Dark TV Shows PT2

Dark TV Shows — The Full List

Scott's Picks

5. The Originals (American, 2013–2018)

A spin-off of The Vampire Diaries set in the supernatural melting pot of New Orleans. The Mikaelson siblings — Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah, the world's original vampires — return to the city they helped build, only to find their former protégé Marcel ruling with an iron fist. Klaus (also a vampire-werewolf hybrid) discovers a werewolf named Haley is pregnant with his child — the first-ever naturally conceived tribrid, whose existence threatens the entire supernatural world. The series is a chess-match of political maneuvering between vampires, witches, and werewolves. Scott noted the show front-loads its seasons with storyline, with bloodshed concentrated in the final 3 episodes — which he believes contributed to its struggles. A spin-off, Legacies, followed Klaus's daughter for an additional ~5 seasons. (Fun fact: Scott named his car after Klaus.)

6. Shadow and Bone (Netflix, 2021–2023)

An epic fantasy adaptation of Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse novels, set in a world reminiscent of 19th-century czarist Russia. The kingdom of Ravka is divided by the Shadow Fold — an impenetrable darkness inhabited by carnivorous winged creatures. Orphan army cartographer Alina Starkov discovers she is the mythical Sun Summoner, the only Grisha capable of wielding radiant light to potentially destroy the Fold. She falls under the guidance of General Kirigan — The Darkling — whose true motive is to weaponize her power for imperial domination. Scott believes the show could have run 5–6 seasons, but was cut short after Season 2 due to a perfect storm: the writer's strike, COVID aftermath, budget concerns, and shifting studio priorities. He called the cancellation a "bullshit call."

7. Doctor Who (British, 1963–present)

The longest-running sci-fi show in television history — a show Scott grew up with, reading the books as a kid because of his father. While the modern era (revived in 2005 by Russell T. Davies and later Steven Moffat) blended whimsy and horror masterfully, Scott focused on one of the darkest episodes ever made: Blink, featuring the Weeping Angels — quantum-locked beings that freeze into stone the moment they're observed, but move with terrifying speed the instant you blink or look away. Scott played the famous clip where the Doctor communicates with characters across time through a pre-recorded VHS tape — answering their questions from decades in the past because the transcript was written in advance. "Just brilliant cinematography. Brilliant ideas."

8. Teen Wolf (MTV, 2011–2017)

A dark reimagining of the campy 1985 Michael J. Fox comedy. Awkward high schooler Scott McCall is bitten by a rogue werewolf and must navigate becoming one himself — while aspiring to become an alpha. The catch: to become an alpha, you have to kill someone. That moral conflict — set against his mother's career as a nurse dedicated to saving lives — drives much of the early drama. Scott praised the first three seasons enthusiastically before acknowledging the show overstayed its welcome. MTV has since shuttered, making the series difficult to find.

9. Inside No. 9 (British, 2014–2023)

A critically acclaimed British black comedy anthology series created by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. Each self-contained 30-minute episode features an entirely new cast, time period, and genre — united only by one thread: every story takes place in a location associated with the number 9. Famous for its tonal whiplash, blending pitch-black British humor with claustrophobic psychological horror. Scott showed a clip involving a young magician whose grandfather had mysteriously "disappeared" nearly 10 years prior — leaving behind a notebook of tricks delivered upon the grandson's 25th birthday. "It is the freakiest show — and then there's scenes that are just comedy."

10. Squid Game (Netflix / Korean, 2021–2024)

The massive South Korean dystopian survival thriller following Seong Gi-hun (Player 456), a debt-ridden, gambling-addicted divorced chauffeur who accepts a mysterious invitation to compete in a tournament of 6 childhood games for a prize of ₩45.6 billion. The twist: elimination means death. Contestants are drugged, transported to a guarded island, and handed green tracksuits and numbers. The most iconic scene — Red Light, Green Light — where a giant animatronic doll executes anyone who moves at the wrong moment — left a permanent cultural mark. Scott called it "honestly the sickest show I've ever seen — but I fell in love with it." Three seasons completed, with Season 3 concluding the series.

Burke's Picks

5. Love, Death & Robots (Netflix, 2019–present)

An adult animated anthology series produced by Tim Miller (Deadpool) and David Fincher. Each short episode is created by a different global animation studio, spanning wildly different visual styles — from hyper-realistic CGI to traditional 2D — and exploring science fiction, horror, dark comedy, and existential horror. Notable episodes discussed:

• Automated pest control episode: A farmer in Ireland hires a robot exterminator — a scorpion-like machine — to handle a rat infestation. The rats have their own counter-machines. Blood everywhere.
• "Beyond the Aquila Rift": A space freighter captain wakes up in a cozy station, reuniting with an old flame — only to discover his comfortable reality is an illusion maintained by a terrifying arachnid alien entity. In truth, he's trapped thousands of light-years from home, starving in a pod while the creature feeds him comforting hallucinations so he doesn't die in terror.
• "Pop Squad" (Season 2): In a dystopian future where immortality is available via a drug called Reju, procreation is illegal to prevent overpopulation. "Pop Squad" officers execute unauthorized children on the spot and arrest their mothers. One of Burke's harder watches.

6. Black Mirror (Channel 4 / Netflix, 2011–present)

A dark anthology series probing humanity's twisted relationship with technology — described as a deeply sinister Twilight Zone for the digital age. Each standalone episode explores a different near-future dystopia. Key episodes discussed:

• "The National Anthem": A beloved British princess is kidnapped, and the ransom demand is simple: the Prime Minister must have sexual intercourse with a live pig on national television. He complies — only for it to be revealed the princess was released 30 minutes before the broadcast. The kidnapper's true motive was a social experiment exposing how a voyeuristic media-obsessed public will eagerly watch a man's total degradation.
• "White Christmas": A digital clone of a man's consciousness — a "cookie" — is used to extract a murder confession, then has its virtual simulation speed set so that one minute of real time equals 1,000 years. The clone endures millions of subjective years of solitary confinement. Forever.

7. Dark (Netflix / German, 2017–2020)

A German sci-fi mystery set in the small town of Winden, revolving around a missing child and a nuclear power plant — unraveling into a dizzying web of time travel, paradox, and generational trauma. Key plot points:

• Jonas's paradox: Jonas discovers that his father Michael was actually his childhood friend Mikkel, who traveled back to 1986, was adopted, and eventually became Jonas's father. Jonas's true love interest, Martha, turns out to be his biological aunt. Saving his father would erase his own birth.
• Ulrich's imprisonment: Detective Ulrich Nielsen follows a time portal to 1953 to save his son and prevent future murders. He fails, is arrested, and ages into a broken old man over decades in the wrong era — institutionalized in a psychiatric ward, never returning to his family.

8. Chernobyl (HBO, 2019)

An HBO miniseries chronicling the 1986 nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant — one of the darkest things put to screen precisely because it happened. The horror is rooted in bleak realism: gruesome radiation sickness, bureaucratic cover-ups, and the staggering human cost of systemic failure. Scott noted he watched Chernobyl happen as a child and has a deep personal connection to the event.

• Vasily Ignatenko's radiation sickness: The show relentlessly and graphically documents every stage of acute radiation syndrome. Skin literally melts. It's brutal.
• The bio-robots: When remote lunar rovers break down within seconds from radiation on Reactor 4's roof, Soviet officials send human beings — clad in improvised lead armor — to shovel lethal graphite debris by hand in 90-second increments, each shift delivering lifetime doses of radiation. Thousands of people sacrificed to contain the disaster.

9. True Blood (HBO, 2008–2014)

Created by Alan Ball and based on Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mystery novels (which Burke has read in full). Set in a world where synthetic blood allows vampires to coexist openly with humans. Telepathic Louisiana waitress Sookie Stackhouse falls for 173-year-old vampire Bill Compton. The show blends gothic atmosphere, campy horror, overt romance, and — being HBO — a healthy dose of softcore chaos. Standout dark moments:

• Season 2 — Maryann's mass mind control: An ancient maenad transforms the quiet town of Bon Temps into a grotesque nightmare of violent, trance-like orgies and cannibalistic rituals.
• Season 5 — The Sanguinistas: A fundamentalist vampire faction seizes control of the Vampire Authority, consuming the blood of the ancient progenitor Lilith, going on violent killing sprees, and dismantling synthetic blood production to force vampires into hunting and enslaving humanity.

10. Nip/Tuck (FX, 2003–2010)

A medical drama set among Miami plastic surgeons Dr. Sean McNamara and Dr. Christian Troy, whose business slogan — "Tell me what you don't like about yourself" — opens a Pandora's box of narcissism, body dysmorphia, and deeply dysfunctional lives. The show pushed basic cable to its absolute limit with stomach-churning, uncut surgical sequences and a recurring villain known as The Carver — a masked serial rapist-surgeon who disfigures vanity-obsessed victims while whispering, "Beauty is a curse on the world." In Season 1, a Cuban antagonist is dispatched to a swamp with ham strapped to his body so alligators would handle the rest. Christian Troy was sexually assaulted by The Carver, triggering severe psychological trauma. Burke called it a great show — beautifully shot in Miami, hiding relentless darkness behind glossy aesthetics. Critics: 74%. Audience: 83%.

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