Murphy Mason is a mess, and “In the Dark” wants you to love her for it. The CW’s crime comedy premiered in 2019 with a premise that felt fresh: a blind woman named Murphy, played by Perry Mattfeld, becomes the sole witness to the murder of her friend Tyson, a teenage drug dealer. When the police dismiss her account, she takes matters into her own hands, dragging her guide dog Pretzel and her messy personal life along for the ride.
The show is built on a simple contradiction. Murphy is supposed to be a smart, sharp investigator, but her life is chaos. She drinks too much, dates the wrong people, and works a job she despises at Guiding Hope, the guide-dog training school run by her overprotective parents. The setup is clever, and the execution often feels stuck in neutral.
Trailer, via TV Promos.
The Premise
Murphy is a flawed and irreverent woman who just happens to be blind. That’s the pitch, and it mostly holds up. She’s the only witness to the murder of her friend Tyson, a teenager who sold drugs to support himself and his family. When the police refuse to believe her story, she decides to solve the case herself. Along the way, she juggles a colorful dating life, a job she hates, and her relationship with her parents, who run the guide-dog school where she works.
The show is a crime drama wrapped in a comedy package. Murphy’s irreverence is meant to be the engine, but it often becomes the entire vehicle. Her jokes land sometimes, but they’re rarely the point of the scene. The murder investigation is the spine, and the comedy is the padding around it. The show’s approach is that Murphy’s wit should carry both the tension of the case and the levity of her personal life, but the two elements don’t always hold together.
The Cast
Perry Mattfeld carries the show as Murphy. She’s a sighted actress playing a blind character, which is a choice that drew criticism from the start. The CW cast her after initially auditioning blind actors, according to executive producer Nicky Weinstock, who defended the decision at a Television Critics Association press tour panel. Mattfeld brings a sharp wit to Murphy, but the character’s flaws can feel more like performance than personality.
Morgan Krantz plays Felix, Murphy’s ex-boyfriend and a constant presence in her life. Casey Deidrick plays Max, a man Murphy falls for who turns out to be secretly connected to the drug kingpin who employed Tyson. Keston John plays Darnell, a local drug dealer, and Theodore Bhat plays Josh Wallace. Matt Murray plays Officer Gene Clemens, and Marianne Rendón plays Leslie Bell.
The show also drew attention for its casting of a sighted actor in the lead role. Some critics worried about the “questionable treatment of physical handicaps,” though the show’s defenders argued that Mattfeld was simply the best actor for the part. That debate followed the show throughout its run, with critics and fans alike weighing whether the casting choice helped or hurt the show’s portrayal of Murphy’s disability.
The Plot
The core mystery is the disappearance of Tyson’s corpse. Murphy finds it, the police arrive, and the body vanishes before anyone can see it. That’s the engine of the series, and it drives the first few episodes. But the show spends more time on Murphy’s romantic missteps than on the actual investigation.
Murphy drags friends and acquaintances into the criminal underworld, and the show tracks the fallout of those decisions. Her dating life is a constant source of friction, and her job at Guiding Hope provides a steady stream of parental conflict. The series follows Murphy through four seasons, each with its own arc, but the central question of Tyson’s death never gets the weight it deserves. Instead, the show repeatedly returns to Murphy’s romantic troubles, her drinking, and her clashes with her parents, leaving the murder itself feeling less urgent than the personal dramas surrounding it.
The Tone
The show tries to balance drama and comedy, but the tone wobbles. Murphy’s investigations are tense, but the humor is often broad and unfocused. The show leans on Murphy’s irreverence as a substitute for character development, which means her actions are frequently explained by her personality rather than her situation.
The show also deals with the subject of blindness in a way that some viewers found uncomfortable. The premise is that Murphy is blind, and the show treats that as a defining characteristic. But the handling of it varies from episode to episode, and some critics worried that the “questionable treatment of physical handicaps may leave some viewers with a dim impression.” The show’s approach to Murphy’s blindness shifts from episode to episode, and the criticism was consistent throughout its run.
The Run
“In the Dark” ran for four seasons, premiering on April 4, 2019, and ending on September 5, 2022. The show was renewed for a second season on April 16, 2020, a third season on June 23, 2021, and a fourth season on June 6, 2022. The fourth season was announced as the last in May 2022.
The show’s run was steady but unspectacular. It kept coming back year after year, but it never quite caught fire the way other crime comedies have. The renewal announcements were regular, and the show stayed on the air through all four seasons, but the show’s reputation never matched its longevity.
The Verdict
The show is not a failure, but it is not a triumph either. Its premise is strong, its cast is capable, and its intentions are clear. But the execution is uneven, and the show’s commitment to Murphy’s irreverence often outweighs its commitment to the mystery at hand.
The show’s handling of Murphy’s blindness is a persistent issue. Some viewers found the representation uncomfortable, and the show never fully addressed the concern. The show’s defenders argued that Mattfeld was the best actor for the part, but the criticism remained throughout the show’s run.
Key Facts
- Creator: Corinne Kingsbury
- Network: The CW
- Premiere: April 4, 2019
- Finale: September 5, 2022
- Seasons: 4, totaling 52 episodes
“In the Dark” is a show with a good idea and a weak execution. It’s worth watching for the premise and the cast, but it’s easy to forget once the credits roll. The show’s strengths — its clever setup and its capable performers — are real, but they’re consistently undercut by a script that can’t decide whether it wants to be a serious crime drama or a broad comedy.
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