Dark Matter season 2 finally explores the unfulfilled potential of the original 2016 sci-fi novel. Despite the standalone book going relatively deep into how the box works, there were still several questions left without answers by the end. Because Dark Matter season 1 concluded in the same place as the book, those same box mysteries persisted in the live-action adaptation.
Blake Crouch, Dark Matter's original author, is also the Apple TV project's showrunner, and he has clearly had the urge to flesh out box lore for the last decade or so. Season 2 builds on the source material by functioning as a direct sequel, albeit with some characters and storylines who didn't exist back in 2016. As such, Dark Matter's return means it's now free to delve into the box in new ways, and even from just season 2's premiere, we found out some very interesting additions to the canon.
FULL SPOILERS for Dark Matter season 2, episode 1, "A Quiet Life," ahead!
Dark Matter season 2 proves the box can be destroyed
This one might seem like an obvious assumption to make, but given the box's high-concept nature, it was never a guarantee. However, "A Quiet Life" provides on-screen evidence that the box is not totally invulnerable. During the Dessens' search for a new reality to call home, they stumble into a universe in the throes of an incredibly violent storm. After being forced to vacate the box in order to retrieve a bag that had blown outside, they barely make it back to the safety of the box to escape the huge chunks of swirling debris.
Shortly after, the box is reduced to rubble from the outside. The most interesting thing about this reveal is that the Dessens are unaffected. For them, from the inside, nothing happens to the box. Once they close the door, they once more exist in the very concept of the box rather than one specific version of it. So, it's probably more accurate to say that a box can be destroyed. Scrubbing the box from the multiverse entirely seems like an impossible task, which begs the question of why and how Jason (Joel Edgerton) thinks he can do it once his family finds a new home.
Anyone can see the box in Dark Matter
Again, this might seem like a silly thing to point out, but both the original novel and Dark Matter season 1 left this pretty ambiguous. For the most part, the box is stored out of sight of the general public, and in universes where it's on full display, no one seems to notice the massive metal cube that spawns out of nowhere. It's almost as if only those who already know about the box can see it, and that a box initiate must point it out to a newcomer. A little like the TARDIS' perception filter in Doctor Who.
"A Quiet Life" doesn't fix any of those head-scratching moments where the box's sudden presence was just...accepted, but it does stop treating it as the norm going forward. In the futuristic Chicago where Jason left Amanda (Alice Braga) in season 1, the residents have not only noticed the box left behind in that universe, but they've also assumed that it's a piece of art and have moved it to another spot in the city so that it can be seen and enjoyed by more people. This must mean boxes in other universes have been relocated when they spawn in inconvenient places.
Moving the box too far stops it from working
If Amanda's theory is correct, anyway. When she and Ryan (Jimmi Simpson) head over to see the box at the city art exhibit in the futuristic Chicago, Ryan wonders if the box would still work in its new location. Amanda points out that it's "miles away" from its original position and offers a hypothesis that it has "severed its quantum connection to the box prime power source." That's a very specific hypothesis, Amanda. And no, you're not going crazy—none of that Dark Matter sci-fi technobabble has been uttered before in either the show or the book.
I think it's very likely that Amanda's musings are canon. Otherwise, I can't see why those details would be included. Assuming for a second that she is right, then it makes complete sense. It's easy to imagine some sort of cosmic force binding all the boxes together, but that the force becomes weaker and weaker until it's severed if a box is moved too far from the landing spot that's shared by all its multiversal counterparts. Whether or not the "box prime power source" can be reconnected to by moving a severed box back within range has yet to be revealed.
Paired with this addition to Dark Matter's box lore is the twist that two boxes can exist within the same universe at the same time. The severed one on display in the futuristic Chicago might be inert right now, but it still exists. So, the arrival of a second box in that reality when the Dessens land there at the end of "A Quiet Life" opens up some pretty exciting possibilities moving forward. I can't wait to see if Dark Matter season 2 addresses this quirk, but it would be weird if it didn't, right?
Dark Matter season 2 is streaming now on Apple TV.
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