Dark Season 2, Episode 4
"The Travelers"
Original airdate: June 21, 2019
Writer: Jantje Friese, Martin Behnke
Director: Baran bo Odar
Cast: Peter Benedict, Sandra Borgmann, Karoline Eichhorn, Sylvester Groth, Louis Hofmann, Dietrich Hollinderbäumer, Leopold Hornung, Moritz Jahn, Julika Jenkins, Stephan Kampwirth, Tilla Kratochwil, Paul Lux, Lydia Maria Makrides, Helena Pieske, Andreas Pietschmann, Max Schimmelpfennig, Maja Schöne, Gina Alice Stiebitz, Jördis Triebel, Lisa Vicari, Carlotta Von Falkenhayn, Mark Waschke
Hello, fellow traveller. Season 2, Episode 4 of Dark makes us think that the stakes in this fight between good and evil, light and shadow, or Adam and Claudia are obvious. On one side, Adam wishes to repeat the cycle of events forever. The other, Claudia’s side, seems to be sure that they can break the cycles and begin anew. Did Claudia sacrifice herself to make the other side believe the cycle was repeating, or did she merely meet the end she was also destined to face? And in the middle of it all is Jonas, the man who might be the key to the war. But the episode's end certainly throws his position as the middleman into question.
We begin with Jonas finding himself in 1921. We can check off “Jonas asks what year it is” from the bingo card. Huzzah! He’s taken to a women named Erna, who apparently has a habit of taking in strays. Two figures we know are here. One is Agnes, a young girl sweeping the steps of the inn, and the other is Noah, Jonas’s new roommate. After an ominous conversation between the two, Jonas sees the Emerald Tablet is hung up on the wall and notes the words “Sic Mundus Creatus Est”.
Meanwhile, Martha dreams of having sex with Jonas (her nephew and timeless lover).
At the police station, Clausen examines a sketch artist depiction of adult Jonas as he learns that Charlotte has called in sick. Woller will have to be his chauffeur for the day instead! However, Charlotte has actually gone to her grandfather’s shop. There, she finds the blueprint to the time machine before she receives a call from Hannah.
Adult Jonas finds the gun and passports that Hannah had stashed away to blackmail Aleksander. He seems a little concerned with what she’s been up to.
Franziska, Magnus, Martha, and Elisabeth all gather at the Nielsen household. With both of her parents now missing, Franziska insists she can’t stay mad at Magnus and calls a truce. She won’t apologize (good for her!). They decide to follow the trail left behind by Katharina and head to the caves.
In 2020, Claudia heads to the power plant. She asks to see “Claudia Tiedemann,” but the only Tiedemann working at the power plant is Aleksander. Clausen is questioning him about the disappearances. He explains that there was no way Mikkel could be in the plant, and that letting Ulrich in would be a safety concern. Clausen is perplexed by the people of Winden. So many people born here remain, which Aleksander chalks up to the power plant providing steady work. When pressed about taking the Tiedemann name, he says it was to preserve the family legacy. He tells the investigator his last name was Kohler.
At the Kahnwald house, Hannah had asked Charlotte to come. The police officer immediately recognizes Jonas as the man that Regina described staying at the hotel. She asks if he knows Noah, which he does. He reveals that the group in the picture are The Travellers. Hannah seems somewhat surprised that Charlotte already knows a fair bit about this whole thing.
In one of my favourite scenes in the show, Claudia heads to the library and uses a computer to search old newspaper files about the town. She sees her own disappearance reported back in the '80s.
Clausen arrives to interview Hannah, but she is not home. Woller tells Clausen of Michael’s suicide and Hannah’s affair with Ulrich. He wonders if Katharina knows, but Woller is not that looped in. Later, Clausen will continue investigating the town and will learn that Egon Tiedemann dies on July 26, 1987 (in two days' time). Later, just as we’re on the verge of learning why Woller only has one eye, he has to swerve to nearly avoid hitting Claudia on the road. Clausen is intrigued by this mystery woman appearing in town.
Jonas, Hannah and Charlotte head to the bunker where they meet up with Peter. It’s here that Peter reveals that Claudia instructed him and Tronte based on what she knew would happen. He shows them the notebook, which contains information about the missing children. They wonder whether to tell Katharina, and Charlotte insists they must.
Charlotte and the crew inform Katharina of Mikkel’s disappearance. When she’s taken to the bunker and sees Hannah, she’s furious. I would be, too, if I only found out about the existence of time travel via my husband’s mistress. It’s adult Jonas who tries to convince her.
While the parents of Winden are in the bunker, their kids are in the caves. They hear rumbling and find Bartosz in the caves. Furious that he seemingly has something to do with all of the events, they steal a briefcase from him and tie him up.
In 1921, Jonas attempts to use the caves to travel into the future. He finds the metal door, but Noah, sitting outside waiting for him, tells him the portal hasn’t been opened yet. It’ll take another 32 years, apparently.
Katharina leaves the bunker and heads to the school. While looking through old files, she finds Mikkel in a class photo from the 80s. She breaks down on the floor and cries. It’s her boy, but he’s lost in time. While she does, Jonas explains to the others that Adam is fighting to repeat the cycle. Jonas has come to end it, once and for all.
In the future, Elisabeth finds the God Particle and confronts her interpreter about it. When the woman asks Elisabeth why she’s been lying, she tells her that this is the work of the devil.
In 1921, Noah takes Jonas to the newly built church to meet adult Noah. Later, while they are alone, Young Noah asks how the prophecy and the notebook were created, but adult Noah refuses to answer. Adult Noah tells his younger self that Adam is about to send Jonas on a path to continue the last cycle.
Jonas is taken to a grand room under the church. He meets Adam. The disfigured man comments that travelling leaves scars. Jonas now has a mark around his neck from being hung, and we’ve seen the marks across adult Jonas’s back. Jonas insists he is here to end things, but Adam says no one can avoid the end. When pressed about who he is, Adam states that Jonas should have figured it out by now. He’s him. With everyone now in their place, Adam says that all they need is a little push.
This episode has one of the bigger reveals of the show, probably just a tad below Mikkel being Michael/Jonas’s dad in terms of impact. While we’ve really only just met Adam, it’s a testament to this show that the weight of him being Jonas lands like it does. It certainly creates some confusion, especially in a first watch. How can Jonas become The Stranger who becomes Adam? Well, we’ll have to let the cycle play out to see how.
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