I know it’s been hard for all of us to recover from that disastrous season finale of Game of Thrones, also known as WTF HAPPENED. And I’m here to tell you that If GOT was your ex, make sure Dark is your next.
If you’ve been living under a rock, let me fill you in. Dark is a Netflix original – 3 season show, which is aptly named. The plot is the hardest part to talk about because it is tough to sell this show without spoiling the story. Dark starts off with a premise similar to Stranger Things, a young boy goes missing in a small town, but by the end of episode 1, you realize this show is way more complex than you initially perceived. It has an extremely mind-bending story which when further probed, causes headaches and mental breakdowns. As you go on, it becomes clear that that everything is mapped out from the very beginning. It captures the essence of small towns, where everyone knows everyone, all the characters are connected and everyone is hiding something. Think of it as Riverdale without the unwanted bullshit.
The series is conceptually dark, full of cheating spouses, ugly secrets, grotesque killings, dead birds falling from the sky, twisted bodies and a lot of “SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT’S HAPPENING”. The only thing more complicated than Dark? My last relationship.
Dark has a lot of time travelling. And yes, Time travel is hard, OK I get it. It’s inherently illogical and can’t follow the rules of reality as we know them in the real world, thus it gives birth to a lot of paradoxes. One of them being the Grandfather Paradox. If one were to go back in time and kill one’s grandfather in one’s childhood, it would result in one of the time traveller’s parents, and ergo the time traveller, to not be born. If the time traveller weren’t born, then he would never have gone back in time to kill his grandfather in the first place. Dark takes this quintessential time travel paradox and cubes it, adding so many paradoxes and logic wrinkles that keeping track of them all can give you a headache. But there’s something entertaining about the intellectual gravity of it all. By the way, did I mention it has a buttload of paradoxes?
While watching this show you’ll often find yourself banging your head to the wall, making graphs, pie charts, excel sheets and PPTs. Basically, you’ll know what it feels like to be an MBA graduate. The only difference will be that instead of pleasing your boss, you’d be pleasing yourself. This show will make you feel really dumb and really smart at the same time.
At its core, Dark is primarily concerned with determinism and free will, as so many great time travel stories are. Dark weaves them into a complicated puzzle that you, the viewer, are meant to solve.
This show has so much going on at any given moment that it is really easy to lose track of everything. Thus you’ll often come across articles and YouTube videos such as “Top ten things you missed in Dark Season 2”, “Top 10 Dark WTF moments”, “Top 10 reasons why you peasants cannot understand this show (No. 7 will shock you)”
who is it for
This is a show for viewers who like to be challenged to think and those that love to come away after every episode with more questions and research to do each time, and by doing so becoming even further embroiled in the mysteries that lie within.
who is not for
If you’re someone who hates great storytelling, deep character arcs, compelling drama and Oscar-worthy acting, then you should skip this show. To boil it down for you, if you’re a fan of Salman Khan then this is not your cup of tea. You’re better off watching something like F.R.I.E.N.D.S or Tarak Mehta ka Ulta Chashma. Even the Kapil Sharma show would be great for you. Oh wait, I almost forgot, Bhai’s fans can’t read. So, we’re safe, this article is Bhai-proof.
tips on how to understand this show to its full potential
– Don’t take too many breaks while watching
– A PhD in quantum mechanics and applied physics will help (not mandatory, masters will also do)
– If you’re in a relationship, break up. It is impossible to focus on anything else while watching this show thus any distraction should be avoided.
– If nothing else works, go to a place of worship (religion of your choice) and ask God to help you understand this show. However, I’ve been told that he has a standard reply which is “God helps those who help themselves.” You’re free to try your luck though.
You will find that the effort you put into un-weaving the story of this show, created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese,is deeply rewarding. After all, no show reaches 100 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes without being seriously good. All in All,It is Netflix’s best supernatural show
Want someone to spoon-feed the plot to you? The official guide by the masterminds themselves.
TV shows to watch if you liked Dark
Ozark (Highly recommended)
The OA
Black Spot
Stranger Things
Mr Robot (Highly recommended)
Movies to watch if you liked Dark
Predestination (Highly recommended)
Memento
Inception
Interstellar
Coherence (Highly Recommended)
Triangle
I’m a Savage. Pyaasa, Gamer, Average.
