Season 1
13 episodes Apr 4, 2019 7.3
Overview
Murphy is a flawed and irreverent 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 Guiding Hope, the guide-dog school owned by her overprotective parents.
Seasons
4 listed- Status
- Canceled
- Seasons
- 4 seasons
- Episodes
- 52 episodes
- First aired
- Apr 4, 2019
- Last aired
- Sep 5, 2022
- Episode length
- 45m
- Network
- The CW
Latest episode: S4 E13 Please Shine Down on Me (Sep 5, 2022)
Season 2
13 episodes Apr 16, 2020 8.1
Season 3
13 episodes Jun 23, 2021 6.4In season three, Murphy and her best friend, Jess, along with their annoying friend Felix, and Murphy's ex-boyfriend, Max, find themselves faced with yet another dilemma - how to avoid getting caught for murder. But it turns out, the authorities aren’t the only ones after them - they’re also wanted by high powered drug kingpin Josiah, so they seek the help of Darnell and his buddy Trey to keep out of his crosshairs.
Season 4
13 episodes Jun 6, 2022 8.3
Cast
7 people
Reviews
5 min readSeeing Through the Noise
I keep thinking about how rare it is for a show to make blindness feel less like a gimmick than a grammar. In the Dark doesn’t use Murphy’s lack of sight as a metaphor to be politely admired from a distance; it turns it into the engine of jokes, flirtation, frustration, danger, and, every so often, genuine dread. That’s a tricky thing to pull off. latestnetflix.com's read is that Too many series either varnish disability into inspiration or bury it under quippy self-awareness.
This one mostly does something better: it lets Murphy be difficult, petty, horny, selfish, funny, and occasionally very brave, while refusing to turn her into a lesson.
What makes the series linger for me is its tone, which is slipperier than the premise sounds. The show is a crime story, yes, but it’s also a workplace comedy, a family melodrama, and a romantic disaster machine. Those pieces don’t always sit neatly together.
Sometimes they jostle each other. Sometimes the murder plot feels like the excuse the series needs to shove Murphy into one humiliating encounter after another. And yet that messiness is part of the point.
Life, especially for someone who’s already at odds with the world around her, doesn’t arrive in one genre at a time.
A lot of the discussion around In the Dark has centered on representation, and that’s understandable. The series was created by Corinne Kingsbury, and it arrived in a TV landscape more open than it used to be to disabled protagonists who aren’t written as saintly exceptions. Murphy is played by Perry Mattfeld, who is not blind in real life, and that choice has naturally been part of the conversation too.
In lesser hands, it might have been a dead end. Here, what matters is whether the performance becomes caricature. Mostly, it doesn’t.
Mattfeld’s body does a lot of the work: the head tilt that suggests she’s listening for a room’s shape, the way her shoulders stiffen when she’s about to bluff her way through a lie, the impatient slap of a hand against a surface she’s trying to map by touch. She doesn’t play blindness as meekness. She plays Murphy as someone who’s always making calculations.
That calculation gives the show its best scenes. I’m thinking of the moments when Murphy moves through crowded spaces with Pretzel, her dog, the camera staying close enough to catch the tiny corrections she makes before bumping into a table or missing a look someone else thinks they’ve made obvious. The series understands that blindness on screen isn’t about grand declarations; it’s about choreography.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThe Casting Controversy That Still Haunts In the Dark
In the Dark (2019) arrived on The CW as a crime drama with a twist: its lead, Murphy Mason, was a blind woman navigating a murder investigation. Played by Perry Mattfeld, the role was a career-defining turn for the actress—but it also sparked a debate that refuses to fade. Nearly five years after the show’s debut, latestnetflix.com argues, the conversation around authentic representation in Hollywood still circles back to this series.
The Blind Lead Played by a Sighted Actress
The central controversy? Mattfeld is sighted. While her performance earned praise for its physicality and emotional depth, critics argued that a blind or visually impaired actress should have been cast in the role. The show’s creators acknowledged the sensitivity of the issue early on, with reports indicating they visited 29 organizations for the blind during casting 
. Yet, the decision to move forward with Mattfeld—who trained extensively to portray blindness—kept the debate alive.
The backlash wasn’t just about optics. Advocates for disability representation in media pointed out that opportunities for blind actors remain scarce, and In the Dark missed a chance to change that. The show’s defenders, however, highlighted Mattfeld’s dedication, noting her rigorous preparation to embody Murphy’s perspective. Still, the question lingers: Could the show have been bolder in its casting choices?
Mattfeld’s Journey to the Role
For Mattfeld, In the Dark was a breakthrough. Before landing the part, she had trained as a ballet dancer from age five, studying under Debbie Allen for nine years before transitioning to acting . Her background in dance likely informed her ability to convey Murphy’s physicality—navigating spaces, reading Braille, and interacting with guide dogs—with precision.
The role also marked a shift in her career. Prior to In the Dark, Mattfeld was best known for her work in the sports comedy Chad Powers . The CW series, however, catapulted her into the spotlight, proving she could carry a complex, hour-long drama. Yet, even as her performance earned acclaim, the casting debate overshadowed some of the praise.
The Show’s Legacy: More Than Just a Casting Debate
Beyond the controversy, In the Dark carved out its own niche. The series blended crime procedural elements with dark humor and emotional storytelling, following Murphy as she stumbled into a murder investigation after discovering her friend’s body 
. The ensemble cast—including Casey Deidrick, Morgan Krantz, and Keston John—brought depth to the show’s mix of mystery and personal drama.
The CW aired the series from 2019 to 2022, spanning four seasons. While it never became a ratings juggernaut, it developed a loyal fanbase drawn to its unconventional lead and gritty tone. Yet, for all its strengths, the show’s legacy remains tied to the casting debate—a conversation that resurfaced as recently as 2026, when discussions about authentic representation in Hollywood reached new heights .
Unanswered Questions
Was In the Dark a missed opportunity for disability representation? The answer depends on who you ask. Some argue the show’s creators could have taken a risk by casting a blind actress, while others believe Mattfeld’s performance justified the decision. What’s clear is that the debate isn’t going away—and neither is the scrutiny over how Hollywood casts roles tied to marginalized experiences.
For now, In the Dark stands as a case study in the complexities of representation. It’s a show that pushed boundaries in some ways while falling short in others. And until Hollywood fully embraces casting actors who share the lived experiences of their characters, controversies like this one will keep resurfacing.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.