Published Sep 3, 2026, 10:58 PM EDT
Dhruv is a Lead Writer in Screen Rant's New TV division. He has been consistently contributing to the website for over two years and has written thousands of articles covering streaming trends, movie/TV analysis, and pop culture breakdowns.
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After high school, he was on his way to become a Civil Engineer. However, he soon realized that writing was his true calling. As a result, he took a leap and never looked back.
Netflix's Dark remains one of the most compelling and complete sci-fi shows from recent years. Its depiction of time travel is still considered a masterclass and many viewers cannot help but rewatch and appreciate its brilliantly constructed 3-season story. Not many sci-fi shows come close to being as good as dark, but Apple TV's Dark Matter is starting to show immense potential.
Based on Blake Crouch's book of the same name, Dark Matter is a rare sci-fi adaptation that has its source material author as its showrunner. What makes it even more unique is that despite exhausting its original book's story in season 1, Dark Matter has returned with another season. Expanding a book's established lore and well-rounded story is always a risky endeavor.
However, after just one episode, Dark Matter season 2 seems to have proven that it deserves to exist. It may be a little too soon to draw any conclusions about the entire season, but the show's early promise in season 2 is setting it up to become even better after its successful season 1 run.
Apple TV’s Dark Matter Season 2 Already Seems Better Than Season 1
Dark Matter season 1 took some time to find its feat. Its early episodes were a little too slow as they struggled to give viewers a worthy and compelling conflict to invest themselves in. However, after a slow start, Dark Matter finally gained some momentum by episode 3. By the time season 1 reached its penultimate episode, it was evident that the Apple TV sci-fi show had found its footing and audience.
Despite being a fun exploration of the multiverse, however, Dark Matter season 1 did not exactly stand out among the vast array of shows and movies that explore parallel worlds. Fortunately, it looks like the show's season 2 is finally taking a more distinct path.
Instead of narrowing its vision, Dark Matter season 2 establishes that season 1 was merely the surface of all the stories and parallel timelines it could explore with its wild multiversal explorations. The opening scene of episode 1 is enough to establish this, as it shows multiple dead alternate versions of the main character.
In season 2, Dark Matter is also not shying away from expanding its roster and focusing on the multiversal adventures (and misadventures) of many characters. While its focus remains on the central Dessen family, it is seemingly taking the same approach as Netflix's Dark and tying the stories of many characters and timelines into one sprawling multiversal storyline.
Dark Matter Is Becoming As Mind-Boggling & Ambitious As Netflix’s Dark
Up until its last few episodes, Dark Matter season 1 seemed relatively linear with its storytelling. Its story was primarily driven by its main character's desire to return home after being trapped in the central "Box." Towards the end, though, the series' season 1 became more and more mind-boggling and chaotic as it introduced alternate versions of the same characters.
Dark Matter season 2 already seems to be building on these foundational aspects from season 1, giving viewers several new rootable characters. After episode 1, it also seems like it has also overcome season 1's pacing issues.
While only time will tell how Dark Matter season 2 will turn out and what the future will hold for the series beyond season 2, it is gradually entering the same league as iconic sci-fi shows like Netflix's Dark.
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Dark Matter
9/10
Release Date May 7, 2024
Network Apple TV+
Directors Jakob Verbruggen, Alik Sakharov, Roxann Dawson, Logan George
Writers Blake Crouch
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Joel Edgerton
Jason Dessen / Jason2
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Dark
Release Date 2017 - 2020-00-00
Network Netflix
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Louis Hofmann
Jonas Kahnwald
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Lisa Vicari
Martha Nielsen
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English (US) ·