Little-known Netflix series ‘crushes’ Black Mirror with its brilliance

then by Dark – a little-known that’s regarded by viewers 

With a , Dark premiered on in December 2017 and ran for three seasons, till its last episode aired in June 2020. Co-created by director-screenwriter couple Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, the dystopian show was the streaming giant’s first German-language original series, and it left viewers enthralled.

Based on the much-abused concept of time travel – Dark is a refreshing, deliciously mind-blowing take on an idea that’s been done to death.

Following gripping characters, complex storylines, and an unprecedented number of timeline-jumps across its three seasons, Dark is a show like no other.

While a comparison to Stranger Things is inevitable, Dark can be classified as the older, more mature, slightly sultry and deeply twisted cousin of the former.

Set in the grey and dreary town of Winden, Dark has as many characters and sub-plots as there are stars in the sky. And therein lies its magic.

The show’s many (sometimes parallel, sometimes out-of-whack) family trees will have you reaching for a pen and paper and begging the powers that be for some artistic prowess. And that’s half the battle won for any show creator – to get the viewer so involved that your art literally becomes ‘bingeable’.

The show begins with an ominous voiceover that explains how “everything is connected”, and boy, they aren’t lying.

We’re introduced to a plethora of characters starting from Jonas, a teen grappling with his father’s suicide and readjusting back into society. We then find out that his classmate Erik has gone missing. A short while, many decisions and reconnections later, several friends embark on a late-night expedition into the Winden woods to recover – not Erik – but his stash of hidden weed. In the process, one of their friends’ little brother, Mikkel Nielsen, goes missing – and sh*t hits the fan.

What follows are three outstanding seasons of twists, turns, glorious time-travel and dramatic relationships. And that’s just the tip of the Titanic-drowning-esque iceberg.

In an effort to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, the deliciousness that is Dark can be summed up by the Albert Einstein quote that flashes in the pilot episode: “The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”

This, is all you need to know, before diving into this masterpiece of a show.

Filled with secrets that are more intertwined than the roots of the Sundarbans mangrove forest in India, Dark will leave you confounded – in the best way possible.

If this wasn’t enough to convince you – the excellence of this show is backed up with data. In a poll held in 2020 by – Dark absolutely crushed Black Mirror to emerge as the clear winner. Overcoming challenges from The Crown, Mindhunter, and Peaky Blinders, Dark bested all the brilliant original offerings by and took home the crown – all this even before the finale episode of the show had aired.

Audiences and critics alike have praised the show for all that it is (and isn’t), with one Rotten Tomatoer cementing the show’s status as “hands down one of the best tv shows ever made”, while another called it a “very underrated series” that “keeps you wondering the whole time”.

, commenting: “Dark is the best show ever, an absolute masterpiece,” while another user expressed his regret at ignoring the show for six years, “I skipped Dark for 6 years because I thought it was a horror based solely on the cover and a few trailers I saw of season 1. Finally watched it this year. It’s a masterpiece! No other show has ever told a story this good in 3 sessions! I’m so glad I finally gave in and watched it.”

Another Tomatoer feels: “DARK is poignant, profound and unforgettable. It is a stand-alone triumph of 21st century science fiction and the antidote to the 21st century’s desecration of film and TV (ironically, brought to you by ).”