Netflix puts out a staggering amount of content on a weekly basis, encompassing everything from prestige drama to reality series, comedy specials, international shows, documentaries, and so much more. In other words, it leaves no stone unturned when it comes to appealing to any and every kind of sensibility out there — with one giant exception. Try as it might, only once in a blue moon do we get a truly great TV show from Netflix, the kind of uncompromisingly sublime masterpiece that would cause a fan to remark: “This, ladies and gentleman, is the most beautiful and mindblowing show ever made by humans.”
Those aren’t my words, by the way. That’s an actual comment that’s garnered, as of this writing, almost 6,000 likes on YouTube, where it was left on a teaser video for precisely the sort of rare, next-level Netflix gem that I’m talking about. The show that inspired that praise is the German-language Dark — a mind-bending, three-season mystery that debuted on Netflix back in 2017 and which is built around such an engrossing and utterly compelling story that, over and over again, you hear the same thing from people like me who’ve binged all three seasons:
This is the greatest Netflix series of all time.
And you don’t have to take my word for it. How often do you see this degree of unqualified praise attached to a Netflix series trailer: “honestly, one of the best shows I’ve ever seen!” “wish i could erase my memory and could watch it again.” “Hands down, The best Netflix original.” “The best show netflix has ever created. No doubt about that.”
Likewise, Reddit threads abound that rave: “Dark is the greatest TV show ever made.” And another, with a similar premise: “‘Dark’ is the best show I’ve ever seen in my entire life (and it takes A LOT to please me.” I could go on, but you get the idea. As for why it’s so good and gets my vote as the #1 Netflix series of all time? Put simply: It combines a family drama with a time-travel mystery, making it somewhat comparable to dramas like Stranger Things and Lost.
Unlike so many Netflix shows these days, though, Dark didn’t get cancelled early. Its three seasons represent a satisfyingly complete arc, and there’s not a single weak episode to be found. But even all of that doesn’t fully convey why I think the show is so great. Boiled down to a sentence or two, I suppose I would argue that Dark is a story about the redemptive power of love, and about the clash between a deterministic universe and the human spirit.
The first season of the show throws you into the search for a missing child, before slowly unspooling something much bigger. The child is actually 30 years in the past, and soon enough Dark becomes a show that sprawls across multiple timelines and dimensions. And it’s all connected. The future is the past. The past is the future. Dark is a show that the concept of a binge-watch was made for — and if you’re sufficiently patient with it, I suspect that many of you who try it will soon enough find yourselves obsessed. There is a reason that fans of this magnificent show are constantly begging and pleading with people who love sci-fi to give it a chance.
