{"id":1038560,"date":"2026-09-02T09:17:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T09:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1038560\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T09:17:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T09:17:25","slug":"hey-chicago-stop-ignoring-apple-tvs-dark-matter-reel-chicago-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1038560\/","title":{"rendered":"Hey Chicago, stop ignoring Apple TV’s Dark Matter Reel Chicago News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dark<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Apple TV+)<\/p>\n

Chicagoans, we need to talk about Dark Matter<\/strong>. If you somehow missed the first season of Apple TV\u2019s wildly ambitious science-fiction thriller, now is the time to catch up, because Dark Matter returned Friday, August 28 with a second season that is bigger, stranger, more emotionally complex and arguably even more compelling than what came before.<\/p>\n

And Chicago is still right at the center of it all.<\/p>\n

Based on Blake Crouch\u2019s bestselling novel, Dark Matter stars Joel Edgerton<\/strong> as Jason Dessen, a Chicago physicist, professor, husband and father whose life was shattered in Season 1 when another version of himself emerged from an alternate reality and decided he wanted Jason\u2019s life for his own. Jennifer Connelly <\/strong>stars as Jason\u2019s wife Daniela, with Oakes Fegley<\/strong> as their son Charlie.<\/p>\n

What followed was one of television\u2019s more brain-bending explorations of the multiverse, not superheroes leaping through portals. Still, ordinary people confronting the thousands of lives they might have lived had they made different choices.<\/p>\n

Season 2 picks up seven months after Jason, Daniela and Charlie escaped their original reality and found what appeared to be a peaceful new version of Chicago where they could finally begin again. For a few minutes, things almost look normal.<\/p>\n

That should immediately make Dark Matter viewers nervous.<\/p>\n

Daniela is home alone when another Jason appears. He tries to convince her that he is her husband. She has learned a few things since last season.<\/p>\n

So, Daniela shoots him.<\/p>\n

\"Dark<\/p>\n

Jason returns home to discover another dead version of himself. Before the Dessens can deal with the world\u2019s most complicated home invasion, a police officer arrives to investigate an abandoned vehicle. He discovers the body, Jason ties him to a tree, and the family\u2019s carefully constructed new life collapses almost instantly.<\/p>\n

Because the officer has already called for backup, Jason and Daniela race to retrieve Charlie and head back to the Box \u2013 the mysterious device capable of opening doors into an infinite number of realities.<\/p>\n

Charlie isn\u2019t thrilled.<\/p>\n

After seven months of finally having friends, school, and something resembling a teenage life, he is forced to abandon everything again because another version of his father has appeared. In a series built around quantum physics and infinite realities, one of its smartest choices remains surprisingly simple: Dark Matter never forgets what all of this would actually do to a family.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, things are getting considerably stranger back in another Chicago.<\/p>\n

The Season 2 premiere opens with the aftermath of last season\u2019s convergence of countless Jason Dessens. A mysterious new figure, Agent Mitchel MacNamara, played by Chris Diamantopoulos<\/strong>, arrives to investigate the pile of identical bodies and immediately assumes something resembling human cloning is involved.<\/p>\n

\"Dark<\/p>\n

\"Dark<\/p>\n

The audience knows better.<\/p>\n

Somewhere out there is the original Jason. Jason 2. Other Jasons. Dead Jasons. Angry Jasons.<\/p>\n

\"Dark<\/p>\n

Yes, keeping track can occasionally feel like doing calculus on Lower Wacker Drive.<\/p>\n

But that complexity is also part of what makes the series so much fun.<\/p>\n

Season 2 expands its focus beyond Jason and gives the show\u2019s terrific supporting characters considerably more room to breathe. Ryan, played by Jimmi Simpson<\/strong>, reconnects with Amanda, played by Alice Braga<\/strong>, in the seemingly utopian reality where Jason 2 abandoned him.<\/p>\n

\"Dark<\/p>\n

Ryan has discovered that the version of himself who belonged to this world died years earlier. Amanda, meanwhile, explains that she originally entered this reality with the real Jason, not Jason 2.<\/p>\n

\"Dark<\/p>\n

The two immediately share something nobody else around them possibly can: they are strangers living inside lives that almost belong to them.<\/p>\n

Their story leads to one of the premiere\u2019s best Chicago moments.<\/p>\n

Ryan and Amanda are standing near Cloud Gate \u2014 yes, the Bean \u2014 discussing how unnervingly perfect this version of society feels. Everyone is patient. Emotionally intelligent. Considerate.<\/p>\n

Ryan hilariously describes it as a world of \u201cpolite sex.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then a new piece of public art is unveiled.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the Box.<\/p>\n

Only in Dark Matter could one of Chicago\u2019s most recognizable landmarks become the setting for the reveal of another object capable of destroying everyone\u2019s understanding of reality.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Leighton Vance, played by Dayo Okeniyi,<\/strong> has apparently undergone the multiverse\u2019s most dramatic career change and become a yoga and meditation instructor. Then another version of Leighton walks through his door asking for help learning how to quiet his mind so he can better control the Box.<\/p>\n

\"Dark<\/p>\n

He claims he wants to use it to help other worlds.<\/p>\n

Whether anyone should believe him is another question entirely.<\/p>\n

The Dessens, meanwhile, continue jumping through realities looking for somewhere \u2014 anywhere \u2014 they can live safely. A violent storm is destroying one world. Another offers an almost comically mundane hotel and a cheerful digital concierge cat.<\/p>\n

\"Dark<\/p>\n

Their standards for paradise are dropping quickly.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Jason promises Charlie they will find a quiet world, settle down, and destroy the Box once and for all.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ:<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Inside the One Chicago writers\u2019 rooms: Keeping it fresh<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Jason enters it imagining exactly what his family needs: somewhere safe. Somewhere kind. Somewhere they can begin again.<\/p>\n

Then he opens the door.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been there before.<\/p>\n

That is where Dark Matter leaves us after its Season 2 premiere, reminding viewers that on this series, even finding home doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you\u2019ve found your way home.<\/p>\n

And this season is venturing into completely new territory. Season 1 adapted Crouch\u2019s 2016 novel, but Season 2 moves beyond the source material, with Crouch continuing as creator, showrunner and primary creative force behind the expanding story. Apple has ordered 10 episodes, with new installments arriving Fridays through October 30.<\/p>\n

\"Dark<\/p>\n

Early reviews suggest the series may also be evolving. Rather than simply piling more realities onto the screen, Season 2 increasingly examines the people trapped inside them \u2014 Daniela, Amanda, Ryan, Leighton and others whose lives have been permanently altered by Jason\u2019s creation. The multiverse becomes less the show\u2019s subject than the pressure cooker exposing who these people really are.<\/p>\n

For Chicago audiences, there is another reason to embrace the series.<\/p>\n

Dark Matter actually shoots in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Season 2 production returned to Chicago in 2025, with filming throughout the city and surrounding communities, including a highly visible shoot in downtown Glencoe featuring Edgerton, Connelly and Fegley. Production records also identify Chicago as the principal Season 2 location.<\/p>\n

That authenticity matters because Chicago isn\u2019t treated like interchangeable scenery.<\/p>\n

The city is essentially Dark Matter\u2019s compass.<\/p>\n

No matter how bizarre the Mattery becomes, recognizable streets, neighborhoods and landmarks tell us where we are \u2014 even when we have absolutely no idea which version<\/strong> of where we are.<\/p>\n

Few television shows have used Chicago\u2019s visual identity more dramatically.<\/p>\n

So if you live here and haven\u2019t watched Dark Matter, you\u2019re missing something special: a sophisticated, sometimes dizzying, deeply human science-fiction series that turns our city into an infinite playground of roads not taken.<\/p>\n

Or, to put it another way:<\/p>\n

There\u2019s only one Chicago in well\u2026 One Chicago, but there are countless Chicagos in the Dark Matter multiverse.<\/p>\n

You only need to live in one of them to start watching. That is what Matters!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Courtesy of Apple TV+) Chicagoans, we need to talk about Dark Matter. If you somehow missed the first…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1038561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[4964,960,21744,87018,5386,1818,381038,415475,154037],"class_list":["post-1038560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-apple-tv","tag-chicago","tag-dark-matter","tag-film-production","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-jennifer-connelly","tag-jimmi-simpson","tag-joel-edgerton"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117200700226154259","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1038560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1038561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1038560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1038560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1038560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}