Dark (TV series)

Dark is a German science fiction thriller web television series co-created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese.[5][6][7] It ran for three seasons, from 2017 to 2020. Set in the fictional German town of Winden, Dark concerns the aftermath of a child's disappearance, which exposes the secrets of and hidden connections among four estranged families as they slowly unravel a sinister time travel conspiracy which spans several generations. Throughout the series, Dark explores the existential implications of time and its effects upon human nature.

Dark
Genre	Science fiction Thriller Mystery Tragedy[1][2][3]
Created by	Baran bo Odar Jantje Friese
Written by	Jantje Friese Ronny Schalk Marc O. Seng Martin Behnke Daphne Ferraro
Directed by	Baran bo Odar
Starring	See below
Theme music composer	Apparat
Opening theme	"Goodbye" by Apparat (featuring Soap&Skin)[4]
Composer(s)	Ben Frost
Country of origin	Germany
Original language(s)	German
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	26
Production
Executive producer(s)	Justyna Müsch Jantje Friese Quirin Berg Max Wiedemann Baran bo Odar
Production location(s)	Germany
Cinematography	Nikolaus Summerer[5]
Running time	44–73 minutes
Production company(s)	Wiedemann & Berg Television
Release
Original network	Netflix
Picture format	4K (Ultra HD)
Original release	1 December 2017 (2017-12-01) – 27 June 2020 (2020-06-27)
External links
Official website

Dark debuted on 1 December 2017 on Netflix; it is the service's first German-language original series. The second season was released on 21 June 2019,[8][9] while the third and final season was released on 27 June 2020.[10][11]

Dark has received critical acclaim, with praise for its tone, visuals, acting, musical score, and the ambition and complexity of its narrative.

Overview

Children start vanishing from the German town of Winden,[12] bringing to light the fractured relationships, double lives, and dark past of four families living there, and revealing a mystery that spans four generations.

The story begins in 2019, but spreads to include story-lines in 1986 and 1953 via time travel, as certain characters of the show's core families grow aware of the existence of a wormhole in the cave system beneath the local nuclear power plant, which is under the management of the influential Tiedemann family. During the first season, secrets begin to be revealed concerning the Kahnwald, Nielsen, Doppler, and Tiedemann families, and their lives start to crumble as the ties become evident between the missing children and the histories of the town and its citizens.

The second season continues the intertwining families' attempts to reunite with their missing loved ones, several months after the first-season finale, in 2020, 1987 and 1954, respectively. Additional story-lines set in 2053 and 1921 add new aspects to the mysteries, and the secret Sic Mundus fellowship, a major force in an underlying battle for the ultimate fate of the people of Winden, is explored, as the season counts down towards the apocalypse – a destruction of Winden and death of many of its citizens.

The third and final season follows the four families across time in the wake of the apocalypse in 2020, while also introducing a parallel world whose events are interconnected with those of the first world. The season is primarily set in 1888, 1954, 1987, 2020 and 2053 in the first world, and 2019 and 2052 in the second world, as the characters work to find a way out of the repeating cycle of events in Winden across both worlds.

Cast and characters

The first season takes place primarily in 2019 but expands to include stories set in 1986, 1953, and – in the final scene of the first season – 2052, with several characters being portrayed at various ages by multiple actors.

The second season takes place several months after the first, depicting the initial stories in 2020, 1987, and 1954, respectively, while continuing the future-set storyline into 2053, and adding a fifth storyline, set in 1921. The third season introduces a storyline based in 1888 and a parallel reality featuring alternate versions of many main characters.

Main characters

Character	Life stage	Description	Actor	Season
				1	2	3
Jonas Kahnwald	Child	A young boy	Jonas Gerzabek	Does not appear		Guest
	Teen	A high school student struggling with his father's suicide. Martha's love interest.	Louis Hofmann	Main
	Adult	A time traveller, known as "The Stranger"	Andreas Pietschmann	Main
	Elder	The leader of Sic Mundus, known as "Adam"	Dietrich Hollinderbäumer	Does not appear	Main
Hannah Kahnwald	Teen	Hannah Krüger, daughter of Sebastian Krüger, a secretive young girl	Ella Lee (de)	Main	Guest
	Adult	Jonas' mother and Michael's wife, a massage therapist; Silja Tiedemann's Mother	Maja Schöne	Main
Ines Kahnwald	Teen	A young girl	Lena Urzendowsky (de)	Recurring	Does not appear	Guest
	Adult	Michael's adoptive mother, a nurse	Anne Ratte-Polle (de)	Main		Guest
	Elder	Jonas' estranged grandmother	Angela Winkler	Main	Does not appear
Daniel Kahnwald	Adult	Ines' father, the Winden chief of police	Florian Panzner	Main	Guest
Martha Nielsen	Child	A young girl	Luna Arwen Krüger	Does not appear		Guest
	Teen	Ulrich and Katharina's middle Child, Bartosz's girlfriend and Jonas' love interest	Lisa Vicari	Main
	Adult	A survivor of the Apocalypse in an alternate reality, a member of Erit Lux, known as "Female Stranger"	Nina Kronjäger (de)	Does not appear		Main
	Elder	The leader of Erit Lux, known as "Eva"	Barbara Nüsse (de)	Does not appear		Main
Magnus Nielsen	Teen	Ulrich and Katharina's oldest Child, Franziska's boyfriend	Moritz Jahn	Main
	Adult	A member of Sic Mundus	Wolfram Koch (de)	Does not appear	Recurring	Main
Mikkel Nielsen	Child	Ulrich and Katharina's youngest child, who goes missing in 2019 and emerges in 1986	Daan Lennard Liebrenz	Main
	Adult	Hannah's husband and Jonas' father, called Michael Kahnwald, an artist who dies by suicide	Sebastian Rudolph (de)	Main	Guest
Ulrich Nielsen	Teen	A high school student struggling after his brother's disappearance	Ludger Bökelmann	Main	Does not appear	Guest
	Adult	Katharina's husband; Magnus, Martha and Mikkel's father; a police officer	Oliver Masucci	Main
	Elder	Patient in a psychiatric ward, known as "The Inspector"	Winfried Glatzeder	Does not appear	Main	Recurring
Katharina Nielsen	Teen	Ulrich's girlfriend, a high school student	Nele Trebs (de)	Main	Guest	Recurring
	Adult	Ulrich's wife; Magnus, Martha, and Mikkel's mother; a high school principal	Jördis Triebel	Main
Tronte Nielsen	Teen	Agnes and The Unknown's son, newly arrived in Winden	Joshio Marlon	Recurring	Guest
	Adult	Jana's husband; Ulrich and Mads' father; a journalist	Felix Kramer (de)	Main	Does not appear	Guest
	Elder	Jana's husband; Ulrich's father; Magnus, Martha, and Mikkel's grandfather	Walter Kreye	Main	Guest	Recurring
Jana Nielsen	Teen	A young girl	Rike Sindler	Recurring	Does not appear	Guest
	Adult	Tronte's wife; Ulrich and Mads' mother	Anne Lebinsky	Main	Does not appear	Guest
	Elder	Tronte's wife; Ulrich's mother; Magnus, Martha and Mikkel's grandmother	Tatja Seibt (de)	Main	Guest	Does not appear
Helene Albers	Child	A young pregnant girl	Mariella Aumann	Does not appear		Guest
	Adult	Katharina's abusive mother; a psychiatric nurse	Katharina Spiering	Does not appear	Guest	Main
Agnes Nielsen	Child	Bartosz and Silja's daughter; Noah's younger sister	Helena Pieske (de)	Does not appear	Guest	Does not appear
	Adult	Tronte's mother, newly returned to Winden	Antje Traue	Main	Recurring
Franziska Doppler	Teen	Peter and Charlotte's daughter, Elisabeth's sister, Magnus Nielsen's love interest	Gina Alice Stiebitz	Main
	Adult	A member of Sic Mundus	Carina Wiese	Does not appear	Main
Elisabeth Doppler	Child	Peter and Charlotte's daughter, Franziska's sister	Carlotta von Falkenhayn (de)	Main
	Adult	Charlotte's mother, leader of the survivors of the Winden apocalypse	Sandra Borgmann	Does not appear	Main
Peter Doppler	Teen	Helge's son who travelled to Winden after his mother's death	Pablo Striebeck	Does not appear		Guest
	Adult	Charlotte's husband; Franziska and Elisabeth's father; Jonas' psychologist	Stephan Kampwirth	Main
Charlotte Doppler	Baby	Elisabeth and Noah's infant		Does not appear		Guest
	Teen	An orphaned girl raised by her guardian, H.G. Tannhaus	Stephanie Amarell (de)	Main	Does not appear	Guest
	Adult	Peter's wife; Franziska and Elisabeth's mother; Winden chief of police	Karoline Eichhorn	Main
Helge Doppler	Child	Bernd and Greta's son	Tom Philipp	Main	Recurring
	Adult	Peter's father, a power plant guard	Peter Schneider	Main	Recurring	Guest
	Elder	Patient in a psychiatric ward	Hermann Beyer (de)	Main	Does not appear	Main
Bernd Doppler	Adult	Greta's husband; Helge's father, founder of the power plant	Anatole Taubman	Main	Does not appear	Guest
	Elder	Helge's father, former director of the power plant	Michael Mendl	Recurring	Guest
Greta Doppler	Adult	Bernd's wife, Helge's mother	Cordelia Wege (de)	Main	Recurring	Guest
H.G. Tannhaus	Adult	A clock-maker	Arnd Klawitter	Main	Guest	Recurring
	Elder	Charlotte's guardian, a clockmaker, lecturer in theoretical physics, and the author of A Journey Through Time	Christian Steyer (de)	Main	Guest	Main
Bartosz Tiedemann	Teen	Regina and Aleksander's son, Jonas' best friend and Martha's boyfriend	Paul Lux (de)	Main
	Adult	Noah and Agnes's father; a member of Sic Mundus	Roman Knižka (de)	Does not appear	Guest	Recurring
Regina Tiedemann	Teen	Claudia and Bernd's daughter	Lydia Makrides	Main		Guest
	Adult	Aleksander's wife, Bartosz's mother, a hotel manager	Deborah Kaufmann (de)	Main
Aleksander Tiedemann (Boris Niewald, later Aleksander Köhler)	Teen	A young man from Gießen, born as Boris Niewald, assuming the identity of a victim (Aleksander Köhler) of a bank run that he was involved in	Béla Gabor Lenz (de)	Guest
	Adult	Regina's husband, Bartosz's father, and director of the power plant	Peter Benedict	Main
Claudia Tiedemann	Child	Egon and Doris' daughter, Helge's tutor	Gwendolyn Göbel	Main	Guest
	Adult	Regina's mother, director of the power plant	Julika Jenkins	Main
	Elder	Jonas and Noah's mentor; a time traveller	Lisa Kreuzer	Recurring	Main	Recurring
Egon Tiedemann	Adult	Doris' husband; Claudia's father, a police officer	Sebastian Hülk (de)	Main	Recurring
	Elder	Claudia's father, a police chief inspector approaching retirement	Christian Pätzold (de)	Main		Recurring
Doris Tiedemann	Adult	Claudia's mother and Egon's wife	Luise Heyer	Main	Guest
Noah (Hanno Tauber)	Child	Bartosz and Silja's son	Till Patz	Does not appear		Guest
	Teen	Bartosz's son. Agnes' older brother, an acolyte of Sic Mundus	Max Schimmelpfennig (de)	Does not appear	Main
	Adult	Charlotte's biological father; a priest and member of Sic Mundus	Mark Waschke	Main
Silja Tiedemann	Child	Hannah and Egon's daughter, Jonas and Claudia's half-sister	Aurora Dervisi	Does not appear		Guest
	Teen	Elisabeth's interpreter, known as "Girl from the Future"	Lea van Acken	Guest	Main
	Adult	Noah and Agnes's mother	Lissy Pernthaler	Does not appear		Guest
The Unknown	Child	Jonas and Martha's son; a member of Erit Lux, believed to be 'the Origin' of the disruptions in time. The three Unknowns operate together to ensure the apocalypse occurs in both Adam and Eva's worlds.	Claude Heinrich	Does not appear		Main
	Adult		Jakob Diehl	Does not appear		Main
	Elder		Hans Diehl	Does not appear		Main
W. Clausen	Adult	A police inspector called to Winden to investigate the missing persons of 2019. Brother of the real Aleksander Köhler, whose identity was assumed by Boris Niewald, now Aleksander Tiedemann.	Sylvester Groth	Does not appear	Main	Does not appear

Recurring cast

• Jennipher Antoni as Ulla Obendorf, Erik Obendorf's mother in 2019 (season 1)
• Nils Brunkhorst as the high school's science teacher in 2019 (season 1, 3)
• Lena Dörrie as Clara Schrage, a nurse attending to Helge Doppler in 2019 (season 1)
• Tara Fischer as a friend of Katharina in 1986–1987 (season 1–3)
• Leopold Hornung as Torben Wöller, a junior police officer in 2019–2020, Benni/Bernadette's brother (season 1–3)
• Tom Jahn as Jürgen Obendorf, Erik Obendorf's father in 2019–2020 (season 1–3)
• Anna König as Edda Heimann, a pathologist in 2019 (season 1, 3)
• Vico Mücke as Yasin Friese, Elisabeth Doppler's friend in 2019 (season 1)
• Henning Peker as Udo Meier, a pathologist in 1953–1954 (season 1–2)
• Barbara Philipp as Selma Ahrens, a caseworker in 1986 (season 1)
• Paul Radom as Erik Obendorf, a teenage drug dealer gone missing in 2019 (season 1)
• Anton Rubtsov as Benni/Bernadette, a transgender prostitute in 2019–2020, Torben's sister (season 1–3)
• Sammy Scheuritzel as Kilian Obendorf, Erik Obendorf's brother and Martha and Bartosz's classmate in 2019's alternative world (season 1, 3)
• Anna Schönberg as Donata Kraus, a nurse and Ines Kahnwald's co-worker in 1986 (season 1)
• Andreas Schröders as a power plant worker in 2020 (season 2)
• Mieke Schymura as Justyna Jankowski, a junior police officer in 2019–2020 (season 1–3)
• Axel Werner as Gustav Tannhaus, H.G. Tannhaus' grandfather and an industrialist fascinated with time travel (season 3)
• Lea Willkowsky as Jasmin Trewen, Claudia Tiedemann's secretary in 1986–1987 (season 1–3)
• Roland Wolf as a police officer and co-worker of Egon Tiedemann in 1953–1954 (season 1–2)

Family tree

Season 1 family tree

The Doppler, Nielsen, Kahnwald and Tiedemann Families

Season 2 family tree

The Doppler, Nielsen, Kahnwald and Tiedemann Families

Season 3 family tree

Families from Jonas' world

Episodes

Series		Episodes		Originally released
	1	10		1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
	2	8		21 June 2019 (2019-06-21)
	3	8		27 June 2020 (2020-06-27)

Season 1 (2017)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"Secrets" "Geheimnisse"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese	1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
In June 2019, 43-year-old Michael Kahnwald commits suicide, but his mother Ines hides his suicide letter before anyone else notices it. On 4 November, after nearly two months of treatment at a psychiatric facility, Michael's teenage son Jonas returns to school and reunites with his best friend Bartosz Tiedemann, who is now dating Jonas' love interest, Martha. Erik Obendorf, the high school's main supplier of marijuana, has been missing for two weeks, and police officer Ulrich Nielsen – the father of Martha and her brothers, teenager Magnus and pre-teen Mikkel – has been assigned the investigation, which struggles to uncover any clues. Meanwhile, Ulrich is cheating on his wife, high school principal Katharina, with Jonas' mother Hannah. While searching for Erik's stash of drugs in a cave not far from the town's soon-to-be-closed-down nuclear power plant, Jonas, Bartosz, the three Nielsen children, and Franziska Doppler are frightened by strange sounds and their flickering flashlights, and Mikkel disappears as they flee the cave. The next day, the body of a young boy is discovered, but it is not Mikkel. At an unknown location, a hooded figure straps Erik to a chair, while clamping a mechanism around his head.
2	2	"Lies" "Lügen"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Ronny Schalk	1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
Mikkel's disappearance brings back memories from 1986 when Ulrich's younger brother Mads vanished, and Ulrich starts believing that the disappearances of Erik, Mikkel, and the body of the third boy are related. While searching the caves, he finds a locked door leading to the nearby nuclear power plant, and although Ulrich's request to enter the power plant is refused by its director Aleksander Tiedemann, Bartosz's father, he is still able to clear the father of Erik Obendorf, a power plant driver, from his list of suspects. Police chief Charlotte Doppler is informed that the dead boy, dressed in a 1980s outfit, died only 16 hours earlier, and that his ears were destroyed by extreme pressure. Later, as lights start flickering and birds fall dead from the sky, Charlotte grows even more concerned. Meanwhile, an unkempt stranger checks into the hotel owned by Bartosz's mother Regina. Ulrich's mother Jana lies to Ulrich, claiming that her husband Tronte was with her the night of Mad's disappearance, while knowing he had left their house. At dawn, a disoriented Mikkel wakes up in the cave and runs home, only to discover what date he now lives in: November 5th, 1986.
3	3	"Past and Present" "Gestern und Heute"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Marc O. Seng	1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
In 1986, four weeks after the disappearance of Mads Nielsen, a desperate Mikkel is taken in by police officer Egon Tiedemann, who suspects he has been beaten by the teenage Ulrich. Mikkel is brought to the hospital by nurse Ines Kahnwald, who gains his trust. At the nuclear plant, newly elected director Claudia Tiedemann, Egon's daughter and Regina's mother, clashes with her predecessor Bernd Doppler, who informs her of secret barrels hidden in the nearby caves. Bernd's son, guard Helge, gives Claudia a book: Eine Reise durch die Zeit (A Journey Through Time) by H. G. Tannhaus. Meanwhile, as the town's electricity is flickering, a teenage Charlotte starts investigating the deaths of multiple birds, while shy young Hannah has an unrequited crush on Ulrich, and Regina is being bullied and engages in self-harm. A flock of sheep is found dead from cardiac arrest with their eardrums ruptured, and, in an undisclosed location, a man surrounded by clocks tinkers with a brass machine. Mikkel sneaks away from the hospital and returns to the caves; after injuring himself, he calls for help. In 2019, Ulrich, also having returned to the caves, hears his faint calls, but they are unable to see each other.
4	4	"Double Lives" "Doppelleben"	Baran bo Odar	Martin Behnke & Jantje Friese	1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
In 2019, Jonas finds maps and notes about the caves in his family's garage, while Charlotte tries to find a connection between the disappeared boys and the dead birds, which – just like the dead boy – are found to have burst eardrums. The birds also show similar symptoms to birds found after the Chernobyl disaster, and Charlotte suspects connections to the Winden events of 1986. Meanwhile, her marriage to psychologist Peter is crumbling since he was discovered to be having an affair with a transgender prostitute, and she finds evidence that Peter was out driving the night of Mikkel's disappearance, despite him claiming otherwise. Their oldest daughter, Franziska, confides in Magnus Nielsen that she plans to leave Winden due to her parents' wrecked marriage. Franziska's deaf younger sister, Elisabeth, goes missing after school, but eventually returns home, explaining that she met a mysterious man, Noah, who gave her a watch once belonging to Charlotte. Meanwhile, Peter's father Helge, who is suffering from dementia, is found roaming the forest, claiming that he "must stop Noah". The next morning, a hooded figure approaches Elisabeth's friend, Yasin, and tells him that Noah has sent him.
5	5	"Truths" "Wahrheiten"	Baran bo Odar	Martin Behnke & Jantje Friese	1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
In 1986, Mikkel is in the hospital after breaking his leg in the cave, and is visited by a priest: Noah. After having witnessed Ulrich and Katharina having sex, Hannah falsely tells the police that she saw Ulrich rape Katharina, and Ulrich is arrested. In 2019, with Yasin also vanished, panic is starting to spread, and Charlotte accuses Peter of being involved in the boys' disappearances. Hannah wants to resume her affair with Ulrich, but he angrily refuses. At the hotel, the Stranger tells Regina to deliver a package to Jonas while he is away for a few days, and at Michael's grave, the Stranger approaches Jonas, telling him that his father once saved his life. Bartosz meets Erik Obendorf's drug supplier, who is shown to be the same priest who visited Mikkel 33 years earlier. Later, Jonas receives the Stranger's package, containing a light, a Geiger counter, and Michael's suicide letter. In the letter Jonas' father explains that on 4 November 2019, he travelled back to 1986, where he stayed and grew up, raised by Ines, eventually marrying Hannah and fathering Jonas. Thus Mikkel Nielsen became Michael Kahnwald.
6	6	"Sic Mundus Creatus Est" (transl. Thus the World Was Created)	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Ronny Schalk	1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
In 2019, Mikkel's family struggles not to turn against each other, Regina discovers that she has breast cancer, and Ulrich learns that his father was having an affair with Claudia at the time of Mads' disappearance. After learning that Regina was the last one to see Mads in 1986, Ulrich confronts her, and while she admits to resenting him for bullying her during their childhood, she also makes him see that Hannah was the one framing him for rape. Visiting the morgue, Ulrich finally realises that the dead boy is Mads, not aged since 33 years ago. Meanwhile, Jonas fails to tell his mother about the suicide letter but enters the caves armed with his father's notes and the equipment from the package sent by the Stranger. Within the caves, he finds a door with a Latin phrase, Sic mundus creatus est ("Thus the world was created"), and after crawling through to the other side, he notices flyers put up for the missing Mads Nielsen. A van drives by and stops; in it are 14-year-old Hannah and her father Sebastian, offering Jonas a ride in the rain, warning him about acid rain from the recent Chernobyl disaster.
7	7	"Crossroads" "Kreuzwege"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Marc O. Seng	1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
In 2019, the police are finally allowed to enter the power plant, and Charlotte finds a welded shut door in the caves. Meanwhile, Ulrich finds Egon's 1986 notes, making Helge a suspect, and visits him at the nursing home. Frightened, Helge claims to be able to change the past and future. Ulrich is suspended from work and Katharina confronts him about his affair. Charlotte discovers that the cave system goes beneath an old cabin owned by Helge, and later she receives a voice message from Ulrich, stating that Helge is the kidnapper, but that the question is not how he is doing it, but when. Late at night, Helge leaves the nursing home, followed by Ulrich, who brings a book from Helge's room: Eine Reise durch die Zeit by H.G. Tannhaus. In 1986, Helge, who was working at the plant the night Mads disappeared, is questioned by Egon about his whereabouts. The Stranger warns Jonas that taking Mikkel back home will result in Jonas never being born. Katharina unsuccessfully attempts to convince Egon that Ulrich never raped her, and Helge and Noah prepare to move Yasin's dead body from a bunker behind Helge's cabin.
8	8	"As You Sow, so You Shall Reap" "Was man sät, das wird man ernten"	Baran bo Odar	Martin Behnke & Jantje Friese	1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
In 1953, birds begin to die, and the unidentified bodies of Erik and Yasin are discovered. Police chief Daniel Kahnwald (Ines' father) and officer Egon Tiedemann are puzzled by the boys' odd outfits. Ulrich arrives from 2019 and meets several locals, including newcomer Agnes Nielsen and her son Tronte, who are about to rent a room in the Tiedemann house, and a watchmaker named H.G. Tannhaus, who disclaims knowledge of the book found in Helge's 2019 home. Through the young Ines and Jana, Ulrich learns of the two bodies, and when introduced to the 9-year-old Helge, he believes killing him will save the lives of the boys. He bludgeons Helge, and leaves him for dead in the bunker. Later, Tannhaus finds Ulrich's smartphone. In 1986, the Stranger meets with an elderly Tannhaus, who shares his theory of time travel through wormholes. The Stranger confirms his theories and states that such a wormhole, allowing people to travel 33 years into the past or into the future, exists in Winden. He asks Tannhaus to fix a broken brass device of his, so he can destroy the wormhole. Tannhaus later brings out the original version of the device, studying them side by side.
9	9	"Everything Is Now" "Alles ist Jetzt"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Marc O. Seng	1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
In 1986, Ulrich is freed from rape accusations, and Hannah secretly discovers that a newly arrived young man, who calls himself Aleksander Köhler, is living under a false identity. Claudia encounters her dog Gretchen, who disappeared in 1953, alive and well by the caves, and starts to read Tannhaus' book. When Bernd admits that the hidden barrels contain byproducts of a small meltdown, Claudia hires Aleksander to secretly weld shut the door to them. In an argument with Helge (revealing that the abducted boys died from Noah's attempt to create a time machine) Noah states his mission to free humanity, likening himself to the Biblical Noah. In 2019, Hannah uses her knowledge of Aleksander's past to blackmail him into destroying Ulrich's life, while Regina discovers the Stranger's research. Bartosz is approached by an elderly Claudia, his supposedly dead grandmother. Hannah lies to Katharina that Ulrich wanted to leave his family, and Jonas breaks things off with Martha. Later, Bartosz meets with Noah and agrees to join him. In 1953, Helge has been reported missing, and Noah – appearing the same age as in 1986 and 2019 – offers pastoral support to Helge's mother, Greta. Ulrich is arrested and confesses to murdering Helge. The Claudia of 2019 enters Tannhaus' shop with blueprints for the brass machine, asking him to build it for her.
10	10	"Alpha and Omega" "Alpha und Omega"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Ronny Schalk	1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
During the night of Mikkel's disappearance, Peter is visiting the solitude of Helge's cabin when Mads' body suddenly appears. He calls Tronte to the cabin, and Claudia arrives, telling them to move the corpse. In 1986, Noah and Helge kidnap Jonas, who has returned to bring Mikkel back to 2019. Also having returned to 1986, the elderly Helge is later killed while attempting to stop his younger self by driving a car into him. Jonas wakes in the bunker, accompanied by the Stranger, who reveals himself to be the adult Jonas and leaves to destroy the wormhole by using the brass machine, which Tannhaus has completed from the broken version brought by the adult Jonas and Ulrich's smartphone. In 2019, Charlotte finds a 1953 article on Helge's kidnapping, including a photo of Ulrich, in the archives. Noah tells Bartosz that Claudia is their main adversary, and that the adult Jonas, unwittingly, is about to create the wormhole. In 1953, 9-year-old Helge regains consciousness as the wormhole appears, connecting him to Jonas in 1986. As they reach out to each other, Helge is transported to 1986, while Jonas awakes in a post-apocalyptic Winden of 2052,[13] getting knocked out by an armed girl.

Season 2 (2019)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
11	1	"Beginnings and Endings" "Anfänge und Enden"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Daphne Ferraro	21 June 2019 (2019-06-21)
In 1921, outside Winden, two men are building a passage into the cave that would later be used as the portal. One of them, a young Noah, kills the other with a pick-ax on suspicions that he "lost [his] faith". The younger Noah is guided by his older self, a member of a group of time travellers called Sic Mundus, led by the disfigured and mysterious Adam, who tells the older Noah to retrieve the missing pages of Claudia's diary in preparation for an "apocalypse" that will occur on 27 June 2020. On 21 June 2020, six days before the apocalypse, things in Winden have grown tense. An investigator, Clausen, arrives to assist Charlotte and the police force with their investigations in the disappearances, which now include Helge, Jonas, and Ulrich. Katharina searches the cave for answers. Martha breaks up with Bartosz, who is now working with Noah. The adult Jonas from the future makes his identity known to his mother, Hannah. Aleksander has his men move a truck of radioactive waste into the power plant. In 2053, the teenage Jonas is still stuck in post-apocalyptic Winden, having learned of the impending apocalypse. He plans to stop it but is under strict watch by the adult Elisabeth, who survived the apocalypse and now leads a group of survivors. She forbids anyone to enter the power plant, now known as the Dead Zone, under penalty of death. Jonas enters the Dead Zone, ignoring her rules, and finds a large, floating amorphous sphere inside the particle reactor.
12	2	"Dark Matter" "Dunkle Materie"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Ronny Schalk	21 June 2019 (2019-06-21)
In 1987, Mikkel struggles to live his new life as Michael with Ines as his guardian. The old Claudia visits her younger self to inform her about time travel, giving her coordinates of a time machine buried in her backyard. Egon is now retired and suffering from advanced cancer, and doubts his actions regarding the dead children's bodies in 1953. He interviews Helge and goes to the local psychiatric facility to visit an old Ulrich, who spent 34 years in captivity after being mistakenly accused of murder. Ulrich rebuffs Egon for his naivety. In 2020, five days before the apocalypse, Clausen and Charlotte interview Regina, who is suffering from breast cancer. She discusses the Stranger who was at her hotel during the disappearances and left his belongings, which included pages from Tannhaus' book. The newfound evidence makes Charlotte, who was raised by Tannhaus, question her origins. The adult Jonas informs Hannah about time travel and takes her to 1987, where they find Mikkel in Ines' house. In 2053, Jonas learns via recordings by Claudia about the "God Particle", the sphere in the reactor that can be used as a portal for time travel. He steals fuel for the portal but is caught by the adult Elisabeth, who initially hangs him in public, but spares him and jails him instead. Silja, Elisabeth's interpreter, doubts Elisabeth's stance and frees Jonas. They go to the Dead Zone, where they successfully access the God Particle. Jonas heads inside, leaving Silja alone.
13	3	"Ghosts" "Gespenster"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Marc O. Seng	21 June 2019 (2019-06-21)
In 1954, a young and disfigured Helge returns after being missing for seven months but refuses to talk to anyone but Noah, with whom he spent the last seven months in 1987 building a new time machine. Doris cheats on her husband, Egon, with Agnes. The elderly Claudia later meets with Agnes, a former member of Sic Mundus. Agnes meets with Noah, her brother, and tells him the location of the missing pages in hopes of rejoining Sic Mundus. Claudia delivers Tannhaus' book to him and visits her father's younger self and apologises to him, to his confusion. Claudia encounters Noah in the forest, who kills her. Noah retrieves the missing pages and is dismayed by his findings. He lies to Adam about finding the pages. Egon unsuccessfully interviews Helge and visits an unresponsive Ulrich in jail. In 1987, Egon visits the older Ulrich at the asylum. Ulrich tells Egon his identity, which reminds Egon of claims Mikkel made when he first appeared in 1986. After interviewing Ines, Egon shows older Ulrich a photo of Mikkel. Ulrich attacks Egon and is restrained. Claudia visits Helge and then uses the time machine she found to travel to 2020; she cries upon seeing a dying Regina at her home.
14	4	"The Travelers" "Die Reisenden"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Martin Behnke	21 June 2019 (2019-06-21)
An injured Jonas finds himself in Winden at the year 1921, where he is nursed by the inhabitants. He has a brief encounter with the younger Noah and his sister Agnes. He then tries to head back to 2020 through the portal, only to find himself stuck because the portal had yet to be built. The younger Noah takes Jonas to the church, where he meets the older Noah, who escorts him to meet Adam, who reveals himself to be an elderly Jonas. In 2020, adult Jonas and Hannah meet Charlotte and Peter at the bunker and they discuss the existence of time travel, which they also reveal to a sceptical Katharina. The 1987 version of Claudia time travels to 2020 and heads to the public library, where she discovers Egon's death; she then travels back to 1987. A suspicious Clausen interviews Aleksander, who reveals his original surname – Köhler – before he married Regina. Martha, Magnus, Franziska, and Elisabeth visit the cave, where they find Bartosz carrying the time machine. The kids take the time machine and leave Bartosz tied up in the cave. Katharina searches class photos from 1987 and identifies Mikkel, confirming Jonas' claims. In 2053, Silja walks outside the Dead Zone, where she is confronted by the adult Elisabeth at gunpoint. They have a heated conversation in which Elisabeth admits her knowledge of the God Particle.
15	5	"Lost and Found" "Vom Suchen und Finden"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Ronny Schalk	21 June 2019 (2019-06-21)
In 1921, Adam discusses his philosophy with Jonas, who is dismayed by the callous person he is to become. Adam tells Jonas about a "loophole" that will change the past and shows him a God Particle that will take him to any time he wants. Jonas decides to go to the day before Michael kills himself to convince him not to do it. In 1987, Claudia invites Egon to move in with her in hopes of preventing his impending death. The imprisoned Ulrich escapes the psychiatric ward to visit Mikkel at the Kahnwald house. After a conversation, Mikkel realises that the old man is actually his father. Ulrich tries to take Mikkel to the cave but is apprehended by the police. Ines recovers Mikkel and Ulrich returns to the ward. In 2020, Katharina attempts to explain to Magnus and Martha what she discovered but is rebuffed by her children for her distant behaviour. Katharina then approaches Hannah for help understanding time travel. Adult Jonas leaves Martha a necklace at the Nielsen's house and goes to the Doppler's house to help Charlotte, who explains that Tannhaus is not her real grandfather and that she never learned her parents' identities. Magnus, Martha, Franziska, and Elisabeth return to the caves, where Bartosz explains the time machine before taking them to 1987. Noah visits Charlotte at Tannhaus's workshop, revealing to her that she is his daughter.
16	6	"An Endless Cycle" "Ein unendlicher Kreis"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Martin Behnke	21 June 2019 (2019-06-21)
Jonas travels back to 20 June 2019 to stop Michael from killing himself. Jonas' 2019 self goes to the beach with Martha, Bartosz, and Magnus; Michael has a tense encounter with his child self; Charlotte and Peter struggle with communication in the wake of Peter's affair; Aleksander fears that his past will catch up to him. After witnessing his 2019 self leaving the lake, 2020 Jonas shares an intimate moment with Martha. 2019 Jonas and Hannah arrive at the Nielsen family home on Ulrich and Katharina's anniversary, where Jonas has sex with Martha and Ulrich starts his affair with Hannah. 2020 Jonas reconciles with his father as he tries to convince him to not kill himself, except Michael claims he's not considering suicide and reveals that Jonas was the one who led young Mikkel into the portal in the first place. After reading his suicide note, Michael suggests that perhaps the real reason Jonas is there is to inform Michael of what he must do and what he must write. The elderly Claudia arrives at the house and convinces Jonas and Michael that Michael must die in 2019 as an adult and Mikkel must travel to the past as a child so that Jonas can be conceived, as his role in the cycle is greater than he believes. In 1921, two members of Sic Mundus — one an elder version of Magnus — share concerns with Adam.
17	7	"The White Devil" "Der weiße Teufel"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Marc O. Seng	21 June 2019 (2019-06-21)
1954: Egon learns from the coroner that Claudia, discovered shot to death, had unusual amounts of radiation exposure. They believe that perhaps she could have been the one who held Helge captive, but Helge says "he" told her about Claudia, the White Devil. Hannah travels to 1954, identifying herself as Katharina Nielsen and asking to see the imprisoned Ulrich at the asylum. She asks Ulrich to choose between her or Katharina; he insists he would leave Katharina for her if she helps him get out, but she does not believe him and coldly walks away. She tells Egon the man is not her husband. 1987: Claudia tries to prevent the death of her father. Egon wonders why Ulrich tried to get to the caves again, but Claudia insists there is nothing there. He realises she knows about time travel and is selfishly using the caves for her own gain. They struggle for the telephone and he falls and hits his head. The dying Egon tells her she is the White Devil. After she returns to her own home, 2020 Jonas arrives, using a key the older Claudia had given him. He tells her they still may be able to change the events. 2020: Martha meets adult Jonas and is shocked to learn from Katharina that he is her nephew. Clausen confronts Aleksander about his background and informs him that in 1986 his own brother disappeared and that his name was Aleksander Köhler. Clausen shows him an anonymous note explaining that the answers to his brother's disappearance could be found in Winden. Aleksander says nothing.
18	8	"Endings and Beginnings" "Enden und Anfänge"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Daphne Ferraro	21 June 2019 (2019-06-21)
Bartosz delivers the final message from elder Claudia to Regina: a picture of the two of them from 1986. Young Jonas and Claudia wander through the caves with the machine, and Jonas explains to Claudia that her elder self taught him how to save the world, whereas Adam wants to destroy it. Wöller tells Charlotte that he helped Aleksander bury the radioactive waste in the power plant and she believes that Clausen entering the area will provoke the apocalypse. Noah reveals to Adam that he found the final pages and tries to kill Adam, but the gun does not fire. Adam says he cannot be killed because that is "not his fate". He then explains that Elisabeth will become Noah's wife and therefore Charlotte's mother. Magnus, Franziska, and Agnes arrive. Agnes uses Noah's gun to kill him, which now works. Young Jonas and Claudia turn on the time machine in the caves, thus connecting the past and future. Young Noah visits elder Jonas in his 2020 house and gives him a letter from Martha. Young Jonas and Martha reunite but are interrupted by Adam who shoots Martha. In the power plant, Clausen forces the opening of the radioactive waste drums which contain rocks soiled with dark matter. In 2053, Elisabeth turns on the machine, simultaneously as Magnus and Franziska do so in 1921. The dark matter in 2020 is then activated and begins to take on shape. As Katharina enters the cave and opens the Sic Mundus gate, the dark matter creates a portal connecting Elisabeth in 2053 to Charlotte in 2020. As the apocalypse ensues, Young Jonas is met by another version of Martha who turns on an alternate time machine and says that she is not from another time, but from another world.

Season 3 (2020)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
19	1	"Deja-vu"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese	27 June 2020 (2020-06-27)
In 1987, the "Unknown" - a time traveler appearing as his child, adult, and elder selves at the same time - burns down the Sic Mundus church, and later assassinates Bernd Doppler in his home, stealing the keys to the nuclear power plant. Amidst the apocalypse in 2020, Jonas and the "other" Martha travel to a parallel world where Jonas was never born. As of November 2019 in this alternate dimension, Hannah is pregnant and married to Ulrich; Ulrich is having an affair with Charlotte; Katharina and Ulrich were divorced; Franziska is deaf instead of Elisabeth; Peter is a pastor instead of a psychologist; Martha is dating Erik Obendorf's brother Kilian instead of Bartosz; Regina has already passed away. Martha then disappears again before Jonas can find out more information. Jonas later meets an elderly Martha, who tells him that even though he doesn't exist in this world, it will nonetheless fall apart again and again. Alternate-dimension Martha travels back to 21 September 1888 to meet adult Jonas, who has spent the past months building a device to activate the God Particle. The adult Jonas appears to be meeting her for the first time. Martha informs him she has come to find the origin of events in each of their worlds.
20	2	"The Survivors" "Die Überlebenden"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Marc O. Seng	27 June 2020 (2020-06-27)
In 1888, Franziska, Magnus, Bartosz, and adult Jonas learn about the second world from alternate-dimension Martha in the Tannhaus Machinery Factory. Bartosz tells Martha how they arrived in 1888. The elderly Gustav Tannhaus - H.G. Tannhaus' grandfather - promises Jonas he can create a paradise. Bartosz shows Martha a secret lodge where Heinrich Tannhaus (Gustav's father) attempted to build a time machine to prevent the death of his wife - this lodge eventually becomes the Sic Mundus headquarters. Martha reveals to Bartosz that Jonas is Adam. In 1987, adult Katharina visits Ulrich in the psychiatric ward and promises to get him out. Tronte's marriage with Jana is strained following Mads' death and Tronte's affair with Claudia. Tronte visits Regina, who he believes is his child, and decides to stop investigating Claudia's disappearance for the sake of his marriage. Meanwhile, the Unknown breaks into the power plant and murders Claudia's secretary. In September 2020, three months after the apocalypse, adult Claudia is nursing an ailing Regina while working to find a way to save those that perished in the apocalypse. While Claudia is away, Regina is visited by the elderly Tronte, who reluctantly smothers her to death. Peter and Elisabeth look for Charlotte and Fransizka and learn that a perimeter wall will be built around Winden. They encounter the teenage Noah, who is now sleeping in the Winden caves; he says that he will protect Elisabeth after Peter is killed. In alternate-dimension 2019, the elderly Martha shows Jonas the full Winden family tree. She tells him that the two worlds are doomed to the same fate, and that in her world, the apocalypse will happen in just three days.
21	3	"Adam and Eva" "Adam und Eva"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese	27 June 2020 (2020-06-27)
In 1888, the Unknown murders Gustav Tannhaus. Bartosz gets into a fight with Jonas, enraged that he didn't tell the group that he is Adam. Martha convinces Jonas she can be trusted by giving him a capsule that can activate the God Particle. Jonas attempts to activate the particle, but the power fails. Martha uses the distraction to travel to 2053, where she is revealed to be taking orders from Adam. In alternate-dimension 2019, the elderly Martha tells Jonas that she is "Eva" – Adam's counterpart in this world – and that her connection with Jonas ties the two worlds in an inseparable "knot". Eva claims that whereas she wants to save both worlds, Adam wants to destroy them, and that if Jonas wants Martha to live, he must guide the Martha of Eva's world to eventually become Eva herself. Later, the Unknown is shown to be working for Eva and delivers her the keys to the nuclear power plant's volume control system. Elsewhere in Eva's world, Ulrich informs his staff that Kilian, Bartosz, Franziska, Magnus, and Martha found the unidentified body of a child from the 1980s bearing Mads Nielsen's ID card. Charlotte visits the bunker and finds Helge's pendant. Hannah learns of Ulrich's affair and blackmails Aleksander to ruin Charlotte's life. Helge confesses to the police that he killed Mads. Jonas explains his appearance in alternate-dimension Winden to the 2019 Martha, and takes her through the wormhole in the cave. The two emerge in a desert landscape and are approached by an adult Martha, who tells them they are in the future.
22	4	"The Origin" "Der Ursprung"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese	27 June 2020 (2020-06-27)
In 1954, young Tronte meets the Unknown, who tells him he met his mother long ago and is responsible for his name (implying he is Tronte's father). He gives Tronte a bracelet shaped like an ouroboros. Egon is having an affair with the adult Hannah (living under Katharina's identity) and gives her the St. Christopher pendant. Doris comes to Egon looking for help to find Agnes Nielsen, and later meets the Unknown in the church, who suggests to her that Egon is having an affair. Hannah discovers she is pregnant and tells Egon, who questions whether it is his and gives her money for an abortion. Egon attempts to reconcile with Doris, but she decides to divorce him, which eventually leads Egon down his path of alcoholism. Hannah meets a young Helene Albers – Katharina's future mother – while awaiting an abortion, but reconsiders and leaves the St. Christopher necklace Egon had given to her. Jana is given the ouroboros bracelet by Tronte and begins to fall in love with him, while Tronte has his first sexual experiences with Claudia. The Unknown threatens the Winden mayor into signing the building permit for the nuclear power plant. Adam has moved Sic Mundus' base of operations to 2053. Agnes and Adam watch the God Particle in safety, and Agnes says she knows the true origin of the cycle. She later enters the God Particle. In 2052 in Eva's world - which has been turned into a desert wasteland by the apocalypse - Jonas and Martha meet in the bunker with the adult Martha, who tells them they can prevent the apocalypse if they can stop the opening of the barrels in the power plant, but that only one of the worlds can be saved from it and that Jonas must choose Eva over his world's Martha. After they leave, Noah of Eva's world arrives at the bunker and observes the family tree with the adult Martha, remarking that the Winden family lineage is in fact an infinite circle that originates from Jonas and Martha. Martha and Jonas return to 2019 and have passionate sex. Meanwhile, in 2053 in Adam's world, Adam reveals to Martha that she is pregnant, and that her child with Jonas - the Unknown - is the origin of the family tree.
23	5	"Life and Death" "Leben und Tod"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese	27 June 2020 (2020-06-27)
In 1987, Katharina tries to free Ulrich and makes a plan to steal a keycard from her mother Helene, who works at the psychiatric facility. She follows Helene through the woods, but a confrontation ensues, which ends with Helene bludgeoning Katharina to death with a rock and drowning her body in the lake. She unwittingly drops the St. Christopher pendant on the shore (where it will later be found by Martha in 2019). Meanwhile, H.G. Tannhaus reveals to a teenage Charlotte that she was given to him by two mysterious women shortly after his son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter were killed in a car accident, saying he does not know who her parents really are. An upset Charlotte later meets Peter at the bus station, who arrives in Winden to meet his father, Helge, for the first time. In 2020, Peter continues to look for his eldest daughter and wife. Elisabeth tries to get him to admit they are dead and refuses to continue searching. Returning to their trailer, she is met by an intruder who ties her up and later tries to rape her. Peter returns and tries to save her but is murdered by the burglar. Elisabeth bludgeons the burglar to death with a fire extinguisher. She goes to the cave and is found by Noah. Meanwhile, Claudia is met by her counterpart from Eva's world, who warns her that Jonas will eventually become Adam and attempt to destroy both worlds to untie the knot of events binding them together. Claudia's alternate self assigns her the task of saving both worlds, and gives her the triquetra journal for the first time. In 2053, Adam persuades Charlotte to carry out a task for him. She and Elisabeth bid farewell to Franziska and then enter the God Particle. In 2019 in Eva's world, Jonas leads Martha to the power plant to prevent the apocalypse, but after she injures her face in a similar manner to a scar on Eva's face, he realizes that Eva lied to him and they are merely perpetuating the cycle of events in her world. He and Martha go to confront Eva, who appears with her middle-aged self. She tells Jonas he has completed what he needs to do in her world, before another teenage Martha, bearing a large scar across her face, emerges from behind a door and shoots and kills Jonas.
24	6	"Light and Shadow" "Licht und Schatten"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese & Marc O. Seng	27 June 2020 (2020-06-27)
In 2020, Claudia goes to the abandoned power plant and finds the God Particle in a dormant state. She is met by Jonas, who is apparently still alive. Claudia convinces Jonas to help her restore the God Particle. In 2052 in Eva's world, Eva explains to her scarred teenage self that Martha's death in Adam's world is the point at which two parallel realities overlap: in one scenario, Jonas is saved from the apocalypse by the alternate Martha and brought to Eva's world, where he is eventually killed; a second scenario exists where Jonas is not met by the alternate Martha and instead lives on in his own world, eventually becoming Adam. Eva says that these divergent chains of events coexist in quantum entanglement. Martha travels to the day of the apocalypse in Eva's world and tries to seek help from Magnus, who rebuffs her. She then reaches out to Bartosz, telling him that the apocalypse will be triggered by the opening of the barrels in the power plant. Aleksander, ignoring Hannah's blackmail attempt, calls Charlotte to the power plant in an attempt to clear his name with the police. Unable to reach Aleksander, Martha and Bartosz race to the power plant, but are intercepted by the adult Magnus and Franziska from Adam's world, who explain that Eva lied to her. They send Martha on her mission to rescue Jonas from the apocalypse. Bartosz is met by his adult self, who was sent by Eva alongside the other acolytes of Erit Lux (her world's counterpart to Sic Mundus) – Noah (as an adult and a teenager), Claudia, Egon, and the adult Martha – to complete her world's cycle of events. Meanwhile, the Unknowns travel to the year 1986 in both worlds to trigger the release of radioactive cesium waste at the power plant - this is the incident that eventually results in both the creation of the wormhole in the cave as well as the apocalypse. In 2019, Aleksander and Charlotte open a barrel of the radioactive waste at the power plant, inadvertently releasing the dark matter and causing the apocalypse to erupt in Eva's world. In 2053 in Adam's world, Adam takes Martha prisoner. He tries to destroy the origin by activating the God Particle at the time of the apocalypse in both worlds and releasing the energy of both apocalypses onto Martha, killing her and the child forever.
25	7	"In Between Time" "Zwischen der Zeit"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese	27 June 2020 (2020-06-27)
This episode traces the sequence of various events from 1888 to 2054 that complete the cycle of events in Winden. The episode starts with H.G. Tannhaus' explanation of the Schrodinger's cat paradox, which serves as a metaphor for the two branching sequences of events during the 2020 apocalypse – in one, Martha from Eva's world saves Jonas from the apocalypse, and in the other, she is stopped by Bartosz, who was sent by his adult self on Eva's orders. In this scenario, Bartosz takes Martha back to her world to face Eva, who instructs her to kill Jonas when he arrives at the Erit Lux headquarters with the 2019 Martha. Eva scars Martha's face to remind her whose side she is on. In 1890, Bartosz meets Silja, who was sent from 2053 by Adam. They go on to have two children together in 1904 and 1910 respectively: Hanno (Noah) and Agnes (whose birth results in Silja's death). In 1911, Hannah arrives with a young Silja to stay with Jonas, who has begun to transform into Adam. Jonas strangles Hannah to death and takes Silja in as an eventual member of Sic Mundus. From 1974 to 1986, H.G. Tannhaus is shown building his own time machine in the bunker, in an attempt to prevent the deaths of his son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. In 2023, Jonas and Claudia fail to reactivate the God Particle. Jonas attempts suicide out of despair but is stopped by the teenage Noah. Noah proves to Jonas that he cannot kill himself, seeing as his adult self already exists, and reminds him of his commitment to helping Noah and Claudia restore the God Particle. This effort continues through 2041, by which point Elisabeth has given birth to Charlotte. The adult Elisabeth and Charlotte from 2053 travel to 2041 to kidnap baby Charlotte (who they eventually deliver to Tannhaus). Noah suspects that Claudia is responsible, which leads to his pursuit of the missing pages in Claudia's notebook and his eventual initiation into Sic Mundus by Adam in 1920. Meanwhile, Claudia - who has been deliberately stalling the restoration of the God Particle on her alternate self's orders - kills her alternate self and begins posing as her to keep up appearances to Eva, all the while collecting knowledge about the cycle of events between both worlds. In 2052, the elderly Claudia sends the adult Jonas on his mission to Winden in 2019, establishing the cycle of events that began in the first season. In 2053, Adam's attempt to destroy the Origin fails to erase his existence, baffling him. He is then met by an elderly Claudia, who tells him she knows how the worlds are connected.
26	8	"Paradise" "Das Paradies"	Baran bo Odar	Jantje Friese	27 June 2020 (2020-06-27)
In 2053, Claudia explains to Adam how he and Eva are tied in an inextricable triquetra knot that has an origin outside both their worlds, and that the two have been endlessly repeating the cycle (which includes Adam's attempts to end it). Claudia directs Adam to prevent the origin in a third, original world – where H.G. Tannhaus created a time machine to prevent the death of his son's family, which inadvertently split his world into the two connected worlds of Adam and Eva. In 2052 in Eva's world, Eva introduces teenage Martha to her son, the Unknown, and forces her to shoot Jonas as her younger self witnessed earlier, claiming this is necessary to save their son. Adam returns to Jonas on the day of the apocalypse and takes him to Eva's world, which Jonas is unaware of at that point in time. Adam urges Jonas to prevent the origin with the alternate Martha, for it is their connection that binds the two worlds together. Adam then visits Eva and, to her shock, refuses to kill her as she originally remembers. Eva realizes that the cycle has finally been broken, and she and Adam embrace. Jonas and Martha travel to the origin world through the passage in the cave and successfully prevent the deaths of Tannhaus' son Marek, his wife Sonja, and their infant daughter Charlotte, thus eliminating the pain that caused Tannhaus to create the time machine in the first place. With the origin prevented, Jonas, Martha and most of the other characters are erased from existence along with both worlds. The only main characters who remain in the origin world are those who weren't born as a result of time travel: Hannah, Katharina, Peter, Regina and the Wöller siblings. Additionally, Claudia and Bernd are shown to be Regina's parents. In the origin world, Peter is in a relationship with Bernadette; Regina and Katharina are happy and single since Ulrich never existed in the origin world and Regina never met Aleksander/Boris; and Hannah is expecting a child with Torben Wöller. The six of them enjoy dinner in Regina's house (which was the Kahnwald residence in Adam's world and the Nielsen residence in Eva's world). Amidst a thunderstorm, Hannah notices a yellow raincoat (similar to the one worn by Jonas and Martha in their respective worlds) and experiences an intense deja vu; her recollection bears similarities to the fate of the two worlds, implying that their events have still influenced the origin world in some way. When asked what she will name her child, Hannah takes a moment to think and decides on a name: Jonas.

Production

Netflix approved the series in February 2016 for a first season consisting of ten one-hour episodes.[14][5] Principal photography started on 18 October 2016 in and around Berlin[15] (including Saarmund and Tremsdorf in Brandenburg),[16] and ended in March 2017.[5] The church where Jonas meets Noah was filmed at the Südwestkirchhof Cemetery in Stahnsdorf. The high school location was filmed at the Reinfelder Schule in Berlin's Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf neighbourhood. The bridge and the train tracks were filmed the middle of the Düppeler forest near Lake Wannsee.[17]

The series was filmed in 4K (Ultra HD) resolution.[18] It is the first German-language Netflix original series and follows a trend of internationally produced Netflix originals, including the Mexican series Club de Cuervos in 2015, the Brazilian series 3% in 2016, the Italian series Suburra: Blood on Rome in 2017, and the Indian series Sacred Games in 2018.

Principal photography for the second season took place on location in Berlin from June 2018.[19]

Filming for the third season began in May 2019 and wrapped in December 2019.[20]

Music

Season 1

Dark: Cycle 1 (Original Music from the Netflix Series)
Soundtrack album by Ben Frost
Released	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
Genre	Dark ambient orchestral minimal
Length	40:50
Label	Invada Records UK Lakeshore Records
Producer	Ben Frost

Track listing

Dark: Cycle 1 (Original Music from the Netflix Series)[21]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Alles ist miteinander verbunden"	2:36
2.	"Ein Mensch – Ein Schmetterling"	2:02
3.	"Die Hölle ist leer, alle Teufel sind hier"	5:04
4.	"Tick tack, tick tack"	2:52
5.	"Warum nicht Waldweg"	2:12
6.	"Apokalypse"	3:31
7.	"Kein DeLorean"	2:52
8.	"Das ist nicht Mikkel"	2:30
9.	"Eine Reise durch die Zeit"	2:32
10.	"Ich kann die Vergangenheit ändern"	2:08
11.	"Gott gib mir Gelassenheit"	2:52
12.	"Wo ist Übergang"	9:39
Total length:		40:50

Season 2

Dark: Cycle 2 (Original Music from the Netflix Series)
Soundtrack album by Ben Frost
Released	August 16, 2019 (2019-08-16)
Genre	Dark ambient orchestral minimal
Length	46:03
Label	Invada Records UK Lakeshore Records
Producer	Ben Frost

Track listing

Dark: Cycle 2 (Original Music from the Netflix Series)[22]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Schwarze Materie"	2:58
2.	"Winden 2053"	2:40
3.	"Bootstrap"	5:04
4.	"Alles in einer endlosen Schleife"	1:57
5.	"Die Reisenden 1"	3:11
6.	"Du bist ein so guter Mensch"	5:02
7.	"Jeder bekommt was er verdient"	2:24
8.	"Die Apokalypse muss kommen"	3:06
9.	"Wir Haben keine Zeit mehr"	4:43
10.	"Die Reisenden 2"	2:45
11.	"Ich dachte, ich hätte mehr Zeit"	5:32
12.	"Folge dem Signal"	3:03
13.	"Der Weiße Teufel"	3:38
Total length:		46:03

Season 3

Dark: Cycle 3 (Music from the Netflix Original Series)
Soundtrack album by Ben Frost
Released	July 24, 2020 (2020-07-24)
Genre	Dark ambient orchestral minimal
Length	46:57
Label	Invada Records UK Lakeshore Records
Producer	Ben Frost

Track listing

Dark: Cycle 3 (Music from the Netflix Original Series)[23]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Origin"	2:11
2.	"Bevor Alles Wieder Passiert"	2:16
3.	"Ein Tropfen - Ein Ozean"	2:40
4.	"Die Welt Geht Heute Unter"	3:43
5.	"Nicht Deine Martha"	1:37
6.	"Du Lebst"	1:57
7.	"Anderer Mensch - Anderer Schmetterling"	1:35
8.	"Wenn Alles Gelingt, Wird Sie Leben"	3:25
9.	"Eva"	4:56
10.	"Franziska & Magnus"	3:05
11.	"Anderes Winden 2052"	5:10
12.	"Leben Und Tod"	2:46
13.	"Higgs Field"	4:24
14.	"Ob Irgendwas Von Uns Bleibt"	3:18
15.	"Der Letzte Zyklus"	3:54
Total length:		46:57

Apart from the score, numerous pre-released songs were also used throughout the series. The song "Goodbye" by Apparat in collaboration with Soap&Skin was used as the opening theme for the episodes. Songs by the vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth were also heavily featured on multiple episodes; the third movement of Caroline Shaw's Partita for 8 Voices was featured prominently in Season 1, and Alev Lenz's "May The Angels", also featuring Roomful of Teeth, was used in Season 2 Episode 5, "Lost And Found".

Release

The first season of the series was released on 1 December 2017.

A second season was announced with a short teaser on the German Facebook pages of the series and Netflix on 20 December 2017.[24][25] On 26 April 2019, it was announced that the second season would be released on 21 June 2019.[9]

On 26 May 2020, it was announced that the third and final season would be released on 27 June 2020.[26]

Reception

Critical response

Season		Critical response
		Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
	1	89% (45 reviews)	61 (10 reviews)
	2	100% (29 reviews)	82 (4 reviews)
	3	96% (26 reviews)	92 (4 reviews)

The first season of Dark received mostly positive reviews from critics, with many noting its similarities to the TV series Twin Peaks and the Netflix series Stranger Things. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season an approval rating of 89%, with an average rating of 7.36 out of 10 based on 45 critics, with the "Certified Fresh" status. The site's critical consensus is "Dark's central mystery unfolds slowly, both tense and terrifying, culminating in a creepy, cinematic triumph of sci-fi noir."[27] The series was praised for its tone, the complexity of its narrative, and its pacing.[28] Metacritic reported a score of 61 out of 100 based on 10 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[29] Many claimed that it was darker and more in-depth than Stranger Things.[30] However, there was some criticism by a reviewer for a heavy-handed approach to its message, a lack of sympathetic characters, and unoriginality of certain aspects of the series.[31]

The second season received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream publications, the season received an average score of 82, based on 4 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[32] On Rotten Tomatoes, season 2 of the series holds an approval rating of 100% based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 8.07/10, with the "Certified Fresh" status. The site's critical consensus states, "Dark's sumptuous second season descends deeper into the show's meticulously-crafted mythos and cements the series as one of streaming's strongest and strangest science fiction stories."[33] Critics referred to season 2 as ominous and much more bizarre than the first season, and that the series managed to subvert several tropes regarding the concepts of time travel.[34][35]

The third season received critical acclaim. It holds an approval rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 8.42/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Dark's final chapter is as thrilling as it is bewildering, bringing viewers full circle without sacrificing any of the show's narrative complexities."[36] At Metacritic the season received an average score of 92, based on 4 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[37]

Awards and nominations

The series was nominated for the Goldene Kamera TV awards 2018 in three categories: best series; best actress: Karoline Eichhorn as Charlotte Doppler; and best actor: Oliver Masucci as Ulrich Nielsen.[38] None of these nominations resulted in awards, but Louis Hofmann received the "Best Newcomer" award in recognition (among others of his performances in several movies) of his lead role in Dark.[39] In August 2018, the series received a nomination in the category Best TV Show in the Brazilian BreakTudo Awards 2018, and actor Louis Hofmann was nominated in the category "International Actor".[40]

The series was awarded the 2018 Grimme-Preis award in the category "fiction", which singled out the following cast and crew for awards:

1. Jantje Friese (screenplay)
2. Baran bo Odar (director)
3. Udo Kramer (production design)
4. Simone Baer (casting)
5. Angela Winkler (actress)
6. Louis Hofmann (actor)
7. Oliver Masucci (actor)

The actors named are awarded as "representatives for the full cast".[41]

See also

• Emerald Tablet
• Higgs boson
• Quantum entanglement

References

1. Teti, Julia (19 June 2019). "Finding the Greek Drama in Netflix's 'Dark'". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
2. Nguyen, Hanh (23 June 2019). "'Dark': Season 2's Insane Ending and All the Burning Questions Season 3 Needs to Answer". Indiewire. Retrieved 4 February 2020. “Dark” is a modern-day sci-fi Greek tragedy.
3. Ruiz, Nicolás (21 December 2017). "Reseña: Dark – Cuando Netflix hace ciencia ficción en serio". Retrieved 4 February 2020. With Dark, Netflix related a complex world of time travel with the intricate symbolism of alchemy and the foundational principles of greek tragedy.
4. Renfro, Kim (11 December 2017). "Netflix's new series 'Dark' has a terrific and unique soundtrack — here are all the best songs featured". Insider. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
5. "Dark, The First Netflix Original Series Produced In Germany Commences Principal Photography". Netflix Media Center. 18 October 2016. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
6. "Netflix Drops Teaser for New German Series Dark". ComingSoon.net. 1 March 2017. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
7. Netflix (4 October 2017). "Dark Teaser [HD]". Retrieved 4 October 2017 – via YouTube.
8. Shepherd, Jack (21 December 2017). "Dark renewed for season 2 by Netflix". The Independent. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
9. @DarkNetflixDE (26 April 2019). "DARK Season 2 comes out June 21st!" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 April 2019 – via Twitter.
10. Gelman, Vlada (30 May 2019). "TVLine Items: Monica Potter's New Series, Netflix's Dark to End and More". TVLine. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
11. Grater, Tom (26 May 2020). "'Dark' Season 3: Netflix Dates Final Entry In Time-Twisting German Original; Watch Debut Trailer". Deadline. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
12. Rogers, Thomas (23 November 2017). "With 'Dark,' a German Netflix Series, Streaming Crosses a New Border". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
13. "Jonas Kahnwald". Netflix. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
14. Roxborough, Scott (24 February 2016). "Netflix Confirms First German Series 'Dark' From Baran bo Odar". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
15. Webb, Claire. "Where is Netflix’s new series Dark filmed? Is Winden a real place?," Radio Times (1 December 2017).
16. Mitchell, Molli (21 June 2019). "Dark season 2 Netflix location: Where is Dark season 2 filmed?". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
17. "Where was the Netflix's series Dark filmed? Three Locations from the series around Berlin," Fotostrasse. Accessed 18 July 2019.
18. Jacoby, Katia. "Dark". Netflix Media Center. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
19. "Netflix continues to bring new and diverse stories from Europe, Middle East and Africa to the world". Netflix Media Center. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
20. Nguyen, Hanh (28 June 2019). "'Dark' Co-Creator Hints at Season 3 Plans and Whether or Not Every Mystery Will Be Solved". IndieWire. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
21. ""Dark: Cycle 1 (Original Music from the Netflix Series)" von Ben Frost bei Apple Music" (in German).
22. ""Dark: Cycle 2 (Original Music from the Netflix Series)" von Ben Frost bei Apple Music" (in German).
23. ""Dark: Cycle 3 (Music from the Netflix Original Series)" by Ben Frost on Apple Music".
24. "Second season on Facebook announced". DARKNetflix on Facebook. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
25. "Netflix announces second season on Facebook". Netflix on Facebook. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
26. Gemmill, Allie (26 May 2020). "Netflix's 'Dark' Season 3 Release Date Revealed in an Ominous Trailer". Collider. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
27. "Dark: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
28. Bakare, Lanre (1 December 2017). "Dark review – a classy, knotty, time-travelling whodunnit for TV". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
29. "Dark: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
30. Romero, Ariana (1 December 2017). "Is This New German Netflix Show The Next Stranger Things?". Refinery29. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
31. Garvin, Glenn (1 December 2017). "You Won't Be Afraid of This Dark, But You Might Be Bored". Reason. Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
32. "Dark: Season 2". Metacritic. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
33. "Dark: Season 2". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
34. Nguyen, Hanh (21 June 2019). "'Dark' Review: Season 2 Is Defiantly Bizarre, Twisty, and More Addictive Than Ever". IndieWire. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
35. Gennis, Sadie (21 June 2019). "The Dark Timeline You Desperately Need for This Complicated Netflix Show". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
36. "Dark: Season 3". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
37. "Dark: Season 3". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
38. Braun, Christina (5 February 2018). "Dark: 3 Nominierungen für die Goldene Kamera". Newsslash.com (in German). Retrieved 22 February 2018.
39. Attimonelli, Alexander (22 February 2018). ""Goldene Kamera Nachwuchspreis": Louis Hofmann". Goldene Kamera. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
40. "Nominees announced for BreakTudo Awards 2018". CelebMix. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
41. "54. Grimme-Preis 2018 Dark (Netflix)". Grimme-Preis (in German). Retrieved 14 March 2018.

External links

• Official website
• Dark – The Official Guide
• Dark on IMDb 
• Dark at Metacritic
• Dark at Rotten Tomatoes