: it engaged me about where these disparate elements are heading. I am eager to see what unfolds next. I just hope the show addresses these questions before the conclusion of season 2.

      In the meantime, I’m also keeping an eye on Silo, with its season 3 finale, “Troy,” airing this Friday, September 4, which is set to finally reveal the truth behind the world’s end.