(Image credit: Apple TV)
Tom's Guide Verdict: “Dark Matter” season 2Rating: 3/5 StarsVerdict: The second season of “Dark Matter” expands on the multiverse adventures of the Dessen family and their associates, with some exciting and affecting developments. But the storytelling still feels a bit limited for a show in which literally anything is possible, and the convoluted plot, with multiple versions of multiple characters, can be overwhelming to follow.Premiere date/time: New episodes premiere Fridays starting Aug. 28Where to watch: Stream on Apple TVAs much as I enjoyed the first season of “Dark Matter” on Apple TV, it seemed to me that the sci-fi series was just reaching the true potential of its premise at the end of the season. So I was excited to see that even though the show is based on a book that was completely adapted in the first season, it was still set to continue, with the possibility of expanding the world — or worlds — of author Blake Crouch’s source novel.The second season of “Dark Matter” isn’t quite the freewheeling journey across the multiverse that I hoped for, but it makes sense that Crouch, who’s also the series’ creator and showrunner, would stick to the relatively somber, character-focused tone of the first season. There are still some thrilling dimension-hopping adventures in the second season of “Dark Matter,” which travels further across the multiverse than it did previously, but this isn’t “Sliders.”It’s a contemplative drama about personal bonds and the consequences of every little choice that people make in their lives, with occasional murder hornets.‘Dark Matter’ picks up right where the first season left offEven people like me who watched every episode of the first season might want to consult a recap of the often convoluted story, because “Dark Matter” season 2 drops viewers right into the action with no chance to play catch-up. That’s especially disorienting in a show that features multiple different versions of nearly all of its central characters, especially brooding physicist Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton).In the first season, an alternate version of Jason used a multiverse-hopping device (which everyone just calls the Box) to travel to the prime Jason’s universe and essentially steal his life, posing as the original Jason alongside Jason’s wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and son Charlie (Oakes Fegley). Meanwhile, the original Jason teamed up with Jason 2’s colleague and former girlfriend Amanda Lucas (Alice Braga) to try to find his way back to his own universe.
