‘Dark Matter’ Episode 5 Recap & Review: Jason Misses His Family

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Dark Matter Episode 5, “Wordless.”

Now more than halfway through a nine-episode season, Apple’s latest sci-fi series is turning up the heat. Dark Matter Episode 5 is now streaming on Apple TV+ and features several strong deviations from the source material but one particular world fans of Blake Crouch‘s novel know all too well.

The series maintains its ability to resonate with book readers and newcomers alike thanks to its willingness to stay faithful but also innovative. Like all previous installments, this episode is full of important details — make sure you catch all of them with our Dark Matter Episode 5 recap.

Jason and Amanda Can’t Get Their Bearings Inside the Box in ‘Dark Matter’ Episode 5

Dark Matter Episode 5 opens with Jason 1 (Joel Edgerton) and Amanda (Alice Braga) wandering the corridor. Jason says he feels safe, happy, and warm before he opens a door and “just wants to go home.” The door opens, and the box immediately starts filling up with water until it’s full. He gets the door closed, the water drains out, and they find themselves back in the endless corridor.

Jason admits he felt overwhelmed and under pressure before opening the door and that’s why the box filled with water. He says they need to keep opening doors to not waste any ampoules of the drug, but Amanda insists they wait and take time to emotionally rebalance themselves. Jason and Amanda wring out their wet clothes in the box and talk about their childhoods. He says he doesn’t like how Amanda knows so much about him, while Amanda says she hates how he knows so little about her.

Jason asks who went in the box before him, and she says Blair (Amanda Brugel), who was the lead engineer on the box. She also mentions two other people, Selam and Alex, clinical trial volunteers who also went into the box. Jason awakens from a slumber and realizes the drug has worn off, and they’re back inside the box. They both agree that they needed the sleep and are ready to tackle the multiverse once more.

Jason 1 and Amanda Find the Blair Who Entered the Box After Jason 2

Dark Matter Episode 5 continues when Jason 1 and Amanda decide to open the box despite no longer being in superposition. They open the door to find themselves in an alternate version of Velocity Labs, one that is abandoned with locked doors. Amanda says they had safeguards in place to protect themselves from certain dangers and anomalies coming through the box.

The two open a dorm room and find a dead body lying in bed before hearing loud machinery and alarms coming from the room with the box. They approach the room and a woman comes down the corridor pointing a gun at them with a flashlight on the end. The woman is quickly revealed to be Blair, the one who first went into the box immediately after Jason 2.

Blair thinks they came looking for her, but the reality is much more complicated than that. They get her up to speed on what happened with Jason 2, and Jason tells her his version of Blair is a lawyer who is good friends with Daniela (Jennifer Connelly). Blair then shows them to her room in the observation deck and gives them some food.

Blair Warns Jason and Amanda About the Dangers of the Multiverse in ‘Dark Matter’ Episode 5

Dark Matter Episode 5 continues when Blair tells Jason and Amanda she’s been living in this world for three months, and there was no power when she arrived, but she got everything turned back on. She then shows them footage of another Blair who exited the box and was killed by the giant locust wasps who have taken over this world. Blair says she’s gone out for supply runs, but the wasps devour everything they can.

In the original world, Jason 2 takes Leighton (Dayo Okeniyi) down to the box and tells him about the different worlds he’s seen. Jason warns him about the dangers of the box, but Leighton is still 100% confident he wants to do this. Leighton says his entire life he’s been using money, connections, and influence to get what he wants, but he knows none of that will work with the box.

Leighton admits he’s a little scared and Jason says it would be weird if he wasn’t. Amanda thanks Blair for dinner, and Blair reminds her that she’s not only homeless now, but wordless. She says Amanda needs to start thinking about what’s best for her, not just Jason. Amanda asks Blair to come with her and Jason back into the box, but she says no.

Jason 2 Shows Leighton the Endless Possibilities of the Box

Dark Matter Episode 5 continues when Jason 2 shows Leighton how to take the ampoule by taking one himself, and they fade into the corridor once more. Jason says they don’t have access to the entire multiverse, just worlds that split off and are adjacent to theirs. Meanwhile, Jason 1 and Amanda go back into the box and Blair gives them her notes before they set out.

Blair says for all her training she still never figured out how to completely control the box. Jason and Amanda enter the box once more and talk about how they could have prevented all this pain. Amanda says she doesn’t understand how Jason 2 became this person because Jason 1 didn’t. They take another dose of the ampoule, and he tells Amanda the story of him and Daniela deciding to be together.

Jason 1 starts to understand because he says if he gave up the love of his life for scientific theory, he would’ve stopped at nothing to make sure he was right. Leighton and Jason 2 stand and admire a beautiful, serene world. They return to the box and Leighton offers to pay Jason a million dollars for each ampoule he gives him. Inside the box, Jason 1 and Amanda take another dose of the drug and enter the corridor again.

Jason and Amanda Enter a Disease-Ridden World Familiar To Book Readers in ‘Dark Matter’ Episode 5

Jason 1 takes a different approach before opening a door this time and tries writing about the world he wants to visit. They open the door to see a world that looks similar to Jason’s original world, and Jason starts to get excited. They wander into Chicago to find the streets and city completely abandoned. Jason finds a car in a parking lot, and they drive through the deserted city to his house. Jason knocks on the door and Daniela opens it, but she is sick with black in the pupils of her eye.

He asks where Charlie (Oakes Fegley) is, but she says he’s dead in his room and that no one has come to get him yet. Amanda calls Jason outside and several CDC workers test him and Amanda then go inside to check on Daniela. The doctor gives Jason some auto-injectors with morphine and says to give them to Daniela all at once and she’ll slip away. Amanda doesn’t want him to go back inside, but he says he has to because it’s his wife.

This other version of Daniela says she missed Jason so much and he says he missed her too. They talk about their trip to Yellowstone; Daniela says that day was perfect, and Jason responds “All of them were.” Daniela picks up one of the syringes, and then the camera quickly cuts to Jason and Amanda driving back through the city and then getting back inside the box.

Jason Gets Close but Can’t Locate His World in “Wordless”

Amanda comforts Jason who is clearly upset at what he just saw. She wakes up inside the box some time later and Jason is reading over Blair’s notes. Amanda wants to know why he brought them to that world, and he says all he wrote was “I want my family.” Amanda realizes he carried his worst fears with him into the box, which is losing his family to illness, the same way he lost his mom.

They open the door to another world which also looks like Jason’s original home, and Jason again thinks he’s in the right place. Meanwhile, Daniela brushes her teeth and Jason 2 admits he should have told her about the car, Lakemont, and the investor. Daniela says she wants him to be happy, but she isn’t sure if she fits into this new world and life he’s living. Jason tells her he’s close to reaching a deal with Leighton.

Dark Matter continues when Jason 1 walks into what he thinks is his house, grabs a knife from the kitchen, opens the door to the bathroom, and startles Daniela. He drops the knife, and she picks it up and calls for Charlie, and he runs in and jumps on Jason’s back. Daniela then calls the police and tells them her ex-husband Jason is at her house but is supposed to be in prison.

They let Jason leave, and he runs outside and escapes as police sirens close in. They try to decide how to get back to the box and Jason says they need someone they can trust and Amanda has an idea.

Amanda Enters a World Where She Previously Died

Jason and Amanda walk inside a house and a woman is clearly startled to see Amanda. While she tries to calm her down, Jason shows her an obituary with Amanda’s face on it. The two leave the house, taking the woman’s car in the process. Jason tells Amanda he’s not at all curious about what he did in this world to end up in jail.

Jason 2 walks through the box and grabs more ampoules from another Velocity Labs. He grabs several bags and a woman monitoring the room, Mara (Arti Ishak), asks him what the box is like, and his response is “hell.” Leighton approaches Jason and asks what’s next for him after Leighton has been trained, and the episode ends when Jason says he has to seal off the box.

‘Dark Matter’ Episode 5 Ending Explained: Jason Makes a Bold Decision

Jason sealing off the box from the inside is new to the Dark Matter series, not material found in Crouch’s novel. By doing this, Jason 2 will prevent Jason 1 or any multiversal wanderer from entering this world. The ending also proves Jason 2 knows how to control the box to perfection, taking himself to a reality where he can find more ampoules at will.

It’s unclear at this time exactly how Jason 2 can control the box and navigate to different worlds, but it’s a skill Jason 1 is going to have to adapt if he wants to make it home. The show has established that the box cannot be tricked, it knows all thoughts, feelings, and desires. With this in mind, Jason 2 has likely achieved complete emotional peace and enlightenment, but it’s unclear who or what he had to sacrifice to attain it.

The fifth episode of Dark Matter contains several brilliant deviations from Crouch’s novel, including Jason 2 deciding to seal up the box, Jason 2 and Amanda stumbling into Blair’s world, and Leighton and Jason’s box adventures. However, there are parallels such as the disease-ridden world, and Jason 1 and Amanda being unable to control the box. The series is moving at a brisk pace and relaying a lot of information at once but is operating at a high level worthy of its namesake as prestige TV.

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