Issam Raad | Staff Writer
“Have you heard of Master Zhuang’s paradox? ‘I dreamt I was a butterfly. Now I’ve woken up and I no longer know if I’m a person who dreamed he’s a butterfly or if I’m a butterfly who’s dreaming it’s a person.” — Ines Kahnwald, Dark, Season 1: Alpha and Omega
Existence is a sea of mystery, and the more we try to understand it while sailing across space and time, the more we get lost in the unknown. However, it’s human nature to question and wonder about matters, and the genius 3-season German TV series is a haven for lovers of philosophy, mystery, and thrill, with a twist of romance. Co-created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, the series takes us on a mesmerizing and complex journey that broadens our minds and brings out the philosopher and lover inside us.
‘DARK’ discusses various themes of life, such as the connection between past, present, and future along with time, traveling, dreams, death, light, darkness, desire, dualism, fate and freedom, heaven and hell, and God through a labyrinth of events and plot twists. I rarely find myself enjoy a series, but when I watched its genius direction and talented cast orchestrating the story, I was fascinated by what I saw, and consequently fell in love with it. “Der Anfang ist das ende, und das Ende ist der Anfang”, as quoted in the series, translates to ‘The beginning is the end, and the end is the beginning’, and expresses a perspective on a particular existence, and for me, assures that the sequence of incidents and happenings are firmly connected from the beginning to the end. The story begins with a child who ambiguously disappears, opening the stage for interpretations and discoveries that lead to a mind-bending truth. The series title itself is meant to be a mystery, giving a glimpse of what one might expect, but nothing compared in beauty and complexity to what one will actually witness when watching it.
“- If the world is a simulation, déjà vu is a glitch in the matrix.”
“- Or a message from the other side.” — Jonas in a conversation with Martha
Jonas, one of the series’ main characters, is oblivious to what awaits him at the end of the tunnel that he keeps unintentionally deepening because of his love for Martha and because of his unsatiable quest for the truth. He sees light at the end of the tunnel, but what if the light is an illusion? Or perhaps the tunnel itself is a delusion? In the end, we are products of love and sometimes a mystery to ourselves, and it’s difficult to stop wanting what we desire. As the German series quotes: “The ways of the heart cannot be explained. It wants what it wants”.
My heart told me that ‘DARK’ is where it belongs, with no explanation, but many other hearts sensed that the series is as overrated or overcomplicated as a show. I understand, people have diverse interests and perspectives, thus nothing could be good or bad for all. True, the German show is not for everyone, but if you’re an overthinking, dreamy, and unconventional individual looking for a show that embraces your beautiful madness, then ‘DARK’ is indeed your muse.
Moreover, after concluding ‘DARK’, the same creators further unleashed their creativity and released another series called ‘1899’, to re-shock ‘DARK’’s fans with a similar yet different scenario of events. The new series has concluded its first season, with fans passionately waiting for the second one.