Except for maybe Jeopardy and other quiz shows, I don't think I have ever been as perplexed by a storyline as I have with Dark. Don't get the wrong idea, this is an amazing show, but you really have to pay attention and even then there are times where you are watching and you don't really have any idea what is going on.
This is compounded by the fact that the spoken language is German, which I do not speak and some of the names are difficult to remember because, well because they are German names. I experience something similar whenever I am watching any Japanese or Korean film as well.
Although I am trying to avoid them, there might be mild spoilers ahead
The story takes place in a small city in Germany called Winden and I have no idea if it is a real place. I'm guessing it isn't. The overall theme of the film is not even evident in the first 3 episodes or so and we are merely presented with the situation of the disappearance of a child and the manhunt that is underway to find him. All we know is that the disappearance happened near a spooky cave in the town that the teenagers of the area frequent to smoke weed and act like teenagers.
The manhunt turns up little in the way of results despite the police force devoting a ton of resources towards it and it isn't until later that we find out that the cave itself holds some very "dark" secrets.
This is one aspect of the entire story that doesn't hold water with me. The police are very aware based on witness accounts that the child disappeared near the entrance of the cave and if this were the case in real life said cave would be searched from end to end... but for some reason this isn't done. Instead, the people of the town search the surrounding fields and I guess this needed to happen because if they had searched the cave they would have found the very thing that others in the show simply stumble upon by random and later on purpose by following a particular path in said cave that over time becomes rather common knowledge by almost all the major characters in the series.
You just have to get past this glaring improbability in order to enjoy the show.
At times and very early on, we are treated to glimpses of certain scenes that when they are first shown to you, don't seem terribly relevant to what is going on at the time, and at first this was frustrating because you are thinking "now what the hell was that all about?" but later on it gets pieced together. The entire series is far from linear so if you see something that doesn't make sense, just wait a while because it will later.
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Without spoiling, the first 5 times you see this room you have no idea what it is, why it is there, or even where it is
The complexity of the overall narrative could be frustrating to a lot of people and I will say that you really need to pay complete attention to this series in order to have any idea as to what is going on. This isn't like an episode of Big Bang Theory where you can enter the story at any point, take bathroom breaks, or as I tend to do, clean up my living room while it is on. You need to stay focused or you will be completely lost as to what the story even is.
For many people, series with subtitles are a "no go zone" but I don't really mind and find that I actually pay attention to films and series that I have to read a lot more closely than those that are in my native language. Perhaps I am a visual and not an auditory learner.
By the time you get to the end of season 1 you will either reach the conclusion that this is too confusing for you or you will find yourself totally engrossed in the story. From what I have read and heard, people either love this series or hate it. For me, I like it a lot but also find myself very confused because the timeline is all over the place and while this is intentional, it can be a turnoff for many potential viewers.
Should I watch it?
While it is classified as a science-fiction series, I don't think a person has to be interested in that genre in order to enjoy this - there aren't spaceships or aliens or anything outlandish like that. It is an extremely complex story though so if you aren't willing to accept this and also pay very close attention I think you are going to have a bad time. This show makes Lost (which was also confusing) seem like a kids' show in comparison.
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Having a wall with notes on it would probably help you to understand wtf is going on as well
My advice would be that you are going to have to watch at least 3 episodes to determine if this is for you because I switched it off after only 1 episode feeling as though the story was too difficult to follow or didn't make sense only to have most of my questions answered (and replaced by new questions) in the following episodes.
Also, the English overdub is just stupid and this is how I feel about most overdubs too. Therefore, if you can't handle subtitles or are not German, this probably wont be for you. However, if you have what it takes to follow the story and its many twists and turns, I think that this series is very thought-provoking and powerful. I can't recommend this to everyone as I know many people including my own mother that get easily frustrated at "loose ends" in a story even when they are intentional.
I think most people would enjoy this, but there is also going to be a large group of folks out there that require their entertainment to be more straight forward. This series is anything but that. Therefore, while I do enjoy it immensely and it is only 3 seasons long (just as many as it needed to be,) I realize that this isn't going to be for everyone.
Dark's 3 seasons are currently available on Netflix in most regions around the world
