Netflix’s 8-Part ‘Dark Meets True Detective’ Is One Of Its Best Sci-Fi Shows

by

Despite being a strong sci-fi series, often compared to shows like Dark and True Detective, it hasn’t received the widespread recognition it deserves. While Stranger Things is a huge success for Netflix, it’s challenging for the platform to attract a large audience to more complex and ambitious sci-fi projects. For every hit like Black Mirror, there are hidden gems such as Sense8 that are unfortunately canceled after only a season or two, despite their quality.

It’s not surprising that the show, which combined the suspenseful crime-solving of HBO’s True Detective with the mind-bending time travel of Dark, didn’t appeal to a broad audience. Dark is a popular, intricate mystery about a small town and the complicated, family-spanning consequences of time travel and parallel worlds. True Detective, on the other hand, is a gritty police drama where the detectives investigating disturbing conspiracies find their own lives falling apart.

The graphic novel and recent adaptation, Bodies, skillfully blends complex ideas. Based on Si Spencer’s 2015 graphic novel, the story starts with the discovery of a single body in London’s Whitechapel. What makes it unusual is that the same body appears four times, in the exact same location, but during different eras: 1890, 1941, 2023, and 2053. As four separate police investigations unfold, they unexpectedly connect, creating a surprising and unsettling narrative that will likely catch viewers off guard.

2023’s Bodies Is An Underrated Fusion of Police Procedural And Sci-fi Storytelling

Featuring a talented cast including Greta Scacchi, Shira Haas, Derek Riddell, Amy Manson, and Jonny Coyne, Bodies is a show that demands your attention and benefits from multiple viewings. A clever aspect of the series is how the same characters are played by different actors as they age across various time periods. Paying attention to which characters appear – or don’t appear – in different timelines can offer early hints about what will happen to them. For example, if a character who is young and alive during the 1890 investigation is missing from the 1941 timeline, it’s probably a significant clue.

Unlike some sci-fi period pieces like last year’s The Nevers, Bodies doesn’t heavily emphasize its historical elements, and its depiction of the future doesn’t feel overly fantastical. Instead, the show tackles relevant issues like policing, government surveillance, and the influence of private companies, presenting a future that, while technically a dystopia, feels like a natural progression from the present day rather than a completely made-up world.

Bodies Introduced Many Netflix Viewers To One of The Streaming Service’s Biggest Stars

Watching the different stories in Bodies connect over its eight episodes is truly captivating. The show’s clever writing is reminiscent of the first season of True Detective, but with a more ambitious sci-fi twist. Beyond that, Stephen Graham delivers an outstanding performance, playing multiple roles across the show’s different time periods, making it a definite must-see for fans of the streaming platform.

For decades, Graham has been a consistently impressive figure in British film, appearing in movies like Snatch, Gangs of New York, and London Boulevard. But his role in Bodies is as striking as his performance in This Is England. Graham adds real depth and weight to his characters, avoiding the easy trap of turning them into simple stereotypes.

Since appearing in Bodies, Stephen Graham has become a globally recognized star. He starred in, co-created, co-wrote, and executive produced the Netflix series Adolescence. But even before that critically acclaimed drama, he had already impressed audiences with his performance in Netflix’s Bodies.

Read More

2026-05-11 20:49