NOC Recaps ‘Dark Matter’ S2, E7: Running

The latest episode of Apple TV’s Dark Matter starts to pick up some of the dangling plot threads from earlier in the season, but it also unspools a few more as we start barreling toward the finale.

After a couple slower paced episodes the last few weeks, episode 7, “The Pyramid,” picks up the pace considerably, not only pushing the plot forward but with some tense, action-heavy beats along the way. This is a fitting match to the next song on Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter, too. “Running,” the eighth track on the album, is a two-minute punk rock blast that reminds listeners that the band can still bring it sonically. Nestled between the album’s mid-tempo songs, it’s a deliberate placement — just as “The Pyramid” jolts viewers back into the season’s overarching story.

For instance, it’s been a while since we saw Amanda and Ryan get carted away by CDC agents in the utopian world. Episode 7 picks up with the pair still in quarantine as the rest of society tries to deal with a catastrophic plague that is wiping out whole populations of people. The doctors and military brief them on the situation. It seems this plague, dubbed the Black Iris Plague, spread quickly and violently in a matter of weeks. They thought they had identified Patient Zero, Ryan’s sister Camilla, but when the multiversal travelers emerged from the Box, everyone’s assumptions were turned upside down.

It is impossible for Amanda and Ryan to be in this holding facility because, as a video shown them proves, Ryan and Amanda died from the Plague four days ago. Apparently, a different version of Amanda and Ryan — who likely spawned inside the Box after making different choices like the multi-Jasons — came back to the Utopian world four weeks before they did. The only problem is that they were exposed to this sickness in their travels and brought it to this universe.

There aren’t a ton of lyrics in “Running” — the song’s barely two minutes — but one line in the chorus fits here:

Lost in the tunnel and the tunnel’s getting funneled
Like the sewage in the plumbing ’cause we left the fucking water running

These are some of the unintended consequences of having unfettered access to an infinite number of realities at once. Leave the water running in one, and the shit starts leaking into the other. Unfortunately, Amanda and Ryan can’t just explain they are variants of the versions who brought the Plague — who are in turn variants of the Amanda and Ryan who actually originated in that universe — so the military, instead, just runs painful test after test to get to the bottom of this phenomenon.

The Utopian World’s CDC is not nearly as understanding as Papa Vargas. As we come back from the credits, he’s still reeling from his own realization that the multiverse exists. Though, he’s taking it a lot better than most¹.

Daniela opens up to her alternate universe stepfather and lets him know how troubled she’s been — the doubt about Jason, the worry for Charlie. He not only understands, he embraces Daniela and lets her know he’s there for her. Meanwhile, Charlie is having a difficult time in the Box, running around from danger world to danger world in a desperate attempt to find one where Max is still alive.

Got me running, got me running
But the race, it never ends
Got me running, or else I’m done in

After taking some deep breaths in the corridor, he wishes for help behind the next door he opens.

The world he finds is definitely one of the weirder ones we’ve seen so far. Instead of finding an abandoned school or a distant forest, when he opens the door he’s greeted by a sidetable with a plate of cookies and a hand-drawn sign that says “Welcome Traveler.” It also opens to the inside of someone’s den or living room. Somehow, this Box has spawned inside someone’s home.

We then cut to Leighton revealing his newest project to Blair that was teased last episode. After emerging from that underground labryrinth, Leighton shows her a massive contraption, and I’m reminded of the other part of the chorus of “Running” again.

Dictator, container
Lost in a tunnel and the tunnel ain’t no fun
Now I’m lost in all the shit you’re flushing

The dictator’s container here is dubbed the “Pyramid,” and it is indeed a much larger version of the Box, but it is not quite operational² yet. Leighton explains the need for the Pyramid’s massive size by claiming it can support aid trucks and allow for refugees from dying worlds. Blair points out it can also bring armies. The only problem with a Box this size is that it requires a massive amount of energy to power it, which is difficult to come by in world with little to no advanced technology.

Blair also meets Oluko, who Leighton introduces as his partner, and we can confirm that the Leighton we meet in the Retro World is the Leighton we’ve been following all season. Oluko shows her how they’ve been mapping every world they’ve visited³. She then meets mustachioed Ryan — who is also a resident of the Retro World, turns out — and agrees to join them for dinner later that day.

For me, though, this raises a whole bunch of new questions. One, how long has Leighton been operating here? He tells Blair he’s been in this universe for two years, which tracks with the timeline of the show, but how does this fact align with his confrontation with Jason1 outside their apartment? His tearful apology and promise to leave his family alone ring a little more hollow now that we know he’s been here the whole time.

It also shows that Leighton’s Council of himself never quite grew beyond the initial two — remember Utopian Leighton, who we’ll actually revisit in a bit, turned down the offer to join. I wonder how many others also refused to be part of the group? And the Leighton of this world? Turns out he’s a bit of a screwup, which made it easier for Earth 2 Leighton to swoop in and make Velocity the leading tech company in this universe, supplanting MacNamara Tech in the process.

Speaking of the MacNamaras, we also check back in with Sheila and Mitchell, aka the CEO of MacNamara Tech and the private dick that gave the Dessens their new identities, while also discovering their hidden Box in an abandoned school. Sheila asks to see his spy photos again because she spotted a Velocity Tech logo in one of the pictures. She’s been suspicious of Velocity for a while, and this connection to the Dessens is her ticket to finally taking down her chief competitors. She enlists her brother to start spying on the Dessens again, which he agrees to do.

Later, at the Village Tap, MacNamara confronts Jason with his secrets. He reminds Jason that he’s the only one who knows about their identities and can ruin their lives with one simple phone call. All he wants to know is how the Box works and promises to leave the Dessens alone forever. At the same time, Daniela tries reaching Charlie and learns from Eduardo that he’d been gone for a few days “to find Max.” She instantly realizes this means Charlie has gone into the Box and leaves her father to go back to Chicago.

Charlie, though, has not found Max. Instead, he’s inside the home of Margo Martindale⁴, who seems to know a lot about the Box and the people who come through it. But this isn’t an Oracle in The Matrix situation. Sometime during season one, Jason and Amanda spawned the Box in her world, only the location just happened to be inside her den — also count her among elder characters who are totally cool with this whole multiverse thing. More than that, she helps Charlie by sharing a journal with all of the stories of the people who have come from the Box. She also encourages him to find Max by focusing on a memory rather than the person.

Back in the Retro World, Blair isn’t Leighton’s only dinner guest that evening. They’re joined by none other than Jason2⁵. Blair isn’t putting up with his bullshit, though, confronting him over all of the messed up things he was doing in the first season. Jason2 claims that he’s trying to atone for his past sins, but nobody buys this. Leighton’s plan is to reunite the brain trust from Earth 2 to get the Pyramid up and running, but is having a hard time trying to convince Blair to join them.

Instead, she recounts her trials and tribulations in the Box. Travelers bring into the Box their fears and hopes, that’s what determines what’s behind the door. The more she traveled, the more her hopes turned to fear, and that’s how she ended up in worlds where whole populations perished. She’s basically done with the whole thing. Leighton tries to sell her on self-regulation and guidelines, but she knows there is no controlling the uncontrollable⁶ and basically tells him to fuck off.

The more I have, the more I come
You wanna go? I wanna see you
Now watch me walk off, so [he] can fuck off

Back at the original Box in the abandoned school, Jason gives MacNamara one more chance to back down and walk away. Unfortunately, the detective just keeps asking too many questions that make Jason uncomfortable. We know the plan is to stick MacNamara in the Box and send him to a different dimension — back at the bar, Jason clearly spiked his drink with Lavender Wings — but this is supposed to be the good Jason. He wouldn’t do that to someone, even if that someone is threatening his family.

MacNamara is unrelenting though. He needs to know how the Box works, if not for his own curiosity then for the fact that his sister basically hired him to do so. After MacNamara is lured inside the Box, Jason slams the door shut and holds it closed until the Lavender Wings kick in and the dick is transported into the infinite corridor.

Was cleared for, for lift off
Aborted my take-off
Living in the shadows, crossing my fingers
A date with the gallows and a reprieve, not looking likely

The last act of the episode finds us back in Utopian Dystopian Chicago where Amanda and Ryan are looking worse for wear after multiple rounds of invasive testing by the government to figure out how they’re still alive. Their latest visitor is tech mogul Leighton Vance, who doesn’t seem to recognize them, though they’ve interacted plenty in the past — he even helped Ryan train for his multiversal travels.

Turns out it was a ruse in order for Leighton to sneak in disguises for his friends for a jailbreak. In the tensest scene yet, Amanda and Ryan are transported out of the facility to the outskirts of the park where the Box is being guarded. They witness the horror that has befallen what was once an ideal world — they’re also quick to notice just how authoritarian Utopia can turn overnight. Leighton doesn’t join them in their escape because someone has to stay back and ensure the world is cured, proving Utopia Leighton is still the best Leighton.

After Amanda and Ryan complete their harrowing escape into the Box, we see Amanda’s been shot with a tranq dart. Ryan injects her with Lilac Wings anwyay, and we have to wonder if the drug will adversely interact with the tranquilizer at all. In the meantime, Daniela has made her way to the Box to go after Charlie, and Jason is back home making a breakthrough writing his paper. It’s like he doesn’t even know his wife and son are in danger — I’m starting to really dislike Jason1 just as much as I dislike Jason2.

Speaking of Jason2, guess who comes knocking on their door to close the episode. I just told you. It’s Jason2. To quote the last line of “Running:”

Fuck

1. Maybe the variants of long deceased parents of our heroes are just more understanding, as was the case with Jason’s mama in episode five. ↩︎
2. Unless the writers are planning a Return of the Jedi-like swerve and show it is indeed fully armed and operational! ↩︎
3. They also give a name to Utopia (I think) since Leighton describes “HP-24” as the most advanced smart city they’ve visited yet. Ya know, except for the whole Plague thing. ↩︎
4. I don’t think the show ever told us her character’s name. Maybe she’s playing a variation of venerable actress, Margo Martindale? ↩︎
5. I bet Amanda’s gonna feel bad about letting him free in episode 2 now. ↩︎
6. It’s all basically a metaphor for the AI conversation that’s happening in our world. ↩︎