In The Dark

Great show keeps you interested. Can’t wait to see what they do next season!

In the Dark is a compelling crime-drama starring Perry Mattfield, and Rich Sommer. The show is about a blind woman named Murphy in her mid-twenties who is searching for her lost friend after finding him laying in the alley unconscious where they met to chat on a daily basis. She went to get help and upon returning, his body was gone. Tyson is the boy whom she befriended after their paths crossed in a revealing flashback in one of the early episodes. Each episode has a flashback to give you more insight into what happened to Tyson. The audience gets to see more pieces of the puzzle each episode, some of which are flashbacks of his time with Murphy and others showing what happened; clues that Murphy herself is trying to uncover. Let me get it out of the way: This show is brilliant. Murphy is one of the most complex characters I've seen in dramatic fiction. She's supported by a well-drawn supporting cast of characters including her codependent roommate Jess played by Brooke Markham. Murphy lost her vision when she was fourteen, after which her parents coddled her and parented with a delicate touch. This led to Murphy becoming somewhat of a spoiled brat, bitter about her life-altering ailment. She has become an alcoholic, a co-dependent, a nymphomaniac and a sociopath. It isn't hard to dislike Murphy and a few episodes in you will grow to loathe her. This is one of the reasons the show is so incredibly brilliant to me. Murphy is an extremely attractive female who doesn't even have a clue what she looks like. She doesn't even know she's pretty. She just lives life aimlessly drinking, smoking and using her roommate as a personal assistant that caters to her every whim. When she loses her best friend Tyson, she completely flies off the rails into a downward spiral, addicted to finding out what happened to him, while wreaking havoc everywhere she goes. The show doesn't apologize for Murphy. Instead, it gives Murphy room to breathe and just stomp around cutting in line at the local liquor store, drinking and smoking at the register, grabbing food from a buffet with her bare hands to try it out, anything she wants. Apparently she's completely abandoned any sense of etiquette or morality. She knows that she's a troubled person and often says, "Yeah, I'm a ****." She is, there's no getting around that. Time to accept it and move on with the show. What is amazing though is the creators' ability to contrast this and give her a sense of elegance as well. There are times when you look at Murphy and see raw, unfettered metaphysical beauty. When you get passed the fact that this character is as real as it gets, you start to see glimpses of humanity beneath the thick layers of protection, and the show rewards the viewer's unending patience with Murphy. The show also gives an extremely insightful view into the life of a blind person, and you grow to love her guide dog, Pretzel. It's clear that Murphy is the star of the show, but there is also a good crime drama to be had with plenty of twists and turns, and it makes you want to see what happens next. It's difficult for me to review this element of the show without giving away any details, however. If you are able to accept Murphy for who she is, you will be treated to not only a great show but a shockingly raw and transcendent performance by Perry Mattfield, who herself is a sighted person. I say this because I actually had to look her up to see if she was blind or not. The acting from her is some of the best I have ever seen in any medium, and is worthy of the highest accolades. In the Dark is a raw portrayal of the human spirit: its tenacity, its vulnerability, its courage and its beauty. For modern-day life enthusiasts this is a must-watch.