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| Dark Season 1 Official Poster |
I remember a few months back when I was searching for shows to watch that are like Stranger Things and there were lots of recommendations over at Reddit.I mean Reddit is like a gold mine of information that will usually be difficult to find.I browsed like a dozen threads and one show that I saw getting recommended by everyone was a German Netflix Original called Dark.So obviously I was intrigued by it.A show named 'Dark' tingled by brain because I love shows that are very dark,gritty and mature and also have a very twisted mind-boggling story behind it.So I looked it up and my interest in it only increased after looking at that bad-ass poster.'The question is not where.But When.', and I already want to watch it! Now I will try to make sure that I do not give away major spoilers because this show will get ruined if it gets spoiled.So minor spoilers incoming.(Do not worry little one,Minor spoilers are basic summary and that is it)
Dark is a German Science Fiction Thriller co-created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese.The story deals with the aftermath of the disappearance of a boy in a small fictional town of Winden,Germany which exposes dark secrets and connects the lives of four different families.The story is told to us from the point of view of our protagonist Jonas Kahnwald who is part of the Kahnwald family,one of the four main families,who is suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD)due to a massive spoiler event .Now this sounds a lot like Stranger Things.Disappearance of a kid,families affected by it,something more sinister behind the disappearance,etc.But believe me,THIS SHOW IS NOTHING LIKE STRANGER THINGS! And honestly, I do not really understand the comparisons and after watching it,I can tell that I enjoyed Dark in a completely different way when compared to Stranger Things because in the end,they are no where alike.Dark is superior to Stranger Things in every department and not all viewers can see this and this show was definitely made to attract a certain audience.
As a show,Stranger Things feels much more lighter. Althogh it has its own dark moments,Stranger Things as a whole is a much more brighter show that is funny, light-hearted,and family friendly.It is much more kidzy(Yes it is a word that I created)and you can watch it with your family and even children can watch it and enjoy it as it does not have anything that will be considered sensitive.But Dark is a different beast.It deals with lots of sensitive topics and has a very dark,gloomy and gritty tone to it with a very complex and mature story that only gets weirder and crazier as you keep watching.The atmosphere is much more lonely and scarier not because there is a monster running around the town but because you are not ready to accept the uncertain and crazy life changing developments the story throws at you.
The thing that really makes Dark a very unique experience is the character development.Unlike most shows(except maybe Lost),Dark has a lot of characters,and by lots I mean LOTS of characters.It is so easy to lose track of how many characters the show has introduced throughout its run.You know all the characters and you know the stories behind them but you just cannot recall them at one moment and it takes time before you actually recall all of them.Despite having so many characters, Dark does the impossible and manages to juggle all these characters very smoothly and efficiently and you will not even notice that you are watching a show with a ton of characters,unless you actually sit down to count them of course.Every character is given screen time and their personality,motives,decisions and the thought process along with their dark secrets and connections with the main story is all shown without any form of sacrifice towards their development.You are always left wondering about how a character went from point A to point B and you always want to know more.Not to mention the characters arcs are rather tragic and messy when compared to the more light-hearted characters of Stranger Things.Every characters has their own struggles,secrets,mistakes and decisions that impact the lives of everyone else.Can it be difficult to follow?Yes If you do not pay attention and Dark is a show that requires lots of attention.It is clear that the writers took all their time to carefully craft these characters and they made sure that every single one of them is important to the story and that no one gets left behind.
It is very difficult to talk about the story without giving away MAJOR SPOILERS,but what I can tell is that the story is something that is very fresh and original and it overhauls a Sci-Fi concept that we have seen so many times and gives it threatening stakes.What starts as simple tragic disappearance of boy from a small town turns into something dark,twisted and weird in ways that you cannot even imagine.With every episode,the story takes a major uncertain turn that messes with your head.You will always ask questions about the possibilities of the events.By the time you will reach the end,your mind will be blown and will ask for more(and thankfully you will have a season 2 which i did not have and had to wait for and it was a long wait even though it was not that long)And whats even more surprising is the unpredictable nature of the story.Not once you will be able to predict where the story will go and even when you try to,you will be proven wrong(unless you are Sherlock ofcourse).This unpredictability is what makes this show scary as you are never ready to sink in all the crazy things that the show will throw at you and are always scared for your favorite characters as you never know what may go wrong.
The background score is one of the most chilling background score i have ever heard in any movie or series.Its dark,its gloomy,its atmospheric and most importantly its emotional and chilling.As soon as you hear the music,your body and your mind both get the tingly sensation of things about to go very very wrong and beyond repair as the story moves on.The way the score is tied to the story the and the way it is edited to match the the character arcs is actually pretty fascinating and I think that the Australian composer Ben Frost did an amazing job.And then their are soundtracks by other artists which also are amazing and the way they complement the story is just amazing.Dark is incomplete without its out of the world masterful soundtracks.You can listen to the score by Ben Frost at SPOTIFY.
I think Dark is an underrated Masterpiece and after Season two's outstanding quality,it is finally receiving the attention it deserves.But that does not mean that this show is not underrated.It is finally getting some recognition but clearly it deserves as much attention as Stranger Things if not more.And I think most important reason why this show does not get much attention is the language barrier.The show is in German and it is the most easiest off point for a lot of viewers who do not feel like a watching it.Yes the show is dubbed in English but the dubbing is pretty bad and does not feel authentic and that also puts off a lot of viewers. But I think people should watch it with an open mind regardless of the language and its false to judge a show based on its language clearly.German language with English subtitles is the way to go and it is so easy to get used to it in like ten minutes.On the other hand, the cinematography is brilliant, the direction is brilliant, and the actors are just outstanding and make the fictional characters feel like real people and besides the gripping storytelling,the actors the main reason why you get attached to these characters.You hate the characters that you are supposed to hate and you love the characters you are supposed to love and you feel bad for the characters you are supposed to feel bad for.This show is like a puzzle where somethings make more sense when you re-watch.I re-watched the entire season one before watching season two and I noticed new things that i completely missed my first time around and I understood characters that i completely missed during my first watch so even my re-watch felt fresh and I enjoyed it more.Probably the most important thing in the show is to remember the families and the names of all the characters in the family(which is not that hard).
Dark is like a paradise for a Sci-Fi lovers and everyone who likes a gripping show that is very mature should watch it.Not to mention that the third season will be the final season of the show and I have not even talked about season two which is just even more insane! You should jump into it even without watching the trailer! To me,Dark is the best Netflix Original!
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