‘Dark’ On Netflix: A Recap Of Season One And Two

The question isn’t where but when! Or, to be more accurate, “the chicken and the egg, which came first?” should really be the tagline to this series. The third and last season of the German series Dark on Netflix will be released on the streaming platform in a week. Of course, the date is related to the series itself: June 27, 2020. The day of the apocalypse, or the beginning of the last cycle, in the series.

This is the perfect time to re-watch the first two seasons, because, let’s face it, the plot is so complicated that you’ve probably completely forgotten everything that happened. In case you remember everything but are still confused as to who is who, how they are related, and when, because of all the different timelines, here’s a recap to clarify the connections between the different characters before the new dimension is introduced in the third season to confuse things further.

Warning: If you haven’t watched the series, this contains spoilers.

In Season 1 and 2, there are four main families: the Nielsens, the Kahnwalds, the Tiedermanns, and the Dopplers. The characters are linked through these dates: 1921, 1953/54; 1986/87; 2019/20; and 2052/53.

The NIELSEN Family

1921: Two men are constructing a tunnel in the Winden Caves. One of the men is Hanno Tauber. He kills the other man, who isn’t named.

1953: As season 2 unfolded, the show revealed that the Nielsen family in Winden goes way back. Agnes Nielsen arrives in Winden in 1953 with her son Tronte (Ulrich’s father). They are staying at the Tiedemann’s home where she rents a room. Tronte’s father has not yet been revealed. Agnes has an affair with Doris Tiedemann. Tronte becomes friends with the Tiedemanns’ daughter, Claudia.

It is later revealed that Agnes Nielsen is the sister of the mysterious time travelling priest Noah, also known as Hanno Tauber. Agnes is also a time traveler. Young Tronte tells Claudia that the siblings, Agnes and Noah, hate each other.

1986: Claudia Tiedemann and Tronte Nielsen are having an affair. Tronte is married to Jana, with whom he has two sons, Ulrich and Mads. In October 1986, Mads goes missing. Ulrich is dating Katharina at school. Both Katharina’s and Jana’s families are left unexplored in the series.

2019: At the beginning of season one, the Nielsen family in 2019 consists of Ulrich and Katharina and their children, Magnus, Martha and Mikkel. Martha is dating Bartosz, but has developed romantic feelings for Jonas Kahnwald.

When Mikkel also goes missing, it opens old wounds for Ulrich. His search for Mikkel becomes relentless. Mikkel traveled back to 1986, where he meets his teenage parents, and becomes Michael Kahnwald.

Ulrich finds the tunnel in the Winden Caves, and goes through in search for Mikkel. Ulrich, however, ends up in 1953, where he is arrested by Egon Tiedemann, and sent to an asylum where he will stay for 34 years. He escapes in 1986, and finds Mikkel, but they are stopped before they reach the tunnel at the caves.

THE KAHNWALD Family

1953: Daniel Kahnwald is chief of the Winden police. He has a daughter named Ines.

1986: Ines Kahnwald, a nurse, takes under her care Mikkel Nielsen, who travelled in time from 2019. He becomes Michael Kahnwald.

2019: Michael has married Hannah Krüger, and they have a son together, Jonas Kahnwald. At the beginning of the series, Michael has committed suicide. It is later revealed that he does so in order for Jonas to be born. However, as the first episode of the first season suggests, Hannah has an affair with Ulrich Nielsen (It is not clear how long this affair has been going on), so, in my opinion, there is a possibility that Jonas is Ulrich’s son and not Mikkel/Michael’s. But, that would make Jonas less special in the story, since one of the conundrums of the show is that if Mikkel didn’t travel in time to 1986, Jonas would never have existed.

Jonas has romantic feelings for Martha, even after knowing she is his aunt. Their relationship seems to be at the center of the story.

The future, but in 1921(?): Adam, who tells Jonas he is an older version of him, lives in some kind of luxurious bunker, with older Magnus and Franziska. Jonas, the Stranger, and Adam may all be the same person.

THE TIEDEMANN Family

1953: Agnes Nielsen lives in the Tiedemann household. Egon and Doris Tiedemann are married and have a daughter Claudia. Egon Tiedemann is a police officer in Winden. He is the one who arrests Ulrich Nielsen (from 2019) in 1953 where he will stay imprisoned in an asylum for 34 years. Egon also arrests teenage Ulrich in 1986.

1986: Claudia is the director of the Winden Nuclear Power Plant. She has a daughter Regina, whose father is unknown. Tronte Nielsen could possibly be Regina’s father, as Claudia and Tronte seem to be having an affair. Teenage Ulrich and Katharina tie Regina to a tree as a prank. Out of jealousy, Hannah Kahnwald accuses Ulrich of raping Katharina (the reason Egon arrests teenage Ulrich). Hannah tells Katharina it was Regina who made the statement. Ulrich and Katharina attack Regina, but she is defended by a mysterious teenage boy. He names himself Aleksander Köhler.

In 1986, Claudia becomes a time traveler, and the main opponent to the secret society Sic Mundus. Claudia has two different colored eyes. When she discovers the date of her father’s death, she tries to prevent it. However, she turns out to be the cause of his death.

2019: Regina is married to Aleksander. He has taken her last name and is the director of the Nuclear Power Plant. They have a son Bartosz. Noah approaches Bartosz to go time traveling for him, but the series has not revealed what Bartosz does. Regina has cancer.

THE DOPPLER Family

1953: Bernd Doppler developed the Winden Nuclear Plant and became its director, before Claudia Tiedemann took over. He is married to Greta, and they have a son together Helge. As children in 1953, Claudia Tiedemann tutors Helge in maths.

When Ulrich Nielsen travels back in time and lands in 1953, he assaults the little Helge, trying to kill him because Ulrich believes that Helge is the one behind the murders of all the children who went missing in 1986 and his son in 2019. After the assault, Helge meets Noah, who will manipulate him for years.

1986: Helge works as a cleaner at his father’s nuclear plant. Helge has a son Peter. The series does not say who Peter’s mother is. Helge also works for Noah, and is indeed responsible for the kidnapping of Mads Nielsen and other children. Noah and Helge take the children to the bunker where Helge assists Noah who experiments with a time traveling machine without success.

2019: Peter Doppler is married to Charlotte, the chief of the Winden police, in a seemingly loveless marriage. They have two daughters Franziska and Elisabeth. Franziska starts dating Magnus Nielsen. Elisabeth, who is deaf, meets the priest Noah in the forest.

Charlotte Doppler’s parents are a mystery. She was raised by the clockmaster H.G. Tannhaus, the author of the book “Eine Reise durch die Zeit (A Journey through Time). However, by the end of season two, it is suggested that Charlotte’s father is Noah, and that her mother may well be her own daughter Elisabeth. This would also mean that Franziska is both Elisabeth’s sister and her granddaughter. Through Noah, Franziska and Magnus are thus also related.

2052: Elisabeth is the leader of the survivors in post-apocalypse Winden. As Peter took her to the bunker before the apocalypse, they seemingly have both survived. It is in the bunker that Elisabeth meets Hanno Tauber, young Noah. Elisabeth is a ruthless leader, hanging those who try to go beyond the wall, the zone where the former power plant is. She catches Jonas (who time traveled from 2019) and hangs him, but, at the last minute, changes her mind and cuts the rope. As a consequence, Jonas has now a scar around his neck. It is this scar which Adam shows Jonas to convince him they are the same person.

As the trailer to the third season says, the question is no longer from what time, but from what world! I am curious to see how this last season will make sense of everything. Here is the trailer: