Are You Happy In Your Life – The pilot opens with Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton/Joe Dioletto) stepping into a dark room where he discovers what appears to be some large cube/box device.
Seemingly skipping back to the past, Jason wakes and spends a few minutes enjoying his family’s company before they begin their days. He checks Charlie’s (Oake Fegley) trigonometry homework and offers him the opportunity to drive to school while he prepares Daniela Vargas Dessen a to-go cup of coffee. Before Charlie nearly causes a collision by running a red light, a dark SUV suggests that Jason might be under surveillance. After running a red light and near collision, Jason asks Charlie to go climbing after school, which he turns down because of a prior arrangement with someone named, Brooke. This leads to Jason encouraging Charlie to tell Brooke how he feels, but it’s clear that Charlie feels she’s more interested in someone named Drew. This is soon interrupted by a call from an excited Ryan Holder (Jimmi Simpson), with the announcement that he’s won some kind of award although he claims Jason is much more deserving. The call ends with promises to celebrate later that evening.
Jason begins his day with a quantum physics lecture on Schrodinger’s Theory while Daniela discusses a contemporary landscape artist with Blair Caplan (Amanda Brugel). Blair later invites Daniela on an apartment hunting expedition for the upcoming Friday, but Daniela claims Friday is her training day. It appears that Daniela plans on competing in a triathlon of sorts later that summer.
Elsewhere, it’s suggested that Jason is up to something strange as he visits an ominous storage locker and catalogs his day’s activities. He also loads some kind of purple substance into what appears to be a fast/futuristic delivery device.
Much to Charlie’s displeasure, Jason and Daniela appear to be in an intimate/festive mood as they prepare dinner. This abruptly ends when Jason’s phone starts blowing up with messages from Ryan wanting to know where he’s at. The ensuing conversation not only reveals that Jason isn’t pleased about being skipped over for the award, but it comes with a huge research grant. Despite this, Daniela convinces him to join the celebrations, which just happen to be right around the corner of their house at the ‘Village Tap.’
Jason is immediately recognized and greeted by the bartender Matt (William Smillie). It’s not long after this that he spots Ryan, is plied with drinks, and is introduced to the rest of the party attendees. Ryan and Jason drink scotch until the wee hours of the night, during which time, Ryan offers him the opportunity to join a huge upcoming project. Despite the allure of the million-dollar opportunity, it would require Jason to travel to San Francisco, which is apparently Jason’s declining excuse.
Jason is drunkenly wandering home when he receives and ignores a call from Daniela. His attention is soon drawn to an electronics store across the street which nearly gets him run over by an angry cabbie (John Lister), with a few choice words for him. Jason’s night becomes even worse when he’s taken hostage by a man in a white mask posing as bum. It appears that Jason might have been targeted after the gunman addresses him by name. Things only get stranger from there when the gunman not only knows the passcode to his phone but also asks about Ryan by name.
Jason is eventually led to an abandoned warehouse where he is forced to strip and led down to a lower section. Jason does make a last-ditch effort to escape but is easily overpowered, knocked on the ground, and given an injection. After being forced to dress in new clothes, he finds himself unconscious.
Jason wakes to find himself in what appears to be a sterile operation room, surrounded by several people in hazmat suits. After being poked and prodded a bit, he’s forced into a shower and soon unconscious again. He wakes again fully dressed and in what appears to be a small dorm room of sorts. It’s not long after he realizes that he’s locked in, he’s joined by Amanda Lucas (Alice Braga). Much to his surprise, she greets him like an old friend while he claims to have no recognition of her. He only becomes even more confused as their conversation continues. She soon tells him that he has been cleared from quarantine but they are still awaiting the results of his blood work.
As Jason continues to probe for answers, Amanda takes him to meet with Leighton Vance (Dayo Okeniyi) who is surprised that Jason remembers. Jason becomes more confused when Amanda films their conversation and reveals that he has been on some type of expedition for the last 14 months. Even worse, it appears that he was the only member of the team to return. Jason becomes agitated when Leighton and Amanda begin questioning him about his trip, where he’s been, what he remembers last, and how he got the cuts on his face. It appears that the only thing he remembers is being at the bar with Ryan and then being attacked. Interestingly enough, he’s not questioned about Ryan.
While being led back to his room, Jason manages to escape. He encounters problems at the front entrance with the security system, but a young guard, Gunter (Jimmy Styx) addresses him as Dr. Dessen and uses his own badge to let him out. The guard learns mere seconds later that he’s been duped when Amanda and Leighton come rushing into the area in pursuit of Jason. Jason not only manages to escape but he does so with his cell phone.
After making it into the city and giving the cabbie (Elvis Garcia) his address, Jason uses the opportunity to check his phone. Jason is left speechless when he arrives home to discover Amanda, not Daniela awaiting his arrival. At nearly the same time, another Jason is shown arriving home to Daniela, who not so nicely tells him that his food is in the fridge. The version of Jason with Daniela somehow anticipated her upset mood because he has returned with ice cream, although not her preferred flavor. Despite that, it appears that the gesture worked because he offers to warm up his food and even allows him to kiss her but immediately asks how drunk he is and what exactly is going on.
This leads to him sharing the news about Ryan’s offer in San Francisco. She doesn’t appear too enthused about the offer herself, but she softens even upon learning that he turned down the offer. As they begin kissing, the story returns to the confused Jason, as Amanda attempts to explain how the two of them live together. As Jason proceeds through the house, he realizes that what should be Charlie’s room is filled with awards, trophies, and photos of him on the front of several science magazines. He picks up the phone and calls some lady to ask about Daniela, but she only tells him that he’s got the wrong number. She becomes hostile as he returns the call and asks the same thing.
At about the same time, Amanda receives a call on her cell phone where she pleads for more time to get the situation under control. Evidentially, she’s not granted the time because a car can be overheard pulling up outside. As the confused Jason makes his escape, the other one takes Daniela to bed, where his bandaged arm suggests that he is the man in the white mask.
Dark Matter Review
Where to start? I always find reviewing a pilot more difficult because I feel jumping to conclusions would be unfair. I’m not saying that because I thought the episode was bad because that’s not the case at all. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, there were plenty of negatives, for example, the dark scenes. In spite of that, there were only just a few of them and they were brief. That said, it was nearly impossible to tell what was going on.
In addition to that, I found myself bored to death at times. Thank goodness the episode was just over 40 minutes because any more could have ruined it. Despite saying that, there was suspense. Not that I’m a great authority on the matter but I felt the acting was rather well done as well. All in all, I’m intrigued enough to watch the next episode, and can one ask for much more than that? I would give the episode a 5.7 out of 10.
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