OK, I’m going to preface this by saying I’m not a huge reader. I try to be, and when I find a book that I can’t put down, I don’t put it down. My taste in books is much like my taste in games, TV shows, and movies — I like sci-fi and sci-fi adjacent content. I’m a sucker for it. And that’s why I absolutely cannot wait for the upcoming Apple TV Plus show, Dark Matter.
Like so much of Apple TV Plus’ catalog of content, Dark Matter is based on a book. In this case, it’s the book of the book of the same name penned by New York Times bestselling author Blake Crouch. It’s going to be a nine-episode show and its first two episodes are going to be available on May 8 with a new episode then airing every Wednesday. But none of that really matters, because all you really need to know is this — for once, I actually read the book before watching something. I read Dark Matter.
Was it good? Yeah, I reckon so — in fact, it’s probably my favorite book ever. Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary is right up there (also being made into a movie, apparently) but Dark Matter? Yeah, it’s pretty amazing and if the folks that turned it into a TV show did it right, this is going to be an absolute smash hit. And you should definitely be as excited as I am.
Must-watch TV
The story of Dark Matter is a complicated one and frankly, I’m terrified of accidentally ruining it for you so I’m going to rely on the Apple TV Plus blurb to explain what you can expect. Oh, and when it calls this “one of the best sci-fi novels of the last decade,” you’ll see why I’m so excited.
“Hailed as one of the best sci-fi novels of the decade, ‘Dark Matter’ is a story about the road not taken.” Sounds boring so far, but stick with it.
“The series follows Jason Dessen (played by [Joel] Edgerton), a physicist, professor and family man who — one night while walking home on the streets of Chicago — is abducted into an alternate version of his life. Wonder quickly turns to nightmare when he tries to return to his reality amid the mind-bending landscape of lives he could have lived. In this labyrinth of realities, he embarks on a harrowing journey to get back to his true family and save them from the most terrifying, unbeatable foe imaginable: himself.”
Sounds good, right? Now watch the trailer.
I’d actually forgotten that there was a Dark Matter TV show on the way and ran downstairs to make my wife watch the trailer with me when I saw it drop on YouTube today — but I’ll say this; the trailer doesn’t do it justice. Apple’s description doesn’t do it justice. And I can’t do it justice without spoiling it all for you.
So with that, I’ll just say this — watch Dark Matter. Depending on the pacing, you might have to give it more than those two initial episodes, too, but stick with it. Because, again, if this has been done right, it’s going to be huge.
Severance was good. Slow Horses, is good. Some of the other stuff on Apple TV Plus, is good (Ted Lasso, I continue to say, was not (don’t @ me)) but Dark Matter? That’ll be even better.
As someone not prone to overexcitement or, if you ask my wife, excitement in general, I’ll just say that I’m actually giddy about the prospect of watching Dark Matter in a way I haven’t been since the first Transformers movie (OK, second if we count the 1986 one) landed in cinemas.
I. Can. Not. Wait.