If the words “time is just a construct” mean anything to you, the Netflix Original series Dark is a show that will make you think beyond the linear scale we call “time.” According to the show, time is forever stuck in a never-ending cycle. At least for the German town of Winden.
People keep saying Dark reflects Stranger Things but it’s so much more than the nostalgia-invoking Netflix series. It has that similar sci-fi fantasy feel, but as the name suggests, the show is much darker and more thought-provoking.
And when I say thought-provoking, I mean you’re not going to stop thinking about this show for months out of confusion and the need for answers.
Dark is based in 2019. And 1986. And 1953. Because of this, we get the same characters at different ages, which can get confusing at times. And to make the situation even more perplexing, some of the characters have travelled through time.
So yes, in the town of Winden, time is just a construct.
The show follows the intertwining lives of four families over multiple decades, which allows viewers a sense of drama and suspicion of each character. You never know when someone has travelled back in time or to the future and is living another life, with a different name.
Although the show is all about time-travel, viewers don’t get that impression until the second episode, after all the family drama is established in the first episode.
The first episode titled “Secrets,” is set in 2019 and begins with a death, a missing child named Mikkel and a letter that can’t be opened until Nov. 4, 2019 at 10:13 p.m.
The letter is left behind by Michael Kahnwald, father of main character Jonas, after Michael died by suicide. But it isn’t Jonas who receives the letter. At first.
The letter is left with the mother of Michael, Jonas’ grandmother. But later, Jonas is given the letter by none-other than his future self.
And if you think that’s a twist, wait ‘till you find out who Michael really is. Let’s just say, he’s technically younger than Jonas.
Are you confused yet?
This is all the while a mysterious nuclear power plant that looms over the town is accused of opening a wormhole in the caves beneath the plant and using children as test subjects in its time-travelling scheme — which would explain the missing children from 2019 turning up dead in 1953.
Strange happenings like fields of dead birds, flickering streetlights and the forever daunting question of “Where/when is Mikkel?” plague the town and the people in it, as evidence of time-travel becomes obvious, but not so obvious that people actually learn the whole truth.
Dark is frustratingly confusing, but intriguing at the same time. Whether it’s the family drama, the science of time-travel or the increasing amount of questions (that just need answered already, God-damnit), Dark will keep you watching through the entire first season.
Netflix did it once again. It went and stole my attention for eight hours straight and kept me waiting months for a new season. The second season has already been greenlit by Netflix, but viewers will have to wait until 2019 (or just travel in time) for a new season of Dark.
