Dark Matter (2024 TV series)

Jason Dessen, a college physics professor, lives in Chicago with his wife Daniela and son Charlie. Jason attends a celebration at a local bar (the Village Tap) to celebrate his friend Ryan winning the prestigious Pavia prize. As he is walking home, he is held at gunpoint and abducted by a masked man who takes him to a building site, forcing him to remove his clothes and surrender his phone, before drugging him. As Jason falls unconscious, the masked man asks him if he is happy with his life, and if he ever thought about other lives he could have lived, to which Jason says 'yes'. When he wakes, Jason finds himself in a laboratory facility (Velocity Labs) where he meets psychiatrist Amanda Lucas and Velocity CEO Leighton Vance — whom he recognizes — both of whom are delighted that he has "returned". Uncertain and disoriented, Jason escapes the lab and returns home, where he again meets Amanda, who tells him they live together. The interior décor of the house is noticeably different, and there is no sign of Daniela or Charlie. Jason's abductor is revealed to be another version of himself (Jason #02), who enters Jason #01's house and seduces Daniela.

The Velocity team scrambles to find Jason #01 while he checks himself into a hospital. There he learns he is a world-renowned physicist who has not been seen in public for over a year, and there is a psychoactive compound in his system. Escaping possible commital, he manages to track down Daniela — now a successful artist — at her latest exhibition. When Jason, Ryan, and Daniela talk after the show at Daniela's house, she tells Jason #01 that he (in fact, Jason #02) approached her before his disappearance and confided his regrets regarding ending their relationship long ago and the possibility that she would never see him again. Despite being puzzled and concerned, unlike Ryan who did not believe Jason's explanations, Daniela agrees to help Jason #01 resolve the discrepancies he has identified in his life and environment. He realizes the paths between the Jasons diverged when Daniela became pregnant, when Jason #01 decided to stay and Jason #02 decided to leave. Meanwhile, despite initially struggling, Jason #02 settles into his blissful life with Daniela and Charlie. Dawn (Velocity security) breaks into Daniela's condo, kills her, and captures Jason #01.

Jason #01 agrees to work with Velocity, claiming he wants to regain his memories. He studies Jason #02's research and realizes he discovered a means to travel between dimensions by sealing the traveller inside a metal box, injecting them with a chemical compound to inhibit areas of the prefrontal cortex and induce a state of superposition. Jason #02 becomes uneasy about Ryan's presence at his house in Jason #01's world. Jason #01 tries to procure more information about Jason #02's research from Ryan in Jason #02's world. Jason #01 is discovered as an imposter by Leighton, who tries to force the truth out of him, and Ryan from Jason #02's world is implied to be killed. Amanda breaks Jason #01 out of confinement, hoping to return him to his own world, but when they are discovered, they both enter Jason #02's box intending to flee. Inside it they inject the chemical compound and appear in a corridor filled with doors. Leighton follows them into the box. In Jason #01's world, Daniela notices a change in Jason #02's personality.

Jason #01 and Amanda find themselves in an infinite corridor with doors leading to an infinite number of alternate realities. They use the ampoules and explore numerous doors hoping to find Jason #01's reality, but every world they visit happens to be desolate and ruined. They find themselves in a frozen Chicago where, after rescuing Amanda from a blizzard, they realise that the doors respond to their mental state when opening them. Jason #02 quits his job and approaches Leighton in Jason #01's world, hoping to procure funding. After Jason #02 previews the box's capabilities and explains its function Leighton agrees to pay him a lot of money in return for providing the ampoules. Daniela and Charlie discuss Jason's (in fact, Jason #02's) change in demeanour after he missed their late son's memorial service, while Jason #01 and Amanda bond inside the box, and an injured Leighton from Jason #02's world emerges into a devastated world.

Jason #01 and Amanda find a world in which a lab employee, Blair, from Jason #02/Amanda's world,resides. Despite living in a dangerous world, Blair does not want to risk returning to the box until she is ready, believing it is nearly impossible to navigate the corridor. She also cautions Amanda to figure out her own path forward while aiding Jason #01 in his quest. Despite trying to stay calm and focused when opening the doors, Jason #01 and Amanda keep finding themselves in uninhabitable worlds. They visit a world gripped by plague, where Charlie died and Daniela is dying, and a world in which Jason is an incarcerated criminal. When Jason #01 visits 'his' home, Daniela calls the police, and he is assaulted by Charlie. In Jason #01's world, Jason #02 tells Daniela that he quit his job and encourages her to do the same. She begins to feel left out of their marriage. To secure Leighton's funding, Jason #02 visits his own world to procure more ampoules, and learns that Jason #01 and Amanda escaped via the box.

At Jason #02's behest, Daniela begins painting again. Jason#02 feeds Charlie nuts, unaware that he has an allergy. In the emergency room, Daniela notices needle marks on Jason #02's arm and later confides in Blair, who suggests Daniela should follow him. After Jason #02 embarrasses her by displaying her unfinished painting at a charity auction, she overcomes her initial reluctance and follows him to his storage unit — finding the ampoules — and enlists Ryan's help in analysing the compound within. Jason #01 attempts to write a description of his world to focus his mind in an effort to better the chances of finding his reality, but he and Amanda still find themselves visiting worlds similar but not identical to his own. Exhausted, they take time to rest and explore their surroundings. Meanwhile, Jason #02 meets Jason #01's world's Amanda for a therapy session. Ryan confronts Jason #02, believing that he stole his research, as he had already synthesized the compound Daniela provided from Jason #02's storage unit. After discussing their compounds' applications, Jason #02 takes Ryan to an alternate, more progressive Chicago, via the box, and strands him there. Jason #02 then returns to Jason #01's world and encloses the box with concrete.

Daniela becomes suspicious of Jason #02. A detective visits the Dessen household to inquire about Ryan, who was reported missing by his girlfriend. Ryan was last seen with Jason #02 before his disappearance. Daniela confronts Jason #02 about the drug and, to appease her, he confesses to its purpose, but does not mention Ryan, Jason #01, or the box. He then reopens the box and uses it to replace Ryan with another from a different world. Meanwhile, on Amanda's recommendation, she and Jason #01 visit a more progressive Chicago for rest and recuperation. Amanda claims that to choose the world, she did not think about people, but of ideas and concepts that might make a world worth experiencing. After exploring for a while, Amanda decides to stay. She invites Jason #01 to do the same, he declines, wanting to get back to his own world. They share a kiss before heading their separate ways. Jason #01 finally succeeds in returning to his own reality using his last ampoule. Before confronting Jason #02, Jason #01 visits a store to buy protection gear. He is told by the store salesperson that someone exactly like him, but without the finger splint, left the store 20 seconds before he came in.

Another Jason attacks Jason #02, who kills him. Daniela visits Ryan, who claims to be her mechanic. When asked where his memory ends, he mentions having drinks with a man Daniela is able to confirm is Jason. From his hotel, Jason #01 is spotted and followed by another Jason. When he enters the Village Tap to lose him, he meets another Jason (Jason #03) there. Every decision Jason #01 made while inside the box created another Jason; those who made the right choices ended up back in his world. Jason #03 eventually leaves, warning Jason #01 not to interfere with the reunion with his family. Jason #02 takes Charlie for a tour of the University of Chicago, and notices another Jason following them. He sends Charlie away and dispatches the other Jason. Jason #01 allows himself to be arrested for smoking inside a restaurant, to be alone with Daniela. She comes to accept his account and promises to meet him later with Charlie. After incapacitating Jason #02, Daniela and Charlie flee the house, and two other Jasons along the way, reuniting with Jason #01.

The Dessens take refuge at the holiday home of one of Charlie's friends. Jason #01 finds an online forum in which Jasons who arrived in his world are attempting to decide which of them will stay with Daniela and Charlie. Daniela sends a message informing the Jasons that she chooses Jason #01. At the Dessen residence, Jason #03 restrains Jason #02 and lures Blair, hoping she will track her car, which she lent to Jason #01, to find the Dessens. When Jason #03 tries to force her to comply, she overpowers him and finds out the truth. Several Jasons confront each other while forcing their way into the Dessens' hideout. Jason #02 arrives, saves Jason #01, and helps the Dessens escape. They discover that Jason #02 left a box of ampoules and an audio recording in the car, in which he apologises for his actions. Realizing that they are no longer safe, the Dessens look for a better world, arriving at the box's location, which is crowded with Jasons who eventually decide to let them go. The Dessens choose a doorway in the reality corridor, while Leighton from Jason #01's world enters the box and injects an ampoule. Blair #02 leaves the world in which she met Jason #01 and Amanda, and in the progressive world, Amanda is approached by Ryan, who appears to have been trying to recreate the chemical used in the ampoules.