Dark Matter – Jupiter – Review: You Are Your Own Greatest Enemy

When Dark Matter started, it asked its audience a simple question: what if there was a different reality for each choice made, for each possibility in life? Things got more complex over weeks while we watched Jason (Joel Edgerton) and Amanda (Alice Braga) travel across multiple realities using the Box — but after both of them found their places in the last episode, another big discovery is introduced. A different reality for each choice made, for each possibility, right? Jason and Amanda entered that Box, and suddenly an infinite amount of possible outcomes existed, for each door opened, for each door unopened.

This means that thousands of Jasons have been looking for their family and their reality inside the Box — after all, their journeys inside the Box might have been different, but they all started late at night with a friend at a bar, they all were kidnapped by Jason2 and taken to another dimension. Thousands of Jasons traveling, most of them probably died or haven’t found their way home yet, but dozens survived and returned to their rightful place. They all want Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and Charlie (Parker Queenan) back — and some of them want revenge too.

Jupiter opens with an unknown version of Jason attacking Jason2, who ends up killing the attacker. While he tries his best to hide the body from Daniela and Charlie, other Jasons start to surround him, each one with a plan. This includes our Jason Prime, the one we accompanied this whole time on his journey across the multiverse — after learning about the other Jasons, he comes up with a plan to get Daniela’s attention before anyone else. He does it by doing things no Jason would ever do, being arrested and calling his wife.

Meanwhile, Jason2 takes Charlie on a tour. His initial plan was to show Charlie the university in which he used to work — but when another version of Jason starts stalking them, Jason2 does anything in his power to stop Charlie from discovering the truth about his identity. Again, I need to highlight Joel Edgerton’s acting — now not only as Jason and Jason2, but as a whole lot of Jasons, each one with a different backstory inside the Box. He was so good playing the Jason that was stalking Jason2 — I mean, the whole sequence consists of both characters playing cat and mouse, and they are so convincing in selling the idea that both are completely different people.

Also, Jennifer Connelly has been so good this entire time, but here she excels herself delivering extraordinary acting, especially in two moments, the first one being when she meets Jason Prime in prison, and he convinces her to call Jason2 and ask him questions about things that never happened. After Jason2 falls for it and acts like those fake things indeed happened, Daniela is frightened — suddenly, all the weird things from the last weeks and all the impossible things Prime Jason is saying to her seem somehow possible. There’s a moment between the two of them, separated from each other for a long time, that’s so full of pain and questions, but there’s no time for talking at the moment. So Jason Prime and Daniela create a password — Jupiter — so she can know she’s talking to her husband. The second scene is the one in which Daniela tricks Jason2 and gets back at him for all he’s done, running away with Charlie and leaving him locked in the basement.

After she escapes with Charlie, another version of Jason comes to their rescue — but she realizes too late that they entered in a car that’s not from Jason Prime. Then, a car crash — a different Jason is trying to intercept them. Charlie is confused, his mother is terrified, and they both run away from the scene. Finally, they meet Jason Prime — the family reunited at last. And Daniela makes her choice to go with him.

I was going to say this final part of the episode was intense and full of tension, but honestly? That could be said about the episode as a whole. With Jupiter, Dark Matter reached its peak, delivering an hour full of twists, action, suspense, and dramatic, climactic moments. I can’t wait for the finale next week — even though this has been incredibly faithful to the source material, it’s also been really fun and surprising and it feels like an awesome finale is on its way.