Wordless – The episode begins with Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) and Amanda Lucas (Alice Braga) trying to get back to their world from the corridor. Despite Jason assuring himself that he’s thinking happy, positive thoughts before opening the next door, water immediately pours in. Working together they are unable to shut the door against the current and before they know it, the box is sinking to the bottom of the Hudson River. Just as it appears that they are about to drown, Jason manages to close the door then the topic of conversation becomes what he was really thinking and feeling before opening the door.

Considering their earlier failure a waste of two ampoules, Jason and Amanda decide to wait a bit before taking another dose and trying a door. During this time, they discuss their discuss their complications with their mothers. Amanda’s mother appears to have been borderline bipolar while Jason’s mother spent most of her time in the hospital, recovering from cancer. Their conversation eventually segues into people who went into the box before the imposter Jason. Along with lead engineer Blair/Blaire Caplan (Amanda Brugel) and the imposter Jason, there were two more volunteers, Selma and Alex. Jason and Amanda eventually talk themselves to sleep.

Upon reawaking in the corridor and despite feeling well-rested and clear-headed, they are hesitant to open the next door. When they decide to, they discover what appears to be a desolate Velocity Lab with an ominous feel. Being that they are now both starving, they decide to leave the door ajar and explore the lab. After determining that most of the lab has been locked down, they do discover a door to one of the sleeping quarters unlocked. After being startled by the rotting, skeletonized corpse in the bed, they rush back into the hallway where they discover they aren’t alone. After several tense seconds of hiding, they are reunited with Blair. After a very short reunion, Jason spends several minutes explaining how they arrived at this very moment.

Although Blair eventually invites them to her base station/living quarters and offers them a meal, she appears a bit uncomfortable when Jason starts surveying her things. After the awkward encounter, Blair spends several minutes updating them on her world. After restoring the facility’s emergency generator, she discovered footage of a supersized bee/bird hybrid overrunning the lab. These creatures have literally attacked and consumed everything in her world. Jason and Amanda later learn that Blair still has several ampoules but isn’t comfortable reentering the box.

The imposter Jason shares some of his box adventures with Leighton Vance (Dayo Okeniyi) as they make their make their way to the box. At one point, Leighton asks Jason why he doesn’t go on an interstellar banking robbing spree if he needs money. The question disturbs Jason so deeply that he abruptly stops and launches into a tirade about the importance of not drawing attention to one’s self while traveling inter-dimensionally. Arriving at the box, Leighton becomes serious and practically tells Jason that he’s had an easy and lavish life because of his trust and connections, but he has never been more serious about anything in his life than the box.

With Jason out of the room, pondering through the Velocity Lab, Blair points out several hard truths to Amanda. She tells her that she’s not just homeless, but wordless, and following Jason could be a major mistake because he’s trying to get back to a world where he already has a family and life. Amanda appears to take her seriously and apologizes for not preparing Blair better for her box travels and asks her again to join her and Jason when they leave. Much to Amanda’s surprise, Blair contributes still being alive to Amanda but refuses her offer to join them.

While the imposter Jason continues to school Leighton on the box, Amanda and the original Jason say goodbye to Blair. She gives them her field notes and admits that she never learned to navigate the box. Amanda attempts to embrace Blair when they finally say goodbye but she instantly flinches and pulls away. In the privacy of the box seconds later, Amanda breaks down over the pain the box has caused everyone. Jason attempts to comfort but she can’t get over the destruction the box has caused or the fact that Jason from her world would stand by idly without helping. Jason attributes the thoughtless attitude to the night that Daniela Vargas Dessen (Jennifer Connelly) basically gave him the ultimatum of choosing his career or family.

The more Leighton learns about the box, the more mesmerized he becomes. He grows so excited at one that he offers Jason a million dollars for every ampoule that he has left once the training concludes.

After Amanda and the original Jason take their next dose of ampule, Jason comes up with the idea of writing his thoughts in Blair’s field journal before opening their next door. He figures that since writing takes nearly all of one’s concentration, this will lead him back to his world. When he opens the door to find the inside of the warehouse the imposter Jason took him to, he suspects that his theory worked. By the time they make it outside, he is nearly certain they are in the right world. Although the outside world is similar to his neighborhood and there are cars vehicles and streetlights, the area appears to be devoid of people. Amanda eventually suggests they return but Jason points out that they’ll never learn to navigate the box if they don’t explore where it leads them.

It’s not long before Jason gets lucky with a Jeep and he and Amanda are on their way to his house. Amanda waits outside but urges him to hurry. Daniela answers the door but it immediately becomes clear something isn’t right when she jerks away from his attempted embrace, claiming that she doesn’t want to get him sick. Almost instantly after learning that Charlie Dessen (Oaks Fegley) has succumbed to whatever illness is ravaging the city, Jason’s attention is drawn to Amanda yelling outside.

Things only get worse when Jason realizes Amanda is being cautiously held at gunpoint by a National Guard Soldier, Danny (Bamidele Ali). After meeting Dr. Julianne Springer (Jenna Kang), Jason pleads with her to help his son and wife. Julianne examines Daniela while Dr. Jay Quayle (Sean James William Parris) gives Jason and Amanda a rapid detection test. Although they test negative, Julianne says Daniela will be dead by night. Despite the disapproval of her associates, Julianne gives Jason enough morphine to provide a dignified death. She also warns them that the virus is transferred through bodily fluids. Jason is torn to help, but Amanda makes him realize that he will never get back to his world if he catches the illness. He gives Daniela the morphine and after a tearful goodbye, he and Amanda return to the box where she now tries to comfort him.

Sometime later, Amanda wakes in the box to find Jason deep in his thoughts, writing in the field journal.  After a quick debate about why Jason’s subconscious led them to a world ravaged by illness, they decide to attempt another world. They arrive in a nearly identical setting, only this time, there are people everywhere.

Upon arriving at the house, the footage begins to rapidly alternate between the worlds. The original Jason is shown entering the house and grabbing a kitchen knife while proceeding to Daniela’s room. The imposter Jason apologizes to Daniela and attempts to justify the snap decisions he’s been making as of late. At the site of Jason with the knife, Daniela immediately flips out and calls the police. Her quick conversation not only reveals Jason as her ex-husband but suggests that he’s supposed to be in prison. Upon realizing that he’s not in the right world, he returns to Amanda outside as sirens begin to approach.

In an attempt to lay low before returning to the box, Amanda and Jason decide to buy themselves some time by visiting a friend or relative of Amanda’s. Although they get a vehicle out of the trip, it turns out to be a bad idea because Amanda is supposedly recently deceased.

Mara McHenry (Arti Ishak) is monitoring the systems at Velocity Labs when the intruder alarm begins blaring. She soon learns that the imposter Jason has set off the alarm. She arrives just as he is returning to the box and in the process, he learns that the other Jason and Amanda went through the box and were followed by Leighton.

The episode ends with the imposter Jason returning to Leighton to tell him that he’s managed to secure 50 ampules. He also tells Leighton that once the training is complete and he seals off access to this world, he’ll be on his own.

 

2024 Dark Matter Review

The episode felt needlessly too long. In fact, that would be my biggest complaint with the entire series thus far. I am not familiar with the book, so I don’t know how it’s paced but I can’t help but feel, the series is needlessly drug out. The acting is rather decent, although not perfect, and the concepts are appealing. Another thing I continue to get up on is the box’s connection to the subconscious.

The fact that the subconscious determines where the traveler ends up almost makes everything seem like a dream or something imagined. What’s the need for the endless corridor with countless doors if your mind controls where you go? Wouldn’t you just need one door? Does the door always lead to the same place? I’m not a great authority on time-traveling theories but these are things I can’t help but wonder question. Maybe the book explains things more thoroughly. Either way, I’d give the episode a 5.4 out of 10.

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