Also they play that Dark Souls robotic clone game Surge in this series.
Loved it. I really appreciated the fact that the plot wasn’t spoon-fed, it required thought and observation. I found myself actually thinking through the various characters’ stories after watching some episodes. That’s so refreshing, interesting, and cool.
You and me both, man, but I’m only six episodes in.
BTW, in the scene where Noah meets Bartosz, is he visibly any older than when we first see him talking to young lost Mikkel in 1986? Didn’t look any older to me. Also, I had to chuckle when Jonas finds himself in 1986 and one of the first people he meets there is his own mother, who’s younger than he is, and he has a mild freakout.
I’m into the 8th episode, and just watched the scene where Ulrich (the cop from 2019) asks Helge as a kid in 1953 whether he’s seen the 75-year old version of himself running around in his pajamas. Trippy. And who the fuck is The Stranger?
OK, just finished up the season. Wow. So glad we’ve got a second one on the way.
That Hannah sure is a piece of work,
isn’t she? Damn, don’t get on her bad side. And they strongly hint that Noah is the (apparently Lutheran) clergyman that Tronte’s mother was separated/divorced from in 1953. But maybe that wasn’t his original timeline–I’m guessing he’s from the post-2019 future, since we never see him at a different age.
Finished this last night and loved it. It’s tonally similar to The Returned but much snappier with a clearer direction and more fleshed out characters. I don’t think I’ve watched anything that’s given my subwoofer such a crazy and unexpected work out too; the soundtrack was stellar, and great to hear Agnes Obel’s beautiful Familiar featuring in one episode. The intro is really lovely.
Scattered major spoilers below!
I’m usually terrible at following who’s who by name (which means I really suck at following detective stories) but the casting was so on point here that I was able to guess who most younger and older characters were before the show actually spelled it out. Terrific stuff.
I got so many kicks from seeing people in the past marvelling or looking perplexed at future tech, of characters seeing younger versions of people they know and the mind bending relations spanning across time. The kicker for me was Helge killing himself by trying to kill himself, and failing. Fuck.
The ending was absolutely fine for me and if anything it got me excited at the prospect of exploring another aspect of the time loop, and in the future too. I got Terminator vibes with Jonas Conner.
While there was plenty that remained unanswered, like Claudia’s transition into time hopper and Noah’s role as some sort of ageless God of time seemingly above everyone else, the show did a remarkable job of tying up a lot of things that would usually drive me mad. The rest is just fine for another season in my eyes.
I also tend to find time paradoxes frustrating but Dark felt like it was intelligent enough and very much aware of the leaps it was making for me to be able to just sit back and enjoy it all. It could be the show that mellows me on them overall.
It’s funny how Ulrich reminds me of Mads Mikkelson given Mads (his brother) and Mikkel (his son).
Edit:
What a gorgeous, wonderfully executed show. It feels like a meticulous clockwork device, and never afraid to hint and obliquely reveal where other shows would ram information down your throat.
I’m not 100% sold on a few things revealed in the finale, but the rest of the show is so high quality that I’m willing to trust it’ll all be well handled in the coming season 2.
PS: I -knew- I recognized that voice in the song playing towards the end of the finale - Blixa Bargeld, of Einsturzende Neubauten:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqTjbassv3g
Do we have an inkling yet on Season 2’s release date or window?
I’m not at all convinced it will be well handled in season 2, but I’m willing to find out.
Resurrecting the thread since no one has started a new one for Season 2.
I’m on the third episode, and need to be reminded of some stuff:
Were Helge’s burns caused by Mads Nielsen’s attack after passing back to 1953 or by Noah’s psychotic ministrations? And is Peter (Charlotte’s husband) Helge’s son by some unknown woman? Who are Charlotte’s parents again?
Haha, we actually fired up Netflix to start Dark season two and tried to find a good recap. Several videos later we just decided to watch season one again. There’s too much to unpack!
I think Helge’s scars were caused by Ulrich Nielsen. I don’t recall Peter’s mum being revealed but I think Charlotte’s dad is the chief detective in 1986.
Scratch that, the '86 chief detective is a Tiedemann!
The names are, for some reason, really hard to get my head around. However, at this point, I generally know who all the characters are, even if I don’t know their names.
I just finished Season One while on vacation. I used the English dubbing as I was watching on a smaller screen (Surface) and didn’t want to have to pause/squint/rewind to read text. While definitely flat in many places, it (the dubbing) was serviceable. It’s a credit to the actors that their facial expressions and body language were able to convey drama and emotion even when the dubbing failed to capture it.
I really enjoyed the story, even with the difficulty of following who was who across the timelines and what each character’s motivations might be. I didn’t mind the end either, as it seemed to me like they had been setting up for a visit to the future and the conflict that Jonas spoke of for some time during the main plot.
I went looking for a recap/explanation and found this TV Guide article that has some very useful information and links for people returning to watch Season Two who, unlike me, didn’t just finish Season One.
WARNING : Clicking through the link in the article to a separate article that explains who everyone is and how they are related through the timelines will reveal information from Season Two about many characters, potentially spoiling things for those who have not watched yet.
I love this show so much but I really would love a quality episodic recap to help me keep track of everything. I’ve looked around but can’t find much, anyone know of any site that does a recap or analysis of each episode?
Decider.
The show’s subreddit maybe?
So who was the dude that the young version of Noah killed for not trusting enough in Adam? Do they reveal that later? I only have watched season 2 through where Jonas meets Adam-- dun dun dun!
I don’t think they reveal his identify, only that he had “lost faith.” Perhaps it does not matter who he was, storywise.
In the family photo of the Kahnwald family that makes an appearance in this season-- we see Hannah, Jonas and Michael, and ?? on the right. Is that supposed to be Ines, the nurse who adopted him back in 1986?