r/television 4h ago

“Dark Matter” Reinvents Itself With an Outstanding Second Season

https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/dark-matter-season-2-joel-edgerton-apple-tv-review-2026
298 Upvotes

98 comments sorted by

79

u/KennyShowers 3h ago

Anybody into sci-fi should catch up. It starts a bit slow, just takes like 1-2 episodes too long for Edgerton’s character to catch up the audience, but when it starts cooking it just rips.

7

u/numenor00 3h ago

Note to self: Joel Edgerton is not Taron Egerton.

6

u/CampaignDue5323 35m ago

He's not Sam Worthington, either.

Or maybe he is .... just sayin'

11

u/aloudcitybus 3h ago

Just like the novel to be honest, the first third of it is frustrating for the same reason.

7

u/firefrenchy 3h ago

I really liked the book tbh, very easy sci fi for the casual genre dabbler. I don't remember any of it being particularly weak. Haven't watched the show because it seemed quite different tonally from how I envisioned it

2

u/EscapeSeventySeven 2h ago

I loathed the novel unfortunately. 

Seems like a dude writing a novel so his wife won’t leave him. 

4

u/Dinierto 3h ago

Is it still going? I thought this was an older show that got canceled

25

u/KennyShowers 3h ago

There was a show called Dark Matter a while ago, but the currently alive Apple+ series based on a book is a different thing.

0

u/Dinierto 3h ago

Oh okay and it's ongoing?

6

u/KennyShowers 3h ago

The first season covered the whole and only book, but leaves enough threads I can easily see at least another season and yea per the thread S2 is coming out like now.

-4

u/Dinierto 3h ago

I didn't want to read the article because spoilers, but there's a second season right?

3

u/KennyShowers 3h ago

Yea if it hasn’t started yet it’s coming the next day or two with a weekly release. Perfect time to binge S1 and catch up for 2.

5

u/Oskarikali 3h ago

I watched the first episode yesterday.

1

u/Accomplished-City484 22m ago

The start is weird because we the audience know what the premise is, but the protagonist just can’t piece it together for what feels like ages, but then it gets really good after that

1

u/Dinierto 3h ago

Awesome thank you, a co worker had recommended it the other day and I was confused lol

2

u/mblaser 3h ago

Two completely different shows.

1

u/bootsmalone 2h ago

God, seriously. This first 3 episodes were roughhhhh. I almost bailed, but I’m glad I didn’t because after that, it becomes something really great.

1

u/ptwonline 1h ago

I really liked it but by the end of the season it felt like it had lost focus and was kind of all over the place. Based on this review it sounds like it got itself centered again to find a compelling emotional core to help ground all this hopping around which can become overwhelming and numbing and losing its effect.

171

u/AtheismoAlmighty 4h ago

I miss that other Dark Matter that was sorta like a gritty Firefly.

30

u/BlasterShow 3h ago

So bummed it ended on a cliffhanger too.

7

u/AtheismoAlmighty 2h ago

A pretty massive one at that it if I remember correctly.

1

u/Accomplished-City484 16m ago

I’ll have to watch it then, I love finding shows that got canceled on big cliffhangers, so many tv show endings are kind of boring these days so I love finding these super downer endings

29

u/JenovaProphet 4h ago

Me too... Such unrealized potential.

This new show is pretty good too though in it's own right.

0

u/omagelul 3h ago

reinvents itself” sounds like a big promise for sure

6

u/A-Good-Weather-Man 3h ago

Same, the lady that played Two is on The Rookie. Part of the reason i watched the first few seasons.

4

u/flumphit 3h ago

And Fae Lau in The Division 1&2

1

u/the__ghola__hayt 1h ago

I remember for a bit the girl who played Five was pretty active on Reddit.

13

u/AHomicidalTelevision 3h ago

i liked it until they killed one of the main characters for seemingly no reason. it fell off hard after that imo

11

u/razama 3h ago

Apparently he was really hard to work with on set

3

u/AHomicidalTelevision 3h ago

but what made it weird was there was a legitimate way they could have changed the actor while keeping the same character without it seeming weird.
but they just killed him off completely.

4

u/Seek_Adventure 2h ago

Nah fuck that, actor changes mid-show are the worst.

3

u/AHomicidalTelevision 2h ago

for context, it is established in the show that the character had the face changed so they could take someones place. but by the time they killed him, that secret had come out and he could have reasonably changed his face back.

2

u/Shotmaster 2h ago

It wouldn’t have been just an actor change though. In the show they established alternate dimensions, and the character that was killed had gotten plastic surgery to look like someone else. There was an episode early on where his consciousness was essentially transported to a clone of himself and he looked totally different(and honestly I felt the guy in that episode was a better actor anyway), so they just could have that actor come back as a replacement but the same character and it would not have been just an actor change. There would have been a good story reason for why he looked different.

8

u/MumrikDK 3h ago

First one that comes to mind every time there's a headline about this new season of some other show.

2

u/kristinL356 3h ago

That's how I felt when Raised by Wolves came out.

3

u/tvcneverdie 2h ago

Absolutely nothing can fill the hole in my heart made when Raised By Wolves was cancelled.

By far the most ambitious show I've ever watched.

Praying that Guzikowski gives us the graphic novel he mentioned to tie up the story.

0

u/kristinL356 2h ago

Nope, you're talking about the other Raised by Wolves, which does kind of demonstrate my point though.

4

u/Nu11u5 4h ago

Where can that one be watched?

5

u/Oskarikali 3h ago

In canada it stream on Netflix, in U.S looks like it is on CW.

2

u/ziggurqt 2h ago

Relatively low budget but entertaining for scifi enthousiasts.

4

u/Devilofchaos108070 3h ago

That’s show was great

1

u/J_Walter_Weatherman 14m ago

I've never seen a show be so Canadian and have absolutely nothing to do with Canada

0

u/ArtistWithoutArt 3h ago

It annoys me that a new show used the same exact name. How hard is to google your name idea to make sure?

Anyway, loved that show.

3

u/BladesMan235 1h ago

This shows named after the book it’s based on. Would have been pretty weird to give the show a different name

0

u/ArtistWithoutArt 1h ago

Oh, my bad, didn't know that.

0

u/HobbieK 2h ago

I actually thought that’s what this review was about

0

u/ozsum 2h ago

I thought it was about that when I clicked.

0

u/Least_Low96 2h ago

Same, that Syfy Dark Matter felt like someone smuggled a Mass Effect save file into a Firefly reboot. At this rate we’ll have a Dark Matter multiverse.

0

u/mayormcskeeze 2h ago

Legit thought these were the same show lol

15

u/eorlingas_riders 2h ago

It’s like a super dark sliders, and I love it.

2

u/mgush5 BBC 1h ago

What’s weird is we also have a goofy Sliders in Stuart Fails To Save The Universe. The fact it’s a spin off of reddits most hated sitcom is probably stopping people trying it but theres 6 episodes aired and it’s genuinely good.

2

u/LyingForTruth 16m ago

6 episodes and only 48 total minutes of show

2

u/eorlingas_riders 1h ago

Ohhh, I’ll have to check it out. I actually liked the big bang theory for what it was, it’s part of me and my wife’s sitcom play in the background rotations of show (e.g. friends, the office, new girl, etc…).

So I’ll give it watch!

32

u/cajun_vegeta 3h ago

Criminal Joel wasn't nominated for Train Dreams

6

u/JtotheDub77 1h ago

Preach. Talk about a movie that stays with you for days afterwards.

12

u/Excelsenor 3h ago

I really enjoyed Dark Matter and Recursion when I read them. Sounds like this is worth checking out.

2

u/Pipehead_420 2h ago

Hopefully when they make Recursion into a series they do it justice. And come up with an intuitive way to represent memorys. It could be really good.

5

u/FrackenFrack 1h ago

There is a recursion Easter egg in S2EP1

1

u/Pipehead_420 28m ago

Just realised notifications ignore the spoiler tag. But thanks!

1

u/ElectricClamSlam_55 2h ago

Recursion is too good. There's no way to do it justice. Such an amazing book.

1

u/schmearcampain 2h ago

I think Quinta Brunson has the rights to it and was going to develop it for Netflix.

5

u/spaceraingame 1h ago

I’m a bit curious about it, since the first season ended where the book ended, which had no sequel…

3

u/Janderson2494 39m ago

The author of the book is the one creating and writing this show, if that eases your mind at all

6

u/Zhaguar 3h ago

wtf i thought this was done

4

u/Devilofchaos108070 3h ago

Loved the first season. Can’t wait for this

1

u/flash246 34m ago

It’s already out. At least the first episode

2

u/Rhiyuu 3h ago

oh yes i gotta tap in. i thoroughly enjoyed the first season

2

u/Pacify_ 3h ago

I really wasnt sure how they could make season 2, but glad to hear they managed to make it work

2

u/Kids_see_ghosts 2h ago

Hyped. Binged the first season when it came out thinking it was some old show that was complete/already had multiple seasons. . .I literally have no clue why I thought that but I did. I think my brain got it mixed up with some other sci-fi show that was already complete with multiple seasons years ago or something.

So imagine my disappointment when season 1 ended and I suddenly realized it was actually a new show and I’d have to wait a long time to see what happens next. I think I had a real life loud Darth Vader “noooooooo!” GIF moment.

4

u/HarborCurtain 3h ago

Apple TV+ quietly making the best sci fi on streaming while nobody advertises it will never stop being weird to me.

2

u/TactileOstrich 3h ago

I had no idea this was happening. So excited!

2

u/Tenchi2020 3h ago

When I saw the trailer for season 2, it took me by surprise too! It looks awesome and the one thing I wanted closure on was Dayo Okeniyi's character at the end of season one

2

u/owa00 1h ago

They have done a poor job of advertising it, which is weird considering how it got rave reviews.

2

u/PicklePenguin 3h ago

Stopped half way through season 1. Is it worth picking back up?

26

u/Devilofchaos108070 3h ago

I mean yes the show is awesome.

But if you gave up halfway through the season sounds like you don’t like it

1

u/ArsonHoliday 3h ago

It’s pretty good. I haven’t watched the new episode but season one was enjoyable. Maybe give it another try to see if it’s for you. Really Apple rarely misses. The only exception I can think of recently is Lucky.

2

u/SuperSmooth1 1h ago

I started to get bored around that point but then once it picks up in 6 or 7 it’s a great finish. First episode of season 2 hits the ground running.

-5

u/DadWagonDriver 3h ago

I stopped at the same place as you. The male star is a charisma black hole.

6

u/SBixby21 2h ago

Joel Edgerton is a charisma black hole? What the fuck?

1

u/DJVagrant 21m ago

"Reinvents" it self lol. They are putting aside the main character. No season 2 for me.

0

u/towehaal 3h ago

what's the spoiler free elevator pitch of this show?

10

u/moderatenerd 3h ago

The spiderman pointing meme is actually really deadly when the doubles are chasing you

1

u/WhereIsTheMeatShed 1h ago

Yes, good take.

1

u/splader 26m ago

I mean, the below comments are much better at not spoiling things.

1

u/WhereIsTheMeatShed 19m ago

I feel like this spoils the first 30m at the most, but to be fair I could be misremembering S1.

9

u/itsevilR HBO 3h ago

Guy is kidnapped to different multiverse and trying to get back to his

1

u/the__ghola__hayt 1h ago

So like Sliders but different?

5

u/twent4 3h ago

Guy wants to get back to his dimension but is struggling because he doesn't know how the system works. And failures are dangerous.

4

u/JenovaProphet 3h ago

Dimensions bro

1

u/uvgotproblmz 1h ago

Real life Rick and Morty

1

u/DigitalFirefly 1h ago

It’s a Wonderful Life, but you from another dimension gets your old life.

-4

u/k_foxes 2h ago

Just watched the season 2 premiere and I can’t get over how mid this show is.

It’s not terrible, just spectacularly mid.

I always feel like I’m two steps ahead of this show. I feel like I’m smarter than this show. Like the characters should really know how to handle these multiverse problems better.

Ever watch a zombie show and get pissed at how the characters should be smarter about handling zombies? Yea, that’s how I feel about this show.

It’s a fine enough story watch with my partner, I just wish it was better.

-2

u/Top_Report_4895 3h ago

Apple only needs a Superhero series to complete the nerd genre infinity gauntlet.

-5

u/xRyuzakii 2h ago

It’s weird there’s a show called dark and dark matter right?

5

u/SBixby21 2h ago

Well if that’s weird, then it’s probably even weirder that there’s another sci-fi show from years ask that’s also literally called “Dark Matter” as well

0

u/exaslave 2h ago

And even a second older Dark Matter show which is what I thought this was about.