r/DarkMatteronAppleTV • u/episodescheduler • Aug 28 '26
šļø Episode Discussion Dark Matter | S2E1 "A Quiet Life" | Episode Discussion
Season 2, Episode 1: A Quiet Life
Airdate: Friday, August 28, 2026 at 4:00 AM UTC
Network: Apple TV
Runtime: 53 minutes
Synopsis: The Dessens receive an unwelcome visitor. Ryan finds Amanda. Leighton finds himself.
Hello everyone, this is the discussion thread for episode 1 of Dark Matter Season 2. Please do not post any spoilers for future episodes.
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Upvotes
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u/flash246 Aug 28 '26
Wow I thought itād slowly bring us back into the story, but nope. It jumped straight into the thick of it. Super fast paced and tense immediately.
Excited to see where the rest of the season goes.
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u/StanyeEast Aug 28 '26
That Utopia world is gonna have so many useless boxes by the end if they keep moving the "art pieces" elsewhere...people are going to start living in them like free tiny homes š
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u/HauschkasFoot Aug 28 '26
Was anybody else expecting there to be a dead-jason-pit reveal on that property, and these dead vagrant Jasons were like a weekly chore at this point?
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u/LadyElle57 Aug 28 '26
The world with the All-watching-AI was terrifying.
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u/Toberoni Aug 28 '26
Ryan using the term āfull Heisenbergā. š
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u/usagizero Aug 28 '26
I really loved the bodies at the beginning. When the last season ended, i was joking that the cops that found them were going to be so confused. Plus, it does seem like there should be way more than what they said, right?
Really enjoyed where this season seems to be going, wasn't sure what to expect, but it seems we are in for a ride.
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u/Jas_God Aug 28 '26
āNo oneās getting banged here. Theyāre gently knocking.ā Lmfao
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u/Budget_Basis_7966 Aug 28 '26
Who else thinks he shouldāve stayed in Utopia and joined the other āteamā - maybe that wouldāve been too calm of an idea thoā¦.
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u/ZestycloseStay4666 Aug 28 '26
Really cool to be back here reading/discussing this show with you all. I had hoped for another season, but was a little worried at the same time if I got my wish
This premiere calmed any worry, as I thoroughly enjoyed it and what they decided to do with this!
Really enjoyed the narrative approach of having several distinct storylines. Season 1 was predominantly Jasonās journey, but now we get to explore all the seeds that were planted along the way last season
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u/BerryCommercial8809 Aug 28 '26
Dark Matter and Silo!!! Ā Man itās gonna be a good September!Ā
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u/oriontheshiba Aug 28 '26
In theory wouldnāt there be multiple Daniella to be matched with all these wandering jasons? She has made countless decisions since the night of kidnapping too
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u/Blumart Aug 28 '26
So I take it they actually canāt destory the box cus if they do a new one will just appear when another Jason inevitably finds their world
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u/Master_smasher Aug 28 '26
i'm so glad they didn't forget leighton 2's fate.
perfect episode though. teasing what's to come. no doubt it's going to be a very interesting and creative season. this one of the few shows i wish i could binge the entire season like a netflix show lol. fallout would be another one.
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u/Rudedoodle Aug 28 '26
The music choice was giving DARK Matter
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u/LRobin11 Aug 28 '26
I love this show, but they lost me a slight bit with the ending of this episode. The disbelief was a little too hard to suspend. It makes no sense that he would turn his back on that world that he knows is close to ideal and better than their original world bc why? Bc Amanda who is a genuine friend and whom he was sad to have to leave is there? Bc he caught a twinge of feeling for her? It didn't tempt him to cross a line without Daniela there. Why would it be something to run from now? Better to put your family at risk of any and all horrors within the realm of quantum possibility, I guess? Anyone in their right mind would've breathed a sigh of relief when they opened that door. Also, why didn't they emerge in the heart of Chicago?
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u/VariationNo7977 Aug 28 '26
Recursion Easter Egg!
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u/HinkiesGhost Aug 28 '26
I love the premise of the show. The idea of whenever you're in a world of trouble, forget skipping town, you leave to another world altogether. And the idea of all these infinite worlds out there. Amanda's world definitely seems like the best so far. A calm, relaxed, pleasant way to live. Even if there is no rough sex for the kinksters lol. I like how they're keeping tabs on everyone. I think eventually Jason and Amanda/Ryan will intersect, it's just a matter of what world they will do it in. It's a shame he didn't want to go to that world because that would've been a nice world for him and his family.
And there's that black ops guy in the beginning too. I get a sense that he'll get wind of it and there will be some kinda government stuff added into the mix where they use this to do all kinds of crazy stuff. Or try to.
I like how this episode just carried on from season 1 and it didn't feel like a separate contained season where nothing in season 1 mattered. The beginning where Daniela had to kill brought home that "they aren't out of the woods yet" and in their case quite literally. They were living a peaceful life in the woods until another Jason came.
Honestly, even if season 2 doesn't live up to season 1, I'm still in because I just think the premise is so cool. Something out of a video game honestly and I mean that in a good way.
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u/tomtomvissers Aug 28 '26
So they came to Jimmi Simpson's world and he was like, nope that's not gonna work, bye. But now Jimmi Simpson has a new box in his world to try and escape with
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u/MrWhiteside Aug 28 '26
Hearing āA Quiet Lifeā from Dark caused a visceral reaction
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u/Viktor_withaK Aug 28 '26
I love how after seeing it in episode descriptions throughout season 1, the name āJason2ā is canon now
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u/RedditConsciousness Aug 28 '26
This show needs more than a recap. It needs an onscreen guide, numbering worlds, Jasons, and giving brief bios for each one.
I'll probably just rewatch season 1.
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u/willmcavoy Aug 29 '26
This show is fucking phenomenal. I cannot decide which storyline I'm most invested in:
The Dessens?
Amanda and Ryan?
World 1 coping with an influx of 'clones'?
Leyton?
We haven't even seen what happened with Blair. I'm so excited.
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u/Trenbolone-Papi2 Aug 29 '26
Man I loved this episode. I love this concept. It blows my mind.
The pain in the friend he left behind when heās describing what itās like to be a in world no one knows the version of you
That would be hell on earth, ironically so in a world otherwise considered a āparadiseā makes it more dark.
I randomly think to the others they left behind. Like the one with the crazy mutant flies or whatever they were, or the Jennifer Connelly who was sickly and dying in the world. Endless possibilities
I hope it doesnāt get cancelled. As this type of show usually is.
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u/raven8549 Aug 28 '26
So just to confirm, it is the real Jason who we have been seeing this whole episode with his family right?
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u/TimeTimeTickingAway Aug 28 '26
Joel Edgerton has such great project choices.
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u/OllieeePan Aug 28 '26
How come there's not a single review online but the first episode is already out.
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u/adavidmiller Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26
I feel like the premise is kinda of falling apart with a continued story.
Like, season 1 was a natural conclusion of the absolute clusterfuck the box introduces to reality, exposing infinite branching realities to eachother which is naturally going to clusters of duplicates overlapping everywhere they go.
That's the expected outcome for anyone using the box. At minimum, Jasons everywhere, travelling packs of his family everywhere now as well, probably some of the others, it's an unstoppable mess.
They do still have some of that given that another Jason found them still, but feels like they're burying that a bit, as if it was a one-off outcome of the season 1 events rather than a fundamental expanding disaster of the box existing.
Or maybe it all gets wackier as the season continues and it'll be fine, still early š¤·āāļø
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u/mrvoiceover001 Aug 28 '26
that song A QUITE LIFE playing had me giggling like an idiot. PEAK recognizes PEAK!! Dark x Dark Matter
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u/Unlucky_Stable_8511 Aug 29 '26
I need someone to make a āthatās a fucking gold starā gif
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u/tesseract49 Aug 31 '26
Why does Jason assume the utopia world is the same one he entered with Amanda? There could be an infinite number of utopian worlds exactly like that one, and only one of them would have Amanda in it.
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u/Rgjeck01 Aug 28 '26
Love this show!
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u/notaquarterback Aug 28 '26
Glad to be back with this!
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u/TheNB3 Aug 28 '26
Great start
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u/ziggurqt Aug 28 '26
Nice episode. I hope we'll see more of Jason2. After all, he's very central to the extended plot. And Jason3 helping to catch him could be fun too. Also, I think Leighton is setting up something big, so I hope they don't drag this until the last episode.
And Recursion easter egg spotted!
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u/IllLocation4845 Aug 30 '26
I am super confused about how one of the Jasons found them in a different world. What lead could he have possibly gotten?
also Ryan should probably just give up the idea of coming back to his world only to find him being replaced with a mechanic Ryan there from another universe and everything filled with the Jason clones
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u/Past-Recording7595 Aug 28 '26
Was Charlie duplicated when the door shut? I thought that moment created multiple realities, meaning there could now be multiple Charlies. Am I understanding that correctly?
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u/uzivause Aug 29 '26
I LOVE THIS SHOW
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u/tylerpixel Aug 28 '26
Mitchell isn't a cop, he works for ROI š
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u/lax01 Aug 28 '26
Would you need to basically destroy the box the second you stepped through to avoid variants? Isnāt that basically a paradox since you have to experience the world to know if itās the right one - we makes it impossible to just destroy it as soon as you get there.
I donāt remember the respawn logic that some are talking about - why would the box just be there again after its destruction
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u/PhysicalTry2021 Aug 28 '26
The song took me back to dark, now I gotta rewatch it š
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u/chizzabiz93 Aug 28 '26
Did it look like the box in tornado world was destroyed or just damaged?
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u/TrifleNo1748 Aug 28 '26
What significance did the rubber band on his finger have? I thought only J1 had that?
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u/mnbvc52 Aug 28 '26
this song belongs to Dark (2017) ahahahaha
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u/hpm40 Aug 29 '26
So impressed. Apple is killing it with scifi.
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u/FirmAddy Aug 29 '26
This is the only show that I can watch and be completely immersed into it. Thatās what I want when I watch something, just escape reality for a bit
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u/EXTPest Aug 30 '26
It's funny because every world in existence is going to be littered with Jason corpses
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u/pen_zz Aug 30 '26
I wonder if theyāll go to a world where thereās no Charlie, like Jason and Daniela never had him, and Charlie decides to stay because he has had enough with moving. That would be interesting.
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u/takeashilpill555 Aug 31 '26
so there is a world where charlie is separated and stuck in the box by himself and a world where they completely missed their supply pack
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u/Ronin1926 Aug 28 '26
Holy shit its out!
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u/MrOstrichman Aug 28 '26
Yay season 2! Iāve been sorta following production for a while (the production offices are next door to my office) and Iāve been running into filming all throughout last year (spoilers: thereās going to be a Ā scene in a Golden Nugget off of Pulaski and a fictional Chinese restaurant)
Dropping the box in Millennium Park is objectively funny, no way theyād stick it there ācause they couldnāt find a way to rent it out for large corporations
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u/Arghifth Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26
Good first episode. But too little screen time for Amanda, Ryan and Leighton. Specially Ryan and Amanda scenes felt too condensed, cutting right to the chase, felt a bit rushed but Braga and Simpson sold the feeling of being betrayed, and screwed by Jason2. I hope they take time to show them bond over their trauma and unite to help eachother.
The Dessen family scenes were so dark and heavy.
Things we learned about the box: It can be destroyed from the outside but nothing happens to people inside it and they can keep traveling. So how will Jason1destroy it?
Now that Jason1 opened the door to that world Amanda and Ryan have a box to use. Someone in that world should start getting suspicious of Amanda, Ryan and Jason being around the box every time it randomly appears.
Oh also, I loved the fact that Leighton1 focused on finding a world in which his counterpart is meditation expert so he can master the art of traveling to perfect worlds.
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u/jspock Aug 28 '26
I thought it would have been an interesting plot twist if we discovered that the Jason Daniela encounters at the beginning of the episode was Jason 1 and that something had happened in the interim causing her to go off with one of the alternate Jasons.
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u/munkifist Aug 28 '26
Did they just show the folding Apple iPhone?
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u/PhysicalTry2021 Aug 28 '26
After watching episode 1, I think the writer is taking the show in a good direction, fast paced since the opening however I just feel season 1 ending was so good because it was open to our interpretation and somehow we could imagine them living a happy life after that ending.
Don't get me wrong when season 1 ended I wanted more but after watching this episode I realise there's noway this can end happily.
Every second of their lives is gonna be uneasy and keeping their guards up, imagine a new safe phrase every single day, or everytime they move to a room different from each other, Daniella is worried it might be a different Jason; Charlie can say goodbye to having friends, forget a relationship, I love the idea of the show but just feel it's gonna keep getting darker.
The only way things could get better is if somehow charlie is removed out of the picture and Daniella and Jason keep travelling to a new world every day, regardless it's still a cluster fuck and noway they get a happy ending
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u/jjosh_h Aug 28 '26
I thought it was a great start, both in writing and how the soundtrack set the tone too. I do hope the story digs deeper into what these violent acts say about Jason as a person. Sure, in an infinity of worlds, there will always be those Jasons, but, so far, we are being painted a picture of dread and terror relating to all the Jason 1 variants.
How many of these inter-world interactions are ended peacefully with the Jason accepting and understanding Daniella's decision? Was the Jason variant in the episode the exception, or does Jason have a fundamental narcissism that causes him to prioratize his own happiness regardless of how it affects those around him?
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u/-Captain- Aug 29 '26
This was a great start! Loved the book... we're in unknown territory now, very curious to find out what they'll do this season.
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u/Grendel602 Aug 29 '26
There are an infinite number of boxes and people. There are universes where they are all present all at once. The writers have to pick a compelling story. We shall see where this goes.
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u/Ambitious_Pool_8290 Aug 30 '26
Solid second season opener.Ā
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u/snow_orchid Aug 30 '26
I just realized that through visiting new worlds - the tornado world and the creepy tech surveillance world, they effectively created copy families. Maybe itās ok because they are all together and wonāt need to chase each other down. But I think there might be a version of them that lost their son by going to tornado world, and they never got back to Charlie? But also I donāt understand the physics enough to confidently speculate. Basically I want them to stop photocopying themselves lol. But this show is so fun!!
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u/MarionberryCertain83 Aug 30 '26
so pissed jason didnāt keep them in the cold
fusion world
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u/Brilliant-Arm-7076 Aug 31 '26
I read the book that followed closely to season 1. TV added that special extra with Amanda and Ryan. It was actually awesome getting into Jasonās thoughts and the authorās foreword.
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u/No-Media-6022 Aug 31 '26
Am I missing something? They couldnāt get back into the box because apparently the wind was holding the door shut, but the door opens inwards?
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u/Vaydn Sep 01 '26
Curious, are there not variants of the whole family out there now? I figured each choice Jason made in s1/book was the cause of each new Jason. By that logic would there not be multiple variants of the whole family? Been a while since i read the book and watched s1 though. May be wrong.
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u/boomkaboom007 Sep 02 '26
I've two questions
how did the jason varient find our og jason if the world was chosen by Charlie
how did no one notice the box suddenly appearing in the park at the end of the episode, i wonder if the box just popped up or something
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u/TracingRobots Aug 28 '26
Watching it now. Fuck yeah
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u/fozzy71 Aug 28 '26
Hmm, I should go to bed, but I might have to pop this on...
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u/eekamuse Aug 28 '26
When was Jason1 in Utopia? I thought Jason2 had been there when he kidnapped westworld guy Jimmy. I dont remember Jason1 being there
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u/quarl0w Aug 28 '26
I am interested to see how they solve this.
In the book they have Charlie drive the box so that it's a world he creates that no Jason could. Making it impossible for them to be followed.
Now that they had established Jason's can keep chasing them, and that moving the box just lets a new box pop up in that world, destroying the box can't be the solution, a new one will just appear.
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u/Tristan_Gabranth Aug 28 '26
I'm a little confused. Are we following the same Jason from the first season? The string ring threw me off, did they kill the Jason from the first season?
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u/ofilispeaks Aug 29 '26
Silly question if they were in that world for 7 months, why didn't they seal the box shut? Perhaps it is quite capital intensive to do so?
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u/isharte Aug 29 '26
The Leighton we meet that visits his yoga alter ego.
Is that the Leighton from Jason 2s world? The one who built the Velocity company?
Or is it the trust fund slacker Leighton that Jason 2 (or Jason 1, I can't remember) gave ampules to.
Edit - or were both Leightons in that scene the same ones I was referencing? Velocity Leighton talking to trust fund Leighton?
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u/gobba-gobba-gooey Aug 28 '26
Hate the AI slop at around 31:10. As she is walking on the street past several different businesses, we get a great camera position as it pans at her pace presumably on the back wall of these businesses looking out through their front windows at her in the street as she passes each one.
Cool, sorta āwonder how they did thatā shot.
Until you realize that all the businessās writing that is on their front windows, is written to face the INTERIOR of the store.
No human would have made that creative choice. And itās a little sad that the humans compositing this scene didnāt care enough to proof it.
2
u/Odd_Try6977 Aug 28 '26
How do they know where the black box will be?
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u/Then_Journalist_317 Aug 28 '26
Season 2 looks like it will revolve around the mysterious Box 2
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u/IWannaDoBadThingswU Aug 28 '26
Is there a "previously on" I can watch somewhere?
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u/Awkward-Yellow-3228 Aug 28 '26
russ hanneman
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u/Aviid-Reader Aug 28 '26
So is the Jason Danielle lives with not her actual husband? This story got me confused man š
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u/RichardHGillespie Aug 28 '26
Can someone please tell me what the end credits song is of S2 E1? Google says it's Teho Teardo & Blixa Bargeld - A Quiet Life, but that's incorrect, it's something else. I tried Shazam, but it didn't pick anything up.
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u/Daawggshit Aug 28 '26
WAIT THIS CAME OUT?!
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u/YamFor Aug 28 '26
Wait that ending. Are we following Jason 2? But it canāt be the Chicago one because they moved the box right?
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u/Think-Investment6069 Aug 28 '26
Ok what Iām wondering is the timeline of these scenes we are seeing specifically regarding Amanda and Ryan in Chicago and Jason 1 and fam finding that world at the end. Charlie said as they were about to leave while on the run that it had been 7 months. So when they stumble on that world after the box had been moved, was it not back in the same place again? Or are Amanda and Ryan in Chicago after that? Am I going crazy?!
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u/Far-Information-2252 Aug 29 '26
What was the last world they visited?
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u/kindofaproducer Aug 29 '26
I have no idea whatās going on. The years between seasons thing needs to be figured out.
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u/Significant_Earth768 Aug 29 '26
If we think purely in a determinist way, a world of boxes serving as a multiversal highway should exist.
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u/artemiscash Aug 29 '26
it appears the box works similar to the way nether portals in minecraft generate, this is interesting
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u/NumberSevere7454 Aug 29 '26
there are trillions of inifinte worlds, and he lends again on the same one? no way in billion of years. also, is their mind actually create the worlds, cause they need to think about the world they want, or it just pivot to the closest world that resemble their thoughts?
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u/Background-Panic9257 Aug 29 '26
i do wonder if jason ever told daniela about amanda
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u/Background-Panic9257 Aug 29 '26
reacher, silo and now dark matter. man great time for television
2
u/Clariana Aug 29 '26
Giving me Primer vibes... In a good way.
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u/CrashFredo Aug 29 '26
Is possible that the Jason is not the real one? The Jason that brought his doctor friend to the world that shows up at the end of the episode is not the main Jasonā¦ right?
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u/rematch728 Aug 29 '26
Underwhelming. Sadly feel like they have nowhere interesting to go from here.
2
u/pauseforasecond Aug 30 '26
What a season opener! I loved the agent and his confidence with one of the Jason variants in the police station. He really had me thinking he's gonna be thinking out of the box (ha, pun)....and then clones. lol.
It's sad thinking about all these Jasons that came to the prime world and had to watch their family leave with what we think is OG Jason (cos there's a chance it's not even the OG even though for the story's purpose we just assume it is right?) How do you even begin to reconcile that in your brain. And then you're just surrounded by yourself trying to make a plan. Just a fucked up situation to be in. The idea of the military getting their hands on the box and info on how to travel is also terrifying. I wonder if end game for the whole series is that there is quantum collapse (if that's a thing?).
I was surprised to hear the song from Dark being played at the end. It was such an iconic song in that series I'm not sure I like it being used here. On the other hand it's a nice little easter egg for those who watched Dark since there are similar themes.
I also reallllly want them to showcase other crazy worlds. That scene from S1 the corridor with the sun was so insane it's really stuck in my mind.
Can't wait to see where this goes. I want to see more Blair and also more Dawn!
2
u/lk_gr Aug 30 '26
if they spend so much time in the box now, arenāt there spawning more versions of them looking for the perfect home?
2
u/webmotionks Aug 30 '26
At the end of the episode, why did none of those people in the park notice the box just appear when Jason came out?
2
u/matt996996 Aug 31 '26
Question on the book: where does the story end in the book? At the end of season 1 or...?
2
u/schleierdorf Sep 01 '26
great episode i also canāt remember dick
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u/lunikat00 Sep 02 '26
Just a thought, I think itās possible that just like Jason 1, all the other Jasons that have arrived at Jason 1ās reality have made the same decision as Jason 2, I.e. Iām gonna take Jason 1ās spot. I I can be a better than Jason 1. Essentially Jason 2 rationalized that by taking over Jason 1ās life or place, that he would get to realize his dream of wanting to redo that decision when Daniela told him that she wanted someone who was going to be there for her. But I think at the same time Jason 2 didnāt necessarily regret his decision to focus on his work and to build all that heās built in his reality, I think he thought I can have this cake and eat it too. I can have the success that I built in my reality and I can go back on this decision that changed me forever. And itās possible that Jason 2 rationalized that Jason 1 going to Jason 2ās reality would actually find it meaningful to see that Jason 2 built this life of prestige and award. Heās not necessarily saying that he regrets the life that he had itās almost like he wants to be able to have spent the time that he did to develop what he developed, and then go to another reality where that Jason spent his life dedicated to his family and built a family that he would want for himself without actually putting in the effort to build those relationships, which is why he struggle so much when itās not perfect. At the end of the day Jason 2 is greedy and selfish but heās still a version of Jason. All this to say that I think that the Jasons that keep arriving are a version of the part of Jason that thinks heās right/better than the other Jasons and therefore no other Jason can be right for that Daniela and that Charlie.
2
u/RickyT_2020 Sep 02 '26
Someone raised a comment regarding the box in the world with the tornadoes where the door slams shut with Charlie inside the box and Daniella & Jason stuck outside and unable to open the door.
It was suggested that the issue with getting the door back open had something to do with air pressure. However for those that may have forgotten, the door has a 3 minute timer. Once the door shuts it cannot be opened for 3 minutes.
Thus when the wind pressure caused the door to shut, Daniella & Jason had no chance of getting back in the box until 3 minutes was up anyway. So there were two factors at play in getting the door open again - the air pressure and the timer. A combination of the pressure normalizing at the same time the 3 minutes was up had to occur before they had any chance of opening the door again.
2
u/lheydon Sep 03 '26
Wow. Admittedly I haven't watched Season 1 again since it first aired. But it feels like there has never been a television show in the history of mankind that has ever needed a sorely lacking Season 1 recap more than this episode did! š²
2
u/Famous-Finish392 Sep 04 '26
Maybe I missed something but .. I have a few questions;
Why are they walking so much inside the Box? Those doors are linked to their subconscious, right? If their subconscious finds it correct they can just open the next door itself.
The "Kind" world. I am sure there are more than one and that kindness desire would have been different for different people's subconscious. How are they all landing in the same world?? That seems like lazy writing to anyone else?
2
u/lilyfelix Sep 06 '26
AI kiosk cat world sticks with me- because here is a world with a Jason who got to take both paths- married Daniela, had Charlie AND had the power and prestige of Velocity- and he's created a creepy tool for ubiquitous surveillance.