Netflix’s Dark season 2 finale recap: Endings and Beginnings

Dark season two ends with a surprise death, uncomfortable family secrets, and the promise to expand the world of Winden even further.

It’s the final episode of Dark season two. Jonas Kahnwald from the present and the future are intent on stopping Adam, their future (and evil) self, but will they succeed? With the apocalypse merely hours away, we find out how and if the people of Winden survive.

The Doppler Family Tree

In the future, 2052, Elizabeth Doppler uncovers some of her precious belongings – a framed picture of her family, and old polaroid photos of her infant mother, Charlotte. Baby Charlotte is swaddled by her father Noah, and an unknown woman; her mother. But who is she?

In 1921, older Noah is disillusioned enough by what he’s read in the final pages of the diary to warn his younger self – not enough to change the events of his life, but enough to sow a seed of doubt.

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https://showsnob.com/2019/06/23/dark-season-2-premiere-recap/Older Noah confronts Adam about lying to him. Adam isn’t waging a war against religion, as he had told his younger self – he’s waging a war against all of humanity. When Noah trains a gun on him, though, it doesn’t fire. Adam then presents an uncomfortable truth to Noah. Charlotte Doppler is his daughter and Elizabeth Doppler is her daughter; but Elizabeth is also Charlotte’s mother. Yikes!

Adam tells Noah that the only way to untangle this cycle is by destroying it completely. With that, Noah’s sister Agnes Nielsen appears and shoots her brother through the heart.

In 2020, hours before the apocalypse, Peter Doppler can’t get through to his wife or his older daughter Franziska. Afraid for his younger child Elizabeth’s safety, he decides to escape to the bunker with her.

Clausen still has Aleksander Tiedemann under arrest. Clausen originally thought he was his brother, then that he’d killed his brother; now Clausen just wants to uncover any secrets from the nuclear power plant. Wöller, who has been by Clausen’s side, is delighted when Charlotte marches into the police station. He explains that Clausen has gone to the plant, and Wöller is worried that he’ll find out what Aleksander has hidden there – buried in concrete is nuclear waste. Charlotte immediately thinks that must be the cause of the apocalypse. She and Wöller run to the plant.

Peter messages Franziska to join them, but Charlotte is still intent on getting to the power plant, where Clausen has ordered the staff to break open the concrete covering the nuclear waste.

Jonas

Jonas Kahnwald rescued Claudia Tiedemann from her grief in 1987 with the promise that older Claudia believes they only need to make small changes in the timeline to end the cycle of hell they are all trapped in. Jonas has spent 12 months with older Claudia and he’s a changed man now.

Meanwhile, 2052 Jonas is desperate to save Martha Nielsen. He’s seen her die and now he ensures she’ll be safe by hiding her in Helge Doppler’s bunker. Martha is disgusted by Jonas now that she knows their biological connection, but Jonas, driven mad by fear, trains Hannah’s gun on her to get Martha into the bunker. When Elizabeth and Peter get to the bunker, Martha escapes.

Katharina Nielsen only knows one person who can work a time machine – older Jonas. When she reaches the Kahnwald home, no one’s there, so Katharina inspects Jonas’ bag and then finds an album of Michael, the man who used to be her son Mikkel.

When Jonas returns, Katharina makes her request, but changing Mikkel’s past isn’t possible. As we saw in the previous episode of Dark, Jonas’ attempt to change the past only cemented it further. The only way to stop it all is to stop Jonas from becoming Adam.

When Jonas is alone, young Noah arrives in 2020, and he has a message to give to older Jonas. It’s a message from Martha, but Dark doesn’t reveal its contents.

Still in 1987, younger Jonas opens the passageway in the caves and he and Claudia arrive in 2020. While Jonas searches for his mother and Martha, Claudia greets her daughter Regina, who understandably can’t believe her mother is young and alive again. Claudia also takes Regina to the bunker, and they wait there with the other two Dopplers till young Noah arrives. This explains how Elizabeth and Noah knew each other.

The Apocalypse

By the time the real Jonas reaches his house, it is empty again. Martha follows suit and it seems like all her disgust is forgotten now that Jonas looks the way she remembers him. Their reunion is interrupted by Adam. Adam needs the apocalypse to proceed so that he can control the dark matter that is created and fulfil his plan – to end the world. To reach his goal, Adam does the absolute unthinkable; he shoots Martha in the chest.

As Martha lays dying, Adam reiterates that some pain is unforgettable, and this is the first step for Jonas to become Adam. He leaves Jonas a choice – either Jonas can stop Adam or save Martha. We know which choice Jonas makes.

Dark season two ends with the apocalypse engulfing Winden. Charlotte was right, Clausen should not have uncovered the nuclear waste, but that’s because the ‘waste’ included dark matter which is activated when Adam’s people in 1921, and Elizabeth is 2052, stabilize their time spheres. Meanwhile, Katharina opens the passageway in the caves, and all of time becomes interconnected.

Charlotte briefly meets her daughter in 2052, but scene cuts away just as they reach out for each other. Elsewhere, older Jonas tries to save his friends Magnus, Bartosz and Franziska, but does his time machine activate before the apocalypse?

While the whole world goes to hell, Jonas consoles his dead girlfriend with promises that he’ll make everything right. Just then a figure appears in his home – it’s…Martha? But she looks different and tells Jonas she’s not who he thinks she is. Martha activates a different kind of device and when Jonas asks her which year they are traveling to, she retorts that it’s not a different year; they’re traveling to a different world.

Dark season two had a lot of expectations riding on it and it far surpassed them all. Admittedly, some characters were given short shrift, but the plot and characters continue to be compelling. It’s been such a delight to re-visit Winden, all fans of science-fiction will love this show. Netflix’s foreign language productions have consistently been far superior and this show is on top of the pack. Looking forward to season three, not only will we see Winden across time, but now across universes as well.

What did you think of season two of Dark? Let us know in the comments!