Welcome to this week’s installment of the Summer TV Binge of Netflix’s Dark, analyzing the final episode of the twisted German time travel series, released June 27, 2020.
“Paradise (Das Paradies)”
Written by Jantje Friese
Directed by Baran bo Odar
September 25, 2053: Claudia reveals the true Origin to Adam, informing him their world and Eva’s were borne out of a failed attempt by H.G. Tannhaus to resurrect his dead family. Adam retrieves his younger self, who finds Alt Martha, and the two venture to November 8, 1971, to prevent the deaths of Tannhaus’s family, and the creation of time travel.
1. How Did She Know?
Claudia deduced the origin for both worlds after realizing not everyone is part of the loop, and therefore part of a world where there was no time travel, because Regina is not descended from any time traveler: that’s right, Tronte is not her father, though Claudia states she always wished he was. We finally see where the old man spent season 2, visiting Regina’s grave in 2040, and being instructed to put Regina out of her misery, a cruel sacrifice that will nevertheless motivate her into finding a way to save her daughter.
How Claudia specifically learned about the creation of Adam and Eva’s worlds is left unsaid though, although she probably deduced only Tannhaus — a man who plagiarized his own book, who built a time machine using vague blueprints — had the means, and the motive, to break the laws of space and time. It’s possible Claudia personally ventured into the Origin World at some point, but this possibility remains non-canon for now.
So who is Regina’s father? As indicated by a photo glimpsed during the ending, and confirmed on the official website, Claudia and Bernd Doppler had a relationship at some point by 1971, when Regina was born. It’s jawdropping, especially because of their 30-year age gap: that scene earlier this season with Claudia and Bernd in the ’50s certainly reads differently as a result. (I don’t think this undermines how hard Claudia worked to become director of the plant though, or suggest something sinister on Bernd’s part: these things happen.) The site also confirms Helge is not Bernd’s son, and this is likely why Regina inherited his mansion. Imagine if Helge ever found out, or learned the woman he’d loved since childhood chose his father.
2. An Anticlimactic Encore
While acting as a Greek chorus as Adam, Claudia effectively apologizes for the lies, betrayal and manipulation she had to carry out to maintain the knot before cutting it. We learn that she had to manipulate Alt Helge into kidnapping Mads and Erik on Eva’s behalf, something we see when Ulrich finally catches up to Helge in that world: in this timeline, he finds and attacks the middle-aged Helge outside his cabin in 1986. After dragging his body into the bunker (which has yellow wallpaper in this world), Ulrich is attacked and killed by old Helge, who snuck up on him with a crowbar.
It’s quite silly and has none of the gravitas of when Ulrich attempted to kill the child Helge, but that’s arguably the point: in building anticipation for this world’s version of that horrific moment, and then pulling a bait-and-switch, the show seems to be asking: did you want to see it again? Why? To see the worse version of Helge get his revenge? Claudia’s point that neither world is better than the other, and that they must both come to an end, seems to be telling the viewer that the show must end as well, otherwise it will collapse like a house of cards.
3. The True Face of Jonas
Adam reunites with his younger self after the prime Martha’s death: from Jonas’s perspective, Adam is just walking back in to taunt him, and he screams, “What more do you want from me!?” It’s great to see “our” Jonas again, standing up to his older self, and to see the Jonas triune has nothing to do with the number of actors who play him, but that they are three persons, evocative of Christianity’s Trinity. To wit, Adam is the Father; the Jonas who went to Eva’s World is the Son; and this Jonas is the Holy Spirit, who will bring a message to the Tannhauses. (It can’t have been a coincidence that “Jonas” means “dove” in Hebrew.)
Continued belowAdam looks genuinely guilty, and solemnly pulls Jonas to his side while activating the orb to Eva’s World. He takes him into the cave as Martha did, and shows him Ulrich following Helge to prove it’s another world. He explains everything, and gives Jonas the sphere so that he can retrieve Martha and bring her to the cave passage when Tannhaus opens it in 1986. After three seasons of pessimism, it’s cathartic to see time travel finally being used to alter one’s past, and Adam admit he was wrong to his younger self.
Adam finally goes to meet Eva in the ruins of her study in 2052. She presumes he’s come to kill her, explaining that, as a young woman, this was when she discovered her slain corpse, solidifying her decision to protect their son from him, no matter the cost. Adam shows he took the bullets out of his gun, leaving her speechless: the threads are finally coming undone, and she realizes he has won, although he will also die.
Adam consoles Eva, and tells her something he once told his younger self: “Life is a labyrinth. Some people wander around inside it until their death in search of a way out. But there is only one path, and it leads you ever deeper inside. Only when one reaches the center will one understand. Death is incomprehensible. But one can reconcile oneself with it.” He explains to her how their younger selves will save them from themselves, something she can take solace in. As he does this, we see Jonas and Martha crawling through Winden’s Labyrinth, underscoring the significance of this moment: it feels as momentous as Theseus reconciling with Ariadne would.
4. Interstellar
When Tannhaus’s machine explodes, a white light engulfs Jonas and Martha, who find themselves in corridors composed entirely of chronal particles. A long, surprisingly sentimental scene follows: Jonas and Martha see each other as five-year olds, who can also see them, although the parents who are present with them (Michael and Katharina) can’t.
It is very similar to Interstellar, just as Odar’s direction as a whole is rather Nolan-esque, but it explains why Martha and Jonas felt such a deep pull towards each other, and truly cements that we’re closing the book on their stories: it reminds us they had joyful childhoods, and that their misery will now be only short-lived. As always, they find each other again when they back away and bump into each other, and they perceive a third path at the crossroads, where Jonas uses the orb to travel through it to 1971.
5. The Holy Family
Much is established about Tannhaus’s family despite their brief screentime: we can deduce from their dialogue that Marek Tannhaus (Merlin Rose) was estranged from his father, and only visiting so he could meet his newborn granddaughter. However, Tannhaus’s shy, withdrawn nature when it comes to anything outside science has angered his son again, to the point he’ll ignore the thunderstorm raging outside. Crucially, he mocks his father for using the apocryphal Newton quote (“what we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean”), which is what Jonas uses to persuade him to return home. Marek’s wife, Sonja (Svenja Jung) is much more conciliatory towards H.G: it’s amazing to realize this whole saga was rooted in a man becoming too emotional about his parents’ separation.
The scene where Jonas and Martha inform Marek and Sonja that the bridge has been closed by an “accident” is drenched (no pun intended) in religious overtones, something acknowledged when Sonja tells H.G. Marek is behaving as if he encountered two angels. The comparison brings to mind the Archangel Camael banishing Adam and Eve from Eden, while the rain and emphasis on the river recalls St. Christopher himself: like St. Christopher carrying the Christ Child, Jonas and Martha are aiding the son of the man who is effectively their god and creator — the pendant has become an incredible piece of foreshadowing, its twisted path reflecting the two’s own knotted destiny.
Continued belowMore importantly, it is striking how the fate of all three worlds rests in the salvation of Marek, Sonja and baby Charlotte: it brings to mind the Jewish and Muslim teaching that “whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.” Here that’s literally the case, although for Jonas and Martha, deliverance for their worlds is pretty much putting them out of their misery. I find something incredibly profound about Netflix’s first German original show reflecting this idea, because the platform’s global reach gives Germany a way to forge a new reputation beyond its fascist history (which, it must always be said, is important), and it is beautiful seeing a multicultural idea so vividly on display here.
6. Goodbye
After Marek returns to reconcile with his father, the consequences finally sink in for Martha, who expresses anxiety to Jonas about the end of their lives. Before he can reply, they begin to fade, a peaceful and unexpectedly beautiful process that seems to turn their bodies into bokeh (a meta acknowledgment of their reality being a work of cinematography), which also resembles the burned paintings of Adam and Eve in Eva’s study.
As they disappear, Jonas takes Martha by the hand. They’ve had no time to form the relationship they had with each other’s counterparts, but he tells her the most romantic words ever spoken in English or German: “We’re a perfect match. Never believe anything else.” The two, both children of an impossible bloodline, take one last look at the night sky, which has cleared after the rain stopped, as their love theme swells.
Adam and Eva likewise hold hands when they disappear during the subsequent montage, set to a soft rendition of “What A Wonderful World” by Soap&Skin (the vocalist of the theme song, “Goodbye”): we also see Jonas in 1888, Martha in 2052, and Claudia in 2040, reacting in astonishment as they vanish. I wished we’d seen the prime Ulrich finding peace, Agnes and Doris reuniting, Charlotte and Elisabeth embracing one last time, or the Unknown’s reaction, but contract negotiations may have been an issue.
Regardless, it is a beautiful conclusion, and ends perfectly with Claudia weeping tears of joy, having ensured Regina’s survival, but aware she and her daughter will never know what it cost.
7. What is Dark About?
It was only natural a show about fate and free will would also become one about how we respond to death, our ultimate, inescapable destiny: both Martha and Eva ask Jonas and Adam what will become of them, aware their erasure from the timeline means no one will even remember them. (Marek and Sonja hopefully will, but that’s beside the point.) One day, the universe will end, whether through heat death, the Big Crunch, or something else, and if there’s no God or Heaven above, everything and everyone will be forgotten — but Dark conveys this does not matter. We may, like Martha and Jonas, have been a cosmic accident, who only truly exist for less than a moment, but we can be as kind as they were. Be patient, be kind: your decisions matter because of the impact on other people’s lives, repercussions you will likely never know about, but which happen nonetheless.
8. The Resurrection
The next scene takes on a stormy night at Ines Kahnwald’s home, now owned by Regina Doppler. Katharina, Hannah (who’s pregnant), Torben, Peter and Bernadette are there, toasting her, implying she fought cancer and won. All of these characters were dead, but now they are alive, feasting in a modern Valhalla. Without Ulrich, Katharina has remained childless; without Charlotte, Peter pursued Bernadette without any guilt; and Torben and Hannah got together in the absence of any Nielsens.
It’s striking how prominent the Woller siblings are in the true timeline, given how minor they were in Adam and Eva’s Worlds, and it is great seeing a trans character outlive many of the straight ones, even though Bernadette’s not played by a trans actress. It’s also cool given how Torben expressed surprise in “Lost and Found” that Hannah married Michael, implying she was his childhood crush. Furthermore, it’s lovely seeing Regina and Peter in a scene together, given she is Helge’s stepsister.
Continued belowIt’s unfortunate most of the named kids from 2019/20 were never born (while most of the reborn are Generation X, tch), but it’s particularly bad luck for Bartosz, who wasn’t descended from any time travelers. However, Regina would’ve never met Aleksander/Boris had it not been for Ulrich’s presence, and he presumably bled out in the forest, or found medical attention elsewhere in 1986. It’s strange how the worst teen in Winden became the sympathetic adult in Sic Mundus, and how his loss is the most keenly felt of all of them.
9. The Last Mystery
Peter brings up the bruise around Torben’s eye (his right, instead of his left, in this world), and the rest of the table starts asking what happened, mentioning he never explained it. As Torben finally begins to tell the story of his accident (in this world at least), the storm cuts off the power, causing everyone to forget about it as they become preoccupied with turning the lights back on. I am most grateful Friese and Odar agreed we don’t want to hear about some boring accident, and want to continue speculating it was aliens, ghosts, or Helge. Judging from the thunder and lightning, even God doesn’t want to know what happened to Torben.
10. The Title Drop
As the others scramble to get the power back on, Hannah is struck by the familiar sight of a yellow raincoat. Katharina and Torben notice something’s amiss, and Hannah explains she had a dream the previous night, about thunder taking out the light, and the world ending. She states:
It was just dark, and it never became light again. I had this peculiar feeling… that it was a good thing for everything to be over. Like suddenly being free of everything. No wanting. No having to. Infinite darkness. No yesterday. No today. No tomorrow. Nothing.
It’s great Maja Schöne gets most of the last lines, after being saddled with the most unlikable character for three seasons. Bernadette breaks the tension by telling Hannah she should get her dreams looked into, ie. by Peter. Regina asks everyone what they would wish for if the world was going to end: Katharina jokes for a world without Winden (something Ulrich would say), and everyone toasts to the thought of bowing out before the apocalypse. Hannah’s then asked if she’s thought of a name for her first child with Torben. Looking directly into the camera, as if she knows everything we do, she comments, “I think Jonas is a beautiful name.”
Roll end credits, cue Nena: Generation X forever.
Thank you for being a part of this journey: I will leave you now with a pair of subtitled videos of the cast and crew, reflecting on the show and the fun times they had making it.
(Who knew Noah was so funny? OK, Mark Waschke does seem like the stern dad who turns out to be hilarious.)
We will return to all three worlds soon for our We Want Comics column.
