The ones who are still fascinated and intrigued by Inception‘s ending after all these years must check out Apple TV‘s most underrated sci-fi show.

Over a decade has passed since Inception‘s release, but the movie is still remembered as one of the best modern sci-fi flicks. Even to this day, viewers cannot help but discuss the Christopher Nolan movie‘s ending, which was intentionally left open to interpretation. While there is no direct answer to what happens in Inception‘s ending scene, an Apple TV show offers new insights on how one can interpret it.

The Apple TV sci-fi show in question is based on a bestselling book and is also set to return soon on the streaming service with season 2.

Dark Matter Is A 9-Hour Exploration Of The “Inception” Ending

Inception‘s ending makes one question whether Leonard DiCaprio’s Cobb reality in the final scene is “true” or just another dream. Dark Matter, on the other hand, seems to live with a similar question throughout its 9-episode runtime. The Christopher Nolan film compresses the “real or not” dilemma into a spinning top and a cut to black. However, Dark Matter goes beyond and constantly asks what deserves to be labeled as real.

In Apple TV’s Dark Matter, the main character, Jason (played by Joel Edgerton), uses a box that allows him to move from one parallel world to another. The more he explores alternate worlds, the more he realizes that reality, as he knew it, was only an illusion.

Every trivial choice he made in his original world created a set of parallel universes where he made slightly different decisions. As he explores each of these realities, he, like Cobb, starts questioning whether there is a distinction between truth and emotional convenience.

Towards the end, he, just like Cobb, makes one final decision that highlights how his need for belonging is far more important than his need for certainty.

Dark Matter Isn’t About Dreams, But It Feels A Lot Like The Christopher Nolan Movie

Similar to how Cobb often struggles to choose the real world over the one in his dreams, Jason, too, considers staying behind in one of the alternate realities and starting a new life instead of returning to his “real world.“

The Box in Dark Matter ultimately serves the same purpose as the Totem in Inception. It only symbolizes the subjectivity of one’s reality instead of reflecting the objective truth. Just like Cobb stops caring whether he is dreaming or awake and does not let his totem determine his fate, Jason thinks less about finding the ideal world and more about the one where he can be with his family again.

Both Inception and Dark Matter ultimately present a philosophical view of the Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment, where multiple states coexist for the protagonists until a conscious choice collapses them into meaning.

Since both Inception and Dark Matter dabble with different sci-fi ideas, it would be wrong to say one is better than the other. However, because of the overlaps in their thematic elements and philosophical explorations, Apple TV‘s Dark Matter seems like the perfect show for fans of Christopher Nolan’s Inception.