Apple TV’s Dark Matter is a deeply human sci-fi exploration of regret

📺 What if, in some other universe, you had made decisions and taken paths that you regret not taking in your current reality? In Apple TV’s Dark Matter — based on beloved sci-fi author Blake Crouch’s mind-bending 2016 juggernaut novel of the same name — that much is explored. Starring Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Connelly, and Alice Braga, Dark Matter is one of streaming’s best-kept secrets — and it just got its season two debut.

The plot: Jason Dessen (Edgerton) is a quantum physicist and family man living a quiet life in Chicago — until one night, walking home, he is abducted into an alternate version of his own life by the most unsettling foe imaginable: himself. The culprit is a parallel-universe Jason who chose career over family, built a device called the Box capable of moving people between realities, and used it to steal Jason’s life. Season one is a tense, propulsive chase across infinite parallel worlds as Jason fights to get back to his wife Daniela (Connelly) and son Charlie (Oakes Fegley) — only to discover that dozens of alternate versions of himself had exactly the same idea.

What we liked: Dark Matter is, much like the entirety of Apple TV’s library, an exceptionally produced show that delivers on all fronts, respects its audience’s intelligence, and offers a satisfying arc for each of its characters. The show rids itself of all filler, with each and every scene serving a grander purpose in some form or another. Connelly and Edgerton do an incredible job portraying several versions of the same character, and the supporting cast – which include Jimmi Sympsion, Amanda Brugel, and Dayo Okeniyi, all hold their own as well.

The score is tense, the cinematography is just right, and the science makes just enough sense to keep the fiction at bay. But beyond the show’s narrative plot, Dark Matter invites its viewers to linger on one specific question: Is the grass really greener on the other side, or will you always be doomed to see it so? The show, beyond its tense, action-fueled moments, offers a deeply human viewing experience, one that we cannot dive too deep into lest we spoil, so we’ll leave it at that.

The verdict: If you watch one thing this week, let it be Dark Matter. We binged the entire first season within a 24-hour window, just in time to catch the second season’s premiere as it dropped on Friday. If you’re tired of shows that function as background distractions, Dark Matter is anything but — and you don’t even need to like sci-fi.

💡 NOTE- If you’ve already read the book, you’ll be in for a treat. The second season veers from Crouch’s original material, introducing new arcs for existing characters, and a few new characters as well.

WHERE TO WATCH- Dark Matter is streaming on Apple TV — season one is available in full, with season two episodes dropping weekly on Fridays. Watch the trailer for season one on YouTube (watch, runtime: 2:51).