After a pretty strong start, ITV1’s The Dark continues this week with another gripping double bill, as episodes three and four deepen the central mystery while introducing some intriguing new questions. In the opening episodes, DI Monica Kennedy and DC Connor Crawford were investigating the ritualistic murders of two teenage boys, their bodies carefully displayed in a ceremonial fashion. By the end of episode two, the killer had struck again, attacking another teenager. Kennedy arrived just in time to interrupt the assault, although the victim later succumbed to his injuries.
It’s the aftermath of that attack that proves especially interesting. In a brilliantly observed scene, Kennedy painstakingly re-enacts the assault with Crawford, demonstrating both her relentless commitment to the facts and the obsessive streak that increasingly defines her. Her conclusion is fascinating: the victim was never supposed to die. It’s a small revelation that completely changes the direction of the investigation.
That theory gains further weight when detectives discover a stuffed rabbit in the victim’s bedroom containing photographs of all the previous victims, and several faces they haven’t identified yet. Suddenly the investigation becomes a race against time, with Kennedy and Crawford desperately trying to locate the potential targets before the killer does.
An interesting pattern is beginning to emerge. Rather than methodically claiming victims like he did before, the killer appears to be repeatedly attempting – and often failing – to complete whatever ritual or objective is driving him. He’s being put off his stride. We already know he communicates with his intended victims through burner phones, which Kennedy now possesses, and stalks them wearing a grotesque mask fashioned from animal skin. The series leans heavily into horror imagery, but so far it earns those flourishes by maintaining an atmosphere of genuine unease. Meanwhile, a handful of plausible suspects begin to emerge, keeping us viewers guessing without feeling overly manipulative.
The one aspect that feels less convincing is Kennedy’s personal backstory. The revelation that she was once involved with the cult Burning Light is difficult to reconcile with the fiercely cynical, uncompromising detective we’ve come to know. It’s a development that requires a considerable leap of faith. That said, it does finally explain the mysterious stalker lurking around her life, while the increasingly suspicious social worker investigating Kennedy’s daughter’s welfare suggests her personal and professional worlds are on a collision course. It’s an intriguing thread, even if it currently feels less assured than the murder mystery itself.
Paul Hirons
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The Dark is broadcast in the UK on ITV1 and ITVX