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Review: Netflix’s Time Traveling Series Dark is Binge Worthy

I like a good time travel show and have for years. I think it all started with reading The Other side of Time by Keith Laumer at an early age, and I still enjoy them. So it should be no surprise that I was drawn to Netflix’s new German time traveling mystery series, Dark. The show is now streaming on the entertainment website, ready for perusal if you have a Netflix membership. But is it worth your time to watch? Let’s take a look, hopefully without exposing any spoilers along the way.

To start with, if you like mystery shows, science fiction, or thrillers, it might be hard to NOT find something to like about Dark.  The 10 episode first season spans everything from government conspiracies to science fiction, with some child abduction and adultery thrown in for good measure. The show moves between three different time periods, so it can be a little challenging to keep everything straight. At least that seems to be the case at first, but it all settles down an episode or so into the series.

There have been some comparisons to Netflix’s other streaming series, Stranger Things, no doubt due to the younger characters that make up a lot of the show. But make no mistake, Dark is the bolder, adult version of that kind of story. The tone is set from the start of the series, and it doesn’t let up throughout the duration. The well-crafted show presents some strong performances from the ensemble, and even the music score serves well to keep the tone on an edgy beat.

The show is in German, but by default English speaking listeners will get an English-dubbed version to watch. While we have extolled the virtues of dubbed shows before, it really is up to the end user to decide if they want the original subtitled version instead. If so, just switch the language over to German and select the English subtitles.

Is Dark worth your binging time? I do think so, and I am looking forward to hopefully season 2. Things can get confusing if you don’t pay attention and the final episode will leave you grasping at the conclusion. It’s definitely a thinking person’s series, but it does have you guessing along the way. It’s the kind of show that is satisfying when the pieces fall into place, even if you do have to figure out a few for yourself.

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