Television Dark - Netflix TV series

Moby

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The more I think about it the more I realise I didn’t really like this final season. Everything kind of lost it’s importance. There are so many different versions of the same characters that anyone dying basically completely lost all meaning and every scene seemed to end with someone about to do something until a door opens and it’s Future/past/younger insert character here to announce/do something and keep things on their course. And in the end both worlds don’t exist so none of it really ever happened.
My only gripe was that it was dragged on. At least 2-3 episodes in the middle were pretty redundant. Started and ended pretty well and the explanation was straight forward. The did well to show the alternate worlds and how they are connected and after that all we needed to know was how to undo the connection which they showed in the end. The whole 'don't listen to them they don't want to stop the apocalypse I'm the one who knows how to come with me' again and again got a bit pointless. I mean that whole manipulation of Jonas did tie up with Adam's ending but just didn't need to be done over and over again.
 

Ainu

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Finally finished this and I'm sad to say, after really loving season 1 and 2, I found this third season terrible. Not just disappointing, but genuinely shit. Of the 8 episodes, 7 were a completely redundant, meandering mess for me, with only the final episode doing something interesting. Seriously, I was bored to tears for almost the entire season and actively hated large parts of it. I have to say I'm surprised so many seem to rate it so highly and didn't have the same issues as me. It's certainly put me off of rewatching any of the seasons. The ending was decent, but not nearly good enough to justify the rest of the season.

Also, I've never understood why

Adam is the only one with a grilled cheese face when there are clearly plenty of other characters who've spent a lifetime travelling through times and dimensions. It feels like he was only written that way for the earlier shock reveal that he's old Jonas while having only a flimsy in-universe justification. I mean, at least old Claudia and the old version of the cleft lip guys should've been completely messed up. Speaking of those cleft lip guys, aka Jonas and Martha's son, what was even the point of having them in the show? Complete waste of screen time, like much of the rest of the season.
 

Brwned

Have you ever been in love before?
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Finally finished this and I'm sad to say, after really loving season 1 and 2, I found this third season terrible. Not just disappointing, but genuinely shit. Of the 8 episodes, 7 were a completely redundant, meandering mess for me, with only the final episode doing something interesting. Seriously, I was bored to tears for almost the entire season and actively hated large parts of it. I have to say I'm surprised so many seem to rate it so highly and didn't have the same issues as me. It's certainly put me off of rewatching any of the seasons. The ending was decent, but not nearly good enough to justify the rest of the season.

Also, I've never understood why

Adam is the only one with a grilled cheese face when there are clearly plenty of other characters who've spent a lifetime travelling through times and dimensions. It feels like he was only written that way for the earlier shock reveal that he's old Jonas while having only a flimsy in-universe justification. I mean, at least old Claudia and the old version of the cleft lip guys should've been completely messed up. Speaking of those cleft lip guys, aka Jonas and Martha's son, what was even the point of having them in the show? Complete waste of screen time, like much of the rest of the season.
I thought they hinted that

Adam's injuries came from trying build the time travel machine a century earlier, rather than from travelling. You saw him burn his skin in full protective gear from the electricity in his 30s/40s, then not long after it jumps forward 20 years or so when "Jonas had changed a lot" and he's badly burned all over. The others were either building the machine in the future, with better technology and protective gear, or not building it at all

I liked season 3 but agree it was a lot more interesting in the first 2
 

Massive Spanner

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A bit behind everyone but I just finished episode seven and I'm rather underwhelmed

one of the strengths of the first two seasons was how tight-knit everything felt. Like.. you have your 3 (or 4) timelines and each timeline has a specific version of a character and it's possible for them to interact when they travel to the other timeline.

This season however they not only introduce another fecking world of timelines but also decide to have extra timelines a few years or months before/after the regular timelines meaning there's like five or six fecking different versions of characters like Martha and Jonas and the only damn way to figure out which is who is by their damn bangs or the cuts on their face. I just think it's turned into a massively convoluted mess and gotten a bit too silly. I don't really like where they're going with the endgame at all.

maybe episode eight will redeem it but yeah, it's a letdown so far.

Also I know we're supposed to suspend disbelief at these characters that are 33 years apart not looking alike but seriously, middle aged Jonas only looks about 10 fecking years older than young Jonas and in episode seven Barthoz aged about 30 years in the space of five years. Come on :lol:
 
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12OunceEpilogue

In perfect harmony
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I'm seven or eight eps into the first series and am enjoying it. Swapped the shite dubbing straight out for subs, the amount of people I've heard persevering because they didn't know they could switch :lol: Netflix should default to subs before dubs at all times.
 

Hugh Jass

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Thought it was very good, the third season that is. Episodes were a bit long though. I felt they could have been shorter.
 

Hugh Jass

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I think as well you would be better off watching all three seasons one after the other. It would make it easier to understand if you did.
 

Amir

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I think as well you would be better off watching all three seasons one after the other. It would make it easier to understand if you did.
That's exactly what I did before season 3 and it made a huge difference. Also helped me understand season 2 better, because the first time I saw it was months after season 1.
 

Shane88

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I swear, this show every 2 minutes...



It's like homework keeping track of everything and everyone but it's so intriguing.
 

Maagge

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I liked the final season, but not nearly as much as the first two. I was a bit worried about how the whole parallel universe thing would be solved, but I'm not sure I'm satisfied with how they did it.

I thought Tannhaus' story was quite clever in the end though. Trying to build a time machine to save his family and succeeding but without realising it.
 

amolbhatia50k

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Absolute masterpiece. I was properly emotional at the end and that never happens to me. It's trippy, convoluted, visionary, artistic, frustrating and magnificent all at once. I don't watch enough shows but this is my second favourite one (after Breaking Bad) and comfortably ahead of the rest too.
 

onemanarmy

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Absolute masterpiece. I was properly emotional at the end and that never happens to me. It's trippy, convoluted, visionary, artistic, frustrating and magnificent all at once. I don't watch enough shows but this is my second favourite one (after Breaking Bad) and comfortably ahead of the rest too.
Me too. It was beautifully done. It's a weird show. It's well written, it's well excecuted but sometimes frustrating too. One of the best series of the last couple of years. I'll watch it again someday.
 

Dan_F

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I'm seven or eight eps into the first series and am enjoying it. Swapped the shite dubbing straight out for subs, the amount of people I've heard persevering because they didn't know they could switch :lol: Netflix should default to subs before dubs at all times.
I didn’t even realise there was an options for dubbing. I can imagine it’s terrible.

I really enjoyed it throughout, although my girlfriend didn’t like season three until the last couple of episodes. It wasn’t as fast paced, but I feel like they had to over explain stuff or it would have just been too confusing. Also, I think it can be annoying not feeling like you know what’s going on, but usually it’s just something they hadn’t explained yet.

The ending was written pretty well for once I think. Also helped that it only continued for three seasons. A lot of shows tend to cash it in and go downhill in later seasons.
 

Maagge

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Me too. It was beautifully done. It's a weird show. It's well written, it's well excecuted but sometimes frustrating too. One of the best series of the last couple of years. I'll watch it again someday.
I think I'll do a rewatch pretty soon actually. I'm sure it's absolutely littered with scenes which will have a different meaning when you know how the rest of it plays out.
It was already like that rewatching the first season after watching season 2.
 

Norris

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Just finished this. Really loved the first season and most of S02 and I genuinely felt S03 was a complete slog. Really struggled to get into it, but the last two episodes of the series really did the show justice. It was so beautifully crafted and it was emotional towards the very end.
As many said, it's a really good show, can't classify it as an all-time great, but one of the better shows in recent times.
 

OleBoiii

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Finished.

I was definitely less invested in the last season, but that is partly my fault for not rewatching season 1 and 2. Watching the recaps wasn't enough as there are too many characters. Luckily the ending kind of made it OK to not remember the whole family tree.

As for the ending: I liked it a lot! I don't get the people who feel that Jonas' and Martha's worlds didn't matter? Ultimately it was their worlds that the saved the original world. As for the characters we've been following: this was arguably a more satisfying ending than they could have hoped for, all things considered.
 

Sylar

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Just started this, but has this been cancelled?
Or is it finished, finished (as in it has a proper finish)?

Or am I completely wrong about the above?
 

Maagge

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Just started this, but has this been cancelled?
Or is it finished, finished (as in it has a proper finish)?

Or am I completely wrong about the above?
They planned to wrap it up in three seasons from the start.
 

Sylar

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They planned to wrap it up in three seasons from the start.
Oh wicked, that makes it sound even better. Enforced finishes normally arent great, but this sounds like a plan from the beginning. Im on ep9 of season1 and I think even though im binge watchingit, I might need to watch some sort of recap after each season :lol:
Its giving me 'lost' vibes to it.

I think this show would have benefited from weekly episodes being released for theories and discussion to grow
 

Maagge

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Oh wicked, that makes it sound even better. Enforced finishes normally arent great, but this sounds like a plan from the beginning. Im on ep9 of season1 and I think even though im binge watchingit, I might need to watch some sort of recap after each season :lol:
Its giving me 'lost' vibes to it.

I think this show would have benefited from weekly episodes being released for theories and discussion to grow
Yeah I think so too. Reddit was full of discussions between seasons though.

I don't know about recaps, I haven't watched any of those. But I rewatched season 1 after having watched season 2 and that was a great experience. Now that I've watched it all I'll give the whole thing a rewatch.

EDIT: And stay far away from Reddit until you've watched it all. You'll very easily end up reading spoilers.
 

JuveGER

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Just finished this. Great show, one of the most complicated shows ever and surprisingly with a decent ending. It helps when you have a clear path in mind and do not make things up as you go along (I am looking at you, LOST). Can't believe that this was actually made in Germany, considering the banal nonsense that we typically have on TV here.

My only complaint is the middle of the 3rd season, where things just get too complicated and confusing, which makes it hard to be invested in the show, when you are unsure what motivations drives the respective characters. Also, there are just too many versions of the characters to care about a particular version of them with one scene toppig it all (
The four Marthas
.

The ending was neat, though.
When they appeared on the street, how many people thought that Jonas and Martha are the reason, Tannhaus' son crashes the car in the first place? I like how Tannhaus succeeded to rescue his family, but will never know. Lots of bittersweetness with Jonas/Alt-Martha and Adam/Eve embracing each other before disappearing (poor older Jonas and older Martha have to remain alone, though). And hints that there may be some version of Martha and Jonas in the original world that may have a happy ending. Can't ask for more.

Some things could have been handled better, but to make a show that complicated and pull off the finale is not a small feat. Well done! Will definitely watch this again in the future (and not wait for 33 years). I wish there was more TV like that and hope more German film makers will get a shot to make something special.
 

Simbo

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Ain't a scooby doo what was going on for most of that season but thought it was ok nonetheless.

Probably not the kind of show to watch if you just wanna binge through something, you gotta take the time to think through this one.
 

Beachryan

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Finally finished this. Definitely hard to keep track of everything, though I was amused by the various techniques they used to try and help the audience (hair, clothes, fog etc). It's pretty clever. Definitely has the feel of a show that knew where it wanted to go the whole time, which is rare these days (I'm looking at you Lost!)

Couple quick things:
1. Didn't understand the mirroring is of the different universes. Picked up that Jonas' house is backwards, but the fact that Martha's little scar kept switching eyes was driving me nuts.
2. Do they ever explain why only Adam gets the scars, but Eve(a) doesn't? Or Noah, or the three cleft-lip characters? No one else seems to get scarred. My working theory was at some point he tried to kill himself with fire and failed, but they don't address it do they?
3. The whole theme of parents refusing to accept the loss of a kid is pretty amazingly well done if you zoom out and think how it ties everything together.
4. Some wonderful, glorious, next-level trolling by not revealing what happened to that cop's eye right at the end.
 

Norris

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1. Didn't understand the mirroring is of the different universes. Picked up that Jonas' house is backwards, but the fact that Martha's little scar kept switching eyes was driving me nuts.
2. Do they ever explain why only Adam gets the scars, but Eve(a) doesn't? Or Noah, or the three cleft-lip characters? No one else seems to get scarred. My working theory was at some point he tried to kill himself with fire and failed, but they don't address it do they?
3. The whole theme of parents refusing to accept the loss of a kid is pretty amazingly well done if you zoom out and think how it ties everything together.
4. Some wonderful, glorious, next-level trolling by not revealing what happened to that cop's eye right at the end.
  1. She has a scar on both sides of her face iirc.
  2. Yes. When he was in 1880s, he was trying to build the time machine and whatever chemicals he worked with charred his skin. Think they showed it on the penultimate episode. Cleft-lip is supposed to indicate that it was congenital and a result of Jonas and Martha sleeping together.
 

Maagge

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Finally finished this. Definitely hard to keep track of everything, though I was amused by the various techniques they used to try and help the audience (hair, clothes, fog etc). It's pretty clever. Definitely has the feel of a show that knew where it wanted to go the whole time, which is rare these days (I'm looking at you Lost!)

Couple quick things:
1. Didn't understand the mirroring is of the different universes. Picked up that Jonas' house is backwards, but the fact that Martha's little scar kept switching eyes was driving me nuts.
2. Do they ever explain why only Adam gets the scars, but Eve(a) doesn't? Or Noah, or the three cleft-lip characters? No one else seems to get scarred. My working theory was at some point he tried to kill himself with fire and failed, but they don't address it do they?
3. The whole theme of parents refusing to accept the loss of a kid is pretty amazingly well done if you zoom out and think how it ties everything together.
4. Some wonderful, glorious, next-level trolling by not revealing what happened to that cop's eye right at the end.
  1. She has a scar on both sides of her face iirc.
  2. Yes. When he was in 1880s, he was trying to build the time machine and whatever chemicals he worked with charred his skin. Think they showed it on the penultimate episode. Cleft-lip is supposed to indicate that it was congenital and a result of Jonas and Martha sleeping together.
I think they suggested Adam got scarred from the lightning stuff he was working on. There was at one point he was burned through his protective equipment.
 

RedSky

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I'm just happy it had a clever, well thought out ending. I dragged my heels watching this final season as I expected the finale to be underwhelming, thankfully it was not.

Must admit, I found it a little hard at times remembering/working out who was who. Paused it a few times to figure it out and google. But that was mainly a problem due to the complexity of the show and the length of time between Seasons. I'll probably think of some questions tomorrow morning but ultimately the ending was satisfying. Good shit.

Side note: The death of Katharina was brutal, as was the caravan scene. They original characters really didn't have happy endings did they?
 

Roosney

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Hmm, not sure what to think of the 3rd season. Either I missed a lot of time-travel enigmas or it was just a pointless spider web of timelines and character arcs.

Liked the ending, specially the fact that Tannhaus succeeded with his mission without having the slightest idea. That was some really really beautiful scripting.
 

OleBoiii

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Hmm, not sure what to think of the 3rd season. Either I missed a lot of time-travel enigmas or it was just a pointless spider web of timelines and character arcs.
I think most of the things happening had a "logical" explanation, but it's very hard to put all the pieces together while you watch. I ultimately gave up on the nitty gritty details and focused on the bigger picture :lol:

There are probably some unnecessary details in the story, but that's part of the mystery genre. I appreciate shows where the entire story more or less is decided before creation. They could definitely have squeezed another season or two out of this, but it would have been a significantly worse series then.
 

Roosney

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I think most of the things happening had a "logical" explanation, but it's very hard to put all the pieces together while you watch. I ultimately gave up on the nitty gritty details and focused on the bigger picture :lol:

There are probably some unnecessary details in the story, but that's part of the mystery genre. I appreciate shows where the entire story more or less is decided before creation. They could definitely have squeezed another season or two out of this, but it would have been a significantly worse series then.
I was a bit pessimistic already about a third season after the first two brilliant ones.
The story was build so great I couldn't see them making it any better especially with the hint of another dimension.
Glad they pulled it off pretty well.
 

Mockney

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Finally finished it, and while the 3rd season was fine - and certainly better and more ‘worthy’ of appreciation than a lot of shit on telly - I did eventually find the endless repetitive portentous dialogue drove me fecking nuts.

It’s written very well from a structural standpoint (apart from there being altogether too many Marthas by the end) but some of the actual writing writing was atrocious. The season would’ve genuinely been half the length if they didn’t spend long sequences every episode where characters stood opposite each other in darkened rooms saying shit like “the end is the beginning and the beginning is the end... the dark and the light... it always happens the same... in one world or the next...” and variations thereupon to each other, over and over again, sometimes in voice over, sometimes right after they’ve already said it.. or something exactly like it!

And at the end of the day, it was all about saving characters we don’t really care about, in a world we weren’t really privy to...

I don’t give a feck about Regina, or Marek and wassername, who only turned up in the last ep... I mean, sure, I like the way they conclude Jonas and Martha’s story, but everyone else born of their shenanigans was kinda shifted out of existence with no fanfare just so these inconsequential (from our POV) and largely uninteresting characters could get a happy ending... which is a little unsatisfying emotionally, however well it all fit together ... but hey, I can understand that some things needed to be sacrificed to get to that point, if that was the story they wanted to tell.. ho hum


Anyway, the music was good.
 
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acnumber9

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I just finished this the other day too. I thought the third season was a bit of a let down. And I’m not really sure that it made any sense at all. It was intriguing though.
 

Gambit

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Got bored of it in season 3. Need to finish it. Just felt like it was retreading old ground again and getting to convoluted for its own good.