Dark Net S01 E01 .mp4

Every technology has its dark side, though the Internet has more murky corners than most — at least according to Showtime's engrossing new docuseries Dark Net, which was developed by the tech and media company Vocativ. Consisting of eight episodes running a half-hour each (the first three installments were made available for review), the show explores the roughly 80% of Internet activity occurring in and around the so-called deep web. This is the place Internet surfers would want to go to indulge those fetishes and desires that they'd rather keep out of the public eye. But the series also examines how the technology that makes the deep web possible is now insinuating itself, more and more, into everyday life. Nothing stays hidden forever.

Each episode typically interweaves three separate stories into a provocative package. The titles are evocatively terse: "Crush." "Upgrade." "Exploit." The narration by Lauren Terp strikes a strangely perfect tone between curious and judgmental. And the antiseptic visuals, coupled with the droning score by Justin Melland, suggest Laura Poitras' Edward Snowden doc Citizenfour with a slightly pulpier edge.