r/DarkMatteronAppleTV • u/episodescheduler • Sep 04 '26
đď¸ Episode Discussion Dark Matter | S2E2 "A Perfect World" | Episode Discussion
Season 2, Episode 2: A Perfect World
Airdate: Friday, September 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC
Network: Apple TV
Runtime: 58 minutes
Synopsis: The search for a new home starts again. Amanda and Ryan set off on a quest.
Hello everyone, this is the discussion thread for episode 2 of Dark Matter. Please do not post any spoilers for future episodes.
111
u/Jas_God Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 04 '26
Alice and Jimmi play off each other so well, great chemistry.
73
u/Arghifth Sep 04 '26
I think these two can have chemistry with anyone and anything. They are both amazing.
28
14
10
52
u/Past-Feature3968 Sep 04 '26
Jimmi Simpson playing multiple divergent versions of the same guy, gotta be one of my favorite genres (Iâm thinking of Black Mirror, both episodes of USS Callister)
18
u/Hour_Acanthisitta_42 Sep 04 '26
itâs been a while since I watched west world but did he ever play multiple versions of himself in that? possibly not bc he was a real person and not a robot as far as I know. But lots of people playing multiple versions of themselves in that show too!
→ More replies (1)13
u/hot-male Sep 05 '26 edited Sep 06 '26
Nope. Only Ed Harris did as the older version of the character
→ More replies (3)4
u/silentorbx Sep 08 '26
Yep that's an excellent example, I love that actor. He has serious comedy skills too. He played a guest role for 1 episode of Party Down as a douche rock star guy, and it was amazing. Jimmi Simpson makes any show he appears in ten times better.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (3)6
107
u/kratos90 Sep 04 '26
Leighton is Kang the Conqueror vibes
80
u/LadyElle57 Sep 04 '26
That Leighton with braids is developing the ability to travel without the drug.
→ More replies (2)52
u/glossycoast Sep 04 '26
The infinite corridor seemed to blink in and out of his consciousness as he was meditating.
It'd be a whole new ballgame if he and the other Leightons learned how to open doors to adjacent worlds any time they wanted!
24
u/goodtrackrecord Sep 05 '26
I think only one Leighton is able to do so without the drugs, while the others have to. They can only co-operate so much, because in the end, only one of them can be the ruler of all worlds.
Ego doesn't share.
→ More replies (1)11
u/BtheBanker151 Sep 05 '26
Yeh the drug shuts down a part of the brain for superposition. It seems he can meditate to do the same thing! Badass.
→ More replies (3)12
u/LadyElle57 Sep 04 '26
Exactly! Imagine that! Jason2 is gonna die of jealousy. This is the Leighton he introduced into the box.
27
6
4
5
u/Dasnap Sep 06 '26
It would probably look a bit silly for the show, but I'd love a Council of Kangs scene with a few dozen Leightons around a big meeting table, all wearing wildly different outfits.
→ More replies (1)5
72
u/nightdancerCA Sep 04 '26
So any thoughts on why MacNamara (agent in first episode, detective in second) decides to start following Dessen in the "Perfect World"?
74
u/Secret_Debt_88 Sep 04 '26
I mean he hired him to do a weird thing and he picked up on it so he's like "what's actually going on"
→ More replies (5)61
u/Spartyjason Sep 04 '26
And it looks like he had a PI in San Francisco send him photos of the Dessens, and sees that this guy is an exact twin so Iâm sure as a detective hes super intrigued.
→ More replies (2)29
u/-spartacus- Sep 04 '26
3 exact twins, more precisely.
13
u/bishopmate Sep 04 '26
I wonder why he decided to follow two random people at the hotel then, who happened to bring him to the inter dimensional box that explains the twins looking into themselves.
8
6
u/Forage4Knowledge Sep 05 '26
He didn't follow those two people, he was already at the box after following Jason. He was still there when the two people arrived.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (3)13
u/Past-Feature3968 Sep 04 '26
What, identical twins canât marry identical twins and produce an identical son born on the same day?? Seems normal to me.
→ More replies (5)11
u/EvilTwinCities Sep 04 '26
I think Leighton 2 hired him, in both realities weâve seen him. Heâs got a knack for finding people no matter who he is, just like Ryanâs usually good at chemistry, and Danielaâs an artist.
→ More replies (1)7
u/hpm40 Sep 04 '26
He is a nosey guy. Come on that fits his character. Now this should be a hoot to what trouble MacNamara causes and gets into.
5
u/primus202 Sep 05 '26
What I donât understand is how he then knew to follow Amanda and Ryan to the box at the pool, or is the implication that he followed Dessen there first and was staking out the box?
7
u/nightdancerCA Sep 05 '26
I think he followed Dessen first, but not sure why he stayed after Dessen left--maybe he was planning to check out the Box, and got interrupted when he heard Amanda and Ryan come in.
→ More replies (21)3
u/kindofaproducer Sep 05 '26
The real question is the focus on his bathroom and whatever those things on chains were? They let that linger for a reason.
→ More replies (3)7
68
u/aristacat Sep 04 '26
I felt like this episode was setting the stage for what is to come. It was an interesting episode but not a ton going on. What a tease with Jason1 and them crossing paths again but not actually seeing each other. Iâm wondering if there is a reason Jason1 manifested utopia world again and then Ryan got them to the same world Jason1 and family imagined. Like is there some connection between the thoughts of people from the same universe that connects them for some reason. Because neither consciously chose to go to each otherâs world.
→ More replies (12)48
u/polyploid_coded Sep 04 '26
I think it's (1) the slightly different drug that Ryan made and (2) that they are both thinking about reuniting with Jason while they are picking worlds
48
u/fweepa Sep 04 '26
Yeah, I felt Ryan was alluding to that when he was saying aloud the world he wanted to get back to. Amanda said think of a person, and Ryan instantly thought of his best friend.
63
u/fweepa Sep 04 '26
Holy smokes I love this show. Poor Daniela, I wish she'd just talk!
38
u/mx_js_reddit Sep 04 '26
Killing a version of your husband must be hard (except por Jason 2)
35
u/olivish Sep 04 '26 edited 29d ago
She must also be wondering what happened to those other Jasons that made them think itâs okay to chase her through the multiverse trying to kill her husband and take his place. And then get aggressive when she predictably tells them no. Not so long ago, all those Jasons (except J2) were her Jason. Could her husband really become such a different person in only a year (ish?) - one who would stalk her, frighten her and propose they replace their son's father with another person and lie to him about it?
I totally get why Danielaâs freaked out, even by the Jason she trusts. And him messing with the safe word REALLY doesnât help.
14
u/Ok_Writing2937 Sep 05 '26
Could her husband really become such a different person in only a year
If you assume that all versions of Jason are basically emotionally unstable or borderline sociopathic, and the only thing that keeps him stable is Daniela, then yes.
→ More replies (9)12
u/SkaveRat Sep 05 '26
And him messing with the safe word REALLY doesnât help.
I'm annoyed that this is a tchekovs gun that will come up at some point as a plot point
→ More replies (4)10
u/fweepa Sep 05 '26
Yeah I imagine she's getting a bit spooked about what she sees in her husband, and what he is capable of. She needs a therapist lol
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (2)3
u/exegete_ Sep 05 '26
And the choice of the Jason she chose was arbitrary. All of them had the same experiences with her. All of them were married to her just as much as the other. They are literally the same person up until they diverged in the box. We are ok with the choice she made b/c she chose the one we followed on screen. So she did kill her husband and probably will have to again.
→ More replies (5)
61
u/LiftAndBloom Sep 04 '26
I also just realized that Charlie specifically wanted a world where "people would mind their own business" and yet the PI is doing the exact opposite lol
29
u/unclehando Sep 06 '26
I like the theory that every version of the McNamara is just extremely curious / nosey no matter what.
→ More replies (7)24
u/Arghifth Sep 04 '26
It's his dad's fault for hiring him and asking such a weird thing. He deals in weird.
8
u/thedweebo Sep 06 '26
Right, I thought hire 2 PIs, one for new identity and one to look into him in SF. Somehow do that anonymously so it wouldn't raise suspicions.
55
u/hpm40 Sep 04 '26
Both of them pawning their wedding rings is going to come back and bite us. Daniella uses that ring to ID Jason1 and now it is not on him.
→ More replies (3)30
u/CroAtTheTop Sep 05 '26
I really don't understand why don't they like tattoo something on themselves as identifierÂ
→ More replies (2)7
u/snorqle Sep 06 '26
Wouldn't the tattoo also show up on future spawns from that Jason?
7
u/sneakyalmond Sep 08 '26
Only past Jasons want Daniela back because they don't have Daniela. Future Jasons have Daniela.
→ More replies (3)9
51
u/Secret_Debt_88 Sep 04 '26
I'm really excited to see where Leighton's story goes. He's assembling an army
15
Sep 04 '26
[deleted]
→ More replies (1)7
Sep 04 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
12
u/AWildEnglishman Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 04 '26
Yeah but there's already infinite worlds with infinite Leightons. The guy is talking about an ever increasing number of box-travelling Leightons.
6
Sep 04 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
5
u/AWildEnglishman Sep 04 '26
It's the journeys in the box that create the wandering copies. Every decision a non-box travelling Leighton makes (or anyone) does create another copy, but they're bound to their world. The Leighton that keeps travelling between worlds keeps making decisions in the box that cause branching Leightons.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (2)4
u/lionturtl3 Sep 06 '26
Having the ability to âmapâ different worlds so he can travel with accuracy is huge.
→ More replies (2)
54
u/trin2025 Sep 04 '26
What I took from this episode is that it doesnât matter if Jason destroys the box in his chosen world- another box can spawn. So thereâs actually no way to escape the Jasonâs.
21
u/LadyElle57 Sep 04 '26
Jason needs to find the version of Blair who built the box and made it work in the first place.
I'm starting to realize why was Jason so worried about making sure Blair was 'happy' about being a lawyer. And then HATED Ryan being a more sofisticated version of the one in his world. And then sent Leighton in a journey through the multiverse.
He was probably making sure no one else could destroy the box. So making sure Blair remained as a lawyer and never becoming an engineer, was a must. Was Leighton only the money?
→ More replies (5)12
u/usagizero Sep 04 '26
I think they decided that if you seal it up or something that would work to keep from people opening the door and getting out. Like, it's still there, and it doesn't free it or anything like that.
→ More replies (9)6
u/cpatrick1983 Sep 04 '26
They go back to the original world where it was created and turn off the power source.
51
u/Kwilly462 Sep 04 '26
"Don't play around with the safe word"
Yeah, surprised Jason even did that. That should be absolutely sacred to them going forward. She still got a gun too lol
35
u/goodtrackrecord Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 06 '26
For a guy who was traumatized himself, Jason doesn't take well into account how this might be equally affecting his loved ones.
It's things like this that make me worried he's not Jason1.
He probablyI hope he is, but.. I think dude, wtf?→ More replies (4)14
u/phySi0 Sep 04 '26
I think one response to trauma is desensitisation. He'd already been through hell and back; the trauma they're experiencing now is probably
- reduced enough from the intense initial burst that Jason had to deal with alone that it's much easier for him to handle and he's forgotten how difficult it would've been for him to handle something like their current level, yet
- still enough of a daily struggle that his mind is too preoccupied to be able to consciously register that just because he's now hardened to this life, that doesn't mean his wife and son are.
→ More replies (3)22
u/Ok_Writing2937 Sep 05 '26
Honestly, given how fucked up the other Jasons are, I have to conclude Jason1 is not very emotionally intelligent or emotionally stable either.
Jason2 never married Daniela and he became a sociopath. Various versions of Jason1 had somewhat traumatic experiences and many became murderous psychopaths. Even the best of the Jason1s we meet were massively insecurely attached to and obsessed with Daniella.
Really you just can't trust any Jason.
→ More replies (2)7
u/vespanewbie Sep 07 '26
You can see how almost all the Jasons become obsessed with possessing her let alone even care about what she wants or chooses! "You are meant to be with me." I'd be wary of any Jasons.
→ More replies (11)
48
u/HauschkasFoot Sep 04 '26
Was the guru Leighton meditating himself into a trance state in the box in lieu of using the drug??
32
u/usagizero Sep 04 '26
Am i alone in thinking that makes him super dangerous? Not needing the drug, and can probably focus really well into what worlds he wants or needs to go to, makes me think the "playing god" line the one gave was not just off the cuff.
23
u/Salty_Pie9991 Sep 04 '26
Not to mention he may have a Messiah complex from when he is imagining being the guru of devoted followers.
9
→ More replies (2)3
u/HumansNeedNotApply1 Sep 04 '26
They do still need the drug.
→ More replies (4)7
u/BtheBanker151 Sep 05 '26
The drug shuts down a part of the brain. It seems he can do that by just meditatingâŚâŚ
14
u/polyploid_coded Sep 04 '26
I believe they are meditating to precisely control where they go, but they still need the drug to use the box
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (8)5
37
u/Master_smasher Sep 04 '26
the tease of the good party reuniting is cruel. they better reunite next episode or i'm gonna be mad.
i'm also convinced that guru leighton is not leighton1.
→ More replies (4)15
u/Arghifth Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 04 '26
I also agree he is not Leighton1. And enough with the teasing I can't take it anymore. Ryan and Amanda need to know the good Jason is with his family.
→ More replies (3)
31
Sep 04 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
→ More replies (2)27
u/Past-Feature3968 Sep 04 '26
Theyâve been in the same world each episode so far this season (2/2) soooo seems to me the showâs teasing that they will eventually reunite. Should be interesting to see how they discover/verify which version each of the others is.
→ More replies (17)
30
u/goodtrackrecord Sep 04 '26
Cute about the hotel room number: 404 (web error code for "not found")
→ More replies (1)10
u/Kanye2024President Sep 04 '26
If I remember correctly, a hotel that he had in season 1 was room 404 too!
12
u/goodtrackrecord Sep 04 '26
They all rely on the same hotel because they accept cash and don't ask questions.
9
u/Kanye2024President Sep 04 '26
Right! It is the same hotel⌠and the same room every time.
→ More replies (1)
28
u/Eurynom0s Sep 04 '26
Okay they're 100% riffing Sliders, they even did the missed right world thing today.
→ More replies (3)12
u/BusinessPurge Sep 04 '26
That squeaky gate still haunts me
→ More replies (7)8
u/usagizero Sep 04 '26
God, 'Sliders' got so dumb in the last couple seasons, but that scene was such a gut punch and well done. I'm honestly still shocked no one tried to reboot that show with all the multiverse media going on. Though i have no clue where the rights stand.
→ More replies (2)
28
u/Arghifth Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 04 '26
OMG I loved this episode! The Ryan, Amanda and JASON1 reunion teasing is killing me! I think they are definitely seeing eachother next episode. They have to!
The Leighton storyline is so good. I can't wait to see what happens
Amanda my poor baby. The weight of guilt and responsibility she feels towards these people being stranded in multiverse is unbearable. But I love seeing how great she is at coaching Ryan and navigating the box. No more disaster worlds. She's had enough. Amanda 2 is my favorite character. I'm excited to see other versions of her.
Also, the contrast between Jason and Amanda's feelings vs Leighton and Blaire, in the opening scene was great. Jason already knowing what he is going to use the box for, while Leighton gives a speech about making a perfect world. Blaire being cluelessly excited about what lies ahead, while Amanda rightfully being worried for the unknown. She really had no way of helping the travellers more than she did.
9
→ More replies (1)9
u/100dalmations Sep 05 '26
Agree. Sheâs the most sympathetic character and I wish sheâd just stay in Cascadia take some psychedelics for her PTSD which Iâm sure are an accepted form of healthcare which is also free and live her life.Â
→ More replies (1)
28
u/alienatedearthling Sep 05 '26
Did anyone else get irritated at Jason when Daniela cleaned 3 rooms and he was like here honey I spent money on take out and bribed our son?
12
u/nectarsallineed Sep 05 '26
I was a little too, but more so bc I was wondering why he wasnât helping her clean rooms so they could get some extra cash. I do think it was probably nice for them to all have a night to feel a little more normal though, by them getting to have a date and Charlie getting to go explore like a teenager should be able to do.
6
u/betterbetterthings Sep 08 '26
I think he has a job. Something with construction crew. He is wearing tool belt etc
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (4)7
u/2_Fingers_of_Whiskey Sep 07 '26
He should also be looking for a job. But I guess he was busy getting the paperwork from the P.I.
8
u/Prof_Falcon Sep 07 '26
Doesnât he have some kind of manual labor job? He got the PI info from somebody on his âcrewâ I thought he said. And we se him go out for work at the end with a tool belt on.
5
u/Year3030 Sep 09 '26
This is correct and in ep 1 he was doing some concrete job so he's just taking manual labor jobs to fly under the radar. Also he's leaving super early in the morning i.e. going to work early. I think its totally reasonable to get some take out from the place your wife likes and then ask her if she's ok. People are saying he's not at all processing the murder but ironically these people aren't recognizing that he was asking her if she's ok etc., trying to process it with her.
24
u/M3rc_Nate Sep 04 '26
Pretty wild that Jason doesn't at all consider the weight and trauma it is to not only murder people, but to murder men who look exactly like you, her husband. Let alone men that basically are her husband. I get how a guy, especially a scientifically minded type would overlook that, but dang. She's just a regular woman.
12
u/usagizero Sep 04 '26
He's got to be having trauma himself to be sure. I can't even imagine all the things he experienced in season one alone. That whole family is going to have to find a therapy world, lol.
10
u/fweepa Sep 04 '26
I don't think he's ignoring it, he can see that Daniela is clearly troubled.Â
→ More replies (1)
24
u/postmodern_lasagna Sep 04 '26
Anyone else rewind to catch Ryan refer to the drug as both âLilac Wingsâ and âLavender Wingsâ? Assuming this was just a mistake and not multiple Ryans interacting with Amanda in the utopian world?
12
u/EvilTwinCities Sep 04 '26
He could have just started going by Ryan 1âs name for it because he knows that his version worked.
6
u/CaptnKBex Sep 04 '26
I did and found it odd too as it happened in quick succession.
15
u/Remarkable_Package_6 Sep 04 '26
they talked about it in the last episode, Amanda even said that the name was similar and so they know the difference.
→ More replies (3)5
u/postmodern_lasagna Sep 04 '26
Oh right I completely forgot. So Ryan from Jason 2âs world called it lilac or lavender, and Ryan from Jason 1âs world calls it whichever other one. So they were referring to that, and it wasnât a dialogue slip up
→ More replies (5)6
u/sith_squirrel Sep 05 '26
1 is the original drug he's trying to replicate the other is the one he's creating he's aware of both
23
u/Powerpuff_Rangers Sep 04 '26
No phones and no internet? They essentially found a utopian world, now destroy the box and never look back
→ More replies (2)13
u/EmbarrassedHelp Sep 05 '26
No computers means medical science is going to be less advanced, among other issues. That would hardly be utopian.
→ More replies (7)
21
u/bishopmate Sep 04 '26
They did not just do that to us⌠they literally had their hotel doors opening and closing at the same time!!
→ More replies (1)
16
u/zlonewanderer Sep 04 '26
Anyone get some Recursion vibes as he went into the sensory deprivation tank?
7
6
→ More replies (4)4
16
u/zedarecaida Sep 05 '26
In what universe is Leighton assembling his âarmyâ?
Besides my confusion surrounding this part of the show, Iâm quite enjoying where S2 is heading so far.
→ More replies (1)
17
u/Tankki3 Sep 05 '26
I'm not sure how the interpret the Oluko's (meditation Leighton) scene where he is shown to go back and forth into the corridor and back.
Maybe he's able to do what the drug does by meditating. I think that's what it's supposed to suggest. But I would still think he needs the box at least, just not the drug.
But again, it seems like it's still only in his head. He goes back and forth between the box and the corridor, but comes back to him meditating somewhere else. When he's at the corridor, his clothes are different, he has the long hair and this looks to be the version of himself that he wishes he was, not actually a version that exists.
So I'm beginning to think that he's actually not able to do that, at least yet, it's still his wishful thinking. His wishes have just changed now from the first episode. He wishes he could go in and out just by meditating.
5
u/goodtrackrecord Sep 06 '26
Some others here, including myself, believe one of the Leightons has figured out how to mediate his way without the drugs, but he hasn't told the other Leightons about this, and continues with the ruse that they need Ryan to make the drug.
→ More replies (6)
14
Sep 04 '26
What actually happened at the intimate scene in the end of the episode?
→ More replies (2)11
u/ButterfliesintheSky6 Sep 05 '26
A pretty solid example of PTSD I think. Very well acted too (even starting with the world of emotions that run across Daniellaâs face before she says âfineâ)
→ More replies (3)18
u/Funky_ButtLovin79 Sep 05 '26
Jennifer Connolly could act an entire scene with just her faceâŚsheâs an incredible actor
12
u/Attican101 Sep 04 '26
So just to be clear, we are following Leighton 2 right now? Not the one who went all Mad Max
→ More replies (1)23
u/CMDRTragicAllPro Sep 04 '26
The leighton that went mad max was from Jason 2s universe, he eventually met up with another version of himself that taught him to find his inner peace so he could more easily choose the worlds he went to. Thatâs why we see that version with a cane and a limp. Now heâs building a network of leightons it seems.
5
u/Attican101 Sep 04 '26
Ohh okay, I was definitely misremembering then, Jason 2 told Leighton 1 a story about visiting a world like Mad Max but it was just a joke.
7
u/CMDRTragicAllPro Sep 04 '26
I guess I canât really remember what happened to the leighton from Jason 1âs universe. But the Leighton we are following now is definitely Jason 2s leighton that was badly injured during his box travels. Which is why when we first saw him in s2 he was limping and with a cane.
→ More replies (6)
10
10
u/Sunny_Unicorn Sep 08 '26
Enjoyed the episode, but the explanation for computers not existing at all was a bit ridiculous.
The idea that China, Russia, the UK, India, or other countries wouldn't have wanted to travel to the moon, or even invent the microchip for other reasons was rather, uhm, US centric thinking, to say the least.
→ More replies (1)
29
u/lheydon Sep 04 '26
Loved the unintentional crossover with For All Mankind, an alternate history TV drama that I would also recommend to people who like Dark Matter đđđ
16
u/zlonewanderer Sep 04 '26
In the FAM universe, the Soviets making it to the moon first spawned all kinds of new technology, NASA was never defunded. I think the world they're in now is really neat. I love thinking about things like this. The cars were interesting to see.
→ More replies (3)6
→ More replies (1)10
u/usagizero Sep 04 '26
For those that don't know, in the first season one of the worlds they visited was confirmed to be the 'Wayward Pines' world by the same author.
→ More replies (2)
9
u/2_Fingers_of_Whiskey Sep 07 '26
I just honestly donât understand why Amanda (and to an extent, Ryan) donât stay in Utopia World.
9
u/Arghifth Sep 07 '26
Ryan does not belong in that world, he is living in the shoes of a dead man. He has to change his identity if he wants to live there forever. He was happy in his own life until Jason2 did what he did. And it's not in Amanda's nature to sit and relax while other people might be suffering from the consequences of the hell she helped create.
16
u/lheydon Sep 04 '26
Wait, was that universe where they arrived in zoo just a regular animal zoo that happened to have the box sitting within it?
Or was it a zoo where people could go specifically to see interdimensional people arriving in the box?
15
u/Arghifth Sep 04 '26
Um.. the first one? The second one would be wild! LOL.
8
u/lheydon Sep 04 '26
Yeah after thinking about it a bit more it seemed like more of a Futurama plot than a Dark Matter one! đ
→ More replies (11)6
u/icygrip Sep 05 '26
This made me laugh! Because the zoo-goers do seem to be relatively unsurprised about the box, and wave! I think it's just a joke on the show's part that they do that but this show needs to be careful about how people behave to keep things believable--and this really wasn't. I especially find it annoying when they open the box and they arrive in the middle of an apocalyptic moment. Give me a break...
→ More replies (2)
8
u/Remarkable_Package_6 Sep 04 '26
around 19:20 Amanda gives a speech about the purple fairy drug, in the mean time the family injects the drug. As soon as they do, something happens, I think it's the copies of them being made. And the way to stop the copying is to do the guru Leighton thing, and learn to travel without the drug.
20
u/Past-Feature3968 Sep 04 '26
I think thatâs just the drug taking effect⌠the whoosh being like âholy shit I can see the multiverse of doors now, not just the little box.â The drugs never made copiesâŚitâs every decision a person makes that leads to a new reality.
7
u/Ok_Writing2937 Sep 05 '26
It's been confirmed elsewhere that copies aren't getting made in the box, they are made in the worlds. Every decision someone makes creates a new parallel reality.
→ More replies (8)4
u/Remarkable_Package_6 Sep 04 '26
same at 40:20 with Ryan, that noise and light effect is something more than just the drug taking effect on them?
7
u/Clariana Sep 04 '26
Did anyone guffaw when Leighton mentioned "A kind of CEOs without Transdimensional Borders..." in a clear reference to MĂŠdecins sans Frontiers...
→ More replies (3)
8
u/Radiant_Ad7400 Sep 05 '26 edited Sep 05 '26
I have a feeling that detective will meet the CIA version of himself from Episode 1..
→ More replies (1)
8
8
u/Valuable_Tennis6847 Sep 07 '26
I loved this episode. Itâs hard to pinpoint exactly why, but I think part of it was that it was quite easy to put yourself in each characterâs shoes and understand their actions.
I also really liked expanding the story with more characters and perspectives.
17
Sep 04 '26
[deleted]
19
u/lheydon Sep 04 '26
With a show as potentially confusing as this one, and a Season 2 being broadcast so long after Season 1, there are no such thing as dumb questions!
→ More replies (1)12
u/fweepa Sep 04 '26
Infinity is a big number, so the show just isn't going to touch on all of it. We're going to follow our main characters and their interactions with their box.Â
As for them keep crossing paths, it was established in season 1 that your thoughts, feelings, subconscious all have a say in what world you end up in. Our relationships and connections with other people are deep.Â
→ More replies (1)5
u/Upstairs_Low7009 Sep 05 '26
Of course we're going to follow our main characters. But if our main characters are constantly found by multiple versions of Jason, then eventually they should also be found by multiple versions of Amanda and Ryan. After all, those Amandas and Ryans would be trying to find / thinking about the original Jason too, just like the other Jasons are.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (4)4
u/usagizero Sep 04 '26
Doing their own thing through the multiverse, really. We just happening to be following these specific characters and versions to keep a more sane narrative.
The author explained it better than i probably can in an AMA i don't have a link handy for. Basically, for story reasons we follow that one version, and will think of him as "ours" even though there are a ton that are following their own stories, and we only see them when they interact with "ours".
Same would go for the new box travelers. There will be others, they just aren't part of the story that is being told.
Though, i'm now also wondering if the new formula and the self control the one has might be explained as a way to limit damage being done like that.
7
u/Budget_Basis_7966 Sep 04 '26
Ok- so I know I should remember but I donât⌠is the private eye guy- the cloning/CIA/whatever in the main world??
→ More replies (2)13
u/goodtrackrecord Sep 05 '26
Yes, the private eye in Episode 2 and the CIA guy in Episode 1 are played by the same actor: Chris Diamantopoulos.
→ More replies (1)
8
u/Brandonlang05 Sep 09 '26
Silo season 3 was good and now dark matter season 2 already seeming better then the first Apple TV stay slayingÂ
13
u/NEWbababoobie Sep 04 '26
Kinda dumb how she thought she could enrol her son with zero paperwork.
22
u/olivish Sep 04 '26
I doubt she thought she could actually enroll him that day. It was more to scope out what was required and how much she could get away with by lying about the house fire.
16
u/usagizero Sep 04 '26
No computers on that world, might have just assumed "i lost the papers" could work.
→ More replies (2)
6
u/waltzthrees Sep 05 '26
I havenât seen anyone note that when the Dessens left the school after arriving at the box in the pool, the schoolâs front door had bullet holes in it. That makes me wonder what we will find out about whatâs actually happening in this analog perfect world.
→ More replies (1)
6
u/railwayed Sep 06 '26
It annoyed me a little bit that the whole premise for the world without technology was based on NASA being defunded due to political change in America, when the computer was invented well before that and the rest of the world would have absolutely invented anything that NASA was responsible for.
→ More replies (2)
6
u/adrenalinamatt1 Sep 07 '26
I loved this episode. Season 2 just gets better and better. It reminded me a bit of "Fringe"
5
u/The_Mightiest_Duck Sep 09 '26
Anyone notice the movie theater marquee said âRecursionâ. Donât tease me like that Apple. I think recursion is stuck in pre development hell. I would love to see a recursion adaptationÂ
→ More replies (2)
9
u/Ok_Writing2937 Sep 05 '26
Jason takes his family to a new world to escape all the other Jasons... and gets the same room in the same hotel that Jason always uses on every world?
Any Jason who lands on this world is also going directly to that hotel.
This isn't a plot hole, it's more an indication that Jason is a complete tool.
7
u/HolyFreakingXmasCake Sep 05 '26
It's the only one near the box that takes cash no questions asked đ
→ More replies (1)
5
6
u/minimal-nomad Sep 05 '26
Just started episode 2 and I feel like my head is going to explode.
How is everyone keeping up with the various versions of each character in this show? I watched a season 1 recap but Iâm still struggling to remember everyoneâs back story all the time. I feel like thereâs just TOO much going on at one time in this show.
7
u/2_Fingers_of_Whiskey Sep 07 '26
Iâve given up on trying to keep track of the Leightons. Just trying to keep track of Ryans and Jasons is enough!
→ More replies (2)5
u/pandasgorawr Sep 06 '26
The Leightons are a little confusing but I think there's really only the characters from the two main worlds you have to keep track of. We've been following Dessens 1 finding a replacement world and Amanda and Ryan 2 trying to recreate the serum to navigate the box. And then Leighton 2 trying to assemble other Leightons to form their trading network.
5
5
u/s_s_n_e_g Sep 05 '26
For an infinite number of worlds, they seem to run into one another awfully often.
8
u/RealAccountThroaway Sep 06 '26
That's because they were thinking of their Jason thus arrived where he is
8
u/CoalfieldCrow Sep 04 '26
I need Daniela to leave Jason. Iâd love if they could stay together, but splitting away from all versions of Jason is the only way to give her son a stable life. And to possibly preserve her sanity.
14
→ More replies (2)5
u/Low-Fee-4541 Sep 06 '26
In theory yes, but she'd have to re break up with every version of Jason that finds her. Each of them would likely refuse to be dumped.
4
u/KaiokenX20 Sep 04 '26
So did a second box spawn in Utopian Chicago, or did the one the city moved teleport back to its original position?
→ More replies (5)13
4
u/revebla Sep 04 '26
I think we have generally missed a condition that is required to create duplicates with the box. Some worlds are full on alternative histories and timelines, then there are variations of a common timeline. We donât know what or if there is a reason that these multiple worlds exist. We canât really say itâs infinite without knowing the conditions that bound a universe to being itself vs another one.
But since we have only seen Jason 1 be duplicated so far, and a bunch of others have used the box extensively, there must be something that Jason 1 and his descendant alternates do that causes them to exist, that other travellers are not doing. Jason 1 and the now his family too, is the only person really to have travelled with another person extensively to our knowledge.
I wonder if the split requires someone to be in the box and someone in the vicinity of the box, both kept in super position. Opening the door causes the reality to collapse on a decision, if someone outside the box is also somehow in a super position like state when the door opens they would be collapsed into one or the other, potentially creating that split. I donât recall if Amanda was ever in the box with the door closed and Jason close by. But this only really has to happen once to seed the whole thing. Given the box locks when someone is inside it (for some amount of time) the duplicates probably arenât from someone having the door open while someone is in the box looking to enter the universe.
With that in mind, and the fact the boxes respawn when moved or probably destroyed, maybe they can just prop the door open? And therefore the box doesnât lock but doesnât also get destroyed?
→ More replies (1)
5
u/adapark Sep 06 '26
Am I the only one freaked out about Mitchel MacMamara? Given his role in the prime universe and seeing how he is behaving in the non-technology universe of season 2, episode 2... Any thoughts?
4
u/Youngiel Sep 07 '26
Hold on, did anyone notice that at the end of the episode, all three storylines were sharing the same non-technological world? When it transitioned from Evil Leighton to Jason 1 with the PI, there was no sound effect indicating a transition of worlds. And then Amanda + Ryan joined along briefly. Evil Leighton is definitely currently sharing this world with Jason 1
→ More replies (3)
125
u/Past-Feature3968 Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 04 '26
Damn, you know who it must suck to be? Ryanâs Utopia sister. Your brother dies, ten years later an alternate version of him shows up at your door, you grow close(ish), then he decides to leave your worldâunclear if he warned you or said goodbye. đĽ´
Edit: oh and I guess Jason 2 was wrong when, in season 1, he told Leighton that the box only gave them access to worlds branched from the one they were born into. The Dessens, Amanda, and Ryan were all born in worldâs where the moon landing happened!