The adaptation of the book Dark Matter premiered on the eve of a long personal trip and the return of House of the Dragon, so it was left in the shadow of a lack of time and a favorite theme. But the Apple TV Plus series is not just interesting because of the cast’s great performances or the production quality. It transports us to a complex yet understandable proposal, to a story of reflection and adventure, ending its first season on a high. The series’ question resonates with many people at crucial moments in their lives: if you had to choose, which version of your life would you like to survive? What version of you is really… you?

Loki or Dark Matter: the depth of the identity crisis

Dark Matter is not the first to navigate the complexity of the concept of multiverses. Loki transported us along this path, just like Spider-Man: Homecoming and Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: if our every decision opens up a possibility of reality (a timeline), what is it? the right”? If we are forced to meet, which version of ourselves would prevail?

In Marvel, as in the Apple TV Plus series, our heroes face the difficulty of dealing with these issues that can only be decided by the most altruistic personality, not the one who seeks their own happiness. It’s Loki‘s biggest challenge, who likes his versions, one of which caused chaos and who, in every attempt to fix it, lost himself and loved ones. Ultimately, the genre is fantasy/sci-fi, but the proposal is more realistic than any drama. The hero’s journey is tough, but even more so, it’s his choice.

In Dark Matter, first, we meet the kind but frustrated professor Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton), a physicist who abandoned his research career and lives in Chicago with his wife Daniela (Jennifer Connely) and their teenage son. One night, upon returning home, Jason is attacked and kidnapped by a masked man who drugs him and puts him in a box. It’s the beginning of a long nightmare.

The aggressor is himself, literally, an alternative version of his who invades his reality (timeline) because he decided that this is what matters. This “Jason 2” is cruel, selfish, and arrogant, also the most intelligent version of Jason 1. Due to the talent of Joel Edgerton, we were able to identify which is which with some ease, but always through subtleties.

We reached the end of the first season on June 28th, still not sure why Jason 2 wanted to return. It seems like it’s because of Daniela, but little by little we realize that domestic life is boring and a means for him, not the goal. Meanwhile, Jason 1 literally struggles to survive and return to his life as he knew it. To do this, he counts on the help of the sweet companion Dr. Amanda Lucas (Alice Braga), Jason 2’s abandoned girlfriend who is the only one who can help him.

From then on, when Jason 2 does whatever is necessary to deceive the people in the timeline he started to live in, Jason 1 and Amanda navigate various versions of themselves, a confrontation that exhausts them physically and psychologically. In the Dark Matter version, it is not just an important decision that determines a new portal, but the state of mind of everyone around it, that is, the balance is subtle and complex. When he finally manages to dominate part of this web, Jason 1 finally arrives in the time that was his reality but finds not only Jason 2 trying to stop him: there is Jason 3, as well as Jason 4 and Jason 5, following the numbering, also wanting to stay there. Each of these Jasons has traveled and suffered through time and is no longer the man they were, even worse, each one considers that it is the final version that deserves to stay. Jason 1 will not just have to “kill” Jason 2, but every version of himself, in an infinite possibility.

What would you do? After all, Jason 1 changed in the face of the trauma he is still experiencing. If he started the trip without a connection with Amanda, surprised that a version of himself loved someone other than Daniela, he is now more than grateful to the psychiatrist: he has an emotional involvement with her that makes him understand loving two people and still wanting to save the other ones. two women in his life from a toxic and hideous version of himself.

Along the journey, Jenniffer Conelly also has the opportunity and demand, like Edgerton, to play several Danielas, from the successful to the indifferent, each of them enchants the always passionate Jason 1. He witnesses the love of his life being murdered, dying sick, being a success, being a failure… without ever being able to interfere. The only Daniela who starts to matter is the one he initially lived with and who he is sure is “the one that prevails”. And this Daniela is at risk of death with Jason 2.

Amanda could be a lesser opportunity for Alice Braga, but the Brazilian actress once again engages us with her charm and talent, in a great performance. Amanda is the character who suffers the most throughout the story. She is the first to realize what happened, but as she didn’t “see” Jason 2 as the villain he is, she helped “Jason 1” almost instinctively, going through a profound transformation that Alice gives us with small gestures.

Amanda is vital for Jason to understand the process of navigating the multiverse and little by little the two become emotionally connected. “I hate that you know so much about me,” he says in an episode where she demonstrates not only knowing his family details but even more so how he reacts and feels about everything that surrounds him. “And I hate that you know so little about me”, he responds affectionately, reminding him that Jason once loved her more than he loves Daniela. Yes, Dark Matter is an adventure, but it invites us to reflect on much bigger things.

Just before the end, Amanda finds a universe where she realizes she can stay and be happy. Her own version of her is missing, so there is no risk of running into her. There, as she tells Jason 1, she can start over. “You have somewhere to go”, she explains emotionally because his choice is Daniela, even after everything they have survived together. “I am not. I will always be alone,” she continues. I swear, Alice made me cry and question about maturity and choices. Jason 1 jokes that there is a Jason who would choose her and that he would like to be him, but that he still needs to return to his origins. Amanda respects the choice and the two separate. At least for now, it seems.

The Ultimate “Sophie’s Choice”

Amanda’s choice to stop and leave the race is not cowardly or selfish, by refraining from witnessing Jason hook up with Daniela, she gives his family the chance to have him. If this version of Amanda is in the same timeline, she will have a connection with him as strong or stronger than Daniela, constantly altering his relationship with his wife. Amanda’s sacrifice, which is what Loki, Peter Parker, and Dr. Strange do, is what we do daily too. Because knowing which version of you survives equally determines who you love. How to choose?

When I comment on the season here, we are days away from the final episode. Jason 1 finally meets Daniela again, but he will still have to face her versions, even more so, that of the cruel Jason 2. Harrowing as it sounds, Dark Matter is a great series. Seeing how it ends and continues!

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