Apple TV+ has been good to sci-fi. Foundation, Silo, For All Mankind, and Severance are all outstanding shows with rich world-building and compelling characters. However, Apple TV+ has also dropped a few flops on us, such as Invasion, Constellation and its latest twisty tale, Dark Matter.
The setup is familiar; awesome dad Jason (Joel Edgerton) has an idyllic life, in an idyllic home, with an idyllic son, and an idyllic, artsy wife, Daniela (Jennifer Connelly). Jason is a cool physics professor. He teaches Introduction to Foreshadowing at the University of McGuffins where he explains everyday concepts such as Schrödinger’s cat and superpositioning to bored teenagers glued to their Tik Toks.
Then another version of Jason kidnaps him and drops him in an alternate universe. Seems Bad Jason from the other universe designed a superpositioning box that allows him to traverse the multiverse. Bad Jason made some selfish decisions in the past, and his idyllic life is 3% less idyllic than Prime Jason. So Bad Jason swaps places with Prime Jason, and promptly starts pounding his idyllic wife, hosting idyllic dinner parties, and racking up debt. After this exposition-heavy setup, we are dragged through one nightmare universe after another as Prime Jason tries to recapture his idyllic life from Bad Jason.
If you sense sarcasm in this description, it is because Dark Matter is difficult to take seriously. It begins with a silly setup and then slogs through nine dreary, slow, and predictable episodes. Scenes that should only require a few minutes are stretched way out to absurd lengths, making Dark Matter move at a glacial pace. When there is action, it feels frustratingly restricted and anticlimactic.
One of the consequences of a boring series like Dark Matter is you start paying attention to everything else except the story. For example, I was constantly distracted with the physical appearances of the leads Edgerton and Connelly. They both look sick. Edgerton has a pallid, gray complexion. Even when he smiles, he appears to wince in pain. Connelly’s gaunt, frail visage looks like she recently recovered from a raging case of amoebic dysentery.
The rest of Dark Matter is equally unhealthy. The CGI world-building is detailed, but unremarkable. Side characters have minimal development. Bad Jason’s sidekick, psychiatrist Amanda Lucas (Alice Braga), barely gets her own story. Jimmi Simpson, a staple in weird sci-fi shows, plays a typical dork character with little to do besides get pushed around. Early in the series there is some rich guy character who is merely a plot device.
To add insult to illness, Dark Matter has no compelling messages to tell. While I think the story wants to be about how reckless decisions can have big impact our future (and happiness), none of the characters show any appreciable change or growth over the interminable nine hours of the show. Jason and Daniela are the same people in the beginning as they are at the end, only bruised and traumatized. Moreover, a message that white, middle-aged men should be thankful for the idyllic life they have is not exactly a gripping tale of triumph over adversity. When have white men ever had it tough?
Dark Matter shares a lot of tone and tempo with another Apple TV+ misfire, Invasion. But while Invasion is overstuffed with meandering side-stories, Dark Matter is overstuffed with a single meandering main story. Neither show is worth the extreme time investment.
If you chose to slog through Dark Matter, I suggest doing so while playing a game on your phone. At least you will have ample time to improve your high scores. However, if you want a more compelling story about how reckless decisions can have a huge impact on our future, then call up the Star Trek the Next Generation episode Tapestry. It tells a similar (and better) story, in less than 60 minutes, and with 100% more Q.
