History YMMV / Dark2017

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: True to its title, the series is relentlessly grim, with common criticisms being that ''nothing ever goes well for anybody'' (especially since [[spoiler:all attempts to set things right are inevitably doomed to fail thanks to the concept of everything being a StableTimeLoop]]) and that most characters come across as unlikable jerks. This began to get acknowledged with Season 2, in which the lines between (anti-) heroes and villains are much more clearly defined, but even the more heroic characters retain at least some unsympathetic or morally ambiguous traits.

** It's a very dramatic scene in 1953 when two boys from 2019, [[spoiler:Yanis and Erik]], are found and appear to be from the future. It's a little less dramatic when one of the things that tip off the coroner is a ''Franchise/MyLittlePony tattoo.''

* MemeticBadass: [[spoiler:Future!Jonas]], as considering how [[spoiler:[[TheWoobie 2019!Jonas]]]] is, it'd be refreshing to see how he became so level headed.

** [[spoiler: The show finally began to use Magnus, Franziska and Elisabeth much more properly, with the former two being integral to the show's timeline plot (as well as [[FaceHeelTurn their future counterparts working with Adam/Jonas]]) while Elisabeth in 2054 is part of the scavengers who survived the 2020 disaster, a bit of a brutal ActionSurvivor]].

** The ending of Season 2 used Peter Gabriel's cover of [[Music/ArcadeFire "My Body is A Cage"]] so brilliantly well with [[spoiler: the growing climax with the Stranger taking Magnus, Franziska, and Bartosz into another timeline, Future!Magnus and Franziska preparing the Dark Matter for the synchronization of the timelines, 1921!Noah entering the bunker and seeing eye to eye with Elisabeth, Katharina opening the Sic mundus creatus est door in the Winden caves as the energy of it activates, and of course, most of all, Charlotte seeing 2054!Elisabeth through the Dark Matter portal and reach out for each other, all while finally causing the Apocalypse to occur]].

* CatharsisFactor: [[spoiler: Hannah has most of Season 2 having people chew her out over her shitty behavior from Season 1, which acclimates in "Lost and Found" where Future!Jonas calls her out over her sociopathic behavior, [[ArmorPiercingQuestion if she truly loved Michael/Mikkel]] and how she ruins everyone's lives with her abhorrent and selfish behavior]].

** Is [[spoiler:Claudia helping Future!Jonas to prevent the black hole...or does she have other motives?]] It is [[spoiler: discussed by Future!Jonas that Claudia, while still a good person, had to resort to the same manipulations as Noah, showcasing the theme of NotSoDifferent of Season 2]].
** [[spoiler:Father Noah]] himself also qualifies: Is he a WellIntentionedExtremist who genuinely believes that his ruthless actions are ultimately for the greater good of mankind, or is he just a self-serving ManipulativeBastard who enjoys having power over others? [[spoiler: Season 2 seems to imply that it's the former, and was revealed to be manipulated by Adam!Jonas]].

** The Stranger/[[spoiler: Future!Jonas]], in regards to what ''causes'' him to become TheStoic, considering [[spoiler: he tells his past self that things are gonna get ''worse'' for him]].

** The Kreator song Pleasure To Kill that teen Ulrich Nielsen is listening to in the 80's is definitely this. The quoted lyrics "My only aim is to take many lives; The more the better I feel" also serve as arch words for adult Ulrich in 1953 after being arrested by adult Egon Tiedemann.

** The ending of Season 2 used Peter Gabriel's cover of [[Music/ArcadeFire "My Body is A Cage"]] so brilliantly well with [[spoiler: the growing climax with the Stranger taking Magnus, Franziska, and Bartosz into another timeline, Future!Magnus and Franziska preparing the Dark Matter for the synchronization of the timelines, 1921!Noah entering the bunker and seeing eye to eye with Elisabeth, Katharina opening the Sic mundus creatus est door in the Winden caves as the energy of it activates, and of course, most of all, Charlotte seeing 2054!Elisabeth through the Dark Matter portal and reach out for each other, all while finally causing the Apocalypse to finally occur]].

* {{Narm}}: It's a very dramatic scene in 1953 when two boys from 2019, [[spoiler:Yanis and Erik]], are found and appear to be from the future. It's a little less dramatic when one of the things that tip off the coroner is a ''Franchise/MyLittlePony tattoo.''

** Though there is a minority ''Dark'' fans who try to force FandomRivalry between the two shows, typically angered by ''StrangerThings''’s [[ItsPopularNowItSucks greater popularity]] and more [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible straightforward]], [[TrueArtIsAngsty lighthearted]] writing.

* FriendlyFandoms: With ''Series/StrangerThings'', due to multiple similarities between the two series (such as children vanishing under mysterious circumstances, a small town haunted by seemingly supernatural phenomena, and references to the popular culture of TheEighties).

** Season 2 made it more intense with [[spoiler: the revelation that Noah's entire reason for doing what he did for all of Season 1 was to find his daughter, ''Charlotte Doppler'' and the revelation that Noah works with a man known as Adam leading a sect known as the Sic Mundus who want to recreate the world not restrictive by time and God even if it means ''causing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt'', with Adam actually being '''Jonas''']].
** [[spoiler: The Season 2 finale revealing that not only does time play a role, so does '''alternative realities'']].

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Noah becomes this by the end of Season 2, upon realizing he was being manipulated by Adam/Jonas and is killed by Anges, all while Adam/Jonas makes it clear that everything happens because it's been predetermined. The gradual learning of this is rather pitiful for someone who killed three kids just to reunite with his daughter.]]

** [[spoiler: The show finally began to use Mangus, Franziska and Elisabeth much more properly, with the former two being integral to the show's timeline plot (as well as [[FaceHeelTurn their future counterparts working with Adam/Jonas]]) while Elisabeth in 2054 is part of the scavengers who survived the 2020 disaster, a bit of a brutal ActionSurvivor]].

* NightmareFuel: The concept of children vanishing without a trace and a SerialKiller being on the run is already unnerving on its own and invokes AdultFear, but the idea that [[spoiler: everything is predetermined by a StableTimeLoop makes it all the more chilling, implying anything the characters will do will be for naught]].

* {{Squick}}: The fact [[spoiler:Mikkel becomes Jonas's father and Jonas fancies Martha, who's ''his aunt'']]. Brr.

* WhatAnIdiot: [[spoiler:Ulrich decides to murder a child Helge Doppler to prevent the kidnapping and murder of the missing boys.]] You'd expect: Ulrich to make sure [[spoiler:Helge truly is dead,]] and then make his escape to 2019 quickly and quietly, so he's not caught by local law enforcement. Instead: Ulrich simply assumes [[spoiler:that the unconscious Helge is dead, leaves him in his own family bunker,]] and crawls out of the bunker...to ponder the consequences of his actions. This leads not only to [[spoiler:Helge surviving the attack and receiving brain damage substantial enough so that Noah takes advantage of him to steal the boys]], but Ulrich is then caught by Egon Tiedemann, to whom he shamelessly confesses [[spoiler:to murdering Helge]], and is rightfully incarcerated for his actions. [[spoiler:He is currently still stranded in 1953 for not taking the necessary precautions to get away with his crime.]]
** The whole town, really. ''Don't let your kids go running around alone in the woods where children go missing in droves.''
*** [[spoiler: Yasin is the crowning example of this. He stubbornly decides to walk to school alone. He promptly gets abducted and murdered by Noah.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Season 1, while well liked, was criticized due to the heavy BlackAndGrayMorality and ambiguous "heroics" of the cast and heaving DarknessInducedAudienceApathy. Season 2 however rectified this by having half of the characters employ an AntiHero morality but still sympathetic nature to them. Season 2 also [[spoiler: was able to balance the ambiguity and revelations of what happens in the show, somewhat]].

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: A common criticism of the series is that ''nothing ever goes well for anybody'', especially since [[spoiler:all attempts to set things right are inevitably doomed to fail thanks to the concept of everything being a StableTimeLoop]] This [[spoiler: however began to get acknowledged with Season 2, where while the characters are still jerks, there ''is'' a solid argument of anti-heroes and good within the world of ''Dark'', although the DIAA still leaks on, such as when the Doppler family finally knows about the time travel, Franziska instead starts ''complaining about all the secrets hidden by their parents'']].
** There's also the fact that, with the reveal of [[spoiler: TheConspiracy]], ''you don't even know who the good guys are anymore'', or if there are any good guys ''at all''.
** Arguably one of the big criticisms people have towards ''Dark'' is unlike shows like ''Series/TwinPeaks'' and ''Series/StrangerThings'' which have some witty characters or a sense of dark humor, it has ''none'' of that and feels more or less a drag of depressive, angry, and borderline ''unlikable'' characters.

** [[spoiler:Father Noah]] himself also qualifies: Is he a WellIntentionedExtremist who genuinely believes that his ruthless actions are ultimately for the greater good of mankind, or is he just a self-serving ManipulativeBastard who enjoys having power over others? [[spoiler: Season 2 seems to imply that it's the latter, and was revealed to be manipulated by Adam!Jonas]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Season 1, while well liked, was criticized due to the heavy BlackAndGrayMorality and ambiguous "heroics" of the cast and heaving DarknessInducedAudienceApathy. Season 2 however rectified this by having half of the characters employ an AntiHero morality but still sympathetic nature to them. Season 2 also [[spoiler: was able to balance the ambiguity and revelations of what happens in the show]].

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: A common criticism of the series is that ''nothing ever goes well for anybody'', especially since [[spoiler:all attempts to set things right are inevitably doomed to fail thanks to the concept of everything being a StableTimeLoop]] This [[spoiler: however began to get acknowledged with Season 2, where while the characters are still jerks, there ''is'' a solid argument of anti-heroes and good within the world of ''Dark'']].

** Season 2 made it more intense with [[spoiler: the revelation that Noah's entire reason for doing what he did for all of Season 1 was to find his daughter, ''Charlotte Doppler'' and the revelation that Noah works with a man known as Adam leading a sect known as the Sic Mundus who want to recreate the world not restrictive by time and God even if it means ''causing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt'' lead by a man known as Adam who is actually '''Jonas''']].

* TheScrappy: ''Hannah''. She spends most of her time being obsessively cruel towards [[spoiler:Katharina]] over the fact that [[spoiler:Ulrich breaks up with her after realizing he loves his wife more]]. She becomes more and more unlikable that the fanbase seems to universally ''loathe'' her, which is a surprising feat considering the unlikable of ''most'' characters in ''Dark''.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: A common criticism of the series is that ''nothing ever goes well for anybody'', especially since [[spoiler:all attempts to set things right are inevitably doomed to fail thanks to the concept of everything being a StableTimeLoop]] This [[spoiler: however began to get acknowledged with Season 2, where while the characters are still jerks, there ''is'' a solid argument of anti-heroes and good within the world of ''Dark''.

** Is [[spoiler:Claudia helping Future!Jonas to prevent the black hole...or does she have other motives?]] It is [[spoiler: discussed by Future!Jonas that Claudia, while still a good person, had to resort to the same manipulations as Noah, showcasing the theme of NotSoDifferent of Season 2]]

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: A common criticism of the series is that ''nothing ever goes well for anybody'', especially since [[spoiler:all attempts to set things right are inevitably doomed to fail thanks to the concept of everything being a StableTimeLoop]].

** Is [[spoiler:Claudia helping Future!Jonas to prevent the black hole...or does she have other motives?]]?
** [[spoiler:Father Noah]] himself also qualifies: Is he a WellIntentionedExtremist who genuinely believes that his ruthless actions are ultimately for the greater good of mankind, or is he just a self-serving ManipulativeBastard who enjoys having power over others?

** "Sic mundus creatus est!" [[note]]The recurring ArcWords throughout Season 2 that mean "And Thus The World was Created", it is also the name of the sect Adam leads.[[note]]