Apple TV’s ‘Dark Matter’ Stars React to Season 2’s Shocking Sci-Fi Death

Published Aug 29, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT Therese Lacson is a Senior TV Editor who has been with Collider since 2021. She got started in this business over ten years ago working primarily as an interviewer and critic. At Collider, she works closely with the features team to support the writers and also ideates and develops content daily. She has covered major industry events including Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Toronto International Film Festival, and San Diego Comic-Con. Although she reviews and covers both film and television, her focus is in television and her expertise is in fantasy and sci-fi genre shows. Her favorite shows to cover include House of the Dragon, Bridgerton, Fallout, 9-1-1, and Rivals. Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Dark Matter Season 2, Episode 1.After two years, Apple TV has finally premiered Season 2 of Dark Matter, the sci-fi series created by author Blake Crouch, following the story of a man whose life is stolen by an alternate version of himself from a different reality. Season 1 saw Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) fight to get back to his family after being abducted by an alternate version of himself and left in a separate universe. While we saw Jason reuniting with his wife, Daniela (Jennifer Connelly), and his son, Charlie (Oakes Fegley), by the end of the season, that was just the beginning of their problems. Season 2 follows the Dessens as they travel across the multiverse, trying to find a reality to call their own away from the multiple versions of the original Jason who now exist. The Dessen family has been completely uprooted, which inevitably causes strife not only between Jason and Daniela, but between them and Charlie. With the threat of being exposed and the difficulties of maintaining a family through the chaos, Collider sat down with Edgerton and Connelly to deep dive into that impactful premiere of Dark Matter Season 2 and where the Dessens are headed for the rest of the season. Jennifer Connelly Reacts to That Explosive Death in the 'Dark Matter' Season 2 Premiere "I think it completely rocks her world." Image via Apple TV COLLIDER: Jennifer, Episode 1 of the season kicks off with Daniela shooting and killing one of the Jasons who she finds in their world. How is that death going to affect her and her relationship with her own Jason? JENNIFER CONNELLY: I think it completely rocks her world. They literally have to leave this place that they've settled in. They have to uproot their lives and their son's life again. I think Daniela is riddled with guilt over that. I think she's very confused by the fact that she did that and by what it means. And I think it really derails her, and she sort of starts unraveling from that point on and has to go on this journey to get back on track. Joel Edgerton Talks Exploring the Different Versions of Jason in Standalone Episodes "They just didn't quite inherit the family in that final stage of Season 1, so they kind of missed out and were heartbroken." Joel, in this season, as in the last season, you play a lot of different versions of Jason, but there were a couple of standalone episodes that I thought were really, really great in the season that you got to explore a whole other different side to your character. What was it like crafting and finding those individual versions of your character as opposed to just exploring Jason 1 or Jason 2? JOEL EDGERTON: I thought it was a really nice thing to be able to do, for Blake to acknowledge that there was like a warehouse full of Jasons. I just find it funny to talk about. That there was a factory full of Jasons that are essentially a slight deviation from Jason 1, meaning they're the good Jason. They just didn't quite inherit the family in that final stage of Season 1, so they kind of missed out and were heartbroken. And there is an episode where we follow, in particular, one of those Jason's who feels like, well, there's nothing left for me, and watching, and just going, all right, well, what if you were to follow one of those one of those versions of Jason and see what he does with the final thread of moments of his life, and whether he can go on without the family, and what happens in that episode is quite surprising, and there's a sort of rebirth. I think it's a nice reminder thematically that the great thing about human beings is their ability to regrow, rebuild, reconnect, and move on. The world keeps moving and turning, and we move and turn with it if we choose to open ourselves up in some way. There's so much crossover this season between the different versions of every single character. Do you guys find it hard to keep track of what's going on at what point? Because I found myself staring very closely to the rings and stuff, and making sure I was keeping up with the right character. Do you guys have that struggle, or is it more contained for you? CONNELLY: It's much more contained for Daniela than it is for Jason. For me, really, Season 2, I'm with the one version of Daniela most of the season, except for one point, and it's pretty clear at that point which one is which. So it's different. EDGERTON: I think there was one or two times on the set where I was like, "Am I wearing the right colored elastic band on my ring finger?" The crew were incredible at keeping continuity of scars and costume, obviously, and then there's more subtle physical details. Then the job for us is really just about inhabiting each version of the character in a way that felt far more subtle in its execution to me than you would imagine when you're first thinking about a show, which is like, oh, I get to play all these different versions, they're gonna be so different. They're not really. They're just in different circumstances. Yeah, that's what I like. It doesn't feel like these are vastly different versions of one person. It does feel like they branched off at different points, especially with Jason 2. I think you imagine him as a villain, and then, in this season, I think like it becomes very, very blurred for his character, which I enjoyed. Connelly and Edgerton Break Down the Dessen Family Troubles in Season 2 "We see [the Dessens] trying to find a sense of normalcy and go on a quest as a family to find a place that might be safe..." Image via Apple TV In this season, you guys are allowed to dive deeper into being a family unit, and I think that's a formula change from Season 1, where we mostly just saw Jason trying to get back to his family. Was it hard adjusting to this new approach, and how did you have to think about your character in terms of playing them in this season as opposed to last season? CONNELLY: For me, it was really nice because we got to dive deeper into those characters and that marriage and relationship. So, for me, it was a really welcome opportunity. I really enjoyed those scenes and that bit of the storyline. EDGERTON: Yeah, I agree. I think Season 1 felt relatively complex, and it was, but there was something quite simple about the quest for Jason 1 to get back to his family, and we realized, apart from meeting them in the very beginning and then having them reunite through all this trauma at the end, we never really got to know what they're like on a day-to-day level. In Season 2, even though they've been through a lot, we see them trying to find a sense of normalcy and go on a quest as a family to find a place that might be safe or safe enough. And, through that, we really get a little bit more under the hood of who they are as a couple, and Charlie as a character, and how we operate as a family. And again, the show reminded me, or the experience of the show reminded me, that it's big in scale on one hand, and all the kind of hallmarks of entertaining, propulsive science fiction, but, at the same time, it puts the microscope on very human things that [are] very nourishing as an actor. Can Daniela and Jason's Marriage Survive 'Dark Matter' Season 2? "I don't think she's looking for another path to follow." Image via Apple TV Something I thought was really interesting to see this season is the relationship between Daniela and Jason, because I realized we hadn't really seen them interact on the day-to-day, and especially after all of the stuff that has happened. Do you think that their marriage can survive all of this and bounce back as opposed to [them] being permanently separated? CONNELLY: I think that's the question that they're asking themselves and each other, really. It's certainly being tested. I think Daniela wants nothing more. I don't think she's looking for another path to follow. I think she's trying to figure out how she can walk firmly in the path that she's been on with her husband and with her family. I think she's doing everything that she can to heal herself and take responsibility for the things that she's done, and trying to make peace with them and reconcile them, and trying to make peace with this new reality, in hopes that they can be together. But it may not be entirely resolved by the end of this chapter. EDGERTON: Yeah, Jason's not downloading the dating apps just yet. Not yet. He better not be! EDGERTON: I think Jason's got to get over his own wounds about feeling like a failure, and his obsession with not exploring that road that he wished he'd gone down, in order to get over himself enough to be selfless and to continue on with the relationship in a new way. I actually think it'd be funny to see Jason and Daniela sit down with a regular therapist who doesn't know anything about the technology, and the therapist writes them off as insane. "Well, then we go in the box, and then we're like—" Like, these people are crazy! New Dark Matter episodes premiere on Apple TV on Fridays. Release Date May 7, 2024 Network Apple TV+ Directors Jakob Verbruggen, Alik Sakharov, Roxann Dawson, Logan George Writers Blake Crouch