In The Dark Season 3 - What We Know So Far

Spoilers for In the Dark season 2 to follow.

In the Dark has been a great success story for the CW, and it looks like this peculiar show is a gift that keeps on giving — at least for the foreseeable future. The blind, misanthropic, hard-drinking Murphy Mason (Perry Mattfeld) has been a popular protagonist, and her many flings, shady dealings and murder-solving adventures have enticed the audience enough for the CW to renew the show for season 3 and 4. Now that fans have come to know the characters and the show's voice, we're waiting with bated breath to see what the show has in store. 

But what does the show have in store? Two major antagonists, killer cop Dean Riley (Rich Sommer) and laundromat drug kingpin Nia Bailey (Nicki Micheaux) are now out of the picture. However, Murphy and her crew are up to their eyebrows in various crimes, and the show has set up a frankly worrying amount of people who could provide problems for them, and in a much more personal way than ever before. While we're waiting for the new episodes to drop, here's what we know so far about the release date, cast, and plot of In the Dark season 3. 

The CW didn't keep fans of In the Dark in the dark when it came to announcing the show's third season, and the fourth season renewal came hot on its heels — even before season 3 premiered. As Deadline reports, the show was one of the early renewals that the network announced in January 2020, and it appears that CW president Mark Pedowitz considers In the Dark a pretty important piece of the puzzle. "These early orders for next season give our production teams a head start in plotting out story arcs and a jump on hiring staff, and this also provides us with a strong foundation of established, fan-favorite CW shows to build on for next season," he stated upon renewal.

While the exact premiere date is still very much in the air, it's worth noting that season 1 of In the Dark arrived in April 2019, and season 2 in April 2020. With that in mind, you could potentially expect the third season at some point of April 2021. Of course, with the realities of television production very much still up in the air for the foreseeable future, we'll just have to wait for an announcement.

Apart from the two major characters who died in season 2, bent cop Dean Riley and crime boss Nia Bailey, it should be fair to expect that essentially everyone in the cast will return to their roles for In the Dark season 3. Perry Mattfeld will obviously return as Murphy, and Brook Markham should also be back as Guiding Hope vet and Murphy's roommate, Jess Damon. We're also highly likely to see the return of Felix Bell (Morgan Krantz), Max Parish (Casey Deidrick), and gang leader Darnell James (Keston John).

While Murphy's adoptive parents, Hank (Derek Webster) and Joy (Kathleen York), weren't around quite as much as they used to be during season 2, they're likely to pop up every once in a while. In fact, pretty much every recurring character who's still around and alive is viable to appear in season 3. Of particular interest are Gene Clemens (Matt Murray), Dean's former partner, who found out all sorts of important things over the course of season 2. Another fascinating return will, in all likelihood, be Josh Wallace (Theodore Bhat), the IRS officer who ends up tangled in Murphy's shenanigans, and who discovered in the season 2 finale that she and her friends are not exactly squeaky clean.

As for the show's nicest and furriest character, Murphy's seeing-eye dog Pretzel, he's obviously back as well. In fact, Mattfeld has told Collider that she's quite looking forward to seeing him again: "Multiple times, I've asked to have Pretzel in my trailer for lunch, so that we could take a 20-minute nap together. It's obsession, at this point. When I'm away from him, I do miss him a lot. Because of Season 3, I'll get him back."

With Dean and Nia dead, and Josiah (Maurice Compte) seemingly out of the way, In the Dark has an open road ahead for its third season. However, Murphy and the gang are going to have plenty of speedbumps along the way. Gene and Josh each have varying levels of knowledge about the weird things that have been happening around Murphy. Jess and Felix have both done some pretty eerie things that are wildly out of line for people who are ostensibly working with seeing-eye dogs for a living. And then there's Murphy herself, whose illegal activities and reckless attitude make it seem like she might be just a few steps away from a full, Breaking Bad-style fall from grace.

Of course, before that happens (if it happens), she'll probably have to deal with Darnell, who may be her friend but was also Nia's brother. He's now in a prime position to take his sister's place, and he'll probably have something to say about her untimely death at the hands of Jess. Regardless of what's going to happen, it's safe to say that the viewers are in for a ride of their life when In the Dark season 3 drops.