Dark Matter season 2 continues to move further and further beyond the 2016 Blake Crouch sci-fi novel, which was adapted in its entirety to create season 1. As such, events are becoming increasingly difficult to predict — even for those like me who have read the book. That being said, the lore and rules of the Dark Matter universe that originated in the source material, and have been adopted by the Apple TV series, do allow for some pretty educated guesses when things become compellingly unclear.
Episode 6, "What the Universe Is Made Of," is one such instance where a canonical extrapolation is necessary. Well, it's either that, or wait for episode 7, and patience is a virtue that can wane in the face of an adventure like Dark Matter.
As "What the Universe Is Made Of" ends, it's revealed that Leighton Vance (Dayo Okeniyi) has been hard at work building something massive and highly advanced below the streets of a retro Chicago. So, what is it, what does it do, and why is Leighton building it in what is essentially a supervillain lair?
FULL SPOILERS ahead for Dark Matter season 2 episode 6, "What the Universe Is Made Of."
Leighton seems to be building the Box 2.0
For the sake of discussion, let's call it the Pyramid. Dark Matter season 2 will probably give it a better name as it progresses, but it's the best we have for now. Leighton unveils the Pyramid to Blair (Amanda Brugel) at the end of episode 6, but doesn't explain what it is. All we get is an appropriate outburst of "What the f**k?" from Blair. Her rhetorical question is warranted.
Going entirely off what we already know about Leighton Vance, and the various iterations of him we've seen across the multiverse, I think it's safe to say that the Pyramid largely does what the Box does, but better. Leighton's subplot in season 2 has revolved around an exchange of knowledge and resources between realities, and he's been using the Box to do so.
What was likely frustrating about using the Box is that it's in the same spot in every universe, and it's been proven that moving a Box too far from that spawn point causes it to stop working.
It doesn't allow for a lot of privacy or convenience. So, now that Leighton has connections that permeate the multiverse, it looks like he's used his interdimensional knowledge to build a new version of the Box that exists underground, situated at the heart of out-of-sight infrastructure that, due to its history, is accessible in countless other worlds. Therefore, he's able to use the Pyramid as a better and more bespoke hub for jumping between universes without always having to travel to the edges of all the Chicagos to make the trip between them all.
What's far less obvious is why the Pyramid has such a radically different design from the Box. If, that is, the Pyramid has the same function as the Box. The massive metal cube is simple-yet-effective in its design, which raises the question of whether maybe the Pyramid improves the experience of traversing the multiverse in some way. Maybe, in the Pyramid, it's easier than just thinking of a place and hoping for the best. Maybe once a universe is logged, it can be returned to reliably and with no fuss. I guess only time will tell.
Why Leighton is showing Blair the pyramid
It's important to bear in mind that this Blair and this Leighton originate from the same universe: the world where Jason2 (Joel Edgerton) helped them build the Box. Even more poignantly, Leighton apparently regrets sending Blair into the Box with so little preparation, which he admits in "What the Universe Is Made Of." He might not be quite so sorry as he seems, though. Because Blair managed to survive the unknown by being the first Box pilot, Leighton may see her as a viable guinea pig to test the Pyramid for him.
Furthermore, he knows that Blair has a strong scientific curiosity. Pair that with the fact that she now has quite a lot of experience when it comes to piloting the Box, and she probably is the ideal candidate for test-running the Pyramid, if it is actually an updated version of the Box. Leighton is still being unfair by taking advantage of Blair in this way, especially after everything she's been through. However, he's already been painted as a morally gray individual. So, it wouldn't be out of character for him to do something like this in Dark Matter season 2 as it progresses.
Dark Matter season 2 is streaming now on Apple TV.
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