SciFi TV Rewatch

Join Dave and Wayne for genre television show news, a Tip of the Week, commentary and analysis for this week’s episode of the 2010 BBC production Dirk Gently titled  “Pilot,” and our listener feedback segment.  This week on SciFi TV Rewatch we fulfill Patreon supporter Michael Jacobs' request for a discussion of the first attempt to bring Douglas Adams' quirky detective Dirk Gently to the small screen. Following his mantra that "everything is connected," Dirk and his friend Richard MacDuff investigate the parallel disappearances of Mrs. Jordan's cat Henry and billionaire Gordon Day in a tale that concludes with a time travel twist. In our Tip of the Week segment, Wayne recommends the UK's Channel 4 production called Derry Girls which chronicles life for a group of teenagers in Northern Ireland in the 1990s. Dave is currently watching the Danish drama Herrens Veje (Ride Upon the Storm) which tells the story of a family struggling to meet the demands of the patriarch that his sons continue the 250 year tradition of serving as a priest in the Church of Denmark. Both series are currently available on Netflix. Fred from the Netherlands checks in with a brief comment about Dirk Gently in Listener feedback. Remember to join the Dark (and other genre television and film) discussion on the SciFi TV Rewatch Facebook group and follow us on Twitter @SciFiTVRewatch for the latest genre television show news and podcast releases.

Join Dave and Wayne for genre television show news, a Tip of the Week, commentary and a final analysis of Season 2 of the German Netflix production Dark, and our listener feedback segment.  This week on SciFi TV Rewatch we examine each of the means by which characters travel through time to one of the five temporal destinations. Is it possible to travel more than one thirty-three year interval in one jump? Will Katharina end up in 1954 for an awkward reunion with Hannah and Ulrich? What form will the coming war for time take, and to what year does The Stranger take Magnus, Franziska, and Bartosz? And why do the older versions of Magnus and Franziska appear to work for Adam? In our Tip of the Week segment, Wayne recommends the film Moneyball which documents the rise of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, and Dave alerts listeners to two new shows set to drop on August 30th. Netflix presents The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, a prequel to the 1982 film The Dark Crystal. On the same day, Amazon will release Carnival Row starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne. Fred from the Netherlands points out the wealth of Dark related music available on YouTube in Listener feedback. Remember to join the Dark (and other genre television and film) discussion on the SciFi TV Rewatch Facebook group and follow us on Twitter @SciFiTVRewatch for the latest genre television show news and podcast releases.

Join Dave and Wayne for genre television show news, a Tip of the Week, commentary and analysis for this week’s episode of the German Netflix production Dark titled  “Endings and Beginnings,” and our listener feedback segment.  This week on SciFi TV Rewatch we discuss the revelation of the Many-Worlds Interpretation that now appears to exist within the Dark world of Winden. Has Martha 2.0 taken young Jonas to her world, and will season three offer a glimpse into this parallel universe? We're particularly troubled by Clausen's obsession with Aleksander and question whether he's responsible for the apocalypse that occurs after he orders one of the yellow drums opened. However, amidst all the compelling mysteries we've been presented over the two seasons of Dark, none are more mind-bending than the revelation that Charlotte's mother is, in fact, her daughter Elizabeth. Fred from the Netherlands takes a different approach on this week's Listener Feedback segment as he discusses some of the important musical selections that add to the rich textures of each episode. Remember to join the Dark (and other genre television and film) discussion on the SciFi TV Rewatch Facebook group and follow us on Twitter @SciFiTVRewatch for the latest genre television show news and podcast releases. Episode Grade: A+

Join Dave and Wayne for genre television show news, a Tip of the Week, commentary and analysis for this week’s episode of the German Netflix production Dark titled  “The White Devil,” and our listener feedback segment.  This week on SciFi TV Rewatch Dave and Wayne discuss whether the future can actually be changed within the world of Winden and focus on the changes in how Egon's death plays out in 1987. For some inexplicable reason, Magnus and the Scoobie Gang decided it's a good idea to allow Katharina control of the time travel device introduced by Bartosz.  Having traveled to 1954, Hannah convinces young Egon to allow her to visit Ulrich in prison. Her motivations for this act remain unclear, but there does seem to be a spark between Egon and Hannah. She apparently plans to remain in 1954 in full possession of the device that allowed her to travel to the past. In the Tip of the Week segment, Wayne recommends Eric Kripke's latest offering The Boys on Amazon, and Dave advises against the Netflix science fiction show Another Life after recommending it the week before. Fred checks in and recommends the fantasy/horror film Susprisia starring Dakota Johnson and Angela Winkler (Nurse Ines), and in Listener Feedback he points out the change in Egon's newspaper death story. Remember to join the Dark (and other genre television and film) discussion on the SciFi TV Rewatch Facebook group and follow us on Twitter @SciFiTVRewatch for the latest genre television show news and podcast releases. Episode Grade: A

Join Dave and Wayne for genre television show news, a Tip of the Week, commentary and analysis for this week’s episode of the German Netflix production Dark titled  “An Endless Cycle,” and our listener feedback segment.  This week on SciFi TV Rewatch we journey back to the day before Michael Kahnwald's suicide and watch as Jonas time travels from 1921 to prevent his father from setting the cycle into motion. We discuss the Nielsen's 25th anniversary party and the impact the evening's events have on the four families.  Dave suggests that in addition to time travel and multiple timeline theories, the story may be dropping hints that a multiverse may also be in play. Wayne points out that the individual reactions to the confrontation between Mikkel and Michael are to be expected given the circumstances of their history. On this episode's Pick of the Week, Fred from the Netherlands suggests YouTube links to some of the meaningful music that appears on Dark. Remember to join the Dark (and other genre television and film) discussion on the SciFi TV Rewatch Facebook group and follow us on Twitter @SciFiTVRewatch for the latest genre television show news and podcast releases. Episode Grade: A

Join Dave and Wayne for genre television show news, a Tip of the Week, commentary and analysis for this week’s episode of the German Netflix production Dark titled  “Lost and Found,” and our listener feedback segment.  This week on SciFi TV Rewatch we discuss the fact that Charlotte finally learns the identity of her father, and even though it's probably not sitting well with her now, that's one Winden mystery solved. Now that Adam has revealed his true identity to his teenaged self, young Jonas embarks on a mission that he understands will save everyone. But is Adam telling the truth when he says Michael Kahnwald's suicide is the key to preventing the apocalypse? Can Jonas prevent his father from killing himself, and if so, how? One of the more emotional episodes of Dark, "Lost and Found" forces viewers to evaluate Martha's treatment of her mother who has only just learned that Mikkel time traveled to 1986. Ulrich escapes from the psychiatric facility and reunites with Mikkel in an emotionally charged scene between a time traveling father and son. Armed with the time machine they procured from Bartosz, Team Magnus returns to the cave to give Noah's underling one more chance to explain himself. He activates the machine, and the kids find themselves in 1987, just in time to watch two police cars drive by. And in one of the episode's most poignant ironies, the restrained Ulrich Nielsen sees Magnus and Martha but is unable to establish conflict. Wayne recommends the Hulu series Das Boot while Dave suggests checking out Tricia Helfer's addition to the cast of SyFy's vampire apocalypse tale Van Helsing which is set to return for its fourth season this fall. Remember to join the Dark (and other genre television and film) discussion on the SciFi TV Rewatch Facebook group and follow us on Twitter @SciFiTVRewatch for the latest genre television show news and podcast releases. Episode Grade: Dave A  Wayne A-

Join Dave and Wayne for genre television show news, a Tip of the Week, commentary and analysis for this week’s episode of the German Netflix production Dark titled  “The Travelers,” and our listener feedback segment.  This week on SciFi TV Rewatch we learn Adam’s true identity, and while it comes as a shock to teenaged Jonas, most of us saw this one coming. Jonas finds himself in 1921, and we discuss his meeting with young Noah and Adam who introduce him to the beginnings of the Sic Mundus movement and the concept of travelers. Once Jonas learns that the tunnels in the cave won't be completed for another thirty-two years, the realization that he's stuck in 1921 begins to sink in. Katherina finally learns the truth about her son and husband's whereabouts, but the reality is not easy for her to process. We come this close to learning the backstory of Wöller's eye patch, but 1987 Claudia nearly causes an accident when she wanders in the middle of the road carrying a time travel device. However, it's the discovery of Bartosz in the caves that highlights the teenagers' attempt to figure out what's going on in Winden.  Wayne recommends season three of Stranger Things as his Tip of the Week, and Dave alerts listeners to Battlestar Galactica alum Katee Sackhoff's latest science fiction project Another Life which is set to debut on Netflix. In Listener Feedback, Fred checks in with an examination of the online articles Claudia retrieves, and we now have to question what impact her return to her own time will have on the power plant. Fred also updates his Winden family tree chart to reflect the newest revelations. Remember to join the Dark (and other genre television and film) discussion on the SciFi TV Rewatch Facebook group and follow us on Twitter @SciFiTVRewatch for the latest genre television show news and podcast releases. Episode Grade: A

The introduction of the Bootstrap Paradox theory into the story raises several questions not the least of which addresses the true creator of the time travel device. From whom did Claudia obtain the original blueprints she gives to H. G. Tannhaus in 1953? Dave and Wayne break down season two’s third episode “Ghosts” which narrows the focus to 1954 and 1987. While the episode centers itself on the activities of Claudia Tiedemann and her father Egon, it’s the side of the policeman we’ve rarely seen that drives one aspect of the narrative.  Having left Ulrich Nielsen in 1953 after his journey through time, we must now wrestle with the events and the mindset that cause his thirty-four year confinement in a psychiatric facility. Though his meeting with Egon Tiedmann reveals his son Mikkel’s fate after his 2019 disappearance from the Winden woods, Ulrich’s reaction that “you knew and didn’t tell me,” speaks to a disconnect that likely keeps him from being released. 1987 Claudia, now in possession of the portable time machine, decides to travel to 2020, and the scene in which she watches her cancer stricken adult daughter Regina marks one of the series’ most poignant exchanges the mother’s comment to her teenage daughter in 1987 now becomes even more meaningful. Arguably the episode’s biggest reveal occurs when we learn that Noah and Agnes Nielsen are actually brother and sister, and her involvement with Sic Mundus Creatus Est has been an ongoing event. Now, however, she seeks to return to Adam’s good graces, but as always, individual motivations remain murky. Fred from the Netherlands checks in with pointed feedback and awesome screenshots. He reminds us that the parentage of Charlotte Doppler, Helge Doppler, and Regina Tiedemann are still to be revealed, and also suggests that the hosts refer to the actors by their names rather than “the actor who plays Ulrich.”  Episode Grade: A

Jonas cracks the God Particle problem in 2053 and looks to return to his time, hoping to prevent the looming apocalypse. Jonas shows his mother the truth about Michael's past, and 1987 Claudia now has one of the time machines in her possession. However, it's the insertions of Adam and Clausen into the mix that adds to an already complex mystery. Episode Grade: A

The German Netflix production Dark returns for a second season with glimpses of 1921 and the early days of the Winden caves and its time portals. Teenaged Jonas navigates life in 2053 with a band of holocaust survivors, and his adult self returns to his childhood home for a confrontation with his mother. We still don't learn what happened to Winden, but it's clear that Adam, Noah, both Jonas's, and elder Claudia have their own agendas which may or may not operate at cross purposes. Episode Grade: A