What happens after you finally get the thing you fought so hard for? What if you discover you didn’t want or didn’t need that thing as much as you thought, but are unable to realize this, so you keep trying to make things work and only make them worse? This week’s Dark Matter might be my favorite yet — the number of times I had to pause the episode to digest some stuff and write down some lines was something else (choosing a tagline for this review was hard).
Superposition is centered on Jason2 (Joel Edgerton) facing hardships in his new reality. After all, he may look exactly like Jason, but he is a completely different person. Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) finally confronts herself about these sudden changes — why is he flossing every day, leaving the keys in a different place, and of course, why did he buy Charlie (Parker Queenan) some ice cream with nuts in it, forgetting that their son is allergic to nuts? After Charlie ends up in an emergency room, Daniela gives Jason2 the cold treatment. While talking to his therapist Amanda1 (Alice Braga), Jason decides he needs to make a big romantic gesture to make it up to his wife. It’s important to emphasize that this is the first time the audience and Jason2 encounter Amanda1, just after things with Daniela start going wrong.
Jason2 decides to surprise Daniela, but to understand why this was bound to go awry from the start, some context is needed: after a while without practicing, Daniela had just started painting again. She is still discovering the role of painting in her life, if this still makes sense for her, if this is the thing she wants to do — so when Jason2 exposes an unfinished painting of hers in the gallery she works for (in an attempt to sell it), Daniela decides she’s had enough.
“Superposition” — Dark Matter, Pictured: Joel Edgerton as Jason, Jennifer Connelly as Daniela. Photo: Apple TV ©. All Rights Reserved
[Jason] I just want you to be happy.
[Daniela] Please, you want you to be happy.
After an argument with Jason2, Daniela follows him into his late-night wandering, discovering the place in which he keeps many of his secrets — including an ampoule with the component that one must take to use the Box. Daniela asks for Ryan’s (Jimmi Simpson) help, imagining her friend would have an answer about what effects this substance could have on Jason2. After all, he has needle marks in his arms and has been acting weird lately — these things could be related, she thinks.
Ryan confronts Jason2, who decides to take Ryan to the Box, revealing the whole truth to him, including his true identity — and abandoning him into another dimension. After this, Jason2 calls Leighton’s (Dayo Okeniyi) men, and they seal off the Box for good, meaning no one can enter — or leave — Earth 1 using the Box.
Meanwhile, Jason and Amanda explore different worlds. This time, Jason’s writing about what they should find in the world they are about to enter — the color of his house’s door, a tree that should be in a specific place, the Village Tap sign, Daniela’s characteristics, they all vary and indicate that they have yet to find a way to Earth 1. But as Jason says, a bunch of Chicagos that are not quite right end up being worse than all these terrible realities — it’s all too close to home, without ever being home.
They decide to get a place to sleep after eating and dancing at a restaurant, and that’s when my favorite moment of Superposition happens — during the eating, before the dancing:
[Jason] If you strip back the trappings, uhm, like lifestyle, and all the external things, what are the key components at your core that make you you? What makes you you?
“Superposition” — Dark Matter, Pictured: Joel Edgerton as Jason, Alice Braga as Amanda. Photo: Apple TV ©. All Rights Reserved
At the most fundamental level, are White Castle Amanda, Amanda1, and our Amanda the same? Do the essentials really stay the same for both Jason and Jason2? While they strengthen their relationship, Amanda and Jason face the possibility of forgetting their worlds during their search. And of course, Jason becomes obsessed with other versions of his wife and himself. In the end, they realize that for Jason to find his world, they have to go deeper.
[Amanda] What are you afraid of?
[Jason] What everyone’s afraid of.
[Amanda] If you look stupid, you can leave this restaurant, you can leave this city, or you can literally leave this world.
This episode was so interesting to me because it finally let us watch Daniela realizing she is living a horror story, even if she’s not totally aware of it yet. And we see Jason2’s life slowly turning into a horror story as well because he’s starting to notice that he can’t replace the original Jason, he can’t truly have what he wanted, or what he thought he wanted. Maybe sealing off the box is as much about the original Jason not returning home as it’s about Jason2 not being able to run away from this reality. But I’m curious — how will the original Jason return home? He first opens the door, then checks the bar, his house, etc., and he won’t get to do this now. Will we ever see Ryan again? Or Leighton2? So many questions… Feeling confident that the final episodes will deliver good stuff!
