Dark Matter's Ending Clearly Begs For a World Beyond The Book
The Dessens story has taken a turn. But what about the other multiverse travelers?
After several different universes and a plethora of alternate versions of Jason Dessen, Dark Matter has reached its Season 1 finale with the explosive episode, “Entanglement.” In terms of material that comes straight from Blake Crouch’s original novel, Dark Matter has now arrived at the end of the story told on the page. But because the Apple TV+ series has expanded, and outright added new elements to the tapestry of these various parallel worlds, there now seems like various new directions the story could take, with or without the Dessen family being directly involved.
Here’s how Dark Matter wrapped up Season 1, what the ending means, how it changes the book, and what it all could mean for a hypothetical Season 2.
Spoilers ahead.
Dark Matter ending explained
Daniela (Jennifer Connelly ) and Charlie (Oakes Fegley ) make a hard choice in the Dark Matter finale.
After reuniting with his true family, Daniela (Jennifer Connelly), Charlie (Oakes Fegley), and Jason 1 (Joel Edgerton) — or at least the character we think of as Jason 1 — hole up in a vacation home owned by one of Charlie’s friends. As in the novel, after accessing a group chat consisting of hundreds of versions of himself, Jason realizes he can’t hide from his various other selves anymore. Unlike Jason 2, all of these Jasons were derived from the moment of the switch that occurred in the first episode. Each Jason splintered into other versions as they traveled through the multiverse in the box, but all have the same memories up until a certain point.
This existential crisis becomes a literal one, as various violent versions of Jason pursue the family, and are only fended off by the intercession of a reformed Jason 2. This previously evil Jason then supplies Jason 1, Daniela, and Charlie with enough ampoules and supplies so they can enter the box and find a new world. When the family arrives at the box, they discover several peaceful versions of Jason, all of who received Daniela’s message about having “made a choice” to stay with Jason 1. Eventually, they all stand aside and let the family enter the box where Charlie chooses the next world that they’ll enter.
That specific ending — in which Charlie is the one to open the door to a new dimension — comes straight from the novel. But, intercut with this moment is a whole world of possibilities from beyond the pages of the book.
All around the multiverse
Could Dark Matter Season 2 focus on Ryan’s journey?
In the final moments of the show, we see that the Leighton (Dayo Okeniy) from Jason 1’s universe is still traveling through the box, looking as though he’s been to several worlds. At the same time, one version of Blair (Amanda Brugel ) — from a world that was ravaged by strange airborne creatures — seems determined to enter the box again and try to find a better world.
And, most surprisingly, a version of Ryan (Jimmi Simpson), who was previously exiled to a utopian timeline in Episode 6, finds Amanda (Alice Braga), who, coincidentally, decided to stay in this ideal world in Episode 7. We also see Ryan creating a version of the compound that can be used to create the ampoules, which allow people to exist in superposition inside the box. This means that the first version of Ryan we met, from the first universe, has now found Amanda from Jason 2’s world, and they’re both about to (probably) team up in the utopian world.
Hints for Dark Matter Season 2
Will Amanda (Alice Braga) really leave the utopian world?
While there’s been no official green light for Dark Matter Season 2, author and showrunner Blake Crouch told Inverse that “as the writer, I know these characters and I can imagine where they might go after,” and indicated there “could always be a Season 2.”
Clearly, with this final coda, Season 2 could hypothetically explore what all these secondary characters, separate and apart from the Dessens, could be doing on their own multiverse journeys. And while Blair and Leighton are on solo trips, the pairing of Amanda and Ryan feels pointed. Perhaps Crouch has some kind of idea of what these two could do, and whether or not Ryan actually wants to get back to his home dimension or not.
There is no book sequel to Dark Matter, but its season finale suggests that this take on the multiverse could get a lot bigger on TV.
