Apple TV’s 9-Part Sci-Fi Thriller Series Has One Of TV’s Best Plot Twists

One of the best twists in recent sci-fi TV history came in an Apple TV series that remains one of the genre’s most underrated outings. Sci-fi television is enjoying something of a critical renaissance as shows like Severance, Silo, and Foundation earn stellar reviews and upcoming projects like The Expanse creator SA Corey’s The Captive’s War promise further thrills.

However, with so many sci-fi shows arriving on various streaming services, a lot of great titles can get lost in the maelstrom. Prime Video’s best cyberpunk show, The Peripheral, lasted only eight episodes, and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was canceled only months after its premiere. Meanwhile, one of the genre’s best twists was largely overlooked in Apple TV’s underrated Dark Matter.

Apple TV’s Dark Matter Features An Ingenious Twist Ending

An adaptation of author Blake Crouch’s 2016 novel of the same name, Dark Matter was a smart, subversive blend of sci-fi and domestic thriller storytelling. The show followed Joel Edgerton’s Jason, an ordinary physicist who is abducted by a version of himself from an alternate reality and must return to his own universe before he is replaced by the doppelganger.

With Jennifer Connelly as Jason’s wife and Alice Braga as the evil version of Jason’s love interest, Dark Matter’s cast was undeniably impressive. However, it is the show’s twisty plotting that truly makes it stand out. As far back as Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novella The Double, the sci-fi genre has been haunted by the specter of doppelgangers.

However, stories of malicious dead ringers can often be predictable, which makes the big twist in Dark Matter season 1 all the more impressive. Without giving away any specific spoilers, suffice to say the plot does not go in the direction of so many earlier doppelganger stories from the sci-fi genre, and the fate of both Jasons is far from what viewers would guess.

Dark Matter’s Twist Ending Makes Up For An Earlier Blake Crouch Adaptation’s Shortcomings

While Dark Matter’s twist ending makes the Apple TV series a modern classic, this was the least that Crouch deserved after the infamous fate of his earlier TV adaptation. With a pilot directed by the master of the wild plot twist, M. Night Shyamalan, 2015’s Fox series Wayward Pines seemed like it was guaranteed to be a hit.

A blend of sci-fi, thriller, and small-town mystery, Wayward Pines had an all-time great cast that included Matt Dillon, Carla Gugino, Toby Jones, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard, and Djimon Hounsou, along with a host of other stars. However, the show’s convoluted plotting and absurd twists left viewers disappointed, making Dark Matter’s far superior storytelling a great comeback for Crouch adaptations.

Release Date

May 7, 2024

Network

Apple TV+

Directors

Jakob Verbruggen, Alik Sakharov, Roxann Dawson, Logan George

Writers

Blake Crouch

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