In The Dark - General Discussion

[Door County Cherry]

Debuts April 4th

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Written by Corinne Kingsbury and directed by The Big Sick helmer Michael Showalter, the project centers on Murphy (Mattfeld), a flawed and irreverent young woman who just happens to be blind and is the only “witness” to the murder of her drug-dealing friend, Tyson. When the police dismiss her story, she sets out with her dog, Pretzel, to find the killer while also managing her colorful dating life and the job she hates at Breaking Blind — the guide-dog school owned by her overprotective parents.

[SimoneS]

I watched this. I don't know what to think other than it is trying way too hard. Like Roswell, it doesn't fit the CW's usually desired demographic. All the actors are older so it will likely have the usual low ratings which means an automatic five seasons.

[dubbel zout]

I thought it was trying too hard as well, but I cut it some slack since it's the pilot and everything has to get established pretty immediately. It's definitely a little different for the CW, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'll watch a few more eps and see where it goes.

[meatball77]

They went a little overboard making the lead unlikeable.  It'll be interesting to see where it goes.

[Isle Of Why]

4 hours ago, meatball77 said:

They went a little overboard making the lead unlikeable.  It'll be interesting to see where it goes.

The previews show her developing a love interest and it looks like the kind detective with the blind daughter will be recurring, but yeah. Watching a trainwreck of a person is depressing to me and I know I'll lose interest if she doesn't start to get her life together a little more.

The way she takes advantage of her roommate, and the roommate enabling it to the detriment of her own romantic relationship, also wasn't fun to watch.

[SimoneS]

For me it isn't that she is unlikable, it is that as a character, she is unbelievable. She is too much a fictional characters. 

The ratings were predictably low, .2 in the key demo. However, it is the CW so the show should be fine.

https://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/tv-ratings-thursday-april-4-2019/

[TimetoShine]

Surprisingly (for me) I didn’t hate it. I’ll watch the next one. Also surprising: yes, Murphy was obnoxious but her mother was kind an undercover bitch.

[Whimsy]

On 4/5/2019 at 10:07 PM, Isle Of Why said:

The previews show her developing a love interest and it looks like the kind detective with the blind daughter will be recurring, but yeah. Watching a trainwreck of a person is depressing to me and I know I'll lose interest if she doesn't start to get her life together a little more.

The way she takes advantage of her roommate, and the roommate enabling it to the detriment of her own romantic relationship, also wasn't fun to watch.

I’m actually disappointed in this because I was hoping the detective would be the love interest. He said he had a daughter, but didn’t say he was married.  But, no, they have to bring in a conventionally hunky guy. This is the CW, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. 

[rhys]

I watched tonite & I rather liked it. The star's voice is so familiar but I can't place her face. Did she get her better cane back?

Edited April 11, 2019 by rhys

[UNOSEZ]

Another solid episode... Really liked it... Even liked the burger dude.. 

[KellySunshine]

I like this show so far, but I too was hoping that the love interest would be the Detective.

I don't understand why the star having a UTI was such a big part of this episode.

[dubbel zout]

They really need to start making Murphy less hateful, because I don't know why anyone would want to be around someone who's constantly such a horrible person. And it's even worse that it looks like she's going to be saved by lurve.

[MzLiz]

I actually liked it. She’s messed up for sure. But I’m interested to see where it goes. I think it’s original. 

[kirkola]

Okay, I didn't like the first one.  But the second episode was a definite improvement.  It's a stupid thing to obsess over, but I can't get past the blinking thing.  Real blind people don't blink that often.  That's why blind-for-television actors hide behind dark glasses all the time. 

That being said...I actually liked the second episode (but not the first).  They touched on quite a bit of how hard it can be to be independent when people are constantly trying to "help" you.  The best friend and the hamburger guy both treat her as a person, and not a disability. 

I still can't get over the main character's Mother.  She is almost completely unlikable.  I don't know that I want to watch her come around.  The main character?  Sure, I'll watch her grow.  But Mom is just awful.  Probably more so because I know a person who is exactly like that with her visually impaired grown daughter. 

I'm loving the cop's daughter though.  She is all kinds of adorable.

[Samwise979]

I've finally watched both episodes. It's growing on me, I think I'm going to like it. 

Casey Deidrick (the food truck guy) is a Days of our Lives alum and I always try and support the actors from my soap so I hope this show does well.

Having said that, sorry Max but I kinda like Murphy with the cop. 

[kieyra]

Hmm, made it halfway through episode two. The lead isn’t funny or sharp enough to be blind Jessica Jones, so she’s just coming off as petulant. 

Don’t understand why Mad Men guy is there. Actually, several of the seemingly prominent recurring characters don’t make a lot of sense to me. Like, what is Felix for? I feel like he’s the quirky sidekick and/or love interest from some other show, just not this one. 

Anyway, I finally called it quits with the “dude thinks it’s okay to withhold something in exchange for a date from a woman he just met, and we’re probably supposed to think it’s cute”. 

Edited April 18, 2019 by kieyra

[dubbel zout]

Murphy was less hateful this episode, but I'm really disappointed it's because of a dude. Heavy sigh.

Even though this is television and contrived and all of that, I still found it utterly unbelievable that she'd bang the AV guy (or whoever he was) in the high school. If she didn't have better sense, he certainly should have. That was the stupidest thing the show has shown by a mile.

I loved the bathroom scene with the detective's daughter, when they're both wearing crowns made of pads and tampons. Hee.

I kind of worry that Pretzel isn't being taken care of properly. Murphy can't take care of herself. I guess the vet roommate makes sure Pretzel is okay? I hope so.

[Samwise979]

Omg Casey Deidrick is HOT 😍😍😍 however his character lost points with me when he called her "babe" after she asked him not to. 

Still hope she ultimately ends up with the cop. He's sweet. And I like his daughter. 

I wonder how the show will continue once she solves her friend's murder. Is she going to become a P.I.? If so, the writing for her character needs to improve because which ever poster above said she's a poor imitation of a blind Jessica Jones was right on the nose. 

[possibilities]

Best TV version of a "first menstrual period" talk I've seen.  "You bleeding loser!"

[Whimsy]

On 4/19/2019 at 2:20 PM, dubbel zout said:

I loved the bathroom scene with the detective's daughter, when they're both wearing crowns made of pads and tampons. Hee.

I loved it too but, and I'm going to burn in hell I know, my immediate thought was how did two blind girls make such perfectly crafted crowns?  It would've been better if they were a little janky. Not that they can't feel, but they were just so symmetrical and perfect. 

On 4/19/2019 at 2:36 PM, Samwise979 said:

Omg Casey Deidrick is HOT 😍😍😍 however his character lost points with me when he called her "babe" after she asked him not to. 

Still hope she ultimately ends up with the cop. He's sweet. And I like his daughter. 

I wonder how the show will continue once she solves her friend's murder. Is she going to become a P.I.? If so, the writing for her character needs to improve because which ever poster above said she's a poor imitation of a blind Jessica Jones was right on the nose. 

Me too!  I'm still holding out hope, but I will admit I like the food truck guy a little more than I thought I would based on just pictures.  He actually seems kind of sweet.  

[dubbel zout]

4 hours ago, Whimsy said:

how did two blind girls make such perfectly crafted crowns?

I chose to ignore the blatant implausibility. Hee.

[possibilities]

I had a blind girlfriend who did origami. I didn't find the crowns implausible. Not sure how they attached the parts, though. Did they have glue or a stapler or tape in there?

[dubbel zout]

12 hours ago, possibilities said:

Not sure how they attached the parts, though. Did they have glue or a stapler or tape in there?

I assumed they used the adhesive on the pads.

[possibilities]

Hmmmn... I'd have to see it again to be sure, but I remember the tampons were spaced in a way that pad glue wouldn't have held them. But it's really not that important. Dad could have brought them glue or whatever, if it came to that.

It was a really fun scene either way.

[possibilities]

The actress who plays Murphy needs to stop making eye contact and actually spend time with some blind people. I found this episode incredibly insulting.

[dubbel zout]

Murphy continues to be highly unlikable. I totally get she doesn't want to be patronized by people "helping," but use your words, lady. Tell people you'll let them know if you need something, don't just rudely snap at them. Ugh.

And her hands all over the various foods in the restaurant and at the puppy graduation was so gross. 

The lady who became too attached to her dog shouldn't have gotten a puppy in the first place. 

Man, this show pushes some buttons with me that I didn't know I had. Heh.

[rove4]

The whole every-man-who-meets-Murphy-has-sex-within-seconds-of-meeting-her is getting old.

Personally, I think Murphy and the cop, whose name I don't even know, are a total mismatch.  She'd walk all over him.  He's the character that feels out of place to me. It feels like he's basically there just to have the blind daughter who helps to show a softer side to Murphy. 

[possibilities]

I really like Murphy with the cop's daughter, but I'm getting super-pissed off at the show in general.

I don't mind if she's a little unlikable. I mean, House was a hit. There are plenty of obnoxious and unlikable characters on TV, and at least they're not making her into a saccharine disability trope. But it's like they've over-corrected to make her downright foul, and it's a bit much. And besides that, they are flubbing the actual blindness stuff. It's annoying.

It's like they actually DO have a pity attitude, but they are trying to wrap it in a veneer of "she's a bitch" ... but the show actually DOES pity her. It's "she's a bitch to cover up for how sad she is" and it makes me want to barf.

[dubbel zout]

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

It's like they actually DO have a pity attitude, but they are trying to wrap it in a veneer of "she's a bitch" ... but the show actually DOES pity her. It's "she's a bitch to cover up for how sad she is"

Yes, this is exactly what annoys me. The show is trying to have it both ways, and it can't.

[OoogleEyes]

I know that Murphy is an asshole,  but I do love that her BFF is ride or die. 'I need to feel a real dead body'  'Um...ok'

[dubbel zout]

Not to mention she's willing to check the toilet paper for menstrual blood.

[rhys]

Damn it, I missed last night's show. Grrr. I can't DL the CW to my stupid phone for some reason. Does anyone know if the episode is repeated during the week? TIA

[Jadzia]

2 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Not to mention she's willing to check the toilet paper for menstrual blood.

I really loved that scene because I honestly never thought before about how a blind woman would know when her period started. 

[Whimsy]

I really hated how Murphy said the dead guy in the flower shop felt colder to her than Tyson. When my mom died I held her hand for a LONG time afterwards, not ready to let her go, and she took quite a long time to feel cold. That guy was dead minutes. 

[dubbel zout]

I minded that less than going over to the colleague's house so she could feel his dead uncle. That was completely gross. I don't understand why the best friend doesn't do more to rein Murphy in when she's so wildly inappropriate. Murphy should not be indulged like that.

[Whimsy]

13 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

I minded that less than going over to the colleague's house so she could feel his dead uncle. That was completely gross. I don't understand why the best friend doesn't do more to rein Murphy in when she's so wildly inappropriate. Murphy should not be indulged like that.

Agreed.  I thought for sure she would contact the detective and ask to be taken to the morgue.  That makes more sense to me, even if it's still gross and inappropriate, than waiting for their co-worker's uncle to die. 

[sweetandsour]

I'm mostly here to comment on an exchange between Darnell and the detective lady at the end of the episode.  It's the one during which the detective tells him he put her in an impossible position.  I yelled out "you put yourself there!!" because duh, she knows she is in a relationship with a criminal, but somehow expects it to conveniently walk a fine line to be palatable.

That part also made me think of a great scene from Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 2 when Andre Braugher and Kyra Sedgwick's characters are arguing.

Kyra Sedgwick: "You embarrassed me in front of Derek Jeter!"

Andre Braugher: "You embarrassed yourself in front of Derek Jeter."

I also agree with how unlikable Murphy is, and that's risky for a show that doesn't necessarily have other/enough draws to keep the audience engaged. I don't think the cast brings a lot of built-in fans (not that I'm saying they don't have fans), either.  But I do think her unlikability is valid, though, and I get how people in her life have "allowed" her to be so awful, and possibly people in her life who did not are no longer in her life.  However, what's valid and understandable isn't the same as what people want to watch.

One other thing I found interesting was when Detective Dean took Murphy home and walked her to her apartment door, where Max was waiting (with his seemingly super-fast-healing penis). On most other shows and IRL, the guy who's not conventionally/classically attractive usually sees the classically attractive guy with the girl and thinks, "well of course she chose him / I don't stand a chance."  (Rich Sommer is cute in his own way, don't get me wrong.)  But Murphy is blind so Dean knows those same reasons aren't really motivators for her, because what is physically attractive to her and how would that matter?  So he basically has to skip right over that factor in who Murphy is interested in.

I hope the producers plan some kind of positive growth for Murphy towards the end of season 1 or at least in season 2.

[walnutqueen]

Flaws and all, I'd much rather watch an "unlikable" character like Murphy (I happen to like her) than some sappy sweetheart who makes my teeth itch.

Now she just needs to train her dog to alert to blood (or poop) on the toilet paper to make the wiping chore more realistic.

[possibilities]

I definitely don't want a sappy character. That's a trope, too, But the way they make her unlikable is an insult to blind people. It's not THAT she's unlikable, it's the WAYS she  behaves that make it seem like she can't do better because she's blind. Like hold a plate without spilling it. Or have basic decency not to stick her filthy hands all over the buffet. The show wants us to think she's terrible, but at the same time it wants us to feel like her behavior is because she's in a terrible bind due to her blindness. And that is basically just another way to push the pity narrative, which is not far off from the "angelic" trope. It's nauseating.

Also, why are people in her life letting her get away with it? Because they, too, are pushing the pity narrative. They feel sorry for her, which is a way of not respecting her. It's lowering expectations and then using that as an excuse to resent her.

It's terrible parenting, it's insincere friendship, and the show is promoting horrible stereotypes about blind people, instead of giving us a character who makes any kind of sense.

I don't need her to be a hero. I don't want the supercrip anymore than I want the angelic darling or the pathetic loser.

The cop's daughter is actually a much better example of a character who is not falling into any of these stereotypes. She's a person, who is blind. It affects her life. But she's not some outrageous extreme in any particular direction. She also doesn't get much screen time, so Murphy is the character that people will remember, and she might be the only reference some people have to draw on.

It's a lot to ask that a show be the only representation people get. But that's where we are, generally speaking. They could at least not fuck it up completely.

[walnutqueen]

I led a blind girl to her next class for several years in high school (back in the dino years).  I did it to get out of class 5 minutes early.  She was boring as fuck.  Just like some "abled" people I knew.  Her Mum dressed her (badly) and made her feel abby-normal.   I hope she broke out of that mold later in life.

I don't imagine many people think this is a representation of "blind folk", anymore than any stupid TV show represents any other faction of society.  It's the CW, fer fuck's sake!

[Spaceman Spiff]

On 4/19/2019 at 1:36 PM, Samwise979 said:

however his character lost points with me when he called her "babe" after she asked him not to. 

This is why I don't care for the character, and the most recent episode when they were lying in bed and he was pressuring her to have sex. She was all "I'm not in the mood" and he was like "Come on, I'll be quick, like 5 minutes." The line just grossed me out, like way to just think of yourself man. Between those two incidents I just can't understand why Murphy is with him, what she finds attractive about him. Plus as the audience we know the boyfriend is working with the drug guys.

On 4/17/2019 at 7:01 PM, kieyra said:

Like, what is Felix for? I feel like he’s the quirky sidekick and/or love interest from some other show, just not this one.

Another character I find pointless, although the most recent episode made him a bit more human and less of a caricature. Te female cop dating the criminal who is involved in all this is just too much of an already seen story line.

I do enjoy most of the rest of the cast. Murphy, her BFF and her BFFs girlfriend, the cop/daughter, the bartender, hell even the parents are ok to me. So dump the useless characters of Max, Felix and the drug dealer with his girlfriend cop. Give Pretzel more to do, like in the recent episode. I swear that dog looked just as scared as Murphy when they were hiding in the toilet stall, and lets have more scenes like checking for blood on the toilet paper, because right now those are the ones that interest me. I'll keep watching.

[dubbel zout]

Finally saw the delayed-in-NYC episode, and Murphy copping to being a jerk doesn't absolve her from being one, Show. I hope she makes some real effort to being a better person from now on. She's awful right now, wanting it both ways with her blindness. Ugh. So many people need to call her on that and don't.

[Samwise979]

I really want to like this show. As I've said above, the lead guy Casey Deidrick is a Days of our Lives alum and I do like to support my soap stars. But, it just doesn't excite me enough to come here and comment. I need something to happen to suck me in!

(I love reading everyone else's comments even if I don't contribute!)

[rhys]

I've missed a couple of episodes so this could have been addressed, but I'll ask anyway. When Murphy found the body, how did she know for sure it was Tyson? Had she felt his face before?

[dubbel zout]

She had.

[rhys]

Ack, what happened after the 3 of them tossed that dude in the trunk? I got a phone call. Grrr. TIA

[dcinmb]

While Max, Jess and Darnell argued about what to do with drug-dealing murderer guy, he got out of the trunk, ran into the road and got hit by a car. Police guy told Murphy to stay away from him and his daughter. Murphy's dad got high with Felix and told him the business is going bankrupt so Felix wrote him a check and bought the business. Jess is having PTSD from seeing the drug-dealing murderer get hit by the car. Flashback shows her thanking Tyson for helping Murphy write her the birthday card. The coroner tells Darnell's cop girlfriend that drug-dealing murderer guy shot both Tyson and the drug-dealing florist but he's not the one who strangled Tyson.

[dubbel zout]

11 hours ago, dcinmb said:

Flashback shows her thanking Tyson for helping Murphy write her the birthday card.

With the drug dealer guy in the background. That wasn't random.

I like Murphy's relationship with the daughter a lot. Murphy is at her best and most likable with her, even if her judgement still leaves a bit to be desired.

[MzLiz]

I really like the cop and his daughter. He’s sweet. I hated to see that last exchange between Murphy and him but I get it. Max is hot but Murphy would do better with the cop.

I love this show!! So glad it was picked up for a second season.

[Samwise979]

I get the feeling Darnell strangled Tyson. 

Love Murphy's relationship with Chloe. I'm sure it's not over no matter how mad Dean is at the moment.