Series Review: DARK — A Netflix Original
It had been a while since I watched a fictional series with multiple seasons, and episodes that crossed the 30 minute mark. Like my fellow Gen-Zs, I subconsciously acquired the same indolent mindset — asking myself why to bother engaging with extensive storytelling, when I could get the same “pleasure” of TV with quick, crisp and intelligent content. God knows there’s plenty of it in the Netflix abyss.
Much to my not-so-dark surprise, that slothful spell is finally broken; thanks to this intricate, intense and an almost impeccable series.
The story begins at a deliberately unhurried pace, at the backdrop of a small town in Germany- Winden. This town also happens to be a nuclear power plant base, which is a crucial piece of information for a story which revolves around the broader theme of sci-fi, touching on basic concepts of metaphysics. Don’t feel daunted — they try their best to make it easy for their viewers to understand as they move forward (and backwards) in the story.
Season one revolves around mysterious disappearance of young children in Winden, reasons for which noticeably go beyond a usual murder mystery. The protagonist — Jonas, is dealing with the untimely demise of his father by suicide, a sleeping disorder, and a disrupted love affair with the female protagonist. He is nudged by sharp turns of events to seek a bigger connection to this adversity, which leads him down a rabbit hole (re: a cave). And thereby, begins the meta tale of time travel.
At a crawl speed, every episode leaves you with two more questions and gives no answers. However, it quietly cultivates the ground for you to understand how all residents of this town are connected to each other. With unidentified, eerie characters and strange relationships, one can’t help but probe further. Season one can either lead you down the “dark cave” of curiosity like many of us, or could leave you so bewildered that you may prefer to not continue engaging.
By season two, you feel warmed up to the peculiar concept of time travel, and accustomed to each character having multiple faces through time. This season veers towards some age old human philosophies, and ties it to the personal journeys of its many characters through each episode. Like any story, you keep understanding it at the pace of the protagonist; but as an exception, this show also keeps letting you in on what its future self is up to. The most noteworthy aspect of this show is its clever restraint in the revelation of the bigger picture.
Season two gets you particularly emotionally involved — as you now know how each character’s desires, and eventual choices, breed the horror that is to come. Season finale entails a mega plot twist, which can make one itch to let the “watch next episode” countdown roll. And of course, much to my personal relief, there was finally some sunshine in the outdoor scenes shot in this season.
Season three starts with a wicked new twist in the story, yet it brilliantly mimics the beginning of the show itself. This season reveals the genius complexity of this show, as it should. Initially, it may make you feel perplexed by the additional layer to the story, but soon enough, the bigger picture starts to make sense. Slowly and cautiously, the writers walk you through the concepts of time and conjunctional possibilities; with a touch of some scientific logic to it all. This can surely make one scratch their heads and grunt, but ultimately feel relieved to end the chain of awful events which once began, and were bound to repeat endlessly. The show ends on a romantically melancholic note, serving you the hard yet obvious conclusion of Eternal Sacrifice for the Greater Good.
Ironically, the show has no complexity in its genre — it is quite literally dark in color and tone of writing, with no notes of either conventional horror or comic relief. Although highly impeccable, it left a few open ends and questions unanswered — deliberately or not, who knows. Its casting choice was remarkable, and most of the actors excelled their performance (my favorites being Young Jonas, Hannah, Egon, and Noah). The big bonus of the show is its A Cappella background score. It beautifully cuts through the monotone visuals in a startling manner — grasping immediate attention for moments you feel unsure demand any. The story captured in each episode is adorned by its director’s choice of music, which gives it the much needed cinematic elevation. The writers do not hold back on their idiosyncratic aspirations to weave together broader concepts of time, science, and philosophy; somehow still finding an extra legroom for persistent and intense emotional gravitas. The series, though highly complex from the perspective of storytelling, keeps its viewers easily hooked. One feels emotionally involved in the journeys of its characters in an eccentric way — with their past, their future and their alternate selves all together.
I am surely glad to have devoured this sci-fi cinematic treat. Yet, I can’t deny that I also found myself Google-ing a few concepts of physics, and cross-checking whether Winden’s forest cave actually exists. You know, just in case.
