Apple TV has no shortage of sci-fi shows, and they're a good mix of original stories and book adaptations. With the latter, it's always a topic of much debate when it comes to how faithful the live-action adaptation is to the source material. While some changes are often deemed exciting, there's also an invisible line that can cause uproar when it's crossed. However, Dark Matter has adopted a hybrid adaptation approach, making it a standout in Apple TV's vast sci-fi library.
With season 1 having already brought Blake Crouch's 2016 novel of the same name to life back in 2024, season 2 is moving past the book's final page and continuing the gritty multiverse epic. So, the original novel does remain relevant to the episodes currently being aired, in a way. By keeping one eye on the Dark Matter book, now-showrunner Blake Crouch has orchestrated some pretty exciting moments for this new version of his story — including two reunions that could feasibly have happened in the original tale, but just never did.
FULL SPOILERS for Dark Matter season 2, episode 4, "Stars, Hide Your Fires"
Dark Matter season 2 reunites the story's "main" Jason and the Leighton who helped build the Box
Just because characters can meet again down the line doesn't necessarily mean they will. Two ripe-for-the-taking reunions certainly avoided happening in the Dark Matter novel and the run of episodes it was adapted into. Thankfully, season 2 has righted that wrong. In part, it's down to the groundwork put in place by season 1. Let's start with the story's "main" Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) and the Leighton Vance who helped create the Box at Velocity.
In the book, this Leighton is actually the only version of the character shown, whereas Apple TV has unveiled and mentioned several variants. However, when Jason escapes Velocity in the book and leaves that universe (Jason2's universe) behind, Leighton is never seen or heard from again. He has an incredibly limited role. Dark Matter season 2 finally brings these two characters back together in the Retro Chicago Universe, albeit by accident.
It's a short-but-poignant scene that allows Leighton to apologize for how he treated Jason while he had him held captive at Velocity, and in turn, Jason gets to voice his hatred of Leighton and send him on his way. It brought me a great sense of closure to see this play out on screen, and I suppose there's no reason it couldn't also have happened in the book version of Dark Matter's universe after the final page. If they never meet again, I think they've said to each other everything they needed to.
Dark Matter season 2 also brings Jason2 and Amanda back together
Although the book establishes that Jason2 and Amanda Lucas (Alice Braga) were in a relationship before Jason2 left to steal the other Jason's life, we never actually get to witness them interact in the source material. Amanda talks about her time with Jason2, but she chooses to stay in the Futuristic Chicago before Jason manages to get home and confront his doppelganger. Therefore, it's a deceptively big deal when they cross paths on-screen in Dark Matter season 2.
Although they technically reunite in the previous episode, the chase scene that ensues means they're not free to really clear the air until episode 4, "Stars, Hide Your Fires." While the two Ryan Holders (Jimmi Simpson) spin a yarn about being long-lost twins at the bar, Amanda and Jason2 endure an emotionally charged catch-up in a private booth. It's obvious that Amanda still harbors resentment for Jason2 abandoning her, but there's an awkward remnant of affection between them that's left dangling before they part ways.
This reunion was far more revealing than the one between Jason and Leighton, as it explains a lot about Jason2's real motivation for stealing another Jason's life. The book always made it seem that Jason2 helped build the Box because he'd already decided he regretted leaving Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) years earlier, and that his scheme to step into the shoes of the Dessen family patriarch was always his intended use of the Box. "Stars, Hide Your Fires" essentially retcons that motive.
As it turns out, Jason describes a mindset that Amanda theorizes is depression, which was made worse as he used the Box to travel between universes, feeling emptier and emptier as he saw other versions of himself. When he saw Jason's life with Daniela and Charlie (Oakes Fegley), he only then decided that it was an existence he wanted, which is when he forced the swap. Unlike the reunion between Jason and Leighton, this conversation between Jason2 and Amanda could not happen in the book's universe, as Jason2 is killed in the original Dark Matter, making his survival in the adaptation key to this sense of closure.
Dark Matter season 2 is streaming now on Apple TV
Add us as a preferred source on Google