Dark Season 2 Review; "Dark" Continues To Be One Of The Best Time Travel Shows E-V-E-R

After a year and a half absence, the German/NetFlix series "Dark" has returned for a second season. And it's just as bat sh%t crazy as ever. Due to the complexity of the show, I'm not sure I'll be able to do it justice but I'll give it a try.

At the beginning of the new season, the Winden police form a task force to investigate the disappearance of six people. They include: Jonas, Mikkel, Ulrich, Erik Obendorf, Yasin Friese. Mads (Ulrich's younger brother) disappeared when they were teenagers back in 1986. The team is headed by new comer Clausen and Charlotte Doppler. The locals arent very hopeful they will get anywhere.

In this world, individuals may travel between four different times-- each 33 years apart (since that's apparently how long it takes the sun and moon to complete a cycle). They are 1953, 1986, 2019 and 2052. Keeping track of the characters and where their present/past/future selves are is a major undertaking. The show centers on the interconnectedness of four families. See their members at the bottom of this article.

Jonas Kahwalds is our main character. Last season he discovered that his faster Michael is ACTUALLY Mikkel who went back in time to 1986. He then grew up to marry Hannah. So Jonas' love interest Martha is in fact his Aunt (because Mikkel is Martha's little brother). Uh oh.

In 2052 Jonas finds a post apocalyptic world. He listens to tapes of a woman (which later turns out to be Claudia). This is how he has a ballpark of what he needs to do. In the future, Elisabeth Doppler is the head of a group of survivors. She forbids people from going into the "Forbidden Zone" (which is around the nuclear power plant). Those who don't comply are sentenced to death. Jonas of course goes in anyway. He finds what they call the "God Particle". He thinks it is his way home to 2019. Everyone in his time will die in six days in he doesnt do something to stop it.

An older Jonas (who is referred to as "The Stranger"), visits his mom Hannah. He takes her back to 1986 where she sees her husband Michael/Mikkel as a little boy. Hannah later steals Jonas' time machine to go back to 1953 to see Ulrich. But she doesnt think he loves her so she leaves him there in jail. She is harsh.

Claudia Tiedermann (as an old woman) visits herself in 1986 with instructions on where to dig for the time machine she placed there. She tells herself she doesnt have much time with Regina but if she does everything correctly, Regina will live. She also says she must stop Adam (but present time Claudia doesnt know Adam). And then old woman Claudia uses a time machine to disappear.

Egon, Claudia's father, is now an old man with cancer. He is trying to piece together this whole mess. He visits a mental patient who turns out to be Ulrich Neilsen. He has been institutionalized for many years. When Ulrich went to look for Mikkel, he instead ended up in 1953 and was charged with the murders of the children that Noah killed. Years earlier, Egon's wife (and Claudia's mother) Doris had fallen for a mysterious border Agnes Nielsen. It turns out she is Noah's sister and her grandson is Ulrich.

Noah is a highly suspicious priest. We're initially not sure what he is up to. Helge Doppler returns to 1954 after being experimented on by Noah. He has a number of burns on his face/body. He suffered a better fate than the other boys who disappeared though. Mads (Ulrich's brother) was found dead as were the others. Noah used them all as guinea pigs for his time machine (which didnt seem to work very well).

Noah travels back to 1921 where we meet Adam. We have no idea what Adam is up to. Noah helped dig the time traveling tunnels. He has been promised paradise by Adam. His sister Agnes tells Noah that Claudia has the missing pages to the book they are looking for. Noah kills Claudia. But she says it is all preordained--and that's why she told Agnes to tell Noah where she was. Besides Helge, Noah also recruits Bartosz Tidemann to his side. He tells the boy his grandmother Claudia is on the wrong side of time travel (and that he is on the right side).

Adam heads a group called "Sic Mundus". The full phrase is "Sic Mundus Creatus Est" which translates to "Thus, the world was created". What is the group trying to do? Adam says he wants to break the 33 year cycle and exist outside of time? I think this means destroying the world as we know it. For that to happen, everything must happen in our timeline exactly as before. Nothing can be altered (which is what Claudia and Jonas are working to do).

In one of he biggest surprises, we learn that Adam is actually an older version of Jonas. Adam tells Jonas he can save everyone if he travels back and prevents his father Michael/Mikkel's suicide. This is in fact a lie. Jonas trying to stop his fathers death is what caused him to commit suicide. Mental Note: Don't trust anything Adam says.

We also learn that Noah is Charlotte's father. He wont tell her who her mother is but the NetFlix companion site at http://www.dark.netflix.io confirms that Charlotte's mother is in fact her own daughter Elisabeth. Say what?

Then there's HG Tannhaus-- the local clock (and time traveling device) maker. He is visited by Claudia who gives him the book her wrote "A Journey Through Time". It was given to Claudia by Helge Doppler. HG is able to power the machine with a smartphone (that Ulrich left before years earlier) and a Caesium isotope that Jonas/The Stranger gave him.

So by the end of the season, we have at least ELEVEN people (Jonas, Claudia, Adam, Hannah, Mikkel, Ulrich, Bartosz, Martha/Magnus/Elisabeth/Franziska) traveling through FIVE different times. They are doing this via the tunnels, FOUR time machines (1. The one Old Claudia left for her younger self; 2. The Stranger's device; 3. The one Bartosz brought back that is used by the Stranger to save the kids; 4. one Adam has in 1921) and the THREE God Particles (1. Adam's in 1921, 2. The Future's in 2052, and 3. the one created the day of the apocalypse in 2019).

I'm a bit hazy on the specifics of time travel in this story but the basics are:

The events we have seen unfold will occur over and over again as part of an endless cycle. That is what Jonas and Claudia are trying to change.
Characters can encounter their older/younger selves without it affecting the timeline. This is something other time traveling shows have saidis a definite "no no".
Past events can not be changed since they are predestined to occur (so Mikkel cant be rescued from 1986).
Using the God Particles is preferable to the time machines because they are not restricted to 33 year intervals.
And older Claudia tells Jonas they only need to make small changes to the events in order to break the cycle they are stuck in.
The Bootstrap Paradox is basically when something from the future is sent back to the past, thus there is no beginning origin. The best example is the time traveling book "A Journey Through Time". Claudia travels back in time to give it to HG BEFORE he writes it. This idea has appeared in other sci fi works as well.

In 1921, Adam has Agnes kill the older version of Noah. This is after Noah tries to shoot Adam but his gun jams. Adam then uses the God Particle to travel to the day of the apocalypse. This is the same place/time that Jonas and Claudia are in.

Jonas tries to save Martha by taking her to the Doppler's underground bunker-- but she leaves. Peter and Elisabeth arrive. Claudia takes Regina (who has cancer) to the bunker. A younger Noah (from 1921) also joins them.

Adam shoots Martha. He says Jonas can either try to save Martha or the world--but not both. Adam says the loss of Martha will be what turns Jonas into him later. Adam is heartless. I'm not sure I'm buying that he is even Jonas. The guy is prone to lying.

The Stranger creates a wormhole for Magnus, Frederika and Bartosz to exit through. Are Magnus and Fredericka the couple we see in 1921 working for Adam? She refers to the man as Magnus at one point. If so, the plot thickens. Katarina is in the caves and reopens the door that Jonas had previously closed. Looks like she will survive the apocalypse in a different time as well.

Clausen executes a search warrant on the power plant (while Regina's husband is still held in jail). Clausen's brother is missing and he suspects Aleksander killed him and stole his identity. Clausen makes them drill up the toxic waste that was concreted over. Of course that proves to be a really, really bad idea. The wormhole opens. Charlotte can see Elisabeth in 2052. They reach for each other. Just then an explosion occurs. Did the mother/daughter duo escape into a different time? .

Meanwhile Jonas is still crying over Martha's body and vows to fix things. A girl who looks exactly like Martha appears. She says she is not who he thinks she is. She has small ball-like time machine. He asks WHEN she is from. She says "Not when, but which world". So... not only do we have people traveling through five different times but we now have people traveling through different worlds as well. Mind B-L-O-W-N.

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To help you keep track of everyone, here are the four families around which all the action revolves:

The Kahwalds:

Michael- the man who committed suicide
Hannah- his wife. She is secretly having an affair with Ulrich Nielsen.
Jonas- their son. He was in a mental hospital after his father's death. They told everyone he was in France. He's BFFs with Bartosz.
Ines- Michael's adoptive mother. Unbeknownst to the others, she has Michael's letter and opens it.
Daniel Kahnwald- Ines' father. He was the police chief in Winden in the 1950s. Egon worked for him.

The Nielsens:

Ulrich- missing Mad's older brother. He is a police officer.
Katarina- his wife. She is the high school principal. They have three children.
Mangus- the oldest.
Martha- is currently dating Bartosz but has feelings for Jonas.
Mikkel- the youngest. He enjoys magic and goes missing in the first episode.
Ulrich and Madds parents are Tronte and Jana. We see Jana visiting Madds grave in episode 1. Tronte sneaks around in the middle of the night doing something.

The Dopplers:

Charlotte- head of the police and Ulrich's boss. Charlotte's parents died when she was young and she was raised by HG Tannhaus (who adopted her). Charlotte and Peter's marriage is not the best. He has a relationship with __. Charlotte and Peter sleep in separate bedrooms but work together to investigate time travel. They keep all their info in the bunker outside Helge's cabin.
Peter- her husband and Jonas' therapist.
Helge Doppler- Peter's father who is in an institution.
Franziska- teenage daughter
Elisabeth- younger daughter, she is deaf
HG Tannhaus- is Charlotte's grandfather, he wrote the time ravel book.

The Tiedermanns:

Regina- hotel owner and Bartosz's mother. She has cancer.
Aleksander- Regina's husband and head of the nuclear power plant. Thus far in the story, he appears to be a first class jerk.
Bartosz- bestie with Jonas and dating Martha
Claudia- Regina's mother. She was the first female head of the power plant. She has one blue eye and one brown eye.
Egon- Claudia's father. He is dying of cancer.

Grade: 5 Monsters (out of 5). Excellent! Season 2 of "Dark" continues to expand on the compelling story of the residents of Winden, Germany. The four main families are so interwoven, it's very hard to keep track of who is who-- especially when there are multiple copies of them traveling in the past, present, future. "Dark" is not one of those shows you can casually watch. You may need to watch multiple times and possibly even take notes. It's all worth it IMHO.

"Dark" is not only one of the best shows on NetFlix. It also joins the ranks of the best time travel shows ever. They include: "12 Monkeys" and "Travelers". And with the twist ending, I cant wait to see where they go in season 3. Thank goodness NetFlix has already renewed the show for next year.