Micro Review: Dark (Season 1)
Here be Spoilers…
Timey wimey alternate world German mystery goodness, reviewed by King Khalil!
From the King…
I really liked this show. I wasn't a massive fan…and I don't think its perfect…but it’s very, very good.
Dark is time travel done in an extremely grounded setting. This wasn’t obvious at first. When the series started, I kept thinking that the build up - with bizarre, almost supernatural, shenanigans - better have a good explanation. When it came it was brilliant and completely surprised me.
The show is impeccably shot and the cinematography gives it a dark and gritty feel. The score is good, but I didn't really like how they used it. I prefer big moments and twists to be as quite and subtle as possible and the show’s in your face loud and obnoxious explosions of music during rather insignificant scenes was just unnecessary.
The show moves at a slow pace, which I really appreciated. It takes its time and slowly reveals things, which makes for an overall enthralling experience. Despite being slow paced, it did not drag and I loved the way they ended the first season.
Exposition can be hard, and the way they handled the time travel part of the story was extremely clever. The show doesn't just throw its ideas and concepts at you, it explores them and takes its time so that when there is a reveal, it feels earned. The theories it presents and how people go through different timelines was brilliantly done and consistently riveting.
The screenwriters deserve a lot of credit for this. Almost all the characters had something to do and all of them experienced change, which is the most important thing.
Ulrich's (Oliver Masucci - When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit) character ark was the most developed, interesting, and powerful part of the show. It was complex and open to interpretations. I love that.
Ok…**Spoilers Ahead***
That being said, I did have some problems. The show is a bit too saturated and serious. Now I know it’s meant to be that way. It’s called Dark after all.
But let's compare it to Mindhunter.
That show is very dark, violent, and explores disturbing themes, but it's very self aware. It has plenty of light hearted moments and jokes that make an otherwise slow moving show very entertaining. That's the beauty of David Fincher's filmmaking. Dark, unfortunately, doesn't have those moments. It's always too bleak and grim.
The scene where Ulrich goes after Helge (Hermann Beyer - Good Girl Gone Bad) in 1953 and kills him also bothers me. It was easily the best moment up until that point. It was wonderfully crafted, extremely shocking, and very impactful.
My problem was that Helge later turns out to be alive. I know it was important in the grand scheme of things to not kill him off, but I thought it was cheap to have such an impactful moment (possibly the most powerful in the series) and then end it that way. Why go through all the set up to have Ulrich kill him and then just not go through with it? Just don't go with that in the first place. Do something else.
Jonas (Louis Hofmann - The German Lesson) is the main character, but he never did anything of particular importance until really late into the show, when there is a massive twist reveal. We never understand his psychology or get into his mind as much as Ulrich. He wasn’t alone though and there were more than a few unnecessary characters and scenes that could have been cut without affecting the story.
But…for all that, I enjoyed the first season.
You can explore Dark HERE.
Three out of Five Time Caves.
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