We have reached the point in the story where the adrenaline that fueled everyone for the last year of their lives begins to wane.
And they’re left in the aftermath, spent and lost.
It’s particularly rough since they are literally lost. Not just to themselves, but to their worlds. Every character feels it to a certain extent, but the brunt of it falls on the Dessens.
But before we get to the most important family on Dark Matter, let’s check in with everyone else.
As it turns out, they are holding up better, but they certainly haven’t escaped the impact of all that’s happened so far.
Leighton is still out there searching.
It’s hard to tell exactly what he’s searching for. He’s lost contact with his real world, too, and even in finding what appears to be his father in another, he’s bracing to lose him as well.
But exactly what he’s trying to do or where he’s trying to go is getting confusing. He is the same guy who found Yogi Leighton and lured him onto a path of finding and creating the perfect world, right?
I can’t figure out what he’s searching for when he enters the box. If he wasn’t hoping to create a super world that solved all problems, I might think he was looking for home, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Yet seeing MacNamara’s Earth 1 crew outside of the box panicked him.
It’s unpleasant and jarring to think that anyone would be lying in wait outside the box in any world, but he wasn’t even mildly interested, just terrified.
And in that particular state of mind, we’re supposed to believe that he managed to transport to the best place so far, where Jason, Daniela, and Charlie reside? They needed complete calm and focus to get there, but he just stumbled into it?
And then, he just so happened to spot Jason and follow him home? That whole segment confused me. Leighton confuses me.
At least I’m not alone in my confusion anymore. “Which one are you?” was the game Jason and Leighton played. Leighton thought he found Jason2. He didn’t, but he was hopeful.
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Get More of Our Coverage!When he realized his mistake, he was more than happy to walk away, no harm, no foul. But I couldn’t help but wonder what they just set up with his movements.
I did appreciate seeing Leighton cry, though. It’s been “who is this guy, really” for too long. Now, at least we know he’s got a heart.
Then we’ve got the Ryans, Amanda, and Jason2. If the Leigtons confused me, I was getting as muddled with the Ryans, too.
For example, Ryan thought it would be as simple as visiting his favorite watering hole to verify his world.
By this point, I had lost my footing with the Ryans entirely. I thought this was our original world, and Jason had made it home.
It turned out he wasn’t even the Jason whose home they were trying to find, and he sloughed off the group with ease. Just a hug, and he was content to turn and walk away.
Their travels gave more time to flesh out Jason2, who has sorely needed the treatment.
Understanding what drove him to steal Jason’s life and toss him away like trash is kind of important.
Now that we know what was going through his mind, it’s easy to imagine how seeing a version of yourself who made different choices would be so appealing that you could lose yourself.
If ever there was a good argument for temporary insanity, being lost between dimensions and seeing yourself from the outside would be number one on the list.
But what a bummer for Amanda, who really seemed to love him. He was sitting across from her, telling her how much she didn’t satisfy him.
Despite her labeling him as scared shitless of intimacy, I don’t think he’s been capable so far of even knowing who he was to be frightened of what he was not.
He was all ambition, and his sense of self disappeared. He only recognized that when he saw our Jason. When he faced another version of himself, he finally saw who he was: a shell of a man.
If that’s what it takes to move him forward, he’s lucky.
I don’t think Amanda has closed the door on their future. She was in too much pain listening to him reveal how empty he’d been to see things for what they were, either.
What I did not expect was for Ryan to decide to return to the safe-sex world with Amanda, and I surely didn’t imagine that world to be the world that was suffering from the unknown virus.
That joy-filled place, where it seemed like everyone got along and problems were few, faced a whopper if that’s what’s going on.
Being approached by guys in hazmat suits, names ready as if they were expected, sure makes it seem like they are in that world now.
Yet when the yogi Leighton — who admitted he had his own epiphany upon seeing himself for the first time — didn’t seem too encumbered by a raging virus outside. Did I mention the Leightons confuse the hell out of me?
Help me out. Can you connect the dots between all of the Leightons and their current game plans? Toss me a bone!
And now, let’s get to the ever-troubled Dessen family. Because finally, Jason wanted to move.
He’d had about enough of that world and the constant bumping into old souls they should know but don’t. It’s about damn time. They should have done that the moment they set foot in this new world on Dark Matter Season 2 Episode 2.
Sadly, by the time he suggested it, they were already too embedded in their new life or so far gone that moving wasn’t appealing to either Daniela or Charlie.
But it’s unfair for either Daniela or Charlie to blame Charlie for their predicament. Choices are what define us. Their Jason is not the same as the others. He made different decisions and became a good man, not a questionable one.
Charlie has grown up. He wants to go to college. He gets a job (which puts him right in the path of their new world’s Amanda because of course it does) and starts making plans.
Charlie’s interpretation of the diner painting at the museum reflects how he sees the world now. It’s a prison without an entrance or exit. No wonder he wants to make the best of it.
They are all experiencing a level of hell and fighting not to succumb to it. For Charlie, attending college like a normal kid might free him from the past. Fingers crossed.
But if the timing of Charlie leaving for college is excellent for him, it’s terrible for Daniela. She’s still struggling with what she did to a version of Jason, and losing one of her touchstones to her real world is overwhelming.
The irony is that Jason wanted to leave Chicago, but when presented with the opportunity, they passed. They needed to decide something for themselves. And they both chose to leave Chicago.
You could see Daniela’s decision coming when they were at the museum. The wheels were spinning. She was almost in a trance, which again played out during her run, when she lost herself just long enough to find herself somewhere she once spent every day: her dad’s old store.
When she realized Jason hadn’t let go of the box, even if he claimed it was to find a different way to permanently disable it, it was the catalyst she needed to put herself first.
To recover and find her center again, she needs to walk away from the man she loves. It doesn’t help that she feels like they have lost who they were. And who wouldn’t, given everything they’ve been through?
That kind of trauma is often inescapable. If you’re lucky, you can change scenery, reset, and all that. But they are always on the run. Their lives will never be what they once were. Resetting isn’t as easy.
At least they are in a world that, while different, is familiar. It gives everyone a place to start to reconnect with themselves. Seeing her dad’s store still flourishing matters.
This isn’t the end for Jason and Daniela. She’s right — they are each other’s person. They fought through hell to be together.
Now they just need to fight a little longer, but this time, without each other getting in the way. It’s true that you need to love yourself to love someone else completely. When you break, it doesn’t break your love, but it stretches it.
Daniela feels stretched, and before it all breaks, she’s going to figure shit out on her own.
So, yes. This is the part of the story where the adrenaline wears off, and everyone is spent. But it’s also where recovery begins.
Where do you think the story is going next?
What will recovery look like for each of them, across dimensions? How will they intersect? Why do they keep stepping into each other’s worlds? How many times can I use the phrase “each other” in one review?
The questions keep coming. The answers may surprise you.
Share your thoughts about Dark Matter Season 2 so far and “Stars, Hide Your Fires” in the comments below.
Answer all the questions, and ask some of your own! Maybe you can even tell me what the episode title means. See you there!
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