Dark Season 2, Episode 6
"An Endless Cycle"
Original airdate: June 21, 2019
Writers: Jantje Friese, Martin Behnke
Director: Baran bo Odar
Cast: Peter Benedict, Karoline Eichhorn, Louis Hofmann, Dietrich Hollinderbäumer, Moritz Jahn, Stephan Kampwirth, Deborah Kaufmann, Wolfram Koch, Lisa Kreuzer, Walter Kreye, Daan Lennard Liebrenz, Paul Lux, Oliver Masucci, Anton Rubtsov, Sebastian Rudolph, Maja Schöne, Tatja Seibt, Gina Alice Stiebitz, Jördis Triebel, Lisa Vicari, Carina Wiese
It’s hard not to feel like Season 2, Episode 6, “An Endless Cycle,” is my favorite episode of the entire show. While the title suggests these moments have played out countless times before (and will again), it’s the quiet beauty of getting to live in them that makes this hour so special. Watching Jonas and Martha at the beach, caught in a fleeting moment of peace and possibility, reminds us why this show is worth feeling so deeply about in the first place.
The episode begins by rewinding moments we've seen throughout the series. Over a voiceover, Adam asks: “Where did it all begin?” For Jonas, it’s a return to what he believes is the starting point before everything in Winden unravels. But for some, the unraveling has already begun.
It’s the day before Michael Kahnwald’s suicide. Jonas wakes up, still untouched by time travel, and shares a quiet moment with his father. He tells his mother he’s heading to the beach with Martha, Magnus, Bartosz, and Franziska. Everything seems normal. The Nielsens are hosting a party that night, though Michael appears hesitant to attend. We, of course, understand why.
Ulrich and Katharina seem content, though she doesn’t know he’s having an affair with Hannah. They’re interrupted by Mikkel, who needs help with a rash. Elsewhere, Aleksander Tiedemann sees a newspaper headline about a murder from 33 years ago, almost certainly the one tied to his mysterious past. He’s lived with secrets for decades. Are they finally catching up to him?
Winden’s cracks run deep. Charlotte confronts Peter about his infidelity, and he turns the moment into a guilt trip, deflecting rather than owning his betrayal.
At the lake, Bartosz shares a ghost story about a woman who drowned years ago. After pranking Martha, she gets out of the water and sits with Jonas. They talk about their parents, about happiness, about things neither fully understands yet. Their connection is clear, though still unspoken. Jonas finds a pendant in the sand, a St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, and gives it to her. He leaves soon after, saying he has to help his grandmother with her new tablet.
Moments later, a different Jonas appears. Our version of Jonas. He sits beside Martha, overwhelmed to be back in this moment. He knows it won’t last. When he “fixes” everything, this memory will disappear. He tells her the truth: that he loves her. “I think we're a perfect match. Never believe anything else,” he says, before kissing her, then walking away.
The Nielsens arrive at the Kahnwalds’ to borrow some glasses for the party. Michael catches a glimpse of his younger self. Hannah, seeing Mikkel, feels a jolt of déjà vu. It’s the boy she grew up with and eventually married. Mikkel, going to the bathroom, opens the door to find his adult self. Both are shocked by what they see.
On the bike ride home, Bartosz apologizes to Martha for skipping the party. Then he compliments her. Stay away from her, buddy.
At the Nielsen party, the mood is light. The women of Winden dance and drink. Ulrich sneaks glances at Hannah. Upstairs, Mikkel comes down unable to sleep. Katharina tucks him in, and he asks her to stay. She does. It’s a tender, bittersweet moment, knowing this version of their life is almost over.
Back at the Kahnwalds’, Jonas makes one last plea. He begs his father not to kill himself. He even shows him the suicide note. But Michael doesn’t understand. He’s never seen the letter before. Jonas asks him to promise not to do it. Michael doesn’t answer.
At the same time, Martha finds the younger Jonas at the party and returns the St. Christopher medal. She’s tied it to a string. “I thought about what you said at the lake,” she tells him. He looks confused. “I think you’re right,” she says, before kissing him. They have sex.
Later, Jonas presses Michael about the night he disappeared and the day Mikkel went missing. Michael finally admits that someone showed him the caves. That someone was Jonas. Mikkel had gotten lost, but Jonas brought him back and left him there. Jonas is horrified. He doesn’t remember this. He never did it. But Michael tells him maybe he will. That maybe Jonas isn’t here to stop him from dying, because if he does, Jonas won’t exist. Maybe this is how it’s always meant to happen. Just as he says that, an older Claudia Tiedemann arrives.
Claudia says she’s here because she opposes Adam. Adam sent Jonas to this moment not to change anything, but to ensure it happens again. Jonas believes he can stop this. Claudia insists he can’t. At least not yet. She says she’s seen the world without Jonas in it, and it’s not what he thinks. Jonas will have to fight Adam. He will have to fight himself. Everyone makes sacrifices. Michael included.
Elsewhere, Hannah and Ulrich sit on a swing set as the storm draws closer. They smoke. Ulrich wonders aloud if this is the apocalypse, calling back to something they once joked about as teenagers. Hannah says if it is, it’s a little disappointing. They laugh. Ulrich asks what she’d wish for if the world started over. She answers without hesitating: a world without Winden. As the rain begins to fall, they run for cover, ducking into a nearby shed. They kiss. The cracks in Winden were here long before Mikkel disappeared.
The rest unfolds over a montage. Franziska watches her father enter Benni’s trailer. Bartosz has dinner with his parents. Jonas and Martha lie in bed. The older Jonas, broken and scarred, says goodbye to his father. Claudia leads him back to the cave. Michael begins writing the letter. Magnus stares at a photo of Franziska on his phone. Charlotte comes home to an empty house.
Adam clutches the St. Christopher medal, lost in the memory of June 20, 2019. A couple enters. The man says Adam could’ve told Jonas the truth. Adam says nothing, only that there are two more days. He leaves. The woman turns to the man and says, “We all have to make sacrifices, Magnus.”
And so, it’s an endless cycle. And so the cycle continues. But that’s what makes this episode work. Not just that we’re watching events repeat, but that we’re allowed to live in the moments that still feel full of possibility. A kiss at the lake. A plea between father and son. A night that feels normal, even when we know it won’t last. These are the fragments that make the endless cycle feel human. Can it be broken? We don’t know yet. But for now, the beauty is in watching these characters try again and again to hold onto something real, even as time tries to take it all away.
If you haven't already, consider supporting worker-owned media by subscribing to Pop Heist. We are ad-free and operating outside the algorithm, so all dollars go directly to paying the staff members and writers who make articles like this one possible.
