Dark Matter season 2 holds a special place in the franchise, as it continues the events of season 1, which was adapted from a standalone 2016 sci-fi novel by Blake Crouch. In that sense, the Apple TV show's transmedia-esque sequel is certainly holding up its end of the bargain. It's been captivating to see now-showrunner Blake Crouch revealing more and more about the Dessen family's life after the events of the original novel.
However, Dark Matter season 2 has also adopted a secondary responsibility. Not content with simply fleshing out the timeline after the book, Crouch's live-action adaptation of one of his best stories also jumps around to other eras. As such, the current run of episodes is also serving as a prequel to season 1 — and, by extension, is also answering unanswered questions I've had about the book for the last decade.
Dark Matter season 2 episode 3 continues to show what happened before season 1
"Everything Beautiful, Everything Terrible" boasts a cold open that focuses on Jason2 (Joel Edgerton) returning to a brain trust that he appears not to have visited in a while. Struggling with the idea of opening the door to the multiverse and how it will change reality as we know it, he heads to his old friends to mull it over with them. The flashback takes place before the events of season 1, and therefore before the events of the book. It's never mentioned in the source material.
Baked into that sequence is footage of Blair (Amanda Brugel) about to become the first human being to use the Box for its intended purpose of jumping between parallel worlds. Again, this scene isn't in the book, and the fact that Blair isn't even in the source material at all means that, in all likelihood, it didn't happen in the original version of the story either. Later in the episode, we also get to see Leighton (Dayo Okeniyi) experience a flashback of his late father.
Velocity, where Leighton, Jason2, and the others worked on developing the Box, was founded by Leighton's father, but he's only ever mentioned and never shown in the book. So, not only does this flashback give us our first look at the character, but we also get to see Leighton at a younger age than we've ever seen him. When we also take into account the scene from episode 2, "A Perfect World," which showed the celebrations of the Box being completed, it's obvious that Dark Matter is paying extra attention to the timeline beyond pre-established events. It's really cool.
Why Dark Matter season 2's prequel elements make so much sense
Season 1 had a very specific story to bring to life on the small screen. As a result, although there were new characters and storylines introduced that aren't in the book, Jason's journey through the multiverse as he tried to get home understandably ate up much of the screen time. Season 2, on the other hand, has much more freedom. In other words, what were once side characters have been given permission to step more firmly into the spotlight.
One of the biggest narrative shortcuts to letting us get to know these characters better is via flashbacks, and Dark Matter season 2 clearly recognizes that. The added bonus is that we also get to learn more about the Box's creation in the process. At the very least, it's great to see firsthand the mix of excitement and trepidation about it as it comes closer and closer to being brought online. None of that was really addressed in the source material.
Finally, the season 2 flashbacks are really just a natural progression of what season 1 was already doing. Although we didn't get to actually see Jason's past in season 1, the very presence of Jason2 served as the only insight we needed. Jason2 is the very version of the character whose dissatisfaction with his own life ultimately set the plot in motion.
So, in a way, Jason2 is a living flashback that constantly reminds us that the story's main Jason made a very different choice years earlier — breaking up with Daniela (Jennifer Connelly). We don't need to see that via flashbacks because the present-day fallout is so much more visceral and compelling. For other Dark Matter characters like Blair and Leighton, more traditional flashbacks are more efficient and more necessary.
Dark Matter season 2 is streaming now on Apple TV.
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