Just like those Jason Dessens from all over the multiverse, the Apple TV+ hit Dark Matter is replicating.
Yup. The critically acclaimed science-fiction hit was recently renewed.
Now, there’s just one big catch. The first season was based entirely on Blake Crouch’s 2016 book.
Dark Matter follows Jason Dessen (played by Joel Edgerton), a physicist, professor, and family man who quickly is abducted and becomes a captive of the multiverse.
He spends the rest of the season experiencing lives he could have lived while attempting to get back to his home world and his family.
So that means the new season, whenever it finally arrives on the streaming timetable, will have to be created out of thin air.
As viewers of modern TV are acutely aware, this venturing away from the written source material can be a hit-or-miss proposition.
Sometimes, it works (see Justified, The Magicians, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Leftovers).
Then again, sometimes it doesn’t (see Games of Thrones, House of Cards, Big Little Lies, 13 Reasons Why).
Dark Matter has one huge advantage when developing its next season. In addition to being the author of the source material, Crouch is also the Dark Matter showrunner.
Crouch wasn’t thusly connected to Wayward Pines, a series based on a series of books he wrote, and without his guidance, the series fizzled out way too soon.
It seems more obvious that Crouch has been mulling over ideas for Dark Matter‘s continuation in the years since the novel’s publication.
So, he’s bound to be better equipped to create that second season than a random writer’s room.
We can use the first season to imagine what direction Crouch may take. There are some problems to be fixed, too.
On Dark Matter (2024) Season 1 Episode 9, the original Jason (call him simply Jason for simplicity’s sake) finally was reunited with his family.
However, they found themselves on the run, not just from Jason 2 (who originally abducted Jason to be his place as a family man) but also from hundreds of Jasons created by Jason’s multiversal travels, driven by the same drive to find their families as the original Jason.
Jason 2, plagued by guilt by what he’d done, arranges for Jason’s family to leave their world via The Box, although he dies in the process.
For the uninitiated, this brief recap highlights Dark Matter’s biggest problem. It can be convoluted.
Once all those additional Jasons landed in Jason’s dimension, it got difficult to tell who was who.
Sure, that’s the nature (and the fun) of a multiverse. But the frustration outweighs the enjoyment in this situation.
Leaving Jason’s home world behind should clear the board of all those stray Jasons running around. Should.
Jason’s family is set free in The Corridor. What Jason has learned during his travels should allow them to envision the perfect dimension for themselves, right?
It can’t be that easy, though, can it?
Crouch also left a handful of allies and enemies scattered through the multiverse during Season 1.
There’s an Amanda, a Blair, a Ryan, and a couple of Leightons out there, although who knows which ones are still alive?
Certainly, the reunited Dessen family will encounter some of these people as they search for a new home.
Another theme should be Daniela and Charlie adjusting to the rules of The Corridor. Fortunately, Jason is their guide.
Still, quite a bit of that is redundant from the first season. So what can Crouch come up with that’s actually new?
That’s the most significant hurdle that Dark Matter has to overcome in its second season — making viewers believe that there is more to this story, and it’s not just tacked on after the fact because of a surprising renewal.
Crouch needs to eradicate duplication concerning both characters and narrative for the series to prosper.
Whether he can do that remains to be seen.
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