5 major flaws in Apple TV+'s 'Dark Matter' that fans chose to overlook
Contains spoilers for 'Dark Matter'
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: With the television adaptation, creator Blake Crouch has attempted to fix some of the major loopholes in his 2016 novel 'Dark Matter'.
For instance, the novel doesn't explain how Jason 2 easily blended into Jason 1's reality without any effort. The TV adaptation depicts him surfing through old photographs, videos, and social media to learn as much about Jason 1's past as he could.
Crouch even gave Amanda Lucas and Leighton Vance much-deserved attention as they are quite neglected in the book.
Despite these attempts to offer solid, flawless plots, certain details of the show have left us confused and we wonder if Crouch deliberately didn't address them or if it skipped his mind altogether.
1. Jason 1 uses the same currency in all realities
'Dark Matter' Episode 8 shows Daniela finding different types of currencies in Jason 2's storage. It's a clear indication that the currencies of most of the worlds are separate, especially the ones where realities aren't quite similar and diverged much earlier than the present time.
Moreover, since every reality is different from the other, with some of them offering northern lights over Chicago, how could the currency be constant in all worlds?
And yet, Jason 1 and Amanda take a tour of several realities, spending money on food and hotels without getting noticed.
2. Existence of the box in all realities
Another thing that remains constant across all worlds is "the box." Even in the realities where the box hasn't been built, it somehow exists in the same location. And wasn't it too convenient to have the box coordinates in Reality 1 in a storage facility?
Box isn't a manifestation of mind and it doesn't disappear after a pilot completes his travel.
How come nobody else on Earth in other realities is ever found near the box, or may have demolished it? How is the box never destroyed in a post-apocalypse world where everything else is in ruins?
We believe that the existence of a box in other realities deserves a better explanation.
3. Amanda 2 suddenly knows nothing about liminal space
"Maybe we’re in some kind of liminal space," said Jason 1 on his first multiverse travel with Amanda who then asked, "Liminal, as in not real?"
Jason 1 explained, "It’s real — very real. I think it’s a manifestation of the mind attempting to visually explain something our brains haven’t fully evolved to comprehend."
"Superposition?" Amanda asked again. Girl, you were a full-time employee at Velocity, tasked to psychologically train the pilots who volunteered for multiverse travels. If you weren't clear about what the experiment was all about, what were you training the pilots for?
4. Why aren't there many versions of Jason 2?
We were happily sailing along the plot when there were just two Jasons. However, Blake Crouch introduced a major twist in Episode 8 introducing several versions of Jason 1 arriving in Reality 1 to reunite with Daniela.
The scientific mumbo-jumbo in the series explains Jason 1 was split into many versions with every decision he made after the abduction. And at this point, there is not one Jason 1 we could root for.
Jason 1.2, 1.3, and the others newly introduced are equally wronged by Jason 2 and deserve to be reunited with Daniela.
While we are ready to wrap our heads around this theory, we can't come to terms with why there aren't multiple versions of Jason 2 here.
Jason 2 has also made several big decisions after he kidnapped Jason 1. He has also gone in and out of the box multiple times since then, including the time when he left Ryan 1 in another reality.
Couldn't there be a possibility where he had a change of heart and brought Ryan along with him or a reality where Ryan managed to enter the box before Jason 2 closed it?
Couldn't Jason 2 have been multiplied when he once visited Reality 2 to get more ampoules? With moments like these, there should have been multiple instances of Jason 2 returning to Reality 1 before Jason 1 arrived.
5. Misrepresentation of the observer effect
'Dark Matter' appears to be laying its foundation on the observer effect in quantum mechanics.
The series has placed less emphasis on the scientific aspects of the box and has instead focused more on the manifestation of the mind, opening doors to infinite realities just by thinking about it.
A fan expressed frustration on Reddit and said, "I think it bothers me because it feels like it’s based on the hubris that the human mind is some kind of super special magical thing that can affect the workings of the universe."
Well, despite these minor flaws in the plot, fans continue to love 'Dark Matter' for its thrilling elements and the compelling performances delivered by the lead actors.
How to stream 'Dark Matter'?
'Dark Matter' features Joel Edgerton, Alice Braga, Jennifer Connelly and Jimmi Simpson.
The series, consisting of nine episodes made its debut on Apple TV+ on May 8, 2024, and concluded on June 26.
All the episodes are currently available to stream on Apple TV+.
'Dark Matter' trailer