Television series

In the Dark

Name: In the Dark
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Crime
Released: 2019
Cast: Perry Mattfeld, Casey Deidrick, Morgan Krantz, Keston John, Brooke Markham

Mystery

Murphy is a blind, acerbic twenty-something living in Chicago who stumbles onto what might be a murder—or might be drunken delusion. In the Dark balances sharp character comedy with genuine crime investigation, refusing easy sentiment about disability while letting its heroine be complicated, difficult, and darkly funny. It's for people who want characters to feel lived-in, messy, real.

TVMaze rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a crime mystery powered by a prickly, funny heroine whose attitude matters as much as her clues, and you enjoy sharp dialogue that lets a blind lead be rude, reckless and unapologetic.

Skip it if the whodunit can sprawl across episodes and the hard-drinking, cigarette-and-casual-sex swagger is constant, so if crude edge wears you down, expect your patience to be tested.

What it asks of you: Four seasons of hour-long episodes is a real commitment, and its rhythm is chatty and busy, with threads that take a while to knit together.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Orphan Black2013

A show built on charisma and character instead of plot mechanics, with a protagonist who's flawed, funny, and always thinking three moves ahead. The same energy of watching someone navigate impossible situations with wit and stubbornness.

But The early seasons occasionally favor plot contrivance over sense, and the clone science gets progressively sillier if you're not prepared to just enjoy it.

Veronica Mars2004

Teen noir that actually earns its darkness while staying genuinely funny. A smart, damaged protagonist investigating a murder with real emotional stakes and supporting characters you'll care about beyond the case-of-the-week.

But The first two seasons are considerably better than season three; the later ones lose focus. Also pitched at a younger audience, which softens some edges Murphy doesn't have.

Fleabag2016

A self-destructive woman talking directly to camera, making terrible choices, slowly becoming someone worth rooting for. Hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure, with no safety rails and genuine consequences.

But It's shorter—only six episodes per season—so if you're craving a longer commitment, you'll burn through it. Also extremely British in tone and setting.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from In the Dark

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

See2019

Both center blind protagonists navigating danger and violence, but See uses blindness as worldbuilding while In the Dark uses it as character. Watching them side by side shows two completely different approaches to the same body.

Post-apocalyptic saga where humanity has lost sight entirely. It centers blindness not as tragedy or inspiration-porn but as the baseline of survival and power. Takes seriously what In the Dark only touches: what it means to navigate a world built for other senses.

But It's bleak, visually dark (by design), and can feel slow. Also genuinely difficult to follow at times because we're meant to feel slightly lost in it.

The Fall2013

A detective with personal demons hunting a killer through Belfast. Dark, psychologically precise, and built on the chemistry between hunter and hunted rather than procedural mechanics.

But It's bleak—sometimes crushingly so—and takes its violence seriously rather than treating it as plot engine. Pacing slows in season three.

Banshee2013

A con artist posing as a sheriff in a small Pennsylvanian town, forced to actually solve crimes while keeping his past buried. Wildly entertaining, unafraid of absurdity, with real stakes beneath the mayhem.

But It's relentlessly violent and aggressively male in register. Not subtle, and demands you accept pretty high levels of melodrama and coincidence.

Bosch2015

A detective obsessed with solving cold cases, rubbing everyone the wrong way, doing the work because it matters. Procedurally smart, with a protagonist who's genuinely difficult but never wrong about the important things.

But It can feel like a procedural checklist at times, and the romantic subplots are the weakest part. Later seasons lose some of the edge that made early ones sing.

Happy!2017

A washed-up detective sees an imaginary blue horse that only he can see. Weird, violent, funny, and genuinely inventive. Commits fully to its absurdity while keeping real emotion underneath.

But It's *extremely* violent and chaotic, sometimes to the point where plot coherence snaps. Not for anyone who wants narrative to feel controlled.

Marvel's Jessica Jones2015

A private investigator with superhuman strength, drinking too much, making terrible choices, investigating a killer. Dark, character-driven, uninterested in easy heroism or redemption.

But The first season is magnificent; the others decline significantly. By season three it feels like it's running on fumes and obligation.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency2016

A chaotic detective who solves cases by following weird intuition, paired with a reluctant handler. Absurdist mystery comedy that genuinely surprises, with huge heart buried under strangeness.

But It got cancelled after two seasons on a cliffhanger. Also aggressively weird in ways that will lose people before they reach the good stuff.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency poster

Mystic River2003

Both follow civilians investigating a potential crime that connects to someone they love. Both refuse the comfort of clear answers. But Mystic River is about men destroyed by the past; In the Dark is about someone actively destroying herself in the present.

Three men haunted by an unsolved childhood crime investigation a murder in their neighborhood. It's about how past trauma shapes present choices, with real consequences and no redemptive arc. Dark, morally murky, achingly human.

But It's a 137-minute film, not TV, and bleak in ways that don't offer easy comfort. Also deeply focused on masculine trauma in ways that might feel dated now.

Undone2019

Both follow women investigating mysteries while their grip on reality gets questioned. But Undone uses visual distortion to show mental dissolution; In the Dark uses sobriety and blindness to show clarity others refuse to see. Watching them back-to-back changes how you read each one.

Rotoscoped animation following a young woman unraveling after a car accident, possibly experiencing psychosis, investigating her family's secrets. Visually stunning, deeply strange, and genuinely unsettling about mental illness and unreliable perspective.

But It's animated, which some people dismiss automatically. It's also surreal and deliberately disorienting, so if you need plot to feel solid and clear, this will frustrate you.