In episode 7 of the hot new Apple TV+ science fiction series Dark Matter, the main character walks into a gun shop seeking protection from … another version himself … only to come within seconds of bumping into … still another version of himself. Huh?
If you’re confused, we understand! We were too, which is why we’ve taken a deep dive into that far-out seventh episode, “In The Fires of Dead Stars,” which premiered on June 12, 2024.
A quick catch-up on Dark Matter
Spoilers below!
Dark Matter is a television series based on the eponymous 2016 novel written by Blake Crouch. It premiered on Apple TV+ on May 8, 2024, with two episodes, and airs weekly thereafter. There will be nine episodes in the first season, and we’re presently still reeling from that massive twist at the end of episode 7!
The show is about Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton), a mild-mannered physicist and family man living in Chicago with his wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and his teenage son Charlie (Oakes Fegley). This Jason, or Jason1 as we will come to know him, is a brilliant scientist, yet he’s put his career on a back burner so he can focus more on his family. As a result, his wife and son love him and he enjoys a cozy home life.
One night, his best friend and fellow physicist Ryan (Jimmi Simpson) announces that he’s won a prestigious award, thanks in large part to something Jason1 invented, and the two celebrate at a bar. But when Jason1 gets home, he’s kidnapped by a masked man who turns out to be a version of himself from another dimension.
Jason1 learns that his innovation in physics has resulted in a box that duplicates humans, enabling them to travel between dimensions to different versions of reality. Scientists Amanda Lucas (Alice Braga) and Leighton Vance (Dayo Okenivi) welcome Jason1 when he wakes up in the box, believing he is Jason2. Jason2 is a more successful scientist, but an overall less successful human being (and not a very nice guy). Jason2 took Jason1, deposited him in Jason2’s own reality, then returned to Jason1’s reality to take over his much happier life.
He immediately seduces Jason1’s wife while Jason1 desperately tries to get back to his own version of reality. Just when we think we’ve got it all figured out …
Reality shifts again in episode 7
Jason2 is finally getting the hang of dimension-jumping, but he strikes out repeatedly while trying to get home. Amanda makes the jumps with him, but when she finds a utopic version of Chicago where the version of herself there has gone missing (leaving behind great credit and assets), she decides to stay there. Jason2 goes on without her, using one of his last available jumps … and it seems like he’s found the right reality!
Jason1 reunites with his family, who have no clue he’s been gone although they’ve noticed something off about Jason2. When he nearly crosses paths with his nemesis, Jason1 slips out of the house and goes to a gun shop to arm himself for a fight against Jason2. We see our hero chatting with the shop employee, attempting to buy a firearm but settling on pepper spray and a knife because of gun laws. He leaves the store … and then comes right back in and asks about buying a gun.
Many universes, many Jasons
Yes, that’s right! Another Jason enters the shop right after the man we thought was Jason1, then begins an almost-identical conversation with the clerk. She quickly fills him in, and he’s as stumped as we are. That’s when we all realize together that there isn’t just Jason and his clone, there are many Jasons, and they’re all vying for this life and family situation the original Jason has.
The show was already an existential trip prior to episode 7, but as we move into the final episodes of the season we truly have no idea what to expect! The next episode is called “Jupiter” and it will premiere on Apple TV+ on June 19, 2024. The season finale will follow on June 26.
