‘Dark Matter’ Ending Explained: What Happens To Jason, Daniela, And Charlie?

If you, like Amanda Brugel’s Blair, found yourself asking “Now what the actual fuck is going on?” in Dark Matter ‘s eventful Season 1 finale, you’re not alone.

The final hour of Apple TV+ ‘s mind-bending sci-fi series — adapted from Blake Crouch’s popular sci-fi novel of the same name — delivered more action, more questions, and more Jasons (Joel Edgertons) than ever before. Not to mention, it left viewers with several compelling cliffhangers and a serious craving for Season 2.

After viewers learned a whole army of Jasons invaded the world that Jason2 tried to steal from the OG Jason, Season 1’s intense penultimate episode, “Jupiter,” ended with the Jason1 saying the magic codeword and finally reuniting with Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and Charlie (Oakes Fegley) in front of The Bean.

The finale, as you might imagine, follows the Dessen fam on the run from Jason2 and hundreds of other imposters who claim they’re the real deal instead of slight variations of the original Dessen patriarch born from each decision the OG Jason made inside the box.

So how do the real Jason, Daniela, and Charlie escape the army of wannabe dads and husbands who want their families back? Curious what goes down in Dark Matter Season 1, Episode 9, “Entanglement”? Decider’s Dark Matter Ending Explained article breaks down the Apple TV+ show’s epic finale.

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Dark Matter ‘s Season 1 finale picks up shortly after “Jupiter” ends. Beanie Jason (the Jason wearing a beanie, of course!) is in the Dessen basement screaming at Jason2 for answers, and despite Jason2’s attempts to bullshit him, Beanie Jason correctly IDs him as the kidnapper before beating him up. Finally, Jason2 reveals that Daniela learned the truth about him and pushed him down the stairs to escape. He swears he doesn’t know where her or Charlie are, so Beanie Jason ties him to the banister and attempts to crack the case himself.

Meanwhile, a deeply stressed Jason1 is driving a deeply stressed Daniela and Charlie, who both getting texts from other Jasons claiming to be their true family member. After they shut their phones off, Charlie thinks of a plan that can keep them safe for a couple nights. They head to his friend’s summer house, disable the alarm, and ensures all the doors and windows are locked. After comforting Charlie and assuring him the situation isn’t his fault, Jason1 heads to reconnect with Daniela, who’s struggling to wrap her head around the complex realities surrounding his return.

The two lay beside each other until Daniela falls asleep, then Jason1 sneaks into the home office to check his email. He spies a suspicious folder labeled “Entanglement” and finds an email from one Jason Dessen, subject line: “Welcome Home The Real Jason Dessen.” The link inside leads to a virtual chatroom with 44 active participants. When he creates a profile he’s assigned the Username Jason71 and enters a terrifying Jason-only chatroom where dozens of other Jasons are posting videos, fighting over their next moves, and giving updates on the possible whereabouts of Daniela and Charlie. One Jason suggests joint custody of the Dessen fam and another messages Jason1 (aka Jason 71) asking if he wants to partner with him, take down the others, then sort the issue out between themselves. Seconds later, the other Jasons message him asking to form alliances, because they all think alike, remember?!

Spooked by the online army, Jason1 stands guard with a fire poker until morning. He wakes up to a note from Daniela saying she’s at the beach, so he grabs a cup of coffee and joins her for the highly-anticipated Jason2 Talk. “At first I liked the way he made me feel…it was like we had gone back to the start. But he wasn’t my husband. He lived with us, slept with me…that’s all I want to say right now,” Daniela tells her husband. He apologizes, assuring her he loved their life together but admitting there were times when he thought,”What if.” He says he met a version of her that never married him — an artist who lived in cool loft, had lot of friends, and wasn’t a mom. “Was I happy?” Daniella asks. “She wondered the same about you,” Jason replies, reminding her the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the What Ifs.

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Back at the Dessen house, Beanie Jason and Jason2 realize Charlie is calling the shots and after securing the cell phone Jason2 stole from him under the train tracks, Beanie Jason texts Blair, who’s been trying to reach Daniela and get her car — which Jason1 borrowed — back. Beanie Jason assures Blair he’ll return her car and explain everything later in the day. He takes a moment with Jason2 to explain what happened after he kidnapped him and stole his life. “Your Daniella is dead…Leighton had Ryan killed. And then there’s Amanda, who you abandoned,” he says, revealing she died after a large tree branch fell on her while they were exploring worlds. After Jason2 clocks Amanda’s chain around his neck and gets emotional, Beanie Jason shows him the other damage he caused: the Jason chat. (Beanie Jason’s username Jason13, so we’ll start calling him that now!) Jason2, appearing to show genuine remorse, simply says, “I just thought — I thought that you would love my life.” Sadly, his show of remorse is cut short when Blair texts to say she’ll be over in 10 minutes to pick up her car. Yikes.

Back at the beach, Jason tells Daniela about the message board and the hundreds of Jasons who want her back. They head inside and catch up with Charlie, who reveals that Jason2 nearly killed him with nuts and missed their time with Max by the tree. The family shares some much-needed laughs over pancakes and makes plans to leave the next day, considering they’re intruders and thieves. What did they steal? Blair’s car, of course, which she quickly learns she’s not getting back after she enters the Dessen house and sees the staircase covered in blood. After Blair finds Jason2 tied up in a closet, Jason13 appears and begs her to track her car’s location for Daniela’s sake. When Blair refuses to give up her phone, he shoots off a gun to scare her, but she pepper sprays him, snatches the weapon, and turns the tables, asking, “Now what the actual fuck is going on?” Icon.

The Dessens spend their final night at the house bonding over dinner, chatting about alternate realities, drinking wine, and playing games. Jason1 and Daniela slow dance to Coldplay’s “Sparks,” and he assures her that while he thought there was one world where he could be happy (the world with Amanda, of course!) he doesn’t regret coming home. Before tucking Charlie into bed, Daniela hops on Jason’s email and sees the Jasons scheming on their message board. After reconnecting with Jason1 in the bedroom later that night, she tells him she told the other Jasons they made a choice. “I don’t want a lottery. I choose you,” she says. For a moment, everything seems perfect. So naturally, cue the chaos!

When Jason1 heads downstairs to keep watch, he sees someone sprint past the glass, hears a scream in the forest, and walks outside to find Blair’s tire deflating. He stumbles upon a bloody Jason crawling in the yard and asks how many of them are there, but before he gets his answer, a gun goes off, he runs back inside and tells Daniela to grab Charlie. The second she runs upstairs, a second Jason appears in the house and holds Jason1 at gunpoint. The two fight for their lives until a shot rings out and the imposter slumps over on Jason1. So who saved him? None other than Jason2, the man who built the box and created this whole mess! He drops his gun, assures the Dessens he’s not here to stop them, and apologizes for *checks notes* everything.

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After Charlie clocks him in the jaw, Jason2 shares that he found them using the tracking app on Blair’s phone but was unaware the other Jasons put a tracker on his Honda. He throws them the keys, gives Jason1 back his wedding ring, and ushers them to safety. They make it out alive, but not without running over another Jason first! And in case you doubted Jason2’s intentions, in the back of the car he left them a full pack of ampoules, the urn containing Max’s ashes, and a phone containing an emotional voice memo:

“When I went into the box I was filled with regret, and then one day, I walked into a world and I found a family that had been created through a choice that I was too scared to make. I was burning with envy. At first I thought it was all about you, Daniela, and while some of it was, I realized what I really wanted — what I tried to steal — were the choices that you made, Jason. Mostly, the choice to allow space in your life for someone else’s needs and dreams. I think there’s a part of us — me — that’s been afraid to risk love. My whole life I’ve let that fear control me, but somehow you broke free of it and gifted yourself a full, messy, beautiful life. There’s no apology sufficient for what I’ve done. This world is no longer safe for any of you and I hope you can find a new home. I’m sure you will, because you’ve all been through things I cant even imagine. And they’ve shaped you into an even more perfect puzzle that can only fit one another.”

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, the Dessens are hightailing it to the box to leave their beloved world behind. And Jason2? He’s sitting on the beach staring at Amanda’s chain and reflecting on his life choices.

When Charlie asks if the only way to survive is to leave, Daniela assures him, “If we stay, we have to live in fear,” so they head to the warehouse only to find dozens of Jasons waiting for them. At first glance, the Jason Army looks ready to duke it out for their family, but Head Jason assures them, “We didnt come to stop you. We figured your only chance at a normal life was to leave this world. We came to say goodbye.” TWIST!

Daniela apologizes to her wannabe husbands, and though some Jasons second-guess the decision, the consensus among them is, “It’s not about him. It’s about what she wants and what’s best for our son.” The sea of Jasons parts to let the Dessens through, and Dark Matter airs a final montage to close out the season. We check in with Ryan, who’s working hard on his serum. We see Dawn. We watch Blair get ready to leave the cursed insect world. We see Leighton, not only alive, but thriving. And we see Amanda, happy in her utopia, about to make a new friend. Ryan walks up to her (they’re in the same world, after all!) and when she asks if he knows her, he replies, “No. But I’ve been looking for you.”

Before the end credits roll, we see Jason1, Daniela, and Charlie open a door to a new world and step inside. Is it the utopia Chicago? Are they on their way to reconnect with Ryan and Amanda? And is Dark Matter returning for a Season 2? We’re not sure. But here’s what star Joel Edgerton has to say about the future of the Apple TV+ series.

Dark Matter is now streaming on Apple TV+.

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