'Dark': Final series of time-travelling saga hits Netflix
Torsten Landsberg db
June 26, 2020
The third and final season of the hit German mystery series 'Dark' starts on Netflix on Saturday. The resolution of a twisting journey through space and time will demand a strong focus.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
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On June 27, Netflix releases the third and last season of its psychological sci-fi series, Dark, the streaming service's first original German language series that has been a surprising international hit.
The first series, which aired in 2017, begins when two children disappear without a trace from the small fictitious German town of Winden. What could have been the starting point for a thriller quickly turns into a sci-fi saga.
The resolution of a small town mystery that travels through time with some bizarre twists has already drawn praise. "Dark season 3 might be the best series finale in sci-fi history," wrote entertainment website, Inverse.
'Best series' ranking
Earlier this year, users of Rotten Tomatoes, an American review-aggregation website for film and TV, chose Dark as the best Netflix Original series. There were 63 competitors, and the series was up against veritable hit shows including The Crown, Mindhunter and Peaky Blinders.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, the site recorded 2.5 million votes, and Dark won a massive 80% of the vote.
The protagonists meet their younger selves in the past or their older selves in the future, it will pay to stay focused when watching the final season unravel.
'Brittle artiness'
And though the series has often been compared with another hit mystery series, Stranger Things, which also features a missing child, Dark retains a peculiar German feel.
The bleak small town setting includes a nuclear reactor that echoes the filmmakers' own youth growing up in the midst of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.
"With 'Dark' Netflix delivers science fiction with European roots," wrote the New York Times while contrasting the series with Stranger Things. "In place of the American show’s ceaseless adrenaline rush, 'Dark' offers a hushed, brittle artiness."
Dark season 3 streams worldwide on Netflix from June 27.
'Dark' and other German TV series to watch worldwide
'Dark' was Netflix's first German-language production; here are more German series that have reached an international audience.
Image: Netflix
Netflix German series 'Dark'
The first German language TV series produced by Netflix for the international market, "Dark" was released on December 1, 2017. The first season consists of 10 episodes and tells the story of four families living in a small German town. The disappearance of two young children in surrounding forest leads to investigations revealing that something shady has been happening there since the 1980s.
Image: Netflix
Dark worlds
The series was directed by Baran bo Odar and his wife, Jantje Friese, wrote the screenplay. The Swiss director filmed a similar story with the 2010 feature film, "The Silence," another thriller that interconnects two generations of a family in a small provincial German town. As the title suggests, his latest offering is a lot darker and claustrophobic.
Image: Netflix
Ambitious production: 'Babylon Berlin'
The most expensive non-English drama series ever produced, "Babylon Berlin" started airing in Germany last October. Netflix purchased broadcast rights for the US. Three directors, including Tom Tykwer, recreated the atmosphere of Berlin in the 1920s for this period drama.
Image: 2017 X Filme/Frédéric Batier
Amazon's German series 'You Are Wanted'
The first German series to be produced by Amazon, "You Are Wanted" started airing in March 2017 and was also made available worldwide through the Amazon Prime streaming service. It was directed by Matthias Schweighöfer, who also plays the lead role in this series dealing with cyber crime. Despite dividing the critics, the show's second season is already in production.
Image: picture alliance / Stephan Rabold/Amazon/dpa
A sequel for 'Deutschland 83'
Broadcast on SundanceTV, "Deutschland 83" was the first German-language series to air on a US network with English subtitles. The show obtained a number of accolades, including an International Emmy Award. The second season of this Cold War spy thriller, titled "Deutschland 86," has just been released on Amazon Prime.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/R. Hirschberger
Berlin mafia: '4 Blocks'
"4 Blocks," directed by Marvin Kren, is set in the Berlin district of Neukölln and is centered on different organized crime family clans. The series obtained rave reviews, with some critics comparing it to the US TV hit "The Sopranos." Since October 2017, it is available in over 150 countries on Amazon Video. A second season is in the making.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Handout/2017 Turner Broadcasting System Europe Limited & Wiedemann & Berg Television GmbH & Co.
