Apple TV’s Sci-Fi Masterpiece Sets up Perfect Ending After Just 2 Seasons

Apple TV has no shortage of incredible sci-fi shows, as the platform has been quietly specializing in the genre for years now. Most of them have run for multiple seasons, and there are more on the way that certainly have the potential for healthy lifespans. However, Apple has always been great at knowing when a show has outstayed its welcome or exhausted its narrative possibilities. While that rarely means cancellation at Apple (R.I.P. Constellation), it does sometimes mean that even successful shows can be brought to a close sooner than expected.

The same thing seems to be happening right now with Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter. The recent Season 2 trailer contained a lot of information about what to expect from the show’s second batch of episodes. Although a lot of the finer details are kept vague, it’s clear that Dark Matter Season 2 will be far more action-packed than Season 1 and adopt what looks like a more high-stakes storyline. After watching the trailer, my first instinct was that it felt like Dark Matter‘s final season. Could it be that the show is trying to go two-and-done?

Why ‘Dark Matter’ Season 2 Already Looks Like the End for the Apple TV Show

For reasons that I’ll go into a little later, and of which I’m sure many will already be aware, I was caught off-guard when Dark Matter was revealed to be a multi-season run rather than a standalone miniseries. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t delighted, though, after the shock had subsided. There was clearly more story to tell in the wake of Season 1’s events, and it all looked fascinating. I’ve waited patiently for the Season 2 trailer for a while, and now that it’s here, Dark Matter‘s lifespan doesn’t look to be extended by all that much.

Season 2 could easily be the end of the line. Dark Matter Season 1 had a strong, focused plot of Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) traversing the multiverse in an attempt to get back to his own, original version of reality, and reunite with the version of his wife and son he’d committed his life to. Once he’d achieved that, it felt like a very natural stopping point. Even with the suggestion of a Season 2, I think I would have been okay with those loose ends being left dangling. As it turns out, the upcoming run of episodes is ramping up the drama, heightening the concept, and giving Dark Matter a sort of MCU-level threat that suggests reality itself might be doomed unless certain actions are taken.

There is even mention of an attempt to destroy the Box, which sounds very show-ending. There is still the grounded, more personal subplot of Jason’s life with his family as they stay on the run, but it feels far less prominent this time around. Instead, Dark Matter Season 2 seems primed to feature either a last-minute solution to save the Dessens and the multiverse, or for everything to come irreparably crashing down around them. Either instance would make it tricky for Dark Matter Season 3 to happen without feeling forced.

‘Dark Matter’ Probably Should End With Season 2

Joel Edgerton as Jason Dessen and Jimmi Simpson as Ryan Holder in Dark Matter

Dark Matter is one of my favorite books of all time, and the fact that the original author is also the showrunner of the Apple TV adaptation makes me especially happy. Season 1 was a perfect page-to-screen translation of the source material, with a tasteful number of original, augmentative characters and storylines to keep things fresh. That’s why I was so surprised when the finale teased a second season – the lone novel from 2016 had been fully adapted already. Still, looking back, the additions and changes Blake Crouch made to his original version of the story were always going to lead to a continuation beyond the final page of his 2016 novel. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, even the book felt like it had loose ends that could have been addressed in a sequel.

The fact that no one seems to be watching Dark Matter also suggests that wrapping things up now would be the best move. Otherwise, we could be left with an unintentionally ambiguous ending if Crouch and company try to force Season 3 and aren’t permitted to pay it off.

Specifically, the source material never tells us which universe the Dessens head to at the end, nor do we find out what becomes of all the Jasons left behind in the story’s “main” universe. Dark Matter Season 2 will finally answer those questions, plus extend the new character arcs that didn’t exist in the book. Beyond that, I don’t think the show’s lifespan and the book’s initial premise should be stretched too thin. If the upcoming run of episodes is intended to be the last we ever see of this universe, then I’d be okay with that. Otherwise, Dark Matter‘s very concept threatens to become too complex, almost to the point of parodying the beloved multiverse trope.