#benni wöller

[equalv]

German tv shows with lgbt* characters

I think it can be quite hard to find queer german tv shows, so I thought I‘d compile a list with the ones that I have watched so far.

✪  = queerness is centered in this show

A-Z

1899 (2022) (mlm) | Netflix | international 

Ángel (Miguel Bernardeau) 

Ramiro (José Pimentão)

Krester (Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen)

All you need (2021-) (mlm) | ZDF | ✪

Vince (Benito Bause)

Robbie (Frédéric Brossier)

Levo (Arash Marandi)

Tom (Mads Hjulmand)

Andreas (Tom Keune)

Barbaren (2020-) (mlm) | Netflix

Marbod (Murathan Muslu)

Flavus (Daniel Donsky)

Beat (2018) (mlm) | Prime Video

Beat (Jannis Niewöhner) 

Becoming Charlie (2022-) (trans, mlm, wlw) | ZDF | ✪

Charlie (Lea Drinde)

Ronja (Sira-Anna Faal)

Mirko (Antonije Stankovic)

Blutige Anfänger (2020-) (mlm) | ZDF, YT

Michael Kelting (Werner Daehn)

Dr. Claas Steinebach (Martin Bretschneider)

Bruno Pérez (Martin Peñaloza Cecconi)

Phillip Schneider (Eric Cordes)

Charité (2017-) (wlw, mlm) | Netflix

Schwester Therese (Klara Deutschmann)

Otto Marquardt (Jannik Schümann)

Martin Schelling (Jacob Matschenz)

Dark (2017-2020) (wlw, mlm, trans) | Netflix

Peter Doppler (Stephan Kampwirth)

Bennie Wöller (Anton Rubtsov)

Doris Tiedemann (Tamar Pelzig/Luise Heyer)

Agnes Nielsen (Helena Pieske/Antje Trauer)

Deutschland 83/86/89 (2015-2020) (wlw, mlm) | Prime Video

Alex Edel (Ludwig Trepte)

Prof. Tobias Tischbier (Alexander Beyer)

Lenora Rauch (Maria Schrader)

Rose Seithathi (Florence Kasumba)

Dogs of Berlin (2018) (mlm) | Netflix

Erol Birkan (Fahri Yardim)

Guido Mack (Sebastian Achilles)

Dr. Klein (2014-2019) (mlm) | Netflix

Patrick Keller (Leander Lichti)

Kaan Gül (Karim Günes)

DRUCK (2018-) (wlw, mlm, trans) | YT | ✪

Fatou Jallow (Sira-Anna Faal)

Matteo Florenzi (Michelangelo Fortuzzi)

Zoe Machwitz (Madeleine Wagenitz)

Kieu My Vu (Nhung Hong)

Isi Inci (Eren M. Güvercin)

David Schreibner (Lukas von Horbatschewsky)

Yara Aimsakul (Elena Plyphalin Siepe)

Hans Brecht (Florian Appelius)

Eldorado KaDeWe – Jetzt ist unsere Zeit (2021-) (wlw) | ARD

Heidi Kron (Valerie Stoll)

Fritzi Jandorf (Lia von Blarer)

How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) (2019-) (wlw) | Netflix

Fritzi (Leonie Wesselow)

Gerda (Luna Baptiste Schaller)

Kitz (2021) (mlm) | Netflix

Kosh Ziervogel (Zoran Pingel)

Hans Gassner (Ben Felipe)

Ku‘damm 56/59/63 (2016-2021) (mlm) | ZDF

Wolfgang von Boost (August Wittgenstein)

Hans Liebknecht (Andreas Pietschmann)

Der Kroatien Krimi/Split Homicide (2016-) (wlw) | ARD

Stascha Novak (Jasmin Gerat)

Loving Her (2021) (wlw) | ZDF | ✪

Hanna (Banafshe Hourmazdi)

Holly (Bineta Hansen)

Franzi (Lena Klenke)

Lara (Emma Drogunova)

Josephine (Karin Hanczewski)

Anouk (Larissa Sirah Herden)

Sarah (Soma Pysall)

Mord mit Aussicht (2018-2022) (wlw) | Netflix

Bärbel Schmied (Meike Droste)

Neumatt (2021-) (mlm) - Switzerland | Netflix

Michi Wyss (Julian Koechlin)

Joel Bachmann (Benito Bause)

Polizeiruf 110 (1971-) (queer/gnc) | ARD

Frankfurt/Świecko

Vincent Ross (Andre Kaczmarczyk)

SOKO Leipzig (2001-) (mlm) | ZDF

Moritz Brenner ( Johannes Hendrik Langer )

Tatort (1970-) (mlm, wlw) | ARD

Berlin

Robert Karow (Mark Waschke)

Hamburg

Julia Grosz (Franziska Weisz)

Saarbrücken

Esther Baumann (Brigitte Urhausen)

Wien

Meret Schande (Christina Scherrer)

Vorstadtweiber (2015-) (mlm) – Austria

Georg Schneider (Jürgen Maurer)

Joachim Schnitzler (Phillip Hochmair)

WIR (2021-) (wlw) | ZDF

Annika Baer (Eva Maria Jost)

Helena Kwiatkowski (Katharina Nesytowa)

Wendland (2023-) (wlw) | ZDF

Kira Engelmann (Paula Kalenberg)

Birthe (?)

Queer Eye Germany (2022) (mlm, nblm, trans) | Netflix

Avi Jakobs

Leni Bolt

Ayan Yuruk

Jan-Henrik Scheper-Stutke

Aljosha Muttardi

Notes: I may have forgotten to add some characters, because for most of the shows it has been some time since I last watched them. Please let me know if you want me to add a character or even show:)

[yellow-dejavu]

Do you miss him? I think I miss a notion of him. - Jonas and Hannah (1x02)

In all the worlds, Peter finds his way to Benni because he was always meant to be with her. I think something like that also applies to Hannah, but even more chaotic. Her love interests were a Nielsen and/or a policeman, so it might seem like Hannah was somehow looking for Ulrich. Since i watched the last episode, I don't think so.

All the similarities and differences in Hannah's romances are interesting to me. I think the ending was really fitting for her character, and now I have a different interpretation of her relationships.

Don't you think it'd be good if you got out? Won't you at least try? For me. - Hannah to Michael (2x06)

Michael Kahnwald: He was a really kind person. Hannah thought he was cool when they met. He was really nice to Hannah, and she was nice to him when others weren't. Even in his worst moments, Hannah was there for Michael. She didn't know who he really was, but she knew how he was before. Hannah just wanted to see her husband get better. Hannah loved Michael.

He loved Hannah.

She started a family with him in Adam's World.

Michael keeps secrets from her.

He is the father of her child (Jonas) and he loved their child so much. Michael would even give his life for Jonas.

They are not just romantic partners. He is also her descendant (great-great-great-grandson).

Mikkel is a Nielsen.

I tried to remember if you ever said "I love you" to me. - Hannah to Ulrich (2x07)

Ulrich Nielsen: He wasn't very nice most of the time, but he really tried his best. Ulrich and Hannah were friends since they were young. Hannah was obsessed with him. Ulrich had an affair with Hannah that didn't end well for them. Their relationship seems like it was never meant to be in any world. Ulrich always loved Katharina.

He didn't love Hannah.

She tried to start a family with him in Eva's World.

Ulrich keeps her as a secret and keeps secrets from her.

He loves his kids (Magnus, Martha and Mikkel).

Ulrich is a policeman.

They are not just romantic partners. He is also her descendant (great-great-grandson).

Ulrich is a Nielsen.

I love you. - Egon to Hannah (3x04)

Egon Tiedemann: He was a good man, and he was really nice to Hannah when they met. They had an affair. He told her he loved her, but Egon was holding on to a broken marriage. More than Doris leaving him, I think Egon was more affected by ruining the opportunity to be with someone who really wanted to be with him. But things probably worked out better for Hannah and Egon in Eva's World, Egon being a traveler was probably more able to think outside of the box.

He loved Hannah

She started a whole cursed family tree with him in Adam's and Eva's Worlds.

Egon keeps her as a secret.

He is the father of her child (Silja) and he loves his child (Claudia). He didn't know Silja in Adam's World, but I think he did in Eva's World.

Egon is a policeman.

They are just romantic partners.

Egon is not a Nielsen, but Egon and Hannah are technically the origin of the Nielsen family. Actually, she used the name Katharina Nielsen when they met in Adam's world and she is Hannah Nielsen in Eva's world, so Hannah is the Nielsen.

Egon's existence is not tied to the knot.

As a traveler, Egon's mission was to create his past to preserve the family tree. In order for his younger self to fall in love with her and have a child with her, he had to save Hannah from the apocalypse. I find it interesting that Hannah & Egon is the one Hannah relationship that's always necessary in Adam and Eva's World. I think Egon is the closest to Hannah's husband in Origin World.

Actually, no one here understood why she married him. She's very pretty. She could've had any man she wanted. - Wöller to Clausen (2X04)

Hannah is with Wöller in the Origin World.

Torben Wöller is funny and kind. He is a good man who loves Hannah. They are just romantic partners. He also happens to be a policeman in all the versions we have seen of him at his job. His profession didn't change from Adam's World to Eva's World, so I think he's still a member of the Winden police in Origin World. Wöller is not a Nielsen, so his existence is not tied to the knot. The series ends with Hannah starting a family with Wöller.

I just think that maybe all along Hannah was just trying to have what she was always supposed to have.

And I wish I could say that Wöller is different from Hannah's other love interests when it comes to secrets, but I can't. Not really a secret to her, but we don't know something very important. WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS EYE???

[queerstuffonscreen]

Dark (2017-2020)

Episode length: 44-73 min.

Country: Germany

Genre: Thriller, Science Fiction, Drama, Mystery

Language: German (stream with English subtitles)

A missing child causes four families to help each other for answers. What they could not imagine is that this mystery would be connected to innumerable other secrets of the small town.

Season 1

Episode 1: Geheimnisse (Secrets)

Episode 2: Lügen (Lies)

Episode 3: Gestern und Heute (Past and Present)

Episode 4: Doppelleben (Double Lives)

Episode 5: Wahrheiten (Truths)

Episode 6: Sic Mundus Creatus Est

Episode 7: Kreuzwege (Crossroads)

Episode 8: Was man sät, das wird man ernten (What you sow, you will reap)

Episode 9: Alles ist Jetzt (Everything Is Now)

Episode 10: Alpha und Omega (Alpha and Omega)

Season 2

Episode 1: Anfänge und Enden (Beginnings and Endings)

Episode 2: Dunkle Materie (Dark Matter)

Episode 3: Gespenster (Ghosts)

Episode 4: Die Reisenden (The Travelers)

Episode 5: Vom Suchen und Finden (Lost and Found)

Episode 6: Ein unendlicher Kreis (An Endless Cycle)

Episode 7: Der weiße Teufel (The White Devil)

Episode 8: Enden und Anfänge (Endings and Beginnings)

Season 3

Episode 1: Deja-vu

Episode 2: Die Überlebenden (The Survivors)

Episode 3: Adam und Eva (Adam and Eva)

Episode 4: Der Ursprung (The Origin)

Episode 5: Leben und Tod (Life and Death)

Episode 6: Licht und Schatten (Light and Shadow)

Episode 7: Zwischen der Zeit (In Between Time)

Episode 8: Das Paradies (Paradise)

Watch on Netflix

[ploppythespaceship]

My Dark theory: Hannah and Egon are going to be Torben and Benni’s parents.

My evidence? Not a damn thing, I’m just spitballing here.

[solve-me-a-crime]

Jonas to Martha: We are a perfect match...

Peter and Benni: Hold my beer!

[pickingwinkles]

I don’t know how to yell about Dark without spoilers so, my feelings just needed to say:

Katharina, Peter NO! Touch Elizabeth mf and you die. Ffs middle-age Jonas! Claudia hell YES it was going to be you. Benni!!! Wöller you need to talk faster, now we’ll never know.

Thank you. That is all.

[scottsumrners]

@bombshellssz replied to your post: PETER AND BENNI????? PSYCHO HANNAH AND FUCKING....

do you think she’s a psycho in the og universe tho? i’d like to think the source of her awlfulness was her obsession with *lrich

i mean, i guess it could've been. i mean, wöller is definitely an improvement over ulr*ch

[metawitches]

Here are all of the characters, with photos and descriptions, from season 1 of Dark. If there’s anyone you think I should add, let me know.

Each of my Dark season 1 recaps also has a character list which only shows the characters and their connections up to that point in the season- no spoilers!

Cast from the Episode 1/Secrets murder board:

Charlotte Doppler in 1986 and 2019. Married to Peter, mother to Franziska and Elisabeth, daughter-in-law to Helge. Police Chief.

  Hannah Kahnwald, in 2019 and 1986. Mother to Jonas, widow of Michael, daughter-in-law of Ines, having an affair with Ulrich. Massage therapist.

  Helge Doppler, in 2019, 1986, and 1953. Son of Bernd and Greta, father of Peter, father-in-law to Charlotte. Nuclear power plant guard.

  Ines Kahnwald, in 2019, 1986 and 1953. Daughter to Daniel, adoptive mother to Michael, mother-in-law to Hannah, grandmother to Jonas. Hospital nurse.

  Jana Nielsen, in 1953, 1986 and 2019. Tronte’s wife, mother of Ulrich and Mads.

  Jonas Kahnwald in 2019. Son of Hannah and Michael, grandson of Ines. High school student.

  Katharina Nielsen in 1986 and 2019. Wife to Ulrich, mother of Magnus, Martha and Mikkel. High school principal.

  Mads Nielsen, 1986, age 12. Missing since then. Ulrich Nielsen, 1986 and 2019. Son of Tronte and Jana, husband of Katharina, father of Martha, Magnus and Mikkel, lover to Hannah. Police officer.

  Michael Kahnwald, 2019, husband to Hannah, father to Jonas, adoptive son to Ines. Deceased artist.

  Regina Tiedemann, 1986 and 2019. Wife to Alexander, mother to Bartosz, daughter of Claudia, granddaughter of Egon. Hotelier.

  Magnus and Martha Nielsen, 2019, children of Ulrich and Katharina, siblings of Mikkel. High school students. Franziska Doppler, 2019, daughter of Peter and Charlotte. High school student. Aleksander Tiedemann, 1986 and 2019, husband of Regina, father of Bartosz, son-in-law of Claudia. Director of Nuclear Power Plant in 2019. Bartosz Tiedemann, 2019. Son of Regina and Aleksander. High school student, aspiring drug dealer.

  Tronte Nielsen in 1953, 1986 and 2019. Son to Agnes, husband to Jana, father to Ulrich and Mads.

  Claudia Tiedemann, 1953, 1986 and from the Future. Director of Winden Power Plant in 1986. Daughter of Egon. Mother of Regina and mother in law of Aleksander. Grandmother of Bartosz. Had extramarital affair with Tronte Nielsen in the 1980s. Appears to be a survivalist at some point in the future.

  Egon Tiedemann, 1953 & 1986. Winden police officer. Husband to Doris. Claudia’s father and Regina’s grandfather. Aleksander’s grandfather in law. Bartosz’s great grandfather. Teenage Ulrich’s nemesis. Alcoholic.

  HG Tannhaus, 1953 & 1986. Clockmaker, inventor, amateur physicist and author of the book A Journey Through Time. Advisor to the Stranger.

  Murder Board:

  Jürgen Obendorf, maintenance worker at the nuclear power plant, and Erik Obendorf’s father. And Erik Obendorf, high schooler and drug dealer, missing for 2 weeks. Both pictured in 2019.

  Peter Doppler in 2019, therapist, married to Charlotte Doppler (police chief), son of Helge Doppler, father of Franziska and Elizabeth Doppler.

Peter Doppler 2019

  Bernd Doppler, 1953 & 1986, founder and first director of the Winden Nuclear Power Plant, husband of Greta, father of Helge, grandfather of Peter.

Bernd Doppler 1953

Bernd Doppler 1986

  The Stranger, a time traveler who appeared in 2019 and is living in the Tiedemann’s hotel. He is investigating the Winden wormhole and time travel, hoping to correct the timeline.

The Stranger

  Elisabeth Doppler, 2019, daughter of Peter and Charlotte, granddaughter of Helge, sister of Franziska. Yasin Friese, 2019, best friend and classmate of Elisabeth. Missing. Both communicate using sign language.

  Torben Wöller, 2109, detective who works under Charlotte. Benni, 2019, prostitute who works out of a trailer parked on the edge of Winden and who Peter has frequented in the past.

  Sebastian Krüger, 1986, Hannah’s father, drives van for dry cleaning business.

  Noah, 1953, murder suspect. Noah, 1986, parish priest at St Christopher’s Church, Winden. Noah, 2019, priest and Erik Obendorf’s drug supplier.

    Agnes Nielsen, 1953, Tronte’s mother, widow, new in town, boarder in the Tiedemann home.

Agnes Nielsen 1953

  Doris Teidemann, 1953. Egon’s wife, Claudia’s mother, Regina’s grandmother, Bartosz’s great grandmother.

Doris Tiedemann 1953

  Greta Doppler, 1953. Bernd’s wife, Helge’s mother, Peter’s grandmother, Franziska and Elizabeth’s great grandmother.

Greta Doppler 1953

  Gretchen the Dog Tiedemann, 1953. Claudia’s dog. Lost in the caves in 1953, returned to her through the caves, apparently unchanged, in 1986.

Gretchen Tiedemann 1953

  Daniel Kahnwald, 1953. Ines’s father, Michael’s adopted grandfather, Jonas’ great grandfather. Chief of police in 1953.

  The Girl from the Future, 2052, was one of the soldiers who met Jonas when he arrived in the future, right after the Stranger tried to destroy the wormhole in 2019.

Girl from the Future 2052

  Mikkel Nielsen, 2019 (and 1986). Michael Kahnwald, 2019. Mikkel Nielsen changed his name to Michael Kahnwald when he was adopted by Ines Kahnwald in 1986.

  Jonas Kahnwald, 2019 and 33 years older, aka The Stranger. Sometime between jumping to the future in 2019 and returning to Winden’s present in 2020, Jonas stopped giving his name automatically and started becoming an anonymous stranger who wanders the world alone.

Jonas Kahnwald 2019

The Stranger

  Images courtesy of Netflix.

Dark Season 1: Complete List of Characters-- All of the characters, with photos and descriptions, from season 1 of Dark. #Dark #DarkNetflix Here are all of the characters, with photos and descriptions, from season 1 of Dark. If there's anyone you think I should add, let me know.

[aion-rsa]

Dark Season 3 Ending Explained

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This whole article contains spoilers for Dark Season 3

The third season of Netflix hit Dark has brought the massively complicated show to an end. The finale was as mind boggling and epic as expected. But, in true Dark fashion, fans are still calling out for questions about the ending to be answered. We’ve given it our best shot.. 

Even then, a show like this will never be easy to understand, the complications and paradoxes of the show are exactly what makes it. Just as Jonas (Louis Hofmann) says, “it’s a bit complicated to explain”. Like the fact Charlotte may be her own Grandma… Yep, we’re as confused as you are. 

We’re reminded time and time again that everything and everyone is connected in Dark, and the final few episodes of this season gives this a whole new meaning. 

The Origin World 

In between the initial two worlds we know in Dark, Claudia (Julika Jenkins) – being somebody disconnected from the Nielsen family tree – discovered there was a third world, which she named the Origin World – because, you might have guessed it, it’s the ‘real world’. 

You may have heard the word ‘Origin’ mentioned throughout the series. In order for the knot and loop to stop, of course, the Origin needed to be destroyed. 

The Origin came as the product of a car crash, where the death of HG Tannhaus’ (Christian Steyer) son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter prompted Tannhaus to think up and use a time machine in the first place, in an attempt to save them. 

Jonas realises he has been stuck in a cycle that will continue for all time. In this cycle each character is doomed to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over. Jonas begins to learn that he has kept trying to bring about the apocalypse. 

After finding out from Claudia that there was a moment where time could be stopped and the Origin World visited, Jonas and Martha (Lisa Vicari) time travel through Winden back to June 1986. They manage to prevent the car crash deaths and Tannhaus creating the time machine, but in doing so, wipe their own worlds away. 

It’s almost as though being in this place acts as a black hole void where Jonas and Martha are sent to in a non-existent place. 

In the Origin World the Nielsen family tree was never created, and the events of the last two seasons never really happened. 

Does that mean Martha and Jonas die? 

Technically, no. They are completely wiped from any form of existence. So they don’t need to die, because they stop existing altogether. They wonder what seeing childhood versions of themselves could mean and hold hands as they disappear from existence while ‘What a Wonderful World’ plays in the background – sob. 

Because they managed to destroy the knot, it wasn’t just Jonas and Martha that were wiped out – every character in Adam and Eva’s world also now cease to exist. 

The Final Scene 

The final scene sees a group of characters enjoying a dinner party in modern day Winden. Peter Doppler (Stephan Kampwirth), Hannah Kahnwald (Maja Schöne), Katharina Nielson (Jördis Triebel), and Benni (Anton Rubtsov) and Torben Wöller (Leopold Hornung) were all present. They are the only ones who survived with everybody in Adam and Eva’s world ceasing to exist. This is because these characters were not born as a product of time travel. 

Regina (Deborah Kaufmann) hasn’t died of cancer, Hannah is pregnant (although her partner Mikkel doesn’t exist anymore), and Peter seems to be happy with his transgender partner and not Charlotte – because now she doesn’t exist. 

A Glitch 

There is a strange sense that even though the other two worlds no longer exist, they have definitely had a profound impact on the lives that remain. Hannah talks about having ‘deja vu or something’, and wears a coat identical to Jonas’ yellow one. Hannah is asked what name she likes for her unborn baby, and in an emotional final line, she says “I think Jonas is a beautiful name.” 

Jonas and Martha previously referred to the feeling of déjà vu as a ‘glitch in the Matrix’ – implying that even though these characters have been wiped from existence, some things are not predicted by people, but are determined by the system, or a higher power. Despite Jonas and Martha’s attempts to make sure that events don’t repeat themselves, some things are destined. 

Even when Jonas is gone, some memory of him still lingers as the lights flicker. 

Questions left unanswered 

What happened to Wöller’s eye?

It may seem insignificant, but in the final scene, he still has his scars and even begins to try and explain how they got there. 

Is the knot broken for sure?

It’s clear that Adam and Eva’s worlds have vanished, but what is not so clear is why Hannah still has flash-backs. It could just be a way for the show’s writers to keep the fans wanting more, but it could also signify a wrinkle in time, and a glitch in the system.

The post Dark Season 3 Ending Explained appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2W26geC

[ploppythespaceship]

Making a list of questions we still don’t have answers to:

Who is Helge’s real father, if not Bernd?

Who was Agnes’s husband, Tronte’s father? Is it connected to why she stopped following Adam? And why would she return to Adam later?

Why does Doris leave Egon? Is it to be with Agnes? Or is it because Egon cheated on her with Hannah?

On that note, are Hannah and Egon going to fuck, and if so, is one of the other characters their child?

Who is Regina’s father? Is it Tronte?

Who is Peter’s mother?

Who is Aleksander/Boris?

Who are Torben and Benni Wöller’s parents?

Who is Silja? Is she related to another character?

How and when does Jonas become Adam? Is Jonas truly Adam, or is this a trick?

Where/when did future Jonas take Magnus, Franziska, and Bartosz?

How did Magnus (and possibly Franziska) wind up working for Adam in 1921?

Did Charlotte and Elisabeth wind up in different times after touching through the wormhole, the way Jonas and Helge did at the end of season 1?

Do Peter and Regina simply die of old age in the bunker after the apocalypse, or is there a more mysterious reason they don’t appear in the 2052 time period?

Where/when did the alternate Martha come from? Are we getting into a multiverse now?

Why does no one ever leave Winden? Is it just coincidence, or is there a supernatural/destiny reason for it?

Can the timeline cycle ever truly be broken, or is it locked in forever, like fate?

And most importantly, what happened to Torben’s eye?

[scottsumrners]

PETER AND BENNI????? PSYCHO HANNAH AND FUCKING. WÖLLER?????????????

[ploppythespaceship]

I’m seeing theories in the tags that Hannah and Egon are going to turn out to be the parents of another character we already know, and while that makes sense, we gotta remember that Claudia, Helge, Ines, Jana, and Tronte have all already been born by the time Hannah arrives. The only characters that could work are ones we haven’t seen yet at that point in the 50s.

I think their kid is either going to be Aleksander, or it’s going to be Wöller and Benni. Either way, we need more time travel to cover the age difference -- any kid of theirs born in the 50s would be thirty something in the 80s and sixty something in present day.

[metawitches]

Let’s go deeper into the rabbit hole that Dark is taking us down.

The Clockmakers’ voiceover:

“Black holes are considered to be the hellmouths of the universe. Those who fall inside, disappear forever. But, where to? What is it that exists behind a black hole? What other things vanish there, along with space and time? Or, are space and time tied together as part of an endless cycle? What if everything from the past was actually influenced by the future?”

Helge: “Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.”

The camera rapidly rotates through images. We’re shown the bunker door outside the Doppler family cabin in the woods; the electromagnetic torture chair that sits in the center of the room; the desk table with pine cone crafts on it; symbols and words on stone, paper, and a tattoo on human skin; one of the dead children; an article about Mikkel’s disappearance; the Stranger’s determined face; comic books; shelves of the nature crafts; hands making more cone and acorn figures; and Old Helge staring into space, repeating tick tock to himself.

Some of these images are new, while some are already familiar.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After the best eerie theme song around plays, the scene moves to the Doppler household, where Franziska is screaming about Elisabeth stealing her lipstick. Peter and Charlotte emerge from their separate bedrooms and coordinate carpooling for the day.

Elisabeth denies taking the lipstick, saying she doesn’t want it, because she’s 8 and doesn’t use makeup. Franziska says she doesn’t believe her. She doesn’t buy her innocent mask or her “deaf and helpless act”, unlike their parents. When Charlotte enters, Franziska storms out.

Charlotte tells Elisabeth that she’s driving her to school. Elizabeth asks if it’s because of Mikkel, who she doesn’t like. Charlotte says it is, but won’t discuss the case any further.

Jonas studies his map, then gets ready for school. Hannah tells him he doesn’t have to go, and offers to spend time together instead. Jonas still wants to go to school.

Peter visits Helge on his way to school. Helge is agitated and rambling, saying, “It has to stop. I have to tell him. Tick-tock.”

On the drive to school, Charlotte has the radio news on. The announcer reports on Erik, then on Mikkel’s disappearance. He moves on to recent repeated blackouts in the region, with promises from the utility company to solve the issue.

Charlotte pulls over near the spot where the dead boy’s body was found. She breaks into a wildlife conservation camera and takes the SD chip which records the camera’s data. Elisabeth accuses her of stealing. Charlotte tries to explain that when it’s a police officer looking for evidence it doesn’t count as stealing, but Elisabeth doesn’t see the difference.

Jonas goes to the cave. He enters, using part of the map. The Stranger watches from behind a tree. Jonas searches the tunnels, eventually finding a narrow tunnel that’s marked on the map.

When Charlotte drops Elisabeth off, she runs to sit with her new boyfriend, Yasin. Before she leaves, Charlotte tells Elisabeth she’ll pick her up later.

Magnus crashes Franziska’s Math class, then follows her when she goes to the bathroom.

Charlotte has the medical examiner do an autopsy on one of the dead songbirds. The bird has atypical white feathers. Charlotte explains that 33 years ago, she also found birds like this. The events are repeating themselves, between the dead birds and the missing children. She knows it’s all connected, but she can’t determine how.

When Charlotte arrives at the police station, one-eyed cop Torben Wöller stops her to complain that someone has tipped off the press about the dead boy’s body and they’ve been getting calls all morning. Charlotte doesn’t have any instructions on what to say about the body. She asks about Ulrich, who not in yet, and orders Torben to expand the database search for matches to the dead boy back at least 15 years. Torben also tells Charlotte that the red soil on the dead boy’s shoes doesn’t match the area where he was found, so it must match the crime scene.

Ulrich is still at home, asleep in Mikkel’s bed. He startles awake at a little past ten, to find Katharina watching him. She informs him that Charlotte called to say they haven’t been able to get the search warrant for the power plant yet. It’s been almost 36 hours since Mikkel disappeared. Ulrich, who slept in his clothes, rushes out of the house.

Charlotte decides to check her theory that it’s all connected. She checks what time Mikkel disappeared, then looks at the camera footage on the SD card from that time period. One car drove down the road. Charlotte prints out a screencap of the car.

While it’s printing, Torben comes in to ask if he should keep trying to identify the tire tracks from Erik’s disappearance. He’s been working on them in Ulrich’s absence. He noses around her print out and Charlotte impatiently tells him he should be working on the database, like she just ordered him to. After he’s gone, Charlotte looks at the image. Peter’s license plate number is clearly visible.

Peter goes to his car, which has red soil on the drivers side floor mat. He seems surprised, like either he didn’t track it there, or he hasn’t noticed it before. He pulls out the mat and shakes it off.

Charlotte calls, saying she just discovered that she missed a call from him on the night Mikkel disappeared. She wonders if it was important. Peter tells her he called to say he’d be home late, because he was stuck at the office writing reports. Charlotte not so subtly determines if this is what he’s going with as his alibi for that day and evening. He is. He was at the office the whole time on Monday, until 10 PM. Mikkel disappeared between 9:30-10:30 PM.

Charlotte makes up a lame excuse about supposedly calling looking for some mail, and they hang up. Peter almost faints from relief.

Franziska doesn’t go to the bathroom. She knows Magnus is following her and leads him out into the woods, to the old train tracks, where she digs up a metal box she keeps hidden there. She removes a wad of cash wrapped in paper, then reburies the box and goes back to school. Magnus stays hidden, but watches her the whole time.

Charlotte visits a prostitute’s trailer on the edge of town. The prostitute is listed as “Transvestite Benni” on IMDB. Charlie wants to know if Peter visited Benni last Monday. Peter was a regular of Benni’s in the past, but hasn’t been to visit in a year. Benni can’t resist twisting the knife in Charlotte a little by describing intimate details about Peter, as if asking the question wasn’t humiliating enough for Charlotte. Benni apparently has an axe to grind.

Jonas goes deeper into the caves, but eventually reaches a dead end. From the look on his face, it doesn’t seem like he expected the passage to end there. Old Helge chants, “The beginning is the end and the end is the beginning.”

Helge overhears people talking about the mutilated body that was found.

Franziska returns to schools and changes her clothes for dance class. Magnus watches Franziska in dance class.

Jonas leaves the caves and goes to get his bike. Someone has put on red cord, knotted into a noose, on his handlebar.

Ulrich jumps the power plant fence to investigate on his own.

Charlotte drives out to the old Doppler family cabin in the woods which has red soil that looks the same as the soil from Peter’s car. She gets a call from the medical examiner, who tells her that the bird has burst eardrums on both sides, just like the dead boy. But it probably died from becoming disoriented while flying and crashing into the ground. The ME says it happens to birds frequently when, “Electromagnetic fields interfere with their sensory systems.” It’s caused by voltages in the radio wave spectrum, like those used by electrical appliances.

Charlotte asks about the white spots. The ME says that they are a mutation that started appearing after Chernobyl. But this bird had normal radiation levels.

Elisabeth waits at school to get picked up by Charlotte, but Charlotte is busy investigating out at the cabin. She goes down into a bunker, but is interrupted by a phone call about Ulrich.

After dance class, Magnus confronts Franziska with the cash. He wants to know where she got so much money and what she intends to do with it. She tells him that she wants to use it to escape, because everyone in this town is a liar. He accuses her of being a liar too. She tells him that her parents marriage is over because her father realized that he likes men. They’ve slept in separate bedrooms for a year, but they won’t admit they’re done and get a divorce. She can’t breathe in her house. She shoves Magnus.

Magnus takes this as an invitation to kiss her, as if he thinks he’s spent the afternoon declaring his romantic feelings toward her. Nothing gets a gal going like stealing her stuff, stalking her, and humiliating her while not becoming emotionally engaged at all. This somehow makes him a real man instead of a jerk.

Since she’s a male fantasy, Franziska loves his advances and hops right up in his lap to have public sex. Before they’re done, she’ll probably beg him to hit her a few times, too, to punish her for being such a bad girl.

Charlotte calls Peter at the office and asks him to pick up Elisabeth from school while she rescues Ulrich from the power plant. Peter has a patient, but she makes him go. Before they hang up, Charlotte says, “You made me a promise a year ago. If there’s anything at all you want to tell me…” Peter looks very conflicted for several seconds, but then says he’d better leave to get Elisabeth.

Elisabeth has already been waiting for a while and everyone else is gone. She decides she’s had enough, puts on some of Franziska’s lipstick and begins to walk home. She doesn’t get far before it’s pouring rain and she’s jumping through puddles. She finds an ominous Raider candy wrapper on the road.

When Peter gets to the school, he’s told that the teacher was sick, so the kids were sent home early. The parents were supposed to be informed. He races back to the car.

Helge also takes advantage of the rain to wander the countryside. It’s really no wonder that Peter is always a nervous wreck.

Alexander brings Charlotte to Ulrich, explaining that he climbed over the fence. On the drive back to town, Ulrich obsesses over why it was his son who disappeared, instead of Alexander’s son, or one of Charlotte’s kids. He’s sure that more would be done to find them if the child of a more powerful family was missing. He has her drop him on the side of the road outside of town.

Peter calls to let Charlotte know that he can’t find Elisabeth. She gives him instructions for continuing the search, then drives along Elisabeth’s route herself. She finds the girl’s hat on the ground. When she gets home, Peter’s called everyone in Elisabeth’s class, but no one’s seen her. The police search the area where Charlotte found the hat long into the night.

Montage time!

Franziska comes home and finds her parents huddled on the couch together. They tell her about Elizabeth.

Ulrich goes home and straight upstairs without talking to Katharina.

Jonas puzzles over his map.

Torben leads the search for Elisabeth. Helge wanders to the search zone and tells Torben, “I have to tell him. He has to stop it.”

A few minutes later, Elisabeth comes home all by herself. She says she got tired of waiting so she walked home. On the way, she met someone named Noah, who gave her a pocket watch for Charlotte. He said the watch used to belong to Charlotte. When Charlotte examines the watch, she discover the message, “For Charlotte” engraved on the inside cover.

Franziska hugs Elisabeth and says she was worried about her. Then she notices that her sister is wearing her lipstick and slaps her. She says to say away from her stuff. Charlotte and Peter ignore the interaction.

Torben calls Peter to let him let him know Helge’s in the woods.

The Stranger watches Jonas sleep. He takes the map out of Jonas’ desk drawer and writes something on it.

Clockmaker’s Voiceover:

“We are searching for the thread of Ariadne so that it can guide us on the right path and act as a beacon in the darkness. We would love to know what our fate will be, just where we are headed. But the truth is, that there is just one path through all times, predetermined by the beginning and by the end. Which is also the beginning.”

Helge lies in bed. He grabs the arm of the nurse standing next to him, saying, “He has to stop it. I have to stop him.” The nurse asks who he has to stop: “Noah.”

The next morning, Elisabeth’s friend Yasin walks to school by himself. He comes upon a figurine made from acorns, sitting on the road. A man in black stands in front of Yasin and says, “You must be Yasin. Noah sent me.”

Commentary

For a small town which has lost two children within a few weeks, there’s a disturbing lack of supervision of the kids in Winden. Even the police chief’s daughter wanders off from school without the teachers noticing, then, the day after the police spend hours searching for her, her best friend wanders off, too.

Plus, the teacher blamed Peter when she allowed Elisabeth to wander away alone. What the heck?? How about she supervises the kid she’s in charge of, and calls the parent when no one comes to get her?

We don’t see the face of the man in black. We also don’t see Noah. And, we’ve never gotten a good look at the man who puts the boys into that chair. We don’t know for sure that Noah is the man Helge wants to stop, but disappearing Elisabeth for several hours, then sending her home with a missing possession, is pretty darn shady.

The Clockmaker states definitively that there is only a single timeline in Dark, and events can’t be changed. Whatever happens is what’s always happened. The part with the “beginning and the end and the beginning” tells us that though there’s only one timeline and time can’t be changed, time can loop and you can travel the entire timeline in any order.

  Characters

New characters will be added at the bottom, as they’re introduced.

Cast from the Episode 1/Secrets murder board:

Charlotte Doppler in 1986 and 2019. Married to Peter, mother to Franziska and Elisabeth, daughter-in-law to Helge. Police Chief.

Hannah Kahnwald, in 2019 and 1986. Mother to Jonas, widow of Michael, daughter-in-law of Ines, having an affair with Ulrich. Massage therapist.

Helge Doppler, in 2019, 1986, and 1953. Son of Bernd and Greta, father of Peter, father-in-law to Charlotte. Nuclear power plant guard.

Ines Kahnwald, in 2019, 1986 and 1953. Daughter to Daniel, adoptive mother to Michael, mother-in-law to Hannah, grandmother to Jonas. Hospital nurse.

Jana Nielsen, in 1953, 1986 and 2019. Tronte’s wife, mother of Ulrich and Mads.

Jonas Kahnwald in 2019. Son of Hannah and Michael, grandson of Ines. High school student.

Katharina Nielsen in 1986 and 2019. Wife to Ulrich, mother of Magnus, Martha and Mikkel. High school principal.

Mads Nielson, 1986, age 12. Missing since then. Ulrich Nielsen, 1986 and 2019. Son of Tronte and Jana, husband of Katharina, father of Martha, Magnus and Mikkel, lover to Hannah. Police officer.

Michael Kahnwald, 2019, husband to Hannah, father to Jonas, adoptive son to Ines. Deceased artist.

Regina Tiedemann, 1986 and 2019. Wife to Alexander, mother to Bartosz, daughter of Claudia, granddaughter of Egon. Hotelier.

Magnus and Martha Nielson, 2019, children of Ulrich and Katharina, siblings of Mikkel. High school students. Franziska Doppler, 2019, daughter of Peter and Charlotte. High school student. Aleksander Tiedemann, 1986 and 2019, husband of Regina, father of Bartosz, son-in-law of Claudia. Director of Nuclear Power Plant in 2019. Bartosz Tiedemann, 2019. Son of Regina and Aleksander. High school student, aspiring drug dealer.

Tronte Nielson in 1953, 1986 and 2019. Son to Agnes, husband to Jana, father to Ulrich and Mads.

Murder Board:

Jürgen Obendorf, maintenance worker at the nuclear power plant, and Erik Obendorf’s father. And Erik Obendorf, high schooler and drug dealer, missing for 2 weeks. Both pictured in 2019.

    Peter Doppler in 2019, therapist, married to Charlotte Doppler (police chief), son of Helge Doppler, father of Franziska and Elizabeth Doppler. Bernd Doppler in 1986, founder and first director of the Winden Nuclear Power Plant, husband of Greta, father of Helge, grandfather of Peter.

    The Stranger, a man who appeared in 2019 from the cave and is living in the Tiedemann’s hotel. He appears to be investigating Mikkel’s disappearance. HG Tannhaus in 1986, a Clockmaker and the author of A Journey Through Time.

    Egon Tiedemann in 1986, a police officer, husband to Doris, Claudia’s father and Regina’s grandfather, Aleksander’s grandfather-in-law, Ulrich’s nemesis. Claudia Tiedemann in 1986, incoming director of Winden Nuclear Power Plant, daughter of Egon, mother of Regina, grandmother of Bartosz, has an affair with Tronte Nielson.

    Elisabeth Doppler, 2019, daughter of Peter and Charlotte, granddaughter of Helge, sister of Franziska. Yasin Friese, 2019, best friend and classmate of Elisabeth. Both communicate using sign language.

  Torben Wöller, 2109, detective who works under Charlotte. Benni, 2019, prostitute who works out of a trailer parked on the edge of Winden and who Peter has frequented in the past.

  Images courtesy of Netflix.

Dark Season 1 Episode 4: Double Lives Recap Let's go deeper into the rabbit hole that Dark is taking us down. The Clockmakers' voiceover: