'Dark' Season 1 Review: A Compelling Mystery Trapped in a Paradoxical Plot

Only a handful of shows could tackle a mystery story arc with the concept of Temporal Paradox. The new German Netflix Drama, “Dark” not only explains a problematic concept with intricate storytelling but also keeps you guessing, if not confused. It takes time for the viewer to piece everything together and isn’t until halfway through where you’d start to notice the connections. You’re not only watching a gritting and dark tale but also solving a puzzle. It is easy for anyone to devour the series in just one sitting because you immediately want to know what’s going on.
Netflix’s “Dark” focuses on the sudden disappearances of children in the town of Winden, Germany. The German drama can give you a bit of “Stranger Things” vibe with it’s missing children plot. But many aspects of its plot is quite difficult to wrap your head around. Most of the characters themselves cannot even fathom what’s happening. But “Dark” handles its many twists and doesn’t fall into predictability.

‘Dark’ and the Concept of Time and Our Choices

The plot of “Dark” relies on the concept of time. The show has time traveling elements that are unique to any story tackling the subject. At the beginning of the series, the narrator gives you an idea of where the show stands. He tells us “time is not linear,” and throughout the episodes, we soon get the point. Unlike any other time travel-centric story, the concept of Temporal Paradox permeates “Dark.” It’s the idea where we are all in a casual loop, a paradox of time travel that occurs when a future event is the cause of a past incident, and vice-versa. No matter what we do, whatever happens, was meant to happen—and not even time travel can change it.

The series has three settings: Winden in 2019, 1986 and 1953. All of which connected by one similar turn of events. The show even puts the timelines side by side to show its similarities.  “Dark” was able to execute this very complicated and mind-boggling idea. You are immediately hooked on the German drama’s plot mechanics. You cannot help but dive into the mystery looking for answers. It even tackles the whole kids meeting their parents as teenagers. However, a darker twist on that time travel cliche happens.

Plot-driven characters

Many stories bank on the motivations of their characters. But for “Dark,” it’s intricate plot is the one directing its actors in their place. There are moments that some of the character’s actions lack enough motivation. Instead, they only play a role in presenting the difference between each timeline. It makes us examine how much one changes and evolves over a period. The main problem of a plot-driven story is that it leaves no room for character dynamics. In other words, they weren’t adequately explored.

But it was a nice to see the differences between the adults of 2019 and their 1986 versions. We get a glimpse of their relationships while still engulfed by the plot. Each of the actors did a stellar job portraying each of their characters. However, something was missing because everyone on the show, including the viewer, is focused on what’s happening rather than the “who” in the story. We needed to know more about these characters than their place on the timeline. What are their motivations aside from the missing kid storyline? However, this is only a minor flaw in the science fiction drama. The only thing you’ll focus on is how each of them connects to a specific event.
It’s the first season after all, and they are probably establishing the story first, leading to a more in-depth exploration of the characters second.

Plot Twists leaves more questions than answers

The show has a lot of twists and turns you want to pause for a moment and think about it. You’d find yourself at the edge of your seat then falling during the revelation. But there are also moments that seemed very straightforward already. Sometimes the reveal is already expected because they’ve been indirectly telling you what it is. You just need to focus hard to see the connections between two contradicting thoughts.
In the first episode, we witness the suicide of Jonas’ (Louis Hofmann) father. Later in that same episode, a young boy Mikkel (Daan Lennard Liebrenz) disappears and finds himself stuck in the 80’s. It looks like these are two conflicting ideas, but we later find out Mikkel is actually Jonas’ father. So Jonas’ heroic attempt at saving the day backfired. If he returned Mikkel to his original timeline, Jonas would cease to exist. At some point, you realize how each of the character’s actions never changes anything, but connects the dots.

Ulrich’s (Oliver Masucci) attempt to save his son and brother backfired when he landed in 1953. For one thing, attempted child murder doesn’t go well in 1950’s court—or even changing the course of time. He was the reason why Helge (Hermann Beyer) became this guilt-ridden old man who teamed up with a sketchy looking Priest to go out killing children in different timelines. Ulrich was more of a catalyst than a hero. Despite the plot twists leaving us in shock, it didn’t answer many of the shows other questions. Like how can you escape the loop? When did Jonas find himself? How did the Nuclear power plant hide the wormhole? What did the older version of Jonas do to the vats of toxic waste?

Netflix’s ‘Dark’: Overall Verdict

“Dark” has been compared to the likes of “Stranger Things” and “True Detective” but was able to exceed expectations, because it was able to mesh science fiction and a mystery drama to create such an elaborate puzzle-like show. The first season was able to establish where it stands as a time travel piece. However, the show still needs to work on the proper fleshing out of the characters. Everyone likes a good mystery, but sometimes we need to know who these characters are beyond their purpose in the narrative.
But all in all, “Dark” is a series that will leave you wanting more—if you don’t mind reading subtitles that is.