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Dark Matteron Apple TV+ has been a faithful adaptation of its source material for the most part, with author and show creator Blake Crouch switching things up primarily to better suit the televised version. For example, in one instance, he made the call to sacrifice some of the mystery elements andspoil the book’s biggest twistearly on in the TV show.Dark Matteris about a simple family man named Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) who gets replaced by an alternate dimension version of himself. That Jason, Jason 2, had opted to prioritize his career in science instead of his personal life, eventually building a life-size version of Schrödinger’s box to send people into alternate realities. Upon realizing he was unhappy with the path he’d taken, he uses his own contraption to travel to Jason’s dimension and swap places with him, taking overhislife.
It was the sort of mystery that wouldn’t stay a mystery for long in a visual medium, especially since the show spends more time at home with Jason’s wife, Daniela,played by Jennifer Connelly, and son Charlie (Oakes Fegley) than the book does. In turn, this produces more of a horror angle, where the audience already knows that the Jason, who’s at home with Daniela and Charlie, is a decoy. However,this isn’t the only change Crouch makes to the Apple TV+ version ofDark Matter. In the show, Jason 2 has actually made preparations for a potential return from and confrontation with Jason. This busts the door wide open to possibilities for the show’s conclusion – possibilities that may raise the stakes significantly from the version of events in the book.
Jason 2 in the Apple TV+ Version Has Surveillance
Dark Matter
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Jason 2 is shown to be more organized in theApple TV+ versionthan in the book. He has a storage locker with supplies, such as a firearm, surveillance for monitoring the teleportation box, etc. In the book, Jason can triumph over Jason 2 precisely because Jason 2 does not anticipate his return. There is no storage locker and no surveillance. He finds his way back to his original dimension and hides away in a hotel for days, planning a way to lure his family back to him. Then, once he does, he’s able to put significant distance between them and Jason 2 in their getaway.
The book concludes with a dramatic showdown where Jason has to fight not only Jason 2 but several other Jasons that have infiltrated his dimension. After a fight to the death with Jason 2, Jason, Daniela, and Charlie decide to leave everything behind to go someplace safe. So, Jason uses the box one last time, and they all march off into the unknown – together.
Instead, with Jason 2 possibly already aware that he’s back, Jason may not have any time to plot their great escape. It’s highly conceivable that he may not even reach his whole family before the confrontation occurs.Crouch may opt for a more dramatic climax in which Jason loses Charlie, andthatbecomes the impetus for him and Daniela to dimension-hop away for the last time. To start over.
Apple TV+’s Dark Matter Deals With Loss
There is precedent for Crouch to completely change the ending. For one,Dark Matterdeals with themesof regret and fear. Jason 2 spends the better part of his life grieving a lost relationship. This is what turns him toward obsession, a thing that, once Jason is in his shoes, he begins to empathize with. As he travels from one closely related dimension to the next in search of his own, he begins to feel tempted to do to another Jason exactly what was done to him.
So, if the story did go in the way of Charlie getting caught in the crossfire and ultimately meeting his demise, this temptation could be introduced in the aftermath. The show could have some sort of ambiguous ending where it’s unclear whether Jason and Daniela will mimic the path that Jason 2 took and hijack the lives of their alter egos or whether they will simply start afresh and turn their grief into something more productive.
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Regardless of whether the outcome of the fight changes, it is likely thatJason’s and Daniela’s conclusion will be more intertwined in theDark MatterTV show, since it follows both of their POVs instead of just Jason’s. In an interview withTime, Blake Crouch was quoted saying, “…I always wondered what that story would have been like, if we had followed this woman living with a man who looks just like her husband but isn’t, and she’s slowly realizing that something is off. It felt like a bit of a missed opportunity. So when the chance to do the show came up, I immediately was like, ‘Well, that would be amazing.'“Apple TV+’s latest sci-fi thrilleris available to stream now, with new episodes airing every Wednesday through June 26.StreamDark MatteronApple TV+.
