Dark

Altough I'm german I rarely check out german TV shows. The last one was Deutschland 83 and that was like two years ago. Germany just hasn't figured TV out yet but that's another discussion.

When I heard Netflix was producing a german show I just had to check it out because Netflix has a great track record so far and Germany does have talent infront and behind the camera. But overall I think this show just fell flat. Good, but nothing great.

Fantastic visuals that are shot very beatifull, the actors IMO are mostly great and the music/score can be beautiful but often gets obnoxious. But unfortunetly there are too many characters that are hard to keep track off which distracts from the story.

The story is already confusing enough even without trying to keep up with the many characters over different decades and it heavily sets up future seasons without answering a lot of questions about this one and just left me unsatisfied at the end.

Still worth watching tough IMO and very bingeable similarly to Stranger Things.

But if you do watch it then choose the subbed version. I checked out the dub really quick and it sounded horrible. And also don't browse your phone as you might do on other shows. You're going to miss so much important shit.

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EDIT after Season 2:

I'm not actually sure what just happened and what I think about it. But the one thing I'm sure of is that the casting in this show is absolutely phenomenal. The actors look so much like their younger counterparts that I'm not fully convinced they aren't actually related.

Plus the cinematography is still fantastic and the music monatages are really beautiful (and they got rid of those obnoxious sound effects).

And altough the story is still very confusing I found it more easier to follow and more engaging than Season 1 because I now know all the charcters and their background. And it seems that the writers had this all planned out and aren't just making shit up as they go.

Changed my rating from 8 to 9.

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EDIT after my first rewatch just before S3 is released.

Changing my rating again. This time to a 10. After S1 I thought it was good but confusing show (8), after S2 I thought it was great and really well thought out one (9). Now after rewatching both seasons for the first time I think the show is fucking masterpiece. (10). Once you can watch it without being confused and actually knowing what is happening your just in awe throughout all of it.

If they stick the landing with season 3 it could be up there with the best ever.

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EDIT after Season 3

Masterpiece. Simple as that.

Writing. Directing. Cinematography. Casting. Acting. Soundtrack. Everything is perfect.

I'm going to miss the beautiful music montages at the end.

Absolutely fantastic. I will admit that I hesitated at first, but then I thought why not give it a try. Gloomy and eerie, but good at it. The music throughout the series is really well chosen; it fits perfectly well. The writing is also top notch, as is the acting. You can either have it in English sound or in German sound with English subtitles. Honestly I wasn't bothered at all with the English sound, so if that's your thing you will be able to enjoy the series just fine (maybe you'll also be slightly less distracted as opposed to reading subtitles). Personally I chose the German sound, as it felt more natural.

Honestly, give it a try. Might very well be the best series I've watched this year.

EDIT: Binged season 2 in a sitting. Just wow. This review doesn't do it justice. And the casting...I mean, I totally thought [spoiler]old Ulrich was the result of CGI or something.[/spoiler] Season 2 is best thing I've watched this year and last year included (ever?).

Dark Season 1 & 2: “Things can’t get any more complicated than this”

Dark Season 3: “Hold my beer”

Damn! Dark, the trilogy as a whole is a very well written show with a captivating story. This only becomes more apparent when you realize how consistent the series has been throughout the three seasons and how everything was so well thought out beforehand. Granted, calling it immensely complicated would be an understatement as it may require careful attention or multiple viewings to grasp and remember everything but once you clear this hurdle and understand this show, its brilliance will readily become apparent.
This show may very well go down in history as one of the greatest Sci-Fi content both in terms of films/tv ever made. We will be darn lucky if anything ever comes close to the greatness of this show in future. Or maybe considering how it is a sleeper hit, it inspires studios to order more thought provoking contents, but who knows.


[spoiler] I think , once they prevent the deaths and time-travel from being invented, Jonas'(Split Reality 1) and Martha's(Split Reality 2) universes(realities) are annihilated, the Scientist's "Original reality" splits/branches again, to form another "3rd" Split Reality which is the one shown in the end.
Since "Endings are beginnings and beginnings are endings or everything is predetermined and past/future can't be changed", this would make the most sense without breaking the show's rule because if the Scientist didn't try to invent time Travel, there wouldn't be 2 split realities and with that no Jonas or Martha coming to change the past, and if they didn't come, he would invent time Travel, a Paradox.
So the original reality still exists alongside the new 3rd reality. However Jonas and Martha are erased from existence since their universes no longer exist.
Hannah deciding to name the unborn child 'Jonas' was also a nice way to spare us a completely sad ending.
But hey who knows! The series is open for multiple interpretations.[/spoiler]


Here's something you might find helpful:
_**How To Understand Dark**_
1. Determinism:
**I.** Watch Predestination (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2397535 ) to acquaint yourself with the general idea of a closed time loop. Also maybe give Triangle (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1187064 ) a shot.
**II.** Arrival is also great.
**III.** Watch Devs (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8134186 ) [Ignore the last episode, unfortunately Alex Garland still can't stick a landing] to really get the essence of a deterministic universe on the quantum level.
2. Split/Parallel Realities:
**I.** Rick&Morty has several episodes dealing with the concept. However, S02E01 A Rickle In Time(https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4462494 ) and the recent S04E08 The Vat Of Acid ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10655692 ) both do the best job of explaining IMO.
**II.** Steins Gate is a masterpiece if you are into anime (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1910272 )

Just masterpiece fucking happens. Probably the **best Netflix production until now**.

What an absolute masterpiece! Probably the best time travel story ever told.

One of the greatest Sci - Fi stories ever told, Straight up. They pulled off such an intricate web of characters, timelines, worlds, and relationships in only three seasons. It's a travesty that this show isn't more popular than it is, but they've already cemented its greatness with this final season so that's all that matters .

Wow! Absolutely phenomenal show!

Season 3 is incredible and the pace is fast and such a complex plot with so many twists.

Well done to Netflix for bringing this to our screens. So many foreign shows we’d normally never see without them. It’s dubbed, but well done.

I watched season 1 & 2 together and then waited a longtime for season 3, and unfortunately I found it difficult to remember who was who in season 3. If you can, watch all seasons one after the other.

I never expected after season one it would turn out to be one of my favourite shows. I suppose I didn’t really know what I was watching to begin with, I thought it was a crime show, but instead it’s sci-fi and I suppose fantasy and supernatural too in some aspects.

Regardless, the plot is incredibly intricate and mind boggling.

Well done to everyone involved in this show, especially to those who wrote it.

This is one show not to miss!

I literally had no idea what this show was about when I started the first season. I thought I'm about to watch just some dark-themed crime series but no.. not even close. It's a masterpiece. Outstandingly written and acted. Also, the soundtrack is brilliantly picked! This is easily one of my all time favorite shows from now on. I'm so happy I chose to watch this.

**Update after watching the series finale:**

After the second season, when I wrote this review the first time, I had dropped one star because of the complexity. Yes, I struggled a lot trying to remember who everyone was, and it didn't really get much easier until the very last episodes. The character relations in this show are something else.

But now, after seeing the finale, I think this show definitely deserves 10 out of 10. The final season provided a very satisfying ending for the show. And piece by piece, they actually managed to untangle the complexity in a wonderful way. Kudos to the writers for creating such a clever, complex yet still surprisingly clean story. And without forgetting to mention, the story truly lived up to its name. It is dark, very dark but still beautiful.

Extremely good show, just finished re-watching season 1 and I will probably re-watch again soon.
Highly recommended to watch it in original German audio with subtitles. The English-dubbed version is just terrible.