Dark series explined

DARK SERIES EXPLINED
Dark is a German science fiction thriller web television series co-created by Baran bo
Odar and Jantje Friese. Set in the fictitious south German town of Winden (not to be
confused with the real town of Winden im Elztal), Dark concerns the aftermath of a
child's disappearance, which exposes the secrets of, and hidden connections among four
estranged families as they slowly unravel a sinister time travel conspiracy which spans
several generations.
Throughout the series, Dark explores the existential implications of time and its effects
upon human nature. Dark has received critical acclaim throughout its three seasons,
with praise for the performances, tone, visuals, and the ambition and complexity of its
narrative.
Dark Cast
In 2019, a young Jonas is portrayed by Louis Hofmann. The adult version of him, who
became a time traveler at some point in the future, is played by Andreas Pietschmann.
Dietrich Hollinderbaumer plays old Jonas, or Adam, a man who wishes to perpetuate the
cycle that will bring about the apocalypse.
Martha has been played by only one actress: Lisa Vicari. Gina Stiebitz plays the teenager
Franziska Doppler of 2019. Fans have speculated that she’s also portrayed by Carina
Wiese as an adult in 1921. Young Magnus of 2019 is played by Moritz Jahn. At some
point, he seems to join Adam. He appears in 1921 as an adult portrayed by Wolfram
Koch.
In the 80s, Tannhaus is played by Christian Steyer, and Arnd Klawitter portrays his
younger self in 1953. Stephan Kampwirth is the only actor so far to portray Peter
Doppler, Charlotte’s husband. The adult Charlotte, played by Karoline Eichhorn, is

Winden’s Chief of Police in 2019. In 1986, however, she’s still in high school and is
portrayed by Stephanie Amarell. Paul Lux has played the character in 2019.
Roman Knizka plays the adult version of Bartosz. Helge of 1953 is played by Tom
Philipp. Peter Schneider plays Helge as an adult in 1986 while Hermann Beyer is the
elderly version of the man living in 2019. The young version of the character, Mikkel,
who goes missing in 2019, is played by actor Daan Lennard Liebrenz. Sebastian
Rudolph, however, portrays the adult Mikkel.
In 2019, adult Ulrich is played by Oliver Masucci. The actor who interprets his younger
version in 1986 is Ludger Bökelmann. But there are two Ulrichs in the 80s. After Ulrich
goes back in time to find Mikkel, he remains stuck in the past and ages naturally. The
older version, still trapped in 1987, is played by Winfried Glatzeder.
In 2019, Claudia is a mysterious old woman who time travels and opposes Adam. She’s
played by Lisa Kreuzer. But in 1986, she's the director of the nuclear plant in town and
portrayed by Julika Jenkins. There is also Gwendolyn Göbel, who plays Claudia as a
young girl in 1953. Noah, or Hanno, is played by Mark Waschke. Before he was
kidnapping kids through time, the teenage version of the priest lived in 1921 and is
portrayed by Max Schimmelpfennig.
Jördis Triebel plays the adult version of the Katharina Nielsen in 2019. She's the mother
of Mikkel, Magnus, and Martha. The teenager Katharina in 1986 is played by Nele
Trebs. In 2019, the adult version of Jonas’ mother, Hannah, is played by Maja Schöne.
The younger Hannah of 1986, however, is portrayed by Ella Lee.
A nurse and the adoptive mother of Mikkel, Ines in 2019 is played by Angela Winkler.
Meanwhile, Anne Ratte-Polle portrays the adult version of the character in 1986. The
teenager Ines in 1953 is Lena Urzendowsky. Ulrich’s father is an old man in 2019 played
by Walter Kreye, but in 1986 he is portrayed by Felix Kramer. He met a young Claudia in
1953 and had Joshio Marlon playing his younger version. In 1953, Egon is Played by
Sebastian Hülk. who is trying to make a name for himself as a cop by solving the
murders of two young boys, as well as the disappearance of little Helge. By 1986, older
Egon is Played by Christian Pätzold is a burned-out detective who no one in the town
trusts.

Dark- Why it's well made but not great?
We recently binge watched Dark. A German sci-fi show and a Netflix sensation. Dark
deals with time travel at first but later ventures into alternate realities. Don't get us
wrong, it's a show which can get you hooked but the story somehow feels convoluted
and derivative of other stories and the final twist makes us question, why all this time
exploring one part of a story for so long?! Let's dive into Dark and it's 3 seasons and
explore the story we saw.

Dark Season 1
The show starts off on a horror note before diving into sci-fi time travel in few episodes.
The trick of starting a story with horror element worked great for Stranger Things
another Netflix hit, before it dive into superhero genre.
As the season started to build up, the story felt known. Dark borrows a lot from other
Hollywood movies and not just mention the 'glitch in the matrix'. The story line with
Mikkel rings hell with that of Terminator's story of Kyle Reese going back in time to
meet Sarah Connor who then would give birth to John Connor, the leader of the
resistance who would bring end to the whole paradox per say.
Does that sound similar to what happened here? Mikkel is Kyle Reese, Hannah is Sarah
Connor and Jonas is John Connor. Season 1 of Dark is probably the best amongst the 3
seasons, it dedicates itself to the story however much 'been there, done that' is well
executed.
The twists going along and various loop which it creates, could be predicted but still
feels a part of the overall arching story. Every episode ends on a cliffhanger which keeps
you hooked on to complete all 10 episodes of Dark S01 as soon as possible. The future
Jonas reveal is given off pretty quickly when 'future Jonas' tells 'present Jonas' not to
take Mikkel back as Jonas would not exist, for anyone who is aware of a little movie
called Back to the Future, would know this could only mean one thing that it's Jonas
from the future.

So you get the idea why Dark is well made and not original. Although, Dark Season 1
was a joy ride, it kept us hooked on the story till the very last shot. And that last shot
takes the cake because Dark totally dedicates itself to it's Terminator story line by take
Jonas into the dystopian future which would lead him to his destiny. That's pretty cool,
good job Dark.
Dark Season 2
The worst season of the show's 3 season run. Dark season 2 stretches the story in too
many ways which feels convoluted and tiresome. The reveal that Adam is Jonas could
have been sensed from miles away.
The season has 8 episodes but the only development of story or character happened in
the last 2 episodes. The reason behind this is because, we are now following Young
Jonas through his time but because of the reveal in Season 1 about the time traveler
being Jonas too, we know now, how this story for Young Jonas is gonna pan out.
We know the destination, hence we are not interested in the journey. If somehow, Dark
would have not let us known the true identity of future Jonas in Season 1, Season 2
would have benefited at the start. The scene where Jonas gets the mark on his neck
could have been the red herring and the reveal that the time traveler in season 1 is none
other than Jonas himself.
The other story line in Dark Season 2 which includes Hannah, Katharina, Martha and
gang are not at all interesting. The story feels so focused on Jonas and it doesn't make
any sense when it try to focus on other characters without signifying the importance of
it.
The single biggest revelation and from where the story began to take pace was when we
find out that Jonas isn't there to stop the suicide of Mikkel/Michael but to start it.

Dark Season 2 ends on a big cliffhanger and a reveal that there are not one but two
realities which are co-existing, but the problem with this affects the 3rd season and it
doesn't get time to flesh out the details of the alternate realities, if the creators of Dark
would have allowed Season 2 to take lead and explore that story in this season and it
could have let a sweet opening into Dark Season 3.
Dark Season 3
The beginning is the end and the end is the beginning. Dark and all it's season had us
telling this one sentence again and again. The show's finale Season does answer us why
it means what it means but, and this but is BUT.
Dark Season 2 ended with a cliffhanger which just feels something that is just thrown
and not planned. It somehow feels that the writers of Dark saw endgame and thought,
why not one more reality added to the story? But it's not just that, the story has been
through so much twists and turns that writers had nowhere to go.
If any of them claims that this whole thing was planned right from the start, it's total BS.
No one could plan this and the way the story unravels any eagle eyed viewer would
know this isn't planned from the get go.
However, Dark Season 3 ends on a high note. In season 3, Dark writers took a page out
of Stanley Kubrick's notebook for Directing and went full biblical just like he did with
2001: A Space Odyssey. Dark Season 1 dials down more than just the biblical name of
Adam and Eve given to two of our leads Jonas and Martha.
The final scene in the show where the two find themselves trap in Milky Way or
Einstein-Rosen Bridge is very reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Same like 2001: A
Space Odyssey, Dark too leads with sci-fi and ends on a biblical note.

Even calling Adam and Eve 'a pair of angels' when they managed to save Clockmaker
Tannhaus's son and wife along with their daughter. The show literally tells us to not
believe whatever that we have seen and buy that the third world which we have never
seen is the real and original world.
It is a very big deal and you need, guts to ask fans to do that. Dark did take a risk with
disowning the story that it told to make it all but a rip in timeline.
Dark- Biblical Storyline
Having been a fan of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Christopher Nolan's
Interstellar and now Dark, it's not just the sci-fi element which keeps us hook but the
biblical aspect that it is layered through out and is revealed towards the end of every
story for the above listed storylines.
2001: A Space Odyssey however sci-fi based it is, it has the undercurrent of a god like
entity that, the crew of space ship must travel to find out. The movie literally ends with
our lead character emerging back onto Earth in a different life form which has been
interpreted as 'Jesus like'.
Interstellar is the most accurate science based movie to explore space travel and it has a
lot of elements such as Quantum Entanglement and what's inside a black hole similar to
that of Dark. The movie but takes a complete 360 towards the end by projecting Cooper
is the only 'one' god like entity who set the entire course of the movie in motion.
Now, Dark in it's finale rose above just naming their characters Adam and Eve. Just like
how Adam and Eve are creation of God, Jonas and Martha are creation of Tannhaus. Just
like Adam and Eve didn't obey the rules led, Jonas and Martha kept doing the opposite
to what was actually supposed to have been the case.
Dark truly takes it home by creating a 2001: A Space Odyssey sequence for Jonas and
Martha towards the end and what came to our notice is the shot where they meet in the
Bridge is reminiscent to the Adam and Eve Biblical picture, Jonas and Martha who stand

there looking at each other, Jonas holds the 'time Turner' which resembles the
forbidden fruit in the actual Adam and Eve Biblical picture.
Not to mention the name Noah, who in bible was the savior of mankind, a line which
also refer this is in Dark, "I am Noah, and this is the arc". For people who loves Biblical
stuff, this could not have been a better ending, which somehow makes the mistakes
made by Dark, something that can be forgiven.
Dark Soundtrack
The score arranged by Ben Frost is really great. The credits of Dark are great to look at
but also great to listen because of the track that plays, Goodbye from Apparat.
1. "Alles Ist Miteinander Verbunden"
2. "Ein Mensch – Ein Schmetterling"
3. "Die Hölle Ist Leer, Alle Teufel Sind Hier"
4. "Tick Tack, Tick Tack"
5. "Warum Nicht Waldweg"
6. "Apokalypse"
7. "Kein DeLorean"
8. "Das Ist Nicht Mikkel"
9. "Eine Reise Durch Die Zeit"
10. "Ich Kann Die Vergangenheit Ändern"
11. "Gott Gib Mir Gelassenheit"
12. "Wo Ist Übergang"
13. "Schwarze Materie"
14. "Winden 2053"
15. "Bootstrap"

16. "Alles In Einer Endlosen Schleife"
17. "Die Reisenden 1"
18. "Du Bist Ein So Guter Mensch"
19. "Jeder Bekommt Was Er Verdient"
20. "Die Apokalypse Muss Kommen"
21. "Wir Haben Keine Zeit Mehr"
22. "Die Reisenden 2"
23. "Iche Dachte, Ich Haette Mehr Zeit"
24. "Folge Dem Signal"
25. "Der Weisse Teufel"
Dark Season 3 ends with an iconic song 'what a wonderful world' the song fits so we'll
to the over arching themes that Dark tries to tell. The song over the end credit Sequence
over Dark Season 3 is, Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann ft.Nena. One must listen to the
song if they like Dark.
Dark VS Stranger Things
Two shows which stream on the same website which are world's apart, different
languages have been compared to each other on many instances on the internet. We at
The Movie Culture happens to disagree.
Dark is a very deep study of human characters and the name itself makes it very obvious
that it's very dark with it's tone. The series is definitely not for kids. Where as Stranger
things deals with a more light hearted-ness but also doesn't shy away from addressing
more serious stuff like loss of a daughter and dealing with sexuality.

You can almost define Stranger things as an adaption of the works of Steven Spielberg.
The show for us is very Spielbergian. The director is known to have kids in lead roles in
his blockbuster movies like Jurrasic Park, Jaws, Minority Report, War of the Worlds,
Ready Player One. Hence we do think it's settled that Stranger Things is it's own show
and nothing like Dark.
Dark on the the other hand deals with time travel and alternate realities along with
constantly taking up the stakes higher and higher. It's consistent to it's approach of
telling a story spread over three different timelines and has an inevitable factor. The
shows biblical aspects also add a touch to the show which Stranger Things don't have
nor will ever.
Dark- Unanswered Questions After
Season Finale
How did Claudia Discover the origin?
As we see from the beginning of Dark, Claudia portrays somewhat of an double agent,
working for both sides. If you take the storyline portrayed by Dark as a spy thriller,
double agent always tend to question certain things, Claudia on Dark has always been
portrayed as the clever girl, she also used to teach Helge, before he went all bad looking.
Dark Season 3 also shows Claudia asking her counterpart and then killing her which
takes her to explore the time even more, she might have found the origins on her
experimenting trip.
How did Tannhaus know to invent Time Travel?
The Tannhaus we see in the our world comes to write the book and invent the machine
because of a phenomenon call the bootstrap paradox, it happens when the thing has lost
its origins, but in the origin world of Dark, Tannhaus invents the machine all by himself
without no help, people asking how this could have happened, needs a rewatch of the

show. What happens in the other two worlds is happening because of the origin world
and what happens in it. Tannhaus is a genius and has a greater understanding of time. In
the origin world if Dark, he himself found time travel on his own.
Tunnel of light, what does it mean?
The final scene where Jonas and Martha are in the tunnel of light is nothing but the
Einstein Rosen bridge, a gateway through time. The visual representation of it however
is derived from two acclaimed movies about space travel, 2001: A Space Odyssey and
Interstellar. Where the tunnel represents the time as a fifth dimension.
Who is Regina's Dad?
In the final scene, we see our happy characters sitting at the table but Regina is there
with them, it means that Claudia and what she thought has come true, she has managed
to save Regina but we see a photo in which her father is not someone we know, then
who is it? Well that's exactly the point Dark is trying to make. Regina's father had to be a
nobody in order for her to survive. If she belonged to the main four bloodline she would
not have been sitting at the table.
Will Charlotte exist?
Unfortunately, the answer to that is No. Charlotte is a product of time travel 101, as we
find out in Dark, Noah is Charlotte's father but Noah himself is Bartosz's son which is
because he met Sylvia who is Jonas's sister who is there because Hannah had her with
Egon from 1953. So Charlotte is the final piece of this paradox hence she won't exist.
Why don't we see other characters at the table with
Katharina, Woller, Hannah, Regina and Peter?
Again, please see Dark if you don't get it yet. These characters are not part of the time
loop, there existence isn't because someone went in the cast and had them and started a
time-continuim. Ulrich isn't there because he is Agnes's child who is Bartosz's daughter
who he had with Sylvia. Hence anyone who existed because of a time loop is not around
anymore.
What's with Woller's eye?
One sentence answer, Dark don't care about that.

Dark Casting
The casting of this show is so great. The way the characters look in different timelines
are so alike that one can easily point out who is who. The casting director for Dark
needs an award for this achievement. The way the future Jonas looks in comparison to
present Jonas is so uncanny same goes with Ulrich and his old self.
We have seen a number of TV shows and movies that they have casted adult characters
and to represent the adult characters the younger self but the casting in Dark is so
accurate to the facial features between and among the actors that portray them it is
beyond thinking.
Dark deals with three timelines and two different realities but it doesn't have to tell
which actor is playing which character you know it because of the facial features, you
know it as if you know them, this is very clever of the casting director of Dark.
We don't know about the award circle in Germany but we do know there is an award
for best ensemble cast in a TV show or movie if there is an award like this it should
definitely go to Dark. The casting director who worked on Dark we hope that he or she
gets many more series to work on because the work done here is excellent.
Dark shows you its not about great actors playing a role it's about the right actor playing
the right role at the right time which can unlock emotions in the heart of audiences. The
most used trick to show you a link between different characters or characters with
younger self is to have a certain type of hairstyle but as we can see in dark there is no
certain hairstyle for any character.Its just the visual characteristics of the face which
tells you who is which character in what period of time.
The show is so great in its casting and it gives a platform for younger talents to shine, so
much so that dark and its caste has become a favourite amongst our group of friends
who can't stop talking about how great the cast and the story of Dark is.

Dark- Opening Credit's Hidden Details
Every show needs great opening credits. Game of Thrones has a great opening
credits, Friends has great opening credits, Stranger Things has great opening
credits, now so does dark.
Dark opening credits are so visually fantastic that many fans have dubbed it the best in
any TV show so far. The credits sequence in Dark, uses a Kaleidoscope effect, to give it
the look that it has. We can see the visuals being completely opposite to each other
almost like a mirror how we see ourselves.
This at first, what we feel makes it interesting but as the show progress and at the very
final end of season 2 when dark does tells us that it's all but an alternate reality the
opening credits of Dark does start to make sense. All the way through two seasons of
dark it was just telling us it was an indication that there is something much bigger at
play than just time travel. One must be really really good writer and a good creator to do
something like this and Dark does it.
Just think of all the theories that fans made before Season 2 and then Season 3 was
released, and just think of the reaction after they found out that an alternate reality exist
I mean it was there all along within the start of the show and we see the correct
sequence of Dark which literally tells us that there is an alternate reality through the
visuals and we don't believe it or we don't even notice it, it's something genius from the
creators of Dark.
Dark- A Logical and Satisfying Ending

Unlike other shows like Game of Thrones, Dark gives a befitting ending. The only
popular example that is to be compared is to Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones just
like dark was a great popular show until its final season.
Game of Thrones all most ran for a decade but in the end the show did the complete 360
and ended its story with unsatisfactory response from the audience. But that is not what
Dark did, all three seasons of dark have certain themes that they apply to the story line
overall and achieve their goal.
Final Season of dark did not only introduce us to alternate realities but the ending was
something of an emotional joyride which was executed very nicely by the creators of
Dark. There are many shows and film franchises who do not get to say that they ended
high, but Dark is one of those franchises which can proudly say that they gave what fans
wanted and ended on a high ride.
Again compared to Game of Thrones, Dark had many details in its episode season by
season and not every show gets to fulfill that detail in the last season but Dark might be
the only show to achieve that. Even though we won't include Dark in our favourites list
but we can't ignore the fact that there are fans of the show who love the show from their
whole heart.
And when you look at Dark and the efforts that it took to make that show centered
around three different timelines we certainly have to appreciate that the creators really
outdid themselves.
The Movie Culture Synopsis

Dark is a sensation amongst Twitter audience and has taken Audiences by surprise
having a strong binge watching element to the entire show. Dark has a 94% on Rotten
Tomatoes, the first season was reviewed as critiques saying, "Dark's central mystery
unfolds slowly, both tense and terrifying, culminating in a creepy, cinematic triumph of
sci-fi noir."
The second season was described as, "Dark's sumptuous second season descends
deeper into the show's meticulously-crafted mythos and cements the series as one of
streaming's strongest and strangest science fiction stories."
And the third season of dark was described as Dark's final chapter, which is as thrilling
as it is bewildering, bringing viewers full circle without sacrificing any of the show's
narrative complexities."
Dark is certainly a good show, the way it joints everything deserves more than a pat on
the back. Dark doesn't make into the top favourite list but we certainly appreciate the
craft behind Dark and the work and time put by the makers. The Movie Culture would
like to give a shout-out to Baran Bo Idar who created, wrote and directed Dark. You can
see Dark on Netflix anywhere in the world.
CLICK HERE to know about the final table scene of DARK

Dark series explined

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