The Cycle is Complete

Dark Season 3 Review

I don't know exactly what perfection is, but I'm pretty sure this came close.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq2iTHoLrt0

The end.

I’m still kinda reeling I’m not going to lie.

Poetically, they released the third season the same day of the Apocalypse in that universe. June 27th.

There will also be SPOILERS (kind of) please stop now or forever hold your peace.

I didn’t know how I wanted this show to end, but I never expected something like this. It was beautiful, aesthetic and emotional and tragic but you still somehow managed to have hope. There is something about this show that is so personal to viewers, some sort of connection that opens the audience up to such a broad range of people. The actors made the characters so human that the fantastical (?) plot feels like it could really happen.

All the adjectives in the world couldn’t describe this final eight episodes, the writing is phenomenal.

I think the thing with TV shows nowadays is that they start with a really strong storyline and emotional centre, but their popularity will mean that they get renewed for the umpteenth time and they tend to lose the moral core and narrative strength that made it so good. Example A is the show Community compared to The Good Place. (I love both btw) The latter ended on its own terms with all the cast still involved and the finale ticking ALL the RIGHT boxes, whilst Community’s last season tends to be skipped over by fans, after both Chevy Chase and Donald Glover left in season 5.

Dark has this strong, intentional ‘3 cycles’, ‘3 seasons’ plan that is executed perfectly. It ends on its own terms which already means that it’s told us everything they want us to know (there are a few questions I have still). It does not falter, there is not any obvious or glaring cracks or weakness’ there (maybe a few idk I was hungover when I binge watched it).

I’m so in awe of the triumphs of this season, the word building, and falling, the themes; family, children, time, love, responsibility, action and consequence. It’s so nuanced and beautiful.

Stellar performances from the cast see Louis Hofmann, Lisa Vicari, Carlotta von Falkenhayn and Julika Jenkins (these were personal favourites) wow. There is not a single weak link in the cast (even with the amount of younger members and the changing ages, they KEEP IN CHARACTER IT'S AMAZING).

Episode 1-4 were quite a slow build for me, the punch of episode 5 (I literally paused it twice to breathe and then had to walk around the house several times before I sat back down again) was sharp and brutal. Katherina and her mother, Elisabeth and her father, the revelation of Jonas and Martha’s coupling. No matter how much the themes deviates this show is still very much about family and children which is always seen through the big emotional landmarks.

There are way too many twists and turns in this show to make a full breakdown in a few minutes so if you want that kind of coverage please let me know. But episode 6 I think really exposes Adam more than we had ever seen him before and really poses the question; is he really the bad guy? Or does he just want to break the cycle? If I open this door then we will be down a rabbit hole, so I’ll stop there.

Despite this, the finale crowned Claudia as the real MVP, she is SO iconic. Our goodbye to the cast was beautiful and emotional and the original timeline concludes with some surprises and a mini epilogue like scene where we see the world without the loop(s).

The best this about the end of this season was that we still have questions (as I have listed below) but it doesn’t feel rushed or overly tied up in a little bow (*cough* Game of Thrones *cough*). There is something organic about the ending, we see Claudia’s one wish (for Regina to live) come true, there are no missing children, Hannah likes the name Jonas and we get the inside joke about Woller.

So, here’s to Claudia, Noah and Bartosz (who was right all along).

Caio, Winden.

Question I STILL have:

Who was Boris Niewald/ Aleksander Tidemann?

What did older Egon do with alt Hannah?

Did Claudia really undo the knot? Like rlly?

What (the everloving fuck) happened to Woller last summer?

Why was Marek never mentioned before now?

* Apologies, for some reason umlauts were NOT working whatever I tried