I was kind of inclined to believe that Dark Matter is science fiction, but after watching the penultimate episode, I’ve changed my mind. It is more of a drama about a person who wanted to change his reality. And therefore, he spent a lifetime building a machine to help his cause. Jason2 had a close-to-perfect life, yet he wasn’t a happy man. His biggest regret in life was not marrying Daniela when she got pregnant with his child. He always asked himself: Did he choose the perfect path? Jason1, on the other hand, was a flawed man, but he was content with whatever he had. He loved Daniela and Charlie without any negativity holding him back, and that’s what made his pursuit of happiness perfect. But chuck it; you already know that, so let’s address what you are here for: the curious case of multiple Jasons.
Spoiler Alert
As per Blake Crouch’s book, the multiverse exists because every choice an individual makes creates a fork in the road. It leads to the creation of a parallel reality. For example, in one reality, Jason married Daniela, while in the other, he didn’t. But, you see, the path doesn’t end there. Instead, it turns into a multitude of permutations. In simple words, these two Jasons make different choices in their world, which leads to the creation of more and more parallel realities. Additionally, the Jasons, in those new realities, come across a choice that again creates a fork in the road. You get the gist, right?
So, basically, that’s what happened with our protagonist, Jason1, the moment he was pushed into a different reality. In Jason2’s world, Jason1 escaped Leighton Vance’s lab because he wanted to return to his world and meet his family. But there could be a version of him that didn’t make it to The Box, right? Similarly, there could be numerous versions of Jason1, who returned to The Box but took different paths through the multiverse corridor. Suppose in one reality, Jason1 escaped through The Box alone and not with Amanda Lucas. Or maybe, in one reality, Amanda died in the snowstorm and Jason1 continued the journey all by himself. As mentioned earlier, there could be a multitude of permutations of the events we saw in Dark Matter.
Now, all the Jasons we saw in Jason1’s world are the versions of himself who were kidnapped by Jason2 and were able to escape The Velocity Lab, which means all these versions share the same goal, i.e., to return to their Daniela and Charlie. In short, these versions didn’t exist earlier and were created by Jason1 while he was trying to return to his original reality. We also have to consider the fact that these versions had gone through different experiences in The Box, which shaped their character. For example, some might have ended up in a really strange world that heightened their survival instinct, which is why they were ready to kill the other versions of themselves to get back to their family. While comparing Jason1 with Jason2, Amanda had underlined a similar fact when she said it is our experiences and choices that shape our personalities. So our protagonist doesn’t really know what kind of Jasons are looking for him out there. Some can be really scary and others can be really friendly.
Now you see what kind of a disastrous chain reaction Jason2 created just to get a perfect life? And we shouldn’t ignore the fact that he had created a multitude of realities of his own the moment he stepped into The Box to look for Jason with a perfect family. However, let’s not go into that rabbit hole, as it would only create a mess that might confuse us further. Additionally, I believe Jason2 should have created a time travel machine instead of a multiversal one, as it would have solved his issues better. Maybe or maybe not. While consulting Amanda2 in Jason1’s world, Jason2 got a reality check. The man had commitment issues, and no matter what world he ended up in, his narcissism wouldn’t let him have a perfect family ever. And I am not saying he is flawed or Jason1 is perfect, but both have their personalities shaped by their experiences, which cannot be undone, at least not with The Box. Blake Crouch’s book mentions that Jason2’s machine only connects all possible worlds at the same moment, i.e., in the present.
Even though Jason2 is the smartest one in the room, I guess Jason1 has already cracked the code on how to get out of the mess. In the penultimate episode, Jason1 asked Daniela to make a choice for him, which implies that other versions of him won’t be able to guess that choice, thereby giving our protagonist an upper hand. I believe Jason1 is going to use the same technique to outmatch all the other Jasons in his world and find a way to lead a happy or perfect life, just like Amanda did. And by now, you might have already sensed that I love bringing the wise words of that beautiful woman to the article. She told Jason1 that it is not the world that needs to be perfect, but how we choose to make our lives great in that imperfect world. And I will tweak this a little bit. I guess no world is perfect, and it is the connections we make that make it perfect. So, Jason1 already knows what to do next. He just has to execute his plan before Jason2 or any of the other Jasons get to him and his family.
