# Netflix Series: Dark



## g5000 (Dec 2, 2017)

_Dark _is a German TV series which Netflix has bought for their service.  The Netflix version is dubbed in English.

_Dark _is _Stranger Things_ for grownups.  There are also shades of David Lynch's _Twin Peaks_ and Stephen King's _It_.

The series starts with a suicide in the town of Winden in June of 2019.  There are strange happenings in Winden centered around Winden Caves, and not just in 2019.

Winden is a town in the proverbial shadow of a nuclear power plant.  The nuclear power plant is the counterpart to the Hawkins National Laboratory in _Stranger Things_.

The story follows four families.  I will outline the families below because it helps to have a roadmap to the characters of 2019 when the story jumps to 1986.

Kids are disappearing in 2019, and the adults who were alive in 1986 see parallels.

The man who commits suicide leave a note with instructions on the envelope not to open it until after 10:13 pm on November 4, 2019.

After the opening scene of his suicide, the story then jumps to...November 4, 2019.

That's all I'm going to tell you.  If you liked _Twin Peaks _or _It _or _Stranger Things,_ you will like _Dark_.

It helps a lot if you are the kind of person who pays attention to details while watching this show.

These are the 2019 characters:

*The Khanwalds:*

Jonas - Son of the suicide man. A troubled youth who was sent away for treatment for a couple months after his father killed himself.

Hannah- Wife of the suicide man, mother of Jonas.  She is a masseuse.  One of her clients is the director of the nuclear power station, Aleksander Tiedemann.  Hannah is having a secret affair with Ulrich Nielsen.

Michael - Father of Jonas.  He is the suicide man.

Ines - Grandmother.  She is the one who opens Micheal's suicide note at 10:13 on November 4, 2019.  She also encountered Mikkel Nielsen in 1986 when she was a nurse.  Her son's widow, Hannah, suspects Ines is behind the power frequently cutting out in Hannah's house in order to run Hannah and Jonas out of the house for some reason.


*The Nielsens:*

Ulrich - Father.  A cop.  He is responsible for the investigation of a missing boy, Erik Obendorf.  Ulrich's younger brother, Mads, went missing in 1986 much like Erik in 2019.  Ulrich is having an affair with the suicide man's wife, Hannah Khanwald.

Katharina - Mother.  The high school principal.  Wife of Ulrich.  Katharina calls a town meeting to discuss how to make the town safer for the kids.

Mikkel - Son.  Youngest child of the family.  An aspiring magician.

Magnus - Son.  Oldest child of the family.  Regularly bullies his little brother Mikkel.

Martha - Daughter.  On a hunger strike. Girlfriend of Bartosz Tiedemann, much to Jonas Kahnwald's chagrin when he returns from treatment.

Jana - Grandmother. Mother of UIrich and Mads.  She has never recovered from the disappearance of Mads in 1986.  She sees strange beings in the forest near Winden Caves.

Tronte - Grandfather


*The Dopplers:*

Helge - Grandfather.  Used to work at the nuclear power plant in the 80s.  As an old senile man in 2019, he tries to warn the town "It is going to happen again!"  Like the Giant in _Twin Peaks_.

Peter - Father.  Son of Helge.  He cries and trembles and repeatedly utters the Serenity Prayer when the strangeness begins.  He knows something.

Charlotte - Mother.  A cop who works with Ulrich Nielsen. As a child in 1986, she begins to investigate the mass die-offs of birds.  A born investigator.  In 2019, she investigates the disappearance of Erik Obendorf.

Franziska - Daughter.  A foil of the other teens.  She believes possession is 9/10 of the law.



*The Tiedemanns:*

Regina: Mother. Owner of a hotel which is in financial trouble.

Bartosz: Son.  Best friend of Jonas Kahnwald.  Boyfriend of Martha Nielsen.  While Jonas was in treatment, Bartosz told everyone Jonas was in France as part of a student exchange program.

Aleksander: Father.  Director of the nuclear power plant.


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## Hugo Furst (Dec 2, 2017)

Thanks for the info


I'll be removing it from my list shortly.


My eyes get tired enough just watching tv, trying to read subtitles makes it worse.


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## g5000 (Dec 4, 2017)

WillHaftawaite said:


> Thanks for the info
> 
> 
> I'll be removing it from my list shortly.
> ...


There are no subtitles.  It's dubbed in English.

Don't delete it.  You'll be glad you watched it.

Here's a funny thing.  Of the nearly 100 movies I have in my Netflix cue, 90 percent of them are non-American movies.  That's how much American movies suck these days.

The South Koreans and Hong Kong Chinese make incredible movies.


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## g5000 (Dec 4, 2017)

More dots:

Tronte Nielsen is a newspaper reporter in 1986.  He is cheating on his wife Jana with Claudia Tiedemann.  His son, Mads, is missing.  He doesn't seem very broken up about it.

Claudia Tiedemann is the first female director of the nuclear power plant.  She is appointed in 1986.  Her son, Aleksander, is the plant director in 2019.

Egon Tiedemann is the police chief of Winden in 1986.  He is the father of Claudia.  He is investigating the disappearance of Mads Nielsen in 1986.


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## DustyInfinity (Jan 6, 2018)

I just watched the series.  Loved it.  I didn't get the ending however and I don't want to spoil it for anyone.  I have no clue about the priest character.  Who or what is it?


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## DustyInfinity (Jan 6, 2018)

My wife and both laughed out loud when the women confronts the other women who cheated with her husband and say she shook her bony little ass.  That was brutal.


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## g5000 (Jul 19, 2019)

Just finished season three.  This show is so convoluted I had to print out a map of the characters and their relationships to each other.

I'm not the only one.  There are several such maps all over the internet.

https://i.imgur.com/A8fiuGc.jpg

How Everyone in Netflix's Dark Is Connected | TV Guide


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## g5000 (Jul 19, 2019)

WillHaftawaite said:


> Thanks for the info
> 
> 
> I'll be removing it from my list shortly.
> ...


You can turn on English dubbing for this show.

I watched it in German first, then in English.


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## boedicca (Jul 19, 2019)

RW- thanks!  mr. boe and I were wondering about "Dark" last night.  We saw it come up as a recommendation after we watched Episode 3 of the new Stranger Things.  I'll have to add this to our watchlist.


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## g5000 (Jul 19, 2019)

boedicca said:


> RW- thanks!  mr. boe and I were wondering about "Dark" last night.  We saw it come up as a recommendation after we watched Episode 3 of the new Stranger Things.  I'll have to add this to our watchlist.


Dark is Stranger Things for grownups.

I strongly recommend printing out a map of the characters.  It can get very confusing since the show hops between different eras, and all the characters have young, middle aged, and old versions of themselves in the show.

There are also some paradoxes between some of the characters which the maps are very helpful in sorting out.


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## boedicca (Jul 19, 2019)

g5000 said:


> boedicca said:
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> > RW- thanks!  mr. boe and I were wondering about "Dark" last night.  We saw it come up as a recommendation after we watched Episode 3 of the new Stranger Things.  I'll have to add this to our watchlist.
> ...




I like Stranger Things - it's a lot of fun seeing the 80s references.


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## g5000 (Jul 19, 2019)

boedicca said:


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Yeah.  It's a fun show.  I had to keep reminding myself they didn't have the internet or cell phones back then.  I found myself wondering why they just didn't google Planck's Constant.


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## boedicca (Jul 19, 2019)

g5000 said:


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And they always go into the dark places to find out what is making the strange sound.  That NEVER ends up well.


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## g5000 (Jul 19, 2019)

boedicca said:


> g5000 said:
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The same thing happens in Dark.  They hear a strange sound coming from a cave and go in to find out what is making the sound.

It definitely does not end well.


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## boedicca (Jul 19, 2019)

g5000 said:


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Well, if characters acted sensibly, most movies would be 5 minutes long.


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