‘Dark Matter’ Episode 7 Recap & Review: Jason Makes It Home to His World

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Dark Matter Episode 7, “In the Fires of Dead Stars.”

With only two episodes remaining, Apple TV+‘s latest sci-fi series is starting to tie up loose ends hanging since the beginning of the season. Dark Matter Episode 7 is now streaming and sets in motion events that characters have been discussing since the premiere. If one were to attempt a side-by-side comparison of the seventh episode from an excerpt in the book, the two would be unrecognizable. However, this isn’t an indictment, so read on and dive into all the details in our Dark Matter Episode 7 recap.

Detective Mason Returns With Questions in ‘Dark Matter’ Episode 7

Dark Matter Episode 7 opens with Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) texting Ryan (Jimmi Simpson) when Jason (Joel Edgerton) comes in the door with groceries saying he’ll cook tonight. While they’re preparing dinner, someone knocks on the door and Charlie (Oakes Fegley) answers to find Detective Mason (Kate Eastman), the same woman who questioned Leighton (Dayo Okeniyi) in Episode 2 at Velocity.

Detective Mason tells Jason and Daniela that Ryan is missing. Daniela says she saw him five days ago, and he seemed normal, and Jason retorts he saw him three days ago at Village Tap. Jason states that he left the bar and came straight home (a lie). After Detective Mason leaves, Daniela asks Jason to come upstairs, and she confronts him about the ampoule. Jason questions where she found it, and she admits she followed him.

Jason explains the compound is for observing objects in superposition and says Ryan built it for him. Daniela says she feels like they’ve become strangers and Jason admits to using the compound. She asks him to stop, and he agrees, so she presses him about the storage unit, and he says it’s full of stuff from his special project. He claims he reason he hid it from her is that he felt guilt about wanting more from his life (another lie).

Jason 1 and Amanda Arrive in a Utopian Version of Chicago

Dark Matter Episode 7 switches to Jason 1 and Amanda (Alice Braga) walking in the corridor, and she says they need a break from living in a constant state of fight or flight. Amanda opens the door and it’s a beautiful, utopian, futuristic version of Chicago. They walk through the city and learn it runs on cold fusion reactors. Amanda reveals she got them to this world by thinking about a place where people agree on basic facts, technology doesn’t destroy everything, and everyone has empathy.

They get a couple of hot chocolates, enjoy their walk through the city, and stop at the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge to get a drink. The bartender recommends a restaurant called The Spire which is located at the top of the Obama building. Amanda says she’s leaving and will meet Jason at the restaurant in two hours. Jason has another drink and a couple approaches him and asks him to take their picture.

Jason agrees, and then they show him a picture they took of him and Amanda and say they’re very happy. They ask how long he and Amanda have been together, and he smiles before admitting, “Not too long.” Jason rides the elevator to the top of the building and sees Amanda sitting by the window in a green dress. He says he feels underdressed and Amanda points to a suit in the chair for him to change into.

Amanda Decides To Stay in This World in ‘Dark Matter’ Episode 7

Jason returns to the table and Amanda says he looks hot. Jason gives her some of her favorite candy; she says she looked up this world’s Jason, and he sells insurance. She also reveals she looked up this world’s Amanda, but she went missing two years ago. Amanda then tells Jason she got a new passport and has decided to stay in this world. She reminds him he has a home he’s looking for, but she doesn’t.

She tells Jason she wants him to stay in this world with her, but he can’t. Jason offers to leave her several ampoules in case something happens to this world, but she refuses and says she’s willing to take that chance. She tells Jason she’s going to move back to Seattle for a fresh start, and that she thinks she’s what’s holding him back from finding his family. They get up from the table and embrace, and Jason slips two ampoules into her bag when she isn’t looking.

Jason leaves and goes back to the box, taking one last look at this world before he closes the door. He opens the pack to see he has three ampoules remaining, meaning very few chances to find his world. The camera cuts to Jason in another world standing in front of a burned down version of his house. In another world, Jason sits outside another version of his house and talks to Daniela from a pre-pay phone.

Jason 1 Stalks an Alternate Version of Himself and Daniela

Dark Matter Episode 7 continues when Jason tells Daniela he loves her, and he’s calling from a stranger’s phone because you never know when you won’t make it home. She says she’ll cancel their plans for tonight, and they can stay home, and she’ll wear her sexiest sweatpants. He leaves and walks past a costume store where he sees the same mask Jason 2 wore when he kidnapped him. Jason then enters this other version of his house and walks upstairs to the bedroom.

He sees himself and Daniela lying in bed and stands over them for several minutes. Jason goes back downstairs, sits in the kitchen, and has a panic attack on the floor. He hears footsteps coming down the steps, and it’s Max, his son who died in his world. They make small talk and Jason tells Max he loves him, but Max discloses he knows how much of a disappointment he is to him.

Jason tries to comfort his son but fails; Max rushes upstairs and Jason runs into the alley. Meanwhile, in the other world, Jason 2 goes to visit Amanda again and tells her that Daniela went behind his back to Ryan instead of talking to him. Jason says he’s thinking about packing up and leaving and Amanda tells him he’s running from himself more than the situation. Jason responds that he wants to know more about Amanda, but she says no.

Detective Mason Pays Jason Another Visit in ‘Dark Matter’ Episode 7

When Amanda declines to tell Jason something about herself, he says he’ll do it. He tells her she has a sweet tooth and that she had a parent who needed to be cared for, which is why she gives so much of herself helping others instead of herself. Amanda says she’d like him to leave and Jason walks out. When he arrives home, he sees Detective Mason sitting on his front porch.

She tells Jason they got a ping on Ryan’s phone in an industrial area of Chicago (where the box is) after he left the bar and asks if Jason went there with him, but he lies and says no. Jason answers all her questions with no, and she says if she finds anything interesting she’ll be in touch. Jason returns to the box and hits it with a sledgehammer to tear down the concrete. The camera quickly cuts to Jason sitting in Village Tap having a drink with an alternate version of Ryan.

Ryan says he runs Loyalty Motors Garage in Logan Square, and that he got a full scholarship to UChicago but got a DUI after his senior year of high school and has always wondered about what could have been. The camera then cuts back to the original world and Jason brings this other version of Ryan out of the box. He takes him home, showers him, and cuts his hair. Jason then returns home and hears Daniela inside laughing.

Jason Finally Arrives in a World He Knows in “In the Fires of Dead Stars”

Instead of going inside in Dark Matter Episode 7, he stands outside, and the camera switches back to Jason 1 who is inside the box writing about his first memory of Daniela. He takes his last ampoule, wanders the corridor, and finally picks a door and says he just wants to be home back on the journey with this version of Daniela. The door opens, he sees concrete surrounding the box and an ampoule on the ground, and he realizes he’s back in his world.

He takes the train to the Village Tap, walks inside, and asks Matt (William Smillie) if he knows him. Matt says yes, so Jason hugs him with excitement and runs outside. Jason runs home and stands outside his house peaking in the window at Daniela and Charlie, but he knows he can’t go in. He sees Jason 2 walk in the front door, and Jason 2 says he finally found Ryan at a bar in Gary after he went on a three-day bender.

Daniela offers that maybe Ryan shouldn’t be alone but Jason insists he called Ryan’s girlfriend Mindy, who is on her way to see him. He says he needs to call Detective Mason and let her know Ryan is okay. Meanwhile, Jason 1 walks down to a sporting store and asks to buy a handgun for home defense. The woman behind the counter shows him a Glock and asks if he has his F.O.I.D. (firearm owner’s ID) card, but he doesn’t.

‘Dark Matter’ Episode 7 Ending Explained: Jason 1 Realizes a Horrible Truth

Instead of a gun, Jason purchases pepper spray and a knife and leaves the store. Seconds after he walks out, another Jason walks in and tries to buy a handgun. The woman asks if he changed his mind about the knife, but Jason says he’s never been in the store. In that moment, Jason realizes that there are other versions of himself back in this world thinking the same thing he is. He then runs outside and panics in the snow in the parking lot.

Jason arrived back home, but didn’t think about the fact that there were other Jasons who split off after he was kidnapped in Dark Matter Episode 1 and are in the same boat he is. Now, instead of having to contend only with the Jason who kidnapped him, Jason 2, the original Jason also has to worry about the many other versions who also think they were kidnapped and are trying to get back to Daniela.

The series has deviated from the novel enough that by this point, it’s a completely different story but still enthralling. In the book, there is no Detective Mason, Jason 2 isn’t going on adventures in the box, and Ryan doesn’t get trapped in another world. Author Blake Crouch is getting to live out his “path not taken” by going on different creative directions, resulting in a much different but equally thrilling final product.

Follow the Agents of Fandom socials for all the latest entertainment news and reviews.