**credit for chart: originally posted on Reddit r/dark by WolfStein01

Spoiler Free Section

With 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and number 1 status for the week of its release on IMDB, Netflix has a legitimate hit on its hands, and it’s in German!  But before you tune in to Dark, season 2 you MUST watch season 1. Dark is meant to be watched in order, and it really helps to have a chart like this one nearby. (Tip: make sure you are looking at the family trees from season 1, NOT season 2, or else major spoilers) HERE IS YOUR WARNING. DO NOT READ ON if you haven’t seen season 1!!!

**Chart by davidklein.de

Doubling Down on Drama

When we left our hero Jonas in season 1, he was getting knocked out with the butt of a gun sometime in the future. In season 2, we find out that he’s in 2052, and there was an apocalypse in Winden years earlier. Season 2 picks up (in the current timeline) in June of 2020, 7 days before the apocalypse. Jonas is trying to figure out how to get back from 2052 to 2019 so he can be a teenager again. But there is also a Future Jonas, played by a different actor, who needs to stop the apocalypse. Eventually many characters have past and future versions of themselves tripping through time, hence the need for the chart. Whereas in season 1 the knowledge that that the Winden caves somehow facilitated time travel was the big reveal, Season 2 examines the motivation of characters who use the ability to travel through time, whether it’s saving someone or stopping a catastrophe or screwing someone over. It’s a gripping ride, with many gasp-inducing moments.

Adam, the first traveler

The disappearances were solved in season 1, so season 2’s mystery is “Who is Adam?” We know he is a badly burned older man who is the leader of a group of “travelers” called Sic Mundus. Adam is trying to control time, and he seems to be the puppet master, manipulating several characters into action, including bad priest Noah. We are never sure if his motivations are good, as he claims, or if he is the big bad. And here is the frustration of this season: we never quite find out. We see Adam using Jonas as a pawn, but we don’t know to what end. We get clues along the way, but never a resolution. I was OK with that for the first 6 episodes, but irritated by episode 8.

The real star is the production design

Despite the frustration of not getting a resolution, I still enjoyed season 2. One of the things everyone loved from season 1 of Dark was the eerie atmosphere, created by muted colors (except that raincoat!) and moody music. Season 2 holds onto the same feeling. The set design, now across 5 time periods, is rich in its detail, and frankly I wish I knew where I could buy Adam’s blue lamps. Another aspect of Dark that makes it better than just its clever complications is the human drama. Boy, some of these characters’ stories are sad. Season 2 ends with a bonkers cliffhanger that promises to create even more complications in season 3, which is Dark’s last season. Maybe then we’ll get some resolution.

You can read our review of Dark Season 3 here!

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