Netflix released Dark as their first featured German-language sci-fi show which boasts a large cast with a splendid storyline. The story pans around a mysterious village of Winden, the show focuses on four families during two or three timelines as the complicated relationship between all of them unfolds.
The small town of Winden is home to a nuclear power plant which provides employment to the majority of the town; Winden also has cave system that hides a wormhole which facilitates time travel. The story of Dark starts out in the timeline of 2019 and links to events that occurred in 1986 and 1953. Reports of missing children increase around the town as the investigation gets heated; the investigation finally starts affecting the lives of all the families that live in Winden and all the featured timelines.
The show features the main characters Jonas Kahnwald, a teen that is coming to terms with dealing with his grief of losing his father, Ulrich Nielson who’s a police officer whose younger brother disappeared 33 years ago in 1986 and Charlotte Doppler with a complicated family history.
The story and emotions are layered but completely worth it as you slowly wrap your brain around it.
Dark Series Time Travel Theory
Dark deals with the time travel theory in an interesting manner, the writer’s explained the concept with the quote-“the beginning is the end, the end is the beginning”. This means that choices taken in the past predetermine what happens in the future. The theory even allowed more than one version of a person to exist in one reality. Travelling to the past by some characters are vital for the existence of certain people and to keep the loop in the same way. The members of the Sic Mundus (time travelling members) travel through time as they please. The main characters- Claudia, Jonas and Martha make sure to keep the events happening the same way as before which means that without their intervention, events change.
Dark Season 1
The first episode starts out with in 2019 as it establishes the death of Michael Kahnwald-Jonas’s father who takes his own life in mysterious circumstances. Michael leaves a suicide note which is eventually removed by his mother-Ines before it falls into anyone else’s hands.
Jonas ends up in the psychiatric facility and returns back to school after two months to find out his best friend- Bartosz is dating his former love Martha. Mysteriously one of the students studying in their school, Erik Obendorf disappears. Ulrich Neilson, the father of Martha, Magnus and Mikkel is allotted to the missing case. Ulrich is also revealed to be cheating on his wife Katharina with Jonas’s mother-Hannah.
The following night Jonas, Bartoz, Martha, Magnus, Mikkel and Franziska Doppler plan to find a stash of drugs that were hidden by Erik near the caves, they hear a rumbling from the caves and flees but loses Mikkel in the caves located near the Winden nuclear power plant.
The search for Mikkel continues as the following day the body of a boy is discovered. The investigation regarding Mikkel intensifies as the body is not identified as Mikkel’s, he believes the disappearances of Erik and Mikkel are related plus the disappearance of Ulrich’s younger brother- Mads who went missing back in 1986. Ulrich finds his way into the caves and finds a locked door leading into the nuclear power plant within the cave but fails to get the search warrant to enter the door as he’s denied access by Aleksander Tiedemann, the director of the plant and Bartosz’s father. Another police officer named Charlotte Dopler discovers that the body that was found was wearing clothes from the 80’s, strange occurrence’s happen across the town of Winden as a mysterious person checks into the hotel owned by Bartoz’s mother-Regina.
Parallelly Mikkel wakes up and heads home but he gets to know that he’s travelled back in time to 1986 and inadvertly four weeks after Mads disappeared. He finds Egon Tiedemann- who is Regina’s grandfather and a police officer in Winden, Mikkel is finally given to nurse Ines Kahnwald, who is the mother of Michael Kahnwald. This is where the dots connect with each other. The timeline of 1986 features Claudia Tiedemann, Regina’s mom and Egon’s daughter. Claudia takes the reign over the nuclear powerplant as she is conflicted with the former director Bernd Doppler who’s son Helge gifts Claudia a book named Eine Reise durch die Zeit (A Journey Through Time) by H. G. Tannhaus which is significant later on in life. Then the story pans out to show Ulrich and Katharina who are dating each other while in high school and are mean bullies, whilst a teenage version of Charlotte is observing the multiple death of birds around the town which again reoccurs in 2019. Hannah has an unrequited crush on Ulrich while Regina is bullied in high school.
Ulrich convinced that his son has disappeared through the caves explores the caves again to hear Mikkel’s plea for help as he gets further agitated. Charlotte also believes that the disappearances in Winden is related to the nuclear power plant, the story further reveals that her marriage to Peter Doppler is failing as he’s cheating on her with a transgender woman and lies about his alibi as to where he was the night Mikkel disappeared. Magnus and Franciszka gets closer to each other while Elizabeth-Charlotte’s younger daughter who is deaf goes missing for few hours to return back with a pocket watch given to her by a man named Noah that she claims to be her mother’s. Noah is a very important character who will resurface back later in the story. Helge Doppler which is Peter’s father is struck with dementia and roams around the forest one fine day telling himself that “he must stop Noah”, another child Yasin who is friends with Elizabeth is approached by a hooded figure who is sent by Noah.
The story gets interesting as Noah appears into the timeline of 1986 disguised as a priest visiting Mikkel who broke his leg as he tried escaping into the caves. The timeline of 2019 shows that Yasin-the boy who was approached by the hooded figure has gone missing. The drama thickens as an agitated Ulrich rejects Hannah’s attempt at rekindling their affair, the man that checks into Regina’s hotel directs Regina to send a parcel to Jonas, Bartoz ends up contacting Erik’s drug supplier who is revealed to be Noah who we saw in the timeline of 1986 but hasn’t aged a day since then.
Things start to make sense when Jonas receives a package from the stranger that checked into Regina’s hotel, he finds a light, a Geiger counter and his father’s suicide note which was taken earlier by Ignes. Jonas is shocked as it is revealed that Michael Kahnwald is infact Mikkel Nielson. Ines adopts Mikkel and renames him Michael Kahnwald who goes onto marry Hannah and have Jonas. He finds the map of the caves and ventures into the caves to find a door named Sic mundus creatus est which is translated to “thus the world was created”.
The investigation of the body that was discovered reveals that it is in fact Mads whose body remains strangely preserved from 1986, the police finally gets the permission to check the nuclear power plant as Helge Doppler becomes a key suspect in the investigation. Ulrich eventually gets suspended from his job to follow Helge into the woods and finds the same book that was given to Claudia- Eine Reise durch die Zeit by HG Tannhaus. In the timeline of 1986, it is revealed that Helge was also a key suspect then and was to be questioned by Egon, he infact was working with Noah and was related to the disappearances of Yasin, Erik and Mads.
The story gets more complicated as a third timeline is introduced-1953, the bodies of Yasin and Erik is discovered by two police officers- a younger version of Egon Tiedeman and Daniel Kahnwald, the police chief. Ulrich travels through the caves to enter the wrong timeline of 1953 and bumps into some locals and unknowingly carries the book to it’s author H.G Tannhaus who is yet to release the book.
Ulrich soon discovers a 9 year old Helge and tries to kill him thinking he can reverse the disappearances of the children, Helge soon regains his consciousness and travels back to his home while Ulrich gets jailed for attempting to murder Helge which he claims to save the lives of the children.
In the timeline of 1986, a jealous Hannah falsely accuses Ulrich of raping Katharina. Claudia delves further into the mystery of the caves as the dog she owned as a child in 1953 returns to her.
She begins to study the book given to her by Helge, it is revealed by the Bernd that there are barrels hidden in the power plant that are the byproducts of a nuclear meltdown, so she hires a teenage runaway named with a fake identity named Aleksander Köhler to cover up the byproducts. Aleksander is of course Aleksander Tiedemann in the future. In 1986, Helge and Noah are seen to be in an argument as the boys were kidnapped to be tested out on a time machine created by Noah which failed and ended up killing them.
In the timeline of 2019, Regina discovers the stranger’s research that is being conducted, Bartoz meets his grandmother who was supposedly dead and finally teams up with Noah. Noah also reappears in the timeline of 1953 not aging a day assisting Helge’s mother as Helge remains missing. While H.G Tannhaus the author of the book studies the smart phone Ulrich left behind in his shop. He’s visited by the stranger as they discuss the theory of time travel through worm holes, the stranger finally confirms that such a wormhole is present in the town of Winden which permits a person to travel 33 years into the past and future. The strangers hands a machine that is able to destroy the wormhole to Tannhaus who after the stranger leaves, compares it to one he already possesses and blueprints of the machine that was provided to him by Claudia existing in 2019 back in 1953.
The season finale is filled with twists and turns as it is revealed that Peter Doppler is the one that moved Mads body in 2019 but Claudia comes and instructs him to move the body into the woods. Then the timeline shifts to show 1986 where the time-travelling Jonas is kidnapped by Noah and Helge as he aims to bring Mikkel back to 2019. The 2019 Helge travels back to 1986 to kill his younger self but accidently kills the older him. Charlotte in the timeline of 2019 investigates into Helge being attacked when he was 9 and finds Ulrich’s mugshot in the investigation files.
Jonas wakes up to find himself to be in Noah’s bunker and is visited by the stranger, it is revealed as a shock that the stranger is of course- an older version of Jonas himself. The older version of Jonas attempts to destroy the wormhole created in the caves but instead becomes the reason the wormhole is created in the first place. The wormhole connects Helge from 1953 to Jonas in 2019 and they both switch places as Helge is transported to 2019 and Jonas to 2050 where the future remains bleak and Winden glows in a post apocalypse glaze.
Dark Season 2
The second season introduces a new timeline of 1921 where two men including a younger version of Noah is creating a passage in the caves that is later going to be the wormhole. The Noah who is a teenager kills the other man working with him as it is revealed that he is following the instructions of the older Noah and a new character named Adam, Adam is the leader of a secret organization named the Sic Mundus. Adam is seen as a suited character who has his face disfigured, he further gives instructions to the older Noah to seek the final pages of the diary kept by Claudia which plays an important role in preparing for the apocalypse which is supposed to happen on June 27,2020.
The next scene reveals the present timeline of 21st June 2020, which is 6 days before the predicted apocalypse. Jonas, Helge and Ulrich has been declared missing in 2020 as all of them have travelled to different timelines. The growing cases of the missing people makes Winden bring in a new investigator named Clausen to lead the investigation forward with Charlotte. Trouble brews between Bartoz and Martha as they decide to break up, Katharina starts searching the caves in desperation for Mikkel and Ulrich while the adult version of Jonas shows up in the present timeline. He reveals his identity to his mother Hannah while Aleksander makes arrangements for radioactive waste to be brought into the power plant.
A jump in the timeline to 2053 reveals Jonas in the post-apocalyptic world who makes elaborate plans to travel back in time to stop the apocalypse from happening but is stopped by an adult version of Elizabeth Doppler who is the leader of the few survivors of the apocalypse. He refuses to listen to her as he proceeds into the nuclear power plant to find a mysterious floating globe inside the particle reactor. Claudia had left recordings for Jonas and through the recordings it is revealed that the floating globe is infact a god particle which enables one to time travel. Elizabeth finds him lurking in the power plant and sentences him to death by hanging but spares him as she jails him instead. Silja who is in Elizabeth’s group frees Jonas and both make their way to the god particle. Jonas is sucked into the god particle as Silja is confronted by Elizabeth as Elizabeth confirms that she knew about the existence of the god particle.
The scene jumps back into the past of 1987 timeline as Mikkel struggles to adapt to his new life as Michael and a retired Egon who is suffering from Cancer, he further starts pondering on the cases he dealt with in 1953. Claudia is visited by an older version of herself in the future and told about time travel. Ulrich is stuck in the psychiatric facility since 1953 and now has grown into an old man, he’s visited by Egon as they discuss the cases together. Egon visits Ulrich later with a photo of Mikkel as Ulrich gets agitated and attacks Egon. Ulrich gets restrained as Egon leaves the facility.
The timeline in 2020 has five days left before the apocalypse, Charlotte and Clausen visits Regina who is suffering from Breast Cancer to question her about the investigation. Regina reveals Jonas’s research she found in season one to Charlotte and Clausen. A surprised Charlotte finds a page from Tannhaus’s book as Tannhaus raised Charlotte. Later on Hannah and adult Jonas travels back in time to 1987 to find Mikkel and Ines, before they flee to meet Peter and Charlotte in the 2020 timeline, they explain the time travel theory to them and a perplexed Katharina.
Then the timeline jumps to 1954 where Helge has gone missing for 7 months, Helge returns back disfigured and only speaks to Noah who had teamed with Helge in 1987 to build a time machine. A new character named Agnes is revealed who used to be a member in Adam’s group-Sic Mundus and also Noah’s sister talks with the older version of Claudia. Agnes meets Noah and reveals the location of the missing pages of the book. Noah faces off with the older version of Claudia and kills her to retrieve the final pages but is disheartened and shocked by what he finds in the pages.
Jonas travelled back to 1921 with the God particle where he meets a younger version of Noah and Agnes, he tries to travel back using the portal in the caves but finds that the portal is yet to be opened in the timeline. Jonas is led by a younger Noah to meet Adam who is by shock revealed to be an Older version of Jonas. Jonas is beyond shocked about eventually becoming the soul-less Adam while Adam informs him of a loophole that will enable him to travel into the future and past to change the events that will unfold. Jonas decides to travel back to 2019 to stop his father from taking his own life so as to stop the occurrences of the future.
The middle-aged version of Claudia travels to the future in 2020 to do some researching in the library where she finds an article in the library of the death of her father in 1987. She goes back to her timeline to stop her father from dying by making Egon move in with her. While Aleksander’s skeletons from his closet is revealed as a suspicious Clausen finds out Aleksander’s last name Kohler. Martha, Magnus, Franziska and Elisabeth ventures into the caves to find Bartoz with the time machine, he explains the workings of the time machine before taking them to 1987. In the timeline of 1987, Ulrich manages to escape from the psychiatric facility to escape with Mikkel to the caves but is caught by the police and charged with kidnapping.
Jonas comes to the 2019 timeline as he sees the 2019 version of himself leave a lake and goes forward to share a moment with Martha, that same night the 2019 version of Jonas sleeps with Martha during the wedding anniversary celebration of Ulrich and Katharina. This is the same night Ulrich cheats on Katharina with Hannah. The Jonas that travelled from 2020 tries to talk Michael out of suiciding but gets shocked to know that he never thought about taking his own life. Soon the older version of Claudia comes to them to explain that the Michael in the 2019 timeline has to die for Mikkel to travel back and for Jonas to eventually be conceived. Jonas’s role in this event is more important than he realizes.
Season two revealed the events of three timelines from the 50’s to the 80’s and finally the events that unfold in the present timeline. Katharina arrives in the 1954 timeline claiming to be Ulrich’s wife seeming to free him, Katharina instead takes a very brutal decision to leave Ulrich in jail by declaring she doesn’t know him. While Claudia tries to save her father-Egon from his impending death, she accidently kills him instead. The Jonas from the 2020 timeline travels to meet Claudia and claims a change can be made to the timeline. Martha discovers the adult Jonas in 2020 and is shocked with the revelation that Jonas is her nephew with Aleksander getting into more trouble with Clausen.
The season finale features the younger Jonas leading Claudia from 1987 to the caves with the machine while Jonas claims that he was visited by the older version Claudia who told him he can save the world while Adam wishes to destroy it. Charlotte finds out that radioactive waste has been buried in the plant by Aleksander and opening it will lead to the apocalypse as Clauson continues his investigation into the area.
Noah arrives in 1921 and reveals what he found in the pages to Adam, in turn Noah tries killing Adam but Adam shows him a picture of Elizabeth who Noah ends up marrying in the future. Elizabeth conceives Charlotte in the future. The older versions of Magnus and Franziska are also revealed behind Adam.
As Noah realizes the truth, he gets shot by his sister Agnes.
Young Jonas and Claudia from 1987 venture into the caves and turn on the machine in hopes to connect the past and the future, in another instance a young Noah visit adult Jonas to give him a letter from Martha. The young Jonas gets to meet the 2020 Martha but their relief is short-lived as Adam comes and shoots Martha thus killing her. Clausen opens the radioactive waste in the power plant in the mean time revealing dark matter. Elizabeth switches on the machine in 2053 while the adult Magnus and Franziska also does the same event which start off the dark matter revealed by Clausen in 2020. Katherina opens the sic mundus door within the caves which eventually creates a portal between Charlotte in 2020 and Elizabeth in 2053 as the apocalypse dawns on the world.
As Jonas grieves the death of Martha, he is surprised by the appearance of a girl, supposedly another version of Martha with bangs who reveals she’s from a different world.
Dark Season 3
The opening of the season starts with a mysterious man followed by a younger boy and an older man entering what’s revealed to be Adam’s study. They set it ablaze, what is mysterious is that the three people are dressed in a similar way with a scar from their upper lip to their nose.
The scene switches to the end of season two, the Martha from another world claims that they don’t have time. She takes a golden sphere of a device and twists it and places it on the ground. The device transports them into the cave system.
It’s November 4, 2019 as Martha from another world wakes up in her bed, Katharina calls Magnus downstairs as Franziska Doppler exits from his room. It is established that Ulrich is missing from this narrative, the next scene focuses on Ulrich returning from the bakery to a pregnant Hannah as it’s confirmed Ulrich left Katharina for Hannah.
Martha makes her way to school to Magnus, Bartoz also sporting a different hairstyle and her boyfriend Kilian Obendorf , Erik’s brother. The scene cuts to Helge who miss an eye in this alternate universe as he claims it’s going to happen again to Peter and Charlotte Doppler.
While Bartoz explains how black holes work in school, Jonas makes his way into the classroom as Martha watches him. Charlotte Doppler questions Aleksander Tiedemann gets Questioned by Charlotte about Erik’s disappearance as the situation is eerily similar. Jonas asks Martha as to why he is there as she brushes him off; he encounters Hannah in the hallway as she seems to not know who he is. Ulrich almost kisses at the police station as it’s established that Ulrich is cheating on Hannah with Charlotte in this world. As Jonas tries to look for the grave of his father’s he finds Regina’s grave instead and only find David Kahnwald’s from 1964. The scene changes to the mysterious three in the opening scene of the show to September 21, 1987, they search for the master key to the power plant as they kill a man in a wheel-chair.
It’s 2019 again as Martha makes her way to the woods to wait for Kiligan, she’s approached by Jonas who tries convincing Martha he knows her, the rest of the group emerges as they make their way to the caves. It’s clear they haven’t brought Mikkel with them, they hear a sinister sound from the cave as they flee as Martha observes an own version of herself covered in Black matter approach her.
They make their way to the Doppler’s bunker as a black hole emerges and drops a body down which is Mads Nielson.
The scene switches to the Martha that had approached Jonas travelling to September 21, 1888 where the middle aged Jonas is working on a machine. Martha claims to help him find the “origin” which is the starting of everything in both of the universes.
Martha wakes up to see the middle Jonas hold a letter addressed to him from Martha. Martha makes her way downstairs to see the group. It switches to September 22, 1987 where a funeral for Mads Nielson is held, Jana Nielson berates Tronte Nielson for paying more attention to Claudia going missing than his own son. The scene switches to September 22, 2020 where the earth is in shambles after the event occurred as scientists around the world try to understand this phenomenon. The scene switches to 1888 where Martha appearance to explain that in her world Jonas doesn’t exist and Mikkel didn’t disappear and that everyone died in the apocalyptic world. Katharina who’s travelled back to the 80’s go to high school to check for Mikkel’s whereabouts as she bumps into a teen version of herself and Ulrich, the teen version of Hannah informs her Michael was grabbed to go to the caves.
Claudia in 2020 hangs tronte’s photos over the years on the wall as it switches to Peter and Elizabeth in the same timeline, they’re searching for the body of Charlotte and Franziska to no avail as Claudia claims in a message that using the god particle can let one return to the past to fix everything. In 1888 Bartoz explains to Martha how they time travelled to the past as everything got destroyed and how they can’t return back. Martha is explained to by a Blind man that they’re going destroy the world’s suffering before it exists where the line of Sic Mundus Creatus Est is etched into his cave. In 1987 Katharina meets Ulrich in the psychiatric facility and promises to get him out. An older version of Tronte visits Regina who’s bedridden in 2020 to kill her. In 1888, Martha informs Bartoz of Adam being an older version of Jonas, the scene changes to show an older woman with bangs being approached by the original younger Jonas where she informs him of how the entire world will die as a family tree below branches to show an infinity symbol below. The older woman claims to be Eve and says Jonas is there to save both the worlds.
In the alternate reality it is shown that the police is investigating the appearance of Mads’s body, the scene jumps to Eva explaining that there is an invisible bond between Jonas and Martha as Adam only tried to break the bond as she urges Jonas to choose the path of light to save Martha.
In the alternate reality Ulrich questions Martha on how they found Mads’s body as Hannah makes her way to the police station to surprise Ulrich to find he isn’t there. Eva hands Jonas a similar golden sphere which allows one to travel and urges him to make Martha understand what she has to do and make her see the future. In 1888, Martha wishes to get Jonas’s trust so she gives him the only pod that’ll allow him to travel as a peace offering. In the alternate universe Hannah asks Aleksander to destroy Charlotte by blackmailing him. Helge confesses in the police station that he did the crime against Mads as Helge claims it was an agitated Ulrich who did it.
Jonas revisits the Martha from the alternate universe and recounts their memories together as he tries convincing her everything is connected. Martha in 1888 leaves using the device and her extra pods to visit Adam, Adam enquires whether she gave him the letter. The scene switches to younger Jonas and the 2019 Martha to travelling into the future to meet an older version of Martha.
Hannah who had managed to travel back to 1954 ended up having an affair with Egon Tiedemann as he gifts her a silver pendent as Agnes goes missing.
Adam has an unusual visitor as Agnes steps out of the dark as Adam claims she’s chosen the right side, he hands her a newspaper clipping and questions if Martha will know what the origin really is. The scene changes to Jonas and Martha listening to the older Martha claim that if they don’t change the outcome of the apocalypse then everyone dies. In 1954, Hannah visits the doctor to know that she’s pregnant.
Doris, Egon’s wife goes to church for the mysterious trio to tell her that her husband is cheating on her while Egon is informed by Hannah that she is pregnant. The scene switches to 2053 where the older Martha informs them that they must stop the radioactive waste from being opened as it’ll stop the apocalypse and also that Jonas can only save one world and not both the alternate realities.
The timeline switches to 2020 where Agnes is seen in a yellow suit to enter a door, the next scene switches to the 50’s as Egon tells Hannah to get an abortion while his wife Doris asks for a divorce. The 2019 Martha and Jonas confide in each other as Jonas apologies for everything, they share a moment with each other as they sleep together.
Adam informs Martha that the origin for the chaos is the seed that is planted in her, the strange trio walks towards the family tree etched in Eve’s office as the scene establishes that the strange trio is themselves Martha’s son.
The next scene cuts to Claudia burying Regina in the current timeline while Adam instructs Charlotte to play her part in it. Adam exclaims that Eve can’t accomplish her goal as her and his world is separate.
The adult Claudia gets approached by a younger version of herself that informs her to choose the side of the light which is Eva’s. She explains that Jonas opens the passage in the caves in 2020 while he himself closes it in 2019 as it’s opened for the first time in 1986, the passage also left residues of the black matter as it ended up creating the passage as a result and the loop has to repeat.
Elizabeth and Peter continues their search for Charlotte and Franziska in the present timeline as Jonas figures out that they might be the reason the apocalypse even started, they make their way to travel back to Eve.
The switches to post-apocalype in 2020 as Elizabeth gets attacked by a man who was rummaging for food in their home, Peter gets into a tussle with the man and gets killed in the process. Elizabeth hits the man to death with a fire extinguisher as she fails to save her father in the process.
The adult version of Elizabeth and Charlotte exit the same way which Agnes took as Adam claims it is their time to do what they are due to.
The adult Katharina in the 80’s try stealing the keycard to the phyatric facility from her mother but her mother manages to beat her to the ground and dumps her into the lake. Her mother returns home to abuse the younger Katharina.
The younger Jonas and Martha seek Eve for an explanation as Eve claims his work is done here. The Martha who travelled to 1888 enters with an extra scar across her face, she shoots Jonas.
The adult Martha explains that Jonas had to die as the scene switches to the future Martha with Adam, as Adam explains that the apocalypse is needed in both the worlds. The scene switches to Claudia who is sporting the yellow suit as she enters the power plant, she’s stopped by Jonas as he explains that the god particle was what happened after the apocalypse, since the cave in the passage Is destroyed, Jonas doesn’t want to wait for 33 years to try to save Mikkel and Martha.
Eva makes Martha write a letter to Jonas as Eva explains that two realities can exist and overlap in the same line, in reality Jonas dies while in the other he doesn’t, it’s an endless loop as it becomes a quantum entanglement, Adam’s purpose is to sever the bond so the child of Martha and Adam’s never exist. The scene changes to Bartoz in the alternate reality being told by Aleksander that someone is blackmailing him regarding a murder that happened 33 years back.
Aleksander tells Charlotte that he has to show something to her in the power-plant as in the same time the mysterious trio activates the dark matter with a lever and enters it. The Martha that is held by Adam is freed by Silja as she’s forced to fill the gaps so everyone reaches their salvation as Adam pulls a lever.
In the alternate Universe Bartosz is giving Martha a ride on his bike as Aleksander leads charlotte to the door in the powerplant meanwhile Ulrich follows Helge into the caves as parallel of what happened before.
Martha and Bartosz is approached by the future version of Magnus and Franzieska, they claim they are from another world and to trust Jonas, they also claim to know what the origin is. They ask her to save Jonas from the apocalypse which led to the events of the season ending previously. They leave Bartosz behind as they claim the “Others” will save him.
The next scene switches to Eva addressing the crowd and Martha that Bartoz must save himself so that he saves everyone’s lives and Egon must continue his family line and Claudia should spy on the other world for information as Noah should bring love so that everything becomes anew.
The Martha that is captured by Adam asks where the others are as Adam claims that the origin that exists within the womb of Martha can only be destroyed by the energies of both the worlds-the apocalypse that happened in both the worlds. He declares that the death of Martha is vital.
The dark matter that is powered up by Martha engulfs her as Adam watches while the Apocalype happens in the alternate world as Aleksander and charlotte opens the radioactive waste. Egon visits the pregnant Hannah that exists in the alternate universe starts bleeding.
The next sequence is of a younger version of Tannhaus explaining the concept of Schroödinger’s cat , he further goes ahead to make a machine in 1974. Noah and Elizabeth can be seen in 2021 creating a path to a door in a cave as Noah tells Elizabeth that paradise is a place free of sorrow.
The timeline switches to 1890 as Bartosz claims that Jonas doesn’t know how to work the machine to travel back in time, he ventures outside to meet Silja for the first time.
In 2023, Claudia tries to push start the machine to activate the god particle as she fails to do so meanwhile Jonas goes back to the ruined version of his house as he tries to suicide inside with a rope, he’s saved by Noah who explains to him that he can’t be killed because he exists in the future. Noah leads Jonas into the passage that he claims will lead them into paradise.
Skipped to 1904, Bartosz stays next to Silja who gives birth to a baby boy, Silja decides to name him Hanno which explains that Bartosz and Silja are the parents of Noah.
Tannhaus spends time from 1974 to 1986 building a machine and shifting it into the bunker, the year is 2040 where the adult version of Jonas and Claudia tries to work the god particle as Noah questions Claudia’s integrity. Claudia gets visited by the Claudia from the other world, she explains how the knots should stay in the world and how the knot should be untied so that Regina’s suffering isn’t repeated. She shoots the other Claudia as she’s skeptical as to why Eve knows everything.
The scene skips to an adult bartoz telling Hanno to be strong as Silja dies from Childbirth, she named the baby-girl Agnes which fills out the family tree at the same time Elizabeth in 2041 lifts a baby and leaves the room.
In 1986, Tannhaus fires up a machine in the bunker as he sadly look at a picture of his family. Bartosz is fixing up a car in 1911 when he’s approached by Hannah with her daughter. It is then noticed that Silja is Hannah’s daughter. Bartosz warns Hannah as he believes Jonas has changed due to time travelling. Jonas turns to reveal a younger version of Adam. Hannah claims that she was visited by Eve and Eve said Jonas needed her help. Adam arranges a room for Hannah and Silja but believes that everyone must play their part in the cycle, he kills Hannah and tells Silja he has a secret to show her.
The scene switches to 1921 where an older version Noah meets the younger Noah as he seeks a room to stay in. Adam tells the adult version of Noah to find the last pages of the triquetra diary that will eventually be his way to paradise, he tells Helge will help. This is supposed to be the last cycle in Noah’s life.
It is 2052 as the scene focuses on a picture wall, old Claudia instructs adult Jonas to destroy the passage and the knots with it as everyone must be directed through the same path by their younger selves so that the dark matter can be fixed. She hands older Jonas a copy of “A journey through time”.
The Martha that time travelled with Bartosz enters the office of Eve as they observe a charred painting of Adam and Eve. Eve enters the room and claims choosing her side are choosing life as she slashes Martha across her face giving her a identical mark to herself. The episode ends as showing the scene of Martha getting engulfed by the dark matter as a shocked Adam watches, he gets approached by Claudia.
Claudia goes onto explain that every action Adam takes to destroy the knot, it prevails. She explains the origin exists outside the two worlds. A third dimension which is also the triquetra is the reason of the origin. Claudia further goes onto to explain that Tannhaus tried bringing back his son, daughter in law and grandchild back from the dead using a machine he constructed but instead created two other dimensions. The only way to stop the occurrence is stop the machine from being made. She explains that they’ve been stuck in this loop innumerable times but it is the first time that Claudia has met Adam in the loop.
Claudia further explains that the loophole to untie the events is when the apocalypse happens, it is a point where time stands still as the point of cause and effect is affected. Eva is aware of the phenomenon as she sends the younger version of herself to maintain the events of the cycle. She instructs Adam to send Jonas and Martha to the origin to change the events that happen in the future.
They change the time to the point where Martha was shot dead by Adam, Adam re-enters and tells Jonas he knows how to make everything right, he transports Jonas with the golden Sphere to the third dimension. Adam tells Jonas to save Martha from being taken by the older version of Magnus and Franziska. Jonas manages to catch a hold of Martha and transports them and teleports them into 1986 June 21 when their worlds were created. Adam reaches Eve’s study and burns down the painting of Adam and Eve, Adam points the gun at Eve to shoot as surprised Eve realizes Adam doesn’t want to kill her. He exclaims that everything is going to be undone soon and the loop will be broken.
In the meantime, Jonas and Martha travel into the cave awaiting the moment the passage between the three dimensions will open. They both emerge into an identical plane where their past selves look at them, as they retreat they bump into each other. Jonas activates the golden sphere as they teleport.
The next scene shows Tannhaus arguing with his son Marek as he wanted to give the shop to Marek. An angry Marek storms off from the shop with his wife and baby. Martha and Jonas appear in the middle of the road in front of Marek and tell him that the bridge isn’t open and there’s been an accident. This undoes the whole event of the family drowning; this makes all the characters including Martha, Jonas, Adam and Eve to disappear into particles.
The show ends with Regina, Hannah, Katharina, Peter, Benni and Woller reuniting in the end, Hannah is pregnant with Woller’s baby and decides to name him Jonas.
Dark Series’ Brilliant Casting
Dark has a wide array of actors to play every age range of the actors but has brilliantly cast them to a point it’s very hard to decipher the differences between the actors
Jonas Kahnwald
Jonas Kahnwald was played by three different actors; they nailed the characters eyes, nose, posture and mannerisms. Young Jonas is played by Louis Hofmann, while the middle aged Jonas is played by Andreas Pietschmann while Dietrich Hollinderbaumer plays Adam.
Martha Nielsen
Martha was majorly played by Lisa Vicari but her older versions were introduced in the final season as characters in the alternate Universe-they were played in order by Nina Kronjäger and Barbara Nüsse, Their casting was almost perfect by the similar bone structure, nose and ruffled brown hair.
Aleksander Tiedemann
The casting is tremendous as they got the eyebrows, eyes and mouth perfectly. Aleksander is played by
Peter Benedict and Béla Gabor Lenz.
Ulrich Nielsen
Ulrich Nielson is a multi-faceted character whose casting has been done spot on, the nose, the eyes and the square jawline, Ulrich was played by Oliver Masucci, Winfried Glatzeder and Ludger Bökelmann.
Bartosz Tiedemann
The character of Bartosz played by Paul Lux and Roman Knižka match the hair, jawline and even the light cut on his eyebrows, another example of perfect casting!
Noah
Noah was an iconic character who delivered with his eerie presence, the actors perfected the body language and delivery of lines throughout the show, Noah was played by Mark Waschke and Max Schimmelpfennig.
Katharina Nielsen
The casting was impeccable with Katharina as they both share a stark similarity with the similar eyes, nose, and mouth. Katharina is played by Jördis Triebel and Nele Trebs.
Claudia Tiedemann
Claudia was perfect as the eyes fit, the line above the mouth, the long face plus the matching hair structure made us ponder whether the actresses are really related. They’re played by Lisa Kreuzer, Julika Jenkins and Gwendolyn Göbel.
Helge Doppler
Helge’s character was vital and connected the dots, the long face equaled with the long nose and ears perfected showing the range of ages of Helge played by Tom Philipp, Peter Schneider and Hermann Beyer.
Dark Score
The score for Dark is beautifully composed by Ben Frost, the score can be considered captivating and manages to connect to the emotions of the characters. There is also a series of songs from the 1980’s and various Indie artists. The show carries a somber atmosphere as Ben Frost’s composition brings it to life, Music like Apparat with Soap and Skin, Agnes Obel, Fever Ray and Roomful of Teeth.
The opening credit song has been penned down as a fan-favorite through-out the series.
Dark Series’ Unanswered Questions
The series left quite a mark on the viewers as it also raised up quite number of unanswered questions. In the first season Noah is seen building a machine to travel through time when Adam was developing one at the same time, the question seems unanswered as Noah also focused on kidnapping young children to test on.
Jonas sees visions of his father covered in the radioactive waste whereas in a similar case Martha also sees a vision of herself covered in the same waste. The similarity is uncanny and unexplained for throughout the series.
The finale reveals the discovery of the origin world by Claudia-where the machine made by H.G. Tannhaus is the reason the world is split in three, what is absurd is how she found out the existence of such a world.
Regina’s father was always a question throughout the show as everyone assumed that Tronte Nielson was Regina’s father, whereas the finale shows a family photo of Bernd, Regina and Claudia. They never confronted what happened with Greta-Bernd’s wife and the huge age gap between Claudia and Bernd.
In the first world, an investigator named Clausen arrives at Winden to investigate his brother’s disappearance; he was tipped off by someone on Aleksander’s fake identity. The real question is who tipped him off. One can assume it’s Martha and Jonas’s son as there was a Sigmund Freud dialogue he quoted in a certain episode.
Boris aka Aleksander reveals in the second world that he changed his identity as he fled from a robbery gone wrong situation but the reason isn’t revealed in the first world which is strange. There can be different parallels of the same.
Season 3 shows Egon travel back in time to approach Hannah who’s having a miscarriage, the scenario is neither explained or mentioned later on. Agnes disappears after betraying her brother and shooting him, there are no further explanations on where she disappears and what role she plays in the cycle. The injury on Woller’s eye is never explained throughout the show with him getting cut off whenever he speaks about it. The finale also cut him off before he can explain what happened.
Dark Series Ending Explained
The finale unveils a third world, Claudia explains to Adam that there is an origin world, the entire purpose of the show was to find the origin of the apocalypse, so as to make the loop stop and to sever the connection.
Claudia is someone who’s not a part of the Nielson family, so she comes to the conclusion that Regina can survive in the origin world. H.G. Tannhaus creates a machine to travel back in time to save his son, daughter in law and his grandchild, but the machine in turn splits the world into three.
Jonas comes to realize that everyone is stuck in a loop bound to the actions they have to follow, when he follows the path to stop the apocalypse he is inadvertently causing it. Jonas and Martha travel back in time to 1986 to the origin world, they manage to stop the accident from happening. This erases the existence of Jonas and Martha including all the characters that are stuck in the loop.
The origin world sees the group of Katharina, Hannah, Peter, Benni and Woller spend a dinner together as Hannah is pregnant and happy with Woller and Peter with his transgender partner Benni. Regina also doesn’t have cancer in the origin world. Since all the other characters are byproducts of time travel, they do not exist.
Hannah talks about a sense of Déjà vu she feels as she sports a yellow coat similar to Jonas’s and Hannah decides on naming her child Jonas which leaves the finale on mystic note.
The Movie Culture Synopsis
The world time travel, multiverses let one believe that there is more to the world than what meet’s the eye, the show very aptly quotes-“what we know is a drop in the ocean”. Sci-fi thrillers like Sense 8, Stranger Things, Glitch and the OA navigates through confusing plot-lines and exciting plot twists.
