Dark Tourist

Dark Tourist is the work of a cheery, good-natured, curious individual drawn to the ugliest side of human nature, and it’s that contrast which gives the series its potent energy. Over the course of each 40-minute installment, Farrier gets himself into situations both strange and perilous, which is all the more captivating because he comes across as a fundamentally jovial sort of wide-eyed explorer.

While “Dark Tourist” may not quite be “No Reservations” yet, the best parts of it reflect that curiosity about life outside the bubble, and this is not just a culinary bubble but a safety one.

The series isn't always focused or consistent, but it's got ample strangeness and droll laughs, and every once in a while it packs an unexpected emotional punch.

There are plenty of questions to be had about many of the things Dark Tourist wants to capture. It just seems like this show never asks the right ones.

In rare moments, Dark Tourist (the show) summons some sense of this appreciation for how resilient people can be. ... More often, Dark Tourist treats its subjects like curios in a junk shop, casually examining them from different angles and then discarding them. ... Dark Tourist is just another guide on the trip, cashing in on people’s morbid curiosities without caring what real wisdom it could impart if it tried.