Why Stranger Things should've gone DARK

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]a quiet town where nothing happens. But on a random night, something does. A mystery is laced into the fabric of the story line. But how you tell the story from here onwards is what determines the legacy of your show. The difference between a good story and a great one.

[00:00:19]I don't think it would be a surprise to anyone when I say that Dark and Stranger Things have similarities between them.

[00:00:26]If you have watched both of them, you know this without someone needing to specify this to you. But for the people who haven't made the connection, well, this is how it goes. Both plots are set in motion by a disappearance. The vanishings happen near sketchy institutions, Hawkins Lab and the Windon nuclear power plant. The more the police investigate, they become skeptical of these set institutions. They are both hiding a secret. But in the meantime, the town's people are organizing search parties. But within the skepticism, a character seeks the absolute truth away from the conventional investigations.

[00:01:02]Failing crops and birds falling dead from the sky. Anomalies start to make people wonder. The flickering lights suggest some kind of an abnormal energy flow within reality, and the possibilities open up more mysteries, and they both deal with the reality of other worlds. There are active cover-ups, different narratives and perspectives converging on the mystery, and everything seems to take place within a closed system, which are the towns in which the stories are set. And if you sit down to analyze a little further, I'm pretty sure there are plenty more connections that you can draw. But again, the reason why I wanted to start with the similarities is to show you how alike both these stories begin. But that's just the first part of the argument because what happens next is truly the crux of this video. And I want to start with the aesthetics. I think it might have been the most wonderful coincidence in modern TV history for the series to be called dark only if it weren't for the methodical visual aesthetic chosen by its creators to represent the dark and hopeless storytelling of the show. And it's not exactly a coincidence altogether when a great show or a movie is accompanied by a fitting visual aesthetic. Something that eventually forms the identity of the story. It only takes a frame from The Shining for you to realize what movie you're watching. And in the same manner, whenever I see this greenish tinted palette, it somehow reminds me of The Ring. The Matrix is green by design.

[00:02:31]These titles sort of seep into the aesthetic as they complement each other in the process of recognition and this fits into the framework of how dark and stranger things begins. Colors on both sides are incredibly normal. They deliberately don't stylize the visuals.

[00:02:47]They are both pretty natural and with the type of stories that are unfolding, dark and strange wouldn't be far from the words that you would use to describe these visuals. If you picked a frame like this and compared it with something like this, if you didn't know any better, I could fool you into thinking they're from the same show. That's how similar the aesthetics are quite early on. But then Stranger Things broke the rule of aesthetics. And yes, I did make up that rule right now, but I'll try to explain why as we go along. You see, since Dark was planned out from the very beginning, the aesthetics had a clear intention. It was going to use a color palette combined with the other elements of cinematography to create a visual aesthetic which accompanies the start of the story being told. Not just for a single episode or a season, but until the very end of the show. Which is why when you take a screenshot of an episode from season 1 or season 3, it looks very much similar. The color palettes are desaturated and environmental. The lighting is natural with minimal stylization. The framing is pretty realistic and observational. There is a level of consistency that you associate with the whole show that hardly requires any sort of drastic corrections as the story progresses. But could you say the same thing about Stranger Things? Well, let's take a look. This is a frame from season 1. Looks pretty natural observational framing and colors that are pretty realistic and desaturated like you would experience in real life.

[00:04:19]But now take a look at this frame. It's the same show, same characters, same directors, but the visual intent here seems a bit off. The colors are, for some reason, brighter and saturated. The framing looks pretty deliberate and even performative. The lighting is not what it used to be. It seems stylized and expressive. And it's not just a random frame that coincidentally looks different from its predecessor. It's the variations in visuals from one season to the next. Sometimes even within the same season that creates a fractured visual aesthetic. I cannot take a frame from season 5 and aesthetically superimpose it on a frame from season 1 or two. Not only do they not look the same, but within the application of the different elements in cinematography, they don't quite feel the same either. And that's the problem. The aesthetics of Stranger Things is not consistent. It goes all over the place. If the first few seasons had a visual aesthetic that accompanied the style of the story being told, the later seasons have aesthetics that are almost self-contained within its own boundaries. And for a story that has an overarching purpose, a bigger picture if you will, you are risking to compromise the visually induced vibe of the main story. Now, doesn't mean that you can't expand your story or locations or features. No, it's obviously fiction.

[00:05:43]The stakes, the scale, it will naturally follow a certain path. But when you do that, it's always important to keep the cinematography in check. If you started the series with realistic documentary style cinematography, you got to keep it that way even as you expand your story.

[00:06:00]In dark, the cinematography is controlled from the beginning. The very first episode displays a color palette that is dark and moody. There is no warmth about the story. Something ominous looms around every corner of the world building. And this allows the audience to associate the story to a dark identity. But when the story progresses, they don't change this identity. It remains the same in episode 2, episode 10, the next season, the last season, and even the final shot of the whole story. The cinematography remains intact. And that intention, even when it comes to compositions, is quite constant. And I feel like I might just have to make a separate video just talking about the perfection of dark cinematography. But to briefly touch upon its deliberate compositions, it has an absurd amount of wide-angled framing.

[00:06:53]Every episode features these elaborate environments where the subject is isolated or only a small part of a vast environment. And this is not just a random decision. The visuals plays into the theme of the subject matter. The characters are trapped within time loops and so the environment symbolizes this entrapment. The negative space in these frames have somewhat of an oppressive nature. Something that shows a sense of inevitability, but it's subtle. They don't need you to acknowledge this, but only feel it within these visuals. And this is why a consistent visual language matters as opposed to Stranger Things where all these features within cinematography changes a little too much for its own good. I think the first two seasons were fairly consistent with their visual language, which is often why most people put season 1 and season 2 together as a continuous story. The visuals here does play into the subject of the story. the colors, the environments, the lens choices, the compositions, the lighting, you name it, there was consistency within its worldbuing. But from season 3 onwards, the overarching subject matter doesn't match with the visuals that you see.

[00:08:07]There is no point where season 3 looks ominous or scary, and none of the visual elements contribute to it either. The colors are now brighter. The shots are not observational, but dynamic and expressive. And even compositions frame these characters centrally, almost in a way to command attention like you would do in a superhero film. And these things subliminally change the way you feel about the visuals. And in a visual story, that's like half of what makes a story great. And then you have the structure. I think one of the most underrated elements of being a great storyteller and by extension a great story is foresight. Knowing how the story ends is one of the best feeling that you can have even before you touch the cameras. And this is where Dark excels unlike any other. Although the creators didn't have the whole structural plan for their story, they knew key things that needed to happen in order for their story to reach its ending, which was concrete from the very beginning. Which means conceptually they pitched it as a three-season story, not exactly with perfect scripts and plans, but as a story that was designed to be told in three parts. And when asked the question, did you wish there were more than three seasons to explore the story?

[00:09:25]This is exactly what one of the writers said. It was absolutely the perfect amount. Anything else would have felt like stretching it unnecessarily and making it more complicated on a narrative level. It would have felt like selling our souls and not delivering on what we wanted to do if we had more seasons. It feels quite right and satisfactory.

[00:09:45]And this is the thing. There are too many shows out there which don't really know when to conclude the story. and based on popular interest, they just keep going. But that's where Dark differs from a show like Stranger Things. And even while listening to the creators, the operative phrase in all of this is selling your soul. They could have easily allowed the show to go on for longer. In the time it was airing, it was actually pretty popular, so I'm pretty sure Netflix would have allowed another season or two to stretch the story and profit off of it a bit more.

[00:10:19]But the creators knew exactly how many episodes they needed to tell this story.

[00:10:24]And that's how you get a multi-layered story with proper pacing and continuity.

[00:10:29]Because of the planning, there aren't that many redcons or irregularities in the overall story. It is consistent throughout all three seasons. But unlike Dark, Stranger Things does have a structural problem and it starts with not knowing the ending to the story. And although I've heard claims of the Duffer brothers saying they more or less knew how it was going to end, the way it all transpired, it leaves you with more questions than answers. And it all comes down to the narrative structure. When this show was pitched to Netflix, there were no plans for it to be a five-part series. Not in the first season, nor even the second one. It was only during the development of season 2 and three when they even saw the ending in sight.

[00:11:12]And this obviously means a story that is evolving every season with the mythology being expanded sometimes retroactively to facilitate the evolution. And that's why even structurally after season 2 the story feels a lack of continuity. Out of nowhere we get this new villain in season 4 who was secretly behind all the events of the previous seasons. But the problem is there is a lack of evidence to suggest that this was all planned. In good storytelling, there's nothing wrong with introducing a new villain, but you have to leave a few crumbs of information for the audience to piece things together. But with Vegna, you don't get that. It feels out of the blue, and this in turn affects the continuity of the story. But in Dark, you don't ever feel this continuity being broken. Season 1 seamlessly connects to season 2 and three without ever taking you out of its immersion.

[00:12:08]And that's exactly what the writers meant when they said this. And I understand that Stranger Things might be another victim of its own success. Shows that don't really know where it's going tend to not know how many seasons they need, how many episodes work best for them, but they could have done better at least by season 3. And I believe not having that vision is probably why the whole thing fell flat towards the ending. But these two shows serves as a reminder on having foresight to the story. And finally, this analysis is never complete without talking about the stakes. I'll be the first person to admit that these shows are similar but not equal. And with that comes different approaches in storytelling and by extension building your stakes. Dark is mature and philosophical, aimed at an older audience who has the capacity to process philosophical thoughts. But Stranger Things is much lighter.

[00:13:05]Although you can dissect it philosophically, it never delves into deeper meanings or moral implications of things. But that's perfectly fine. In fact, that's where you draw that line of division. But I think the funny thing about stakes is that if you don't commit to certain actions that leads to those thought-provoking, emotionally charged, morally torn scenes and moments, the stakes, although it might seem high superficially, it would always feel empty on the inside. Like no matter what you do, it doesn't really have an impact on the audience. And that is the key difference. One of them deals with consequences while the other deals with conveniences. Let me explain. Although dark is designed as a looping story, it might lead one to thinking that it's the nature of the story that allows for the rising stakes. And even though there is a case for that, I believe is mostly a commitment thing. The fact that the creators demanded a certain degree of freedom to move about in the story now that is what creates moments like this.

[00:14:11]The writers knew that if you build up a scenario to be existential, you have to go through with it. The characters are playing a part in the story and therefore no one has a divine right to survive in it. And yes, the inevitability of the story line does play a part in it, but there's also the willingness to kill your darlings. And this is portrayed in the best way possible in the ending of both these shows. In Stranger Things, the final episode sees every main character somehow involved in taking on the final boss, the mind flare. They quickly realize that this has to be done in two parts. 11, the perceived protagonist of the show, has to kill Vegna while the rest of them have to take out the mind flare. This is supposed to be a point of no return, the point where the stakes are at the highest. And although there seems to be some kind of perceived jeopardy in the way the fight is designed, the plot armor of the main cast allows them to win this fight almost perfectly unscathed. And that is it. The narrative of the story has wrapped up. It started with the disappearance of Will in the first episode of season 1. And now that Vegna and the mind flare are defeated, there is no more stakes in the story. It is finished.

[00:15:31]However, the writers had other plans.

[00:15:34]They tried to manipulate the stakes over what should be a non-existential problem, the military capturing 11. I'm not saying that this isn't a cause for concern for the main characters. But if you have just defeated an existential threat and the stakes are now at the lowest, what happens next isn't something that needs to happen at all.

[00:15:54]And what I mean by that is 11 sacrifice.

[00:15:58]What if I told you that the reason why you felt something at all at this point has nothing to do with the inescapability of this situation, but rather it's just that this character has been part of the story for so long that you have formed an emotional bond with them. This sacrifice isn't emotional because of how the story is designed. If anything, this is one of the lowest stake sacrifices that I've ever seen. In contrast, just look at Tony Stark at the end of Endgame. He had to make that sacrifice. The fate of the universe was dependent on it. But this is almost entirely unnecessary. And this argument is largely re-emphasized and sealed when you see this scene.

[00:16:47]This is how you know that the writers don't have the courage to kill their darlings. Even if this was just a figment of imagination or not, the fact that they opened up the possibility of 11 surviving this ending, well, that's how you know that the stakes are expendable in this show. But now, let's see how Dark takes on a very similar ending. A word of caution, there will be spoilers. In the final episode, Claudia reveals how to destroy the time loops.

[00:17:16]Adam conveys his information to Yonas, and he shares this with Marta. Now the audience knows what needs to happen and so when the time comes they travel to the original world to arrive at this scene.

[00:17:29]This is it. The scene which leads to the creation of the time loops.

[00:17:35]And I feel like another show might have incorporated a bit more Jeopardy into this scene. Maybe a scuffle or an action scene just to raise the stakes. But in this narrative, because of how consistent it remains throughout the series, the writers don't have to do anything drastic to raise the stakes, the audience naturally understands this and so they prevent the accident from happening and therefore stopping the time loops from ever being created. But as the audience, you know exactly what's happening here. Without this event, Yonas and Marta would never have existed. And you might want another kind of ending. Maybe one where there is a happy ever after where there is a loophole, a serendipitous moment out of nowhere. But none of it seems to fit into the narrative. The writers knew what they had planned from the beginning. And no matter what, they were going to stick to it. In the end, they fade away into nothingness. Not in an explosion, but in absolute silence. No redemption, no remorse, no chances at revival. This is what you call an ultimate sacrifice.

[00:18:50]The writers knew they had to kill their main characters for this story to reach its conclusion, and undeniably they committed to it. They didn't try to suggest or imagine a world in which the protagonist may have survived because that is cheating the stakes. You don't kill your darlings for them to exist in an alternate reality. And that's exactly why Dark's ending hits differently. And their sacrifice means so much more than 11s.

[00:19:19]The stakes feel realistic.

[00:19:22]And there you have it. What do you guys think of the comparison? I've only used three features of comparison when there are probably way more of them. So, if you have watched both these shows, let me know in the comments if I have missed out on anything obvious. Also, if you got any suggestions for video ideas that are not Stranger Things related, share them in the comments and then like the ones that you want me to make a video about. It'll help me understand my audience better. So, yeah. I hope you guys are good and I'll see you in the next video.