The distant, lesser-known cousin of Stranger Things (the third and final season of which just landed on Netflix), is Dark .
On the surface, Dark exhibits features similar to Stranger Things : a town dealing with the mysterious disappearance of a kid, the hovering, eerie presence of a huge facility, (portion of) the story being set in the 1980s complete with techno-pop music and cultural references. But obvious comparisons apart, Dark , which premièred in 2017, isn’t just a step ahead of Stranger Things (which itself is an ingenuously-created, credible show), but superior to every other Netflix Original. Densely-plotted and intricately-designed, Dark is currently the most fascinating series streaming anywhere in the world.
But it’s no easy watch. Season 1 was known to, first, confound viewers with its plethora of characters — most of whom are played by different actors across eras — and a storytelling style that was constantly zigzagging between timelines. But once you grew familiar with its labyrinth structure, the pieces began to fall in place beautifully.
The first season was set in 2019, in the fictional German town of Winden, where a mysterious cave seems to be the cause of two disappearances, one of them being a young boy, Mikkel. The protagonist, Jonas, discovers a portal within the cave, which enables time travel to two different eras: first, 1986 and then further back to 1953. The same characters appear in all three eras at different points of their lives, all played by different actors, multiplying the cast list. Creators Baran bo Adar and Jantje Friese use smart visual devices to help viewers keep track of the identity of these characters, like the clever use of photographs and split-screens.
A major facet of the show is how effortlessly it straddles different genre tropes — it’s a procedural one moment, a serial killer drama the next, then a supernatural thriller, but in its most basic form, this is a time travel piece. As characters began to flit between different time zones and come across older or younger versions of themselves, it gives rise to paradoxes that lie at the heart of the show. Jonas, for example, realises that the young boy Mikkel has accidentally landed in 1986, where he assumes the identity of Michael and grows up to be Jonas’ father. If Jonas rescues Mikkel back to the current era, Mikkel will never become Michael, and Jonas will himself cease to exist. Such contradicting scenarios are at the heart of Dark , in addition to universal themes like familial connections, destiny and karma.
Season 2, which landed recently, takes the show’s thematic richness a notch up. It’s impossible to jump into it without at least a detailed recap of Season 1 (re-watching it is the best option), but once the terrain becomes familiar, the new season is more fun, with newer revelations and a deeper discussion of the show’s philosophies. At a time when we consume so much content, it’s impossible to be truly blown away by a show, yet Dark is a masterpiece.
Both seasons of Dark are now streaming on Netflix.
This column helps you navigate online (and offline) television, a world of endless options.
