Initially I was disappointed that Dark on Netflix was badly dubbed from the original German into English. But then I discovered that you can easily change the settings to have German dialogue and English subtitles. My German isn't great, but dubbing sucks the emotion out of most scenes, so I always prefer the original soundtrack with subtitles.
This is just the sort of drama I like. It is complicated. You have to try and work out what is going on, just as the characters are trying to make sense of the situation.
Throw in some time-travel and you also have to work out who is the older or younger version of who... who went missing / time-travelled... and whether anyone has actually changed anything or just made what was going to have happened happen. Right?
And it really is dark. Most of the characters are nasty or selfish or both. Normally that would make me complain that there are few people to care about, but here the complexity seems able to replace that need. I was too busy keeping on top of "who's who?" to really worry about anyone's well-being.
For example "poor old" Ulrich almost comically gets more and more beaten up as the episodes pass... but he deserves it, judging by what he does. Or does he? Because we also see hints in his past of terrible abuse.
There is a constant sense of delayed consideration here. You watch something, try and make sense of the immediate questions (who is who) and then only get to consider the why in the quieter moments, or between episodes.
I'm still not sure I totally followed what happened. There was at least one character that I failed to match to his younger self until quite near the end... probably not helped by mishearing his name early on before I discovered how to turn on the subtitles.
Great stuff. Hopefully there will be a second season.
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