History YMMV / Dark2017

** [[BittersweetEnding The ending]] has involved [[{{Understatement}} a huge slew of debates]] to say the least...]]: Some like the ending due to the fact it [[spoiler: it provides a much [[EarnYourHappyEnding happier ending for some of the characters]], even if it meant that a huge majority [[spoiler: were RetGone as a result of it]], which still fits the show's black and white view. But others argue that [[spoiler: the ending doesn't work due to the show's emphasis on determinism, which makes it rather odd the show would then reveal a huge twist like that and wipe a huge chunk of the cast as a result]].

** Or might she be [[spoiler:associated with or a member of Sic Mundus, charged with the responsibility of watching him and do any action necessary to keep the loop stable]]?

** Season 3 involves [[spoiler:[[CharactersDroppingLikeFlies a relentless barrage of character deaths]] (most of them caused by other characters murdering them to try to manipulate things in their favor), the whole lot of them being horrible, and the revelation that all of the universes are doomed to be in an endless StableTimeLoop of misery [[InSpiteOfANail with only minute changes]]. By the time the ending comes, which comes at the cost of [[ExpendableAlternateUniverse two universes being sacrificed]], the audience probably will believe it to be an EsotericHappyEnding or at best a MercyKill considering the amount of suffering everyone (as in the ones who time travel or existed ''because'' of time travel) goes through.]]

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin True to its title]], the series is relentlessly grim, with common criticisms being that ''nothing ever goes well for anybody'' (especially since 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. In addition, Season 3 introduces [[spoiler:alternative universes, giving the audience hope that things might be changeable after all]].

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin True to its title]], the series is relentlessly grim, with common criticisms being that ''nothing ever goes well for anybody'' (especially since 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. In addition, Season 3 introduces [[spoiler:alternative universes, giving the audience hope that things might be changeable after all]].

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: The BrickJoke surrounding [[spoiler: Woller's missing eye.]]

** "Ultimate fist-bump?" Doubly amusing in that this of all lines is quite successfully used for tragic effect quite later on.

* FunnyMoments/SugarWiki: The BrickJoke surrounding [[spoiler: Woller's missing eye.]]
** Even funnier is during Season 2, when new character Clausen finally asks him about it during a drive. After a long bit of hesitation and getting Clausen's assurance that he won't tell anyone, Woller agrees. But just as he starts to explain what happened to him "last summer," they are interrupted by [[spoiler: Woller nearly hitting a time-traveling Claudia Tiedemann in the middle of the road.]]
** "Ultimate fist-bump?" Doubly amusing in that this of all lines is quite successfully used for tragic effect quite later on.
** [[spoiler:After traveling to 1986,]] Jonas ends up hitching a ride with [[spoiler: Egon Tiedemann. Still thinking of his previous encounter with young Ulrich and his punk rock music, Egon asks Jonas if kids his age are into Satanism these days. Jonas bursts out laughing, before noticing [[SeriousBusiness Egon's serious face]].]]
** After getting arrested [[spoiler: in 1953, Ulrich realizes the cop who caught him is a young Egon Tiedemann, the police chief who was out to get him as a teenager. He can't help but quote the Kreator lyrics that once puzzled Egon: "My only aim is to take many lives, the more the better I feel." This ends up planting the seed of Egon's dislike of young Ulrich 33 years later. Which we know because Egon responds to this cryptic statement by asking if Ulrich is a Satanist.]]
** In 1953, young Claudia loses her toy poodle Gretchen after the dog goes running off into the cave. In the same episode, Claudia's older self is investigating the cave when, all of a sudden, Gretchen comes out of the darkness and reunites with her. From the dog's perspective, it's only been an hour or so, as opposed to Claudia, who hasn't seen Gretchen in 33 years. Understandably, Claudia can't help but glare at the cute doggie with uneasy suspicion after this. Gets funnier when adult Claudia meets [[spoiler: her elderly self in Season 2, who reveals that she was the one who took Gretchen through time to meet adult Claudia and that the dog plainly recognized every version of Claudia.]]

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: The BrickJoke surrounding [[spoiler: Woller's missing eye.]]

* CrowningMomentsOfFunny: The BrickJoke surrounding [[spoiler: Woller's missing eye.]]

* FunnyMoments: The BrickJoke surrounding [[spoiler: Woller's missing eye.]]
** Even funnier is during Season 2, when new character Clausen finally asks him about it during a drive. After a long bit of hesitation and getting Clausen's assurance that he won't tell anyone, Woller agrees. But just as he starts to explain what happened to him "last summer," they are interrupted by [[spoiler: Woller nearly hitting a time-traveling Claudia Tiedemann in the middle of the road.]]
** "Ultimate fist-bump?" Doubly amusing in that this of all lines is quite successfully used for tragic effect quite later on.
** [[spoiler:After traveling to 1986,]] Jonas ends up hitching a ride with [[spoiler: Egon Tiedemann. Still thinking of his previous encounter with young Ulrich and his punk rock music, Egon asks Jonas if kids his age are into Satanism these days. Jonas bursts out laughing, before noticing [[SeriousBusiness Egon's serious face]].]]
** After getting arrested [[spoiler: in 1953, Ulrich realizes the cop who caught him is a young Egon Tiedemann, the police chief who was out to get him as a teenager. He can't help but quote the Kreator lyrics that once puzzled Egon: "My only aim is to take many lives, the more the better I feel." This ends up planting the seed of Egon's dislike of young Ulrich 33 years later. Which we know because Egon responds to this cryptic statement by asking if Ulrich is a Satanist.]]
** In 1953, young Claudia loses her toy poodle Gretchen after the dog goes running off into the cave. In the same episode, Claudia's older self is investigating the cave when, all of a sudden, Gretchen comes out of the darkness and reunites with her. From the dog's perspective, it's only been an hour or so, as opposed to Claudia, who hasn't seen Gretchen in 33 years. Understandably, Claudia can't help but glare at the cute doggie with uneasy suspicion after this. Gets funnier when adult Claudia meets [[spoiler: her elderly self in Season 2, who reveals that she was the one who took Gretchen through time to meet adult Claudia and that the dog plainly recognized every version of Claudia.]]

* MoralEventHorizon:
** It is hard to say when [[spoiler: Hannah]] crosses it. [[spoiler: She had already accused Ulrich of raping Katharina when they were young because of her envy. But as an adult she definitely crosses it when she travels back in time to 1954 to visit Ulrich at the police station, where she HAD the chance to save Ulrich and bring him back to their present time, only to torment him further for not loving her and decides to leave him in that year to live in solitary for the rest of his life. While Ulrich wasn’t exactly a saint himself, it was only done out of her selfish reasons.]]
** Adam [[spoiler: A.K.A Jonas crosses it by murdering his own mother Hannah for thinking that her presence would eventually sabotage his plan to end the time knot. This was probably done to show what lengths Adam was willing to go to ensure his plan.]]

* MagnificentBastard: Claudia Tiedemann, particularly her elder self.
** [[spoiler: Jonas Kahnwald/Adam]] and [[spoiler: Martha Nielsen/Eva]] as well, though they aren't quite as successful at it as Claudia.

* EsotericHappyEnding: As stated above, It is easy to see the GrandFinale ending as this for how it plays with the idea of [[ExpendableAlternateUniverse toying around with universes as if they were expandable]]. [[spoiler: Two universes are erased for the sake of only one to continue to exists, ignoring the fact that a little more than twice as many lives ''at least'' were sacrificed for it. Even if the remaining characters lived HappilyEverAfter, it's not like drama and misery will seize to exist because of it, and the ending gives the [[AccidentalAesop implication]] that if you were unlucky enough to live in one of these two worlds, you don't matter.]]

** H.G. Tannhaus, who is at first shown to be a typical clockmaker and scientist and [[spoiler: Charlotte's adoptive father]] to be normal and inconsequential...until [[spoiler: it's revealed in Season 3 that ''he'' [[UnwillingInstigatorOfDoom is the reason the entire events of the series occur in the first place]]]] when he attempted to [[spoiler: prevent the deaths of his son, daughter-in-law, and niece]], showcasing that [[spoiler: both universes were a reflection of his pain, sadness, guilt, and overall suffering that he endured from the incident]].

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Within a show of depressive, broken, or downright sociopathic people... well:
** 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, by revealing Noah was manipulated by Adam (Jonas). Of course, this just moves the question back a step to Adam.]].
** Hannah, Jonas's mother: BrokenBird or full blown [[TheSociopath sociopath?]] Also, [[spoiler:as Jonas himself asked, did Hannah really loved Mikkel / Michael? Or was he just a consolation prize after realizing that Ulrich would never be interested in her?]]
** 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]].
** Ulrich: Is he a JerkAss who cheats on his wife and is borderline emotionally broken from the disappearance of his brother? Or is he a decent man who realizes how much he loves his wife and is [[SanitySlippage driven over the edge]] by Mikkel's disapperance?
** Helge. You either will sympathize with him and like his attempts to become TheAtoner or [[spoiler:you find him deplorable for the same reasons with no redemption]].
** Bartosz as well. There's two divisions with him: Either he's a likable JerkWithAHeartOfGold who slowly performs a FaceHeelTurn who didn't get what the heck was wrong with Jonas ''or'' he's a cock who [[spoiler:knew about Jonas's crush on Martha and took her from him]].
** Elisabeth, Charlotte's deaf daughter. Either she's a brat who is completely unsympathetic when she bluntly admits she doesn't wish for Mikkel to return home, or she's just a first grader who probably doesn't fully understand or hasn't really thought through what she's wishing for.
** Adam: [[spoiler: Is he truly desiring to break Time even if it means ''destroying all existence'' to save humanity or is he only doing so to kill off a world cruel to him?]]
** Arguably '''every character''': Are they truly broken or vile people or is it all because [[spoiler: the timelines preset their behaviors as it should be?]]

* JerkassWoobie:
** Ulrich and Katharina. Both are ''definitely'' scummy people and were school bullies as children, but in regards to what we see of [[spoiler: the timelines]], it's hard not to sympathize. Katharina especially considering what we see of [[AbusiveParents her mother]].
** Hannah ''appears'' to be this, but afterwards... not so much.

** "Everything is connected".

* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Charlotte, due to being the most level-headed of the characters determined to get to the bottom of the disappearances and even getting down to [[spoiler:everything happening every 33 years]].
** Aleksander/[[spoiler:Boris]], due to [[spoiler:defending Regina in 1986 from Katharina's bullying]].
** The Stranger [[spoiler:Jonas]] is very liked due to his badass appearance and the interest of ''what'' drives him to be TheStoic]].
** Noah is pretty well-liked in both his older and younger incarnation. While not inherently DracoInLeatherpants, since [[spoiler: his reasons for kidnapping and murdering three children turn out to be a lot more complicated than it seems at first, making him more of an AntiVillain and at times even AntiHero throughout the series]], it can veer into this territory.

** Season 2 involves [[spoiler:[[CharactersDroppingLikeFlies a relentless barrage of character deaths]] (most of them caused by other characters murdering them to try to manipulate things in their favor), the whole lot of them being horrible, and the revelation that all of the universes are doomed to be in an endless StableTimeLoop of misery [[InSpiteOfANail with only minute changes]]. By the time the ending comes, which comes at the cost of [[ExpendableAlternateUniverse two universes being sacrificed]], the audience probably will believe it to be an EsotericHappyEnding or at best a MercyKill considering the amount of suffering everyone (as in the ones who time travel or existed ''because'' of time travel) goes through.]]

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin True to its title]], the series is relentlessly grim, with common criticisms being that ''nothing ever goes well for anybody'' (especially since 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. In addition, Season 2 introduces [[spoiler:alternative universes, giving the audience hope that things might be changeable after all]].
** Season 3 involves [[spoiler:[[CharactersDroppingLikeFlies a relentless barrage of character deaths]] (most of them caused by other characters murdering them to try to manipulate things in their favor), the whole lot of them being horrible, and the revelation that all of the universes are doomed to be in an endless StableTimeLoop of misery [[InSpiteOfANail with only minute changes]]. By the time the ending comes, which comes at the cost of [[ExpendableAlternateUniverse two universes being sacrificed]], the audience probably will believe it to be an EsotericHappyEnding or at best a MercyKill considering the amount of suffering everyone (as in the ones who time travel or existed ''because'' of time travel) goes through.]]

** 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]].

* H.G. Tannhaus, who is at first shown to be a typical clockmaker and scientist and [[spoiler: Charlotte's adoptive father]] to be normal and inconsequential...until [[spoiler: it's revealed in Season 3 that ''he'' [[UnwillingInstigatorOfDoom is the reason the entire events of the series occur in the first place]]]] when he attempted to [[spoiler: prevent the deaths of his son, daughter-in-law, and niece]], showcasing that [[spoiler: both universes were a reflection of his pain, sadness, guilt, and overall suffering that he endured from the incident]].