The Dark Review
Director: Emma Sullivan and Gilles Bannier
Date Created: 2026-07-14 20:29
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The Dark Review: Created by Matt Hartley, Nessah Muthy, and Lena Rae, ITV1’s six-episode crime thriller directed by Emma Sullivan and Gilles Bannier. The series stars Laura Donnelly as DCI Monica Kennedy, Mark Rowley as DC Connor Crawford, Helen Baxendale as Bethany Morgan, Emun Elliott as Barclay Adams, Tunji Kasim as Michael Bach, Rona Morison as Philly, Brian Ferguson as Kyle Ward and others. The show is roughly 45 minutes per episode.
The Dark Review
ITV1 The Dark series starts with the death of Jason Morgan, a young teen, whose corpse will remind Monica of an earlier missing person case concerning Jason’s elder brother, Nichol. It isn’t long before the murder of another young male, again in the most unusual manner, brings into focus the fact that there is a deliberate attempt on the lives of vulnerable teens who have been through a lot in life. The search for clues involving burners, wishing stones, skeletons in the closet, and broken homes becomes increasingly personal as Monica’s past comes back to haunt her.
One of the strengths of 2026 The Dark series is the way it cultivates suspicion against everyone patiently. While the majority of series quickly name their killer, The Dark takes more time for the introduction of dysfunctional families, disturbed persons and people whose morals are questionable enough to allow them to hide something behind the scenes. Every new episode brings a new suspect, while twisting does not appear out of the blue sky. Violent actions of Barclay, mysterious isolation of Don, private talks of James with children, disturbing paintings of Owen and even investigations of Michael about Nichol’s disappearance make me suspicious. I liked guessing together with Monica, as the series gives believable choices.
Laura Donnelly plays the role brilliantly. Monica isn’t depicted as a flawless investigator who can somehow piece everything together perfectly. No, she’s shown to be a person plagued by an investigation that she screwed up long ago, as well as the emotional turmoil of being involved with The Burning Light cult. In general, many of her scenes aren’t always about investigating cases but about dealing with her sense of guilt. One of the things I like about her character is how the Jason case has caused her to doubt almost everything she did when Nichol went missing years ago.
Their relationship builds naturally as well. The working relationship of Monica and Connor Crawford is not based on perfect accord. Crawford calls into question several of Monica’s decisions, particularly after the death of Carol and when she finds out about Monica’s past in the cult. This creates natural workplace conflict rather than forced drama. I especially appreciated the fact that neither party is entirely right or wrong in this situation. It makes sense for Crawford to be frustrated, while at the same time, Monica is driven by compassion.
The ensemble cast is just as effective since everyone has emotional baggage that is tied up in the mystery at hand. Bethany feels so guilty for losing one of her children and having to watch the other being murdered; she becomes irrational due to the guilt she feels. The appearance of Nichol makes the investigation more complicated by revealing that there have been years of abuse within the family. Even the minor characters, such as Tammy and Stephen, make a contribution emotionally instead of merely advancing the investigation.
In addition to the victims’ selection criteria, what I found interesting is the manner in which the victims are portrayed. In ITVx’s The Dark series, there is a consistent demonstration of how loneliness works as the killer’s best weapon. Jason, Rob, Scott, and other boys are not selected randomly. They are all emotionally fragile individuals searching desperately for people they have lost. The burner phones are not only tools for killing but also a symbol of false hope. One of the saddest scenes in the show is seeing Rob really believing that he has been texting his missing mother right before going to his death.
Unfortunately, even though it started off great, I think the ending is very disappointing compared to all of the other episodes. While it was mysterious and intriguing for most part of the series, once the killer is identified, his motives do not completely coincide with the intricate plot of the whole story. The way in which Kyle explains his motives of death, reincarnation and wishing stones is indeed creepy, but it does not have the psychological background one would expect after watching five suspenseful episodes. I am not upset with the identity of the killer so much as with the explanation of everything.
Other storylines are more intriguing than the outcome that they lead to. The history of Monica and the Burning Light cult generates tension in every episode of the season, specifically the tragedy of the Philly character and the involvement of Lucy in this enigmatic case. However, this subplot seems to serve as a prelude to future seasons rather than influence the ongoing storyline of a serial killer. Although I like the idea of building a narrative over several episodes, sometimes it distracts attention from the ongoing storyline.
ITV1 The Dark Review: Summing Up
Overall, the ITVx 2026 series The Dark is a pretty good crime drama which provides its viewers with an interesting mystery, good characters and enough depth in emotions to make the investigation process interesting throughout all seasons. Though the solution provided is a little disappointing after all the tension created during the series, the process itself becomes interesting due to Monica’s inner conflict and reflection on the issues of death and trauma. It is definitely not one of the best detective dramas created by ITV1, but it is definitely worth watching.
