Summary
Dark season 3, episode 2, “The Survivors” provides more answers to what happened after the apocalypse as the story continues to converge with the other world.
This recap and breakdown of Netflix series Dark season 3, episode 2, “The Survivors” contains significant spoilers.
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Please note, for reference and the purpose of recapping Dark, descriptors like Child, Teen, Adult, Elderly, or a specific year will be used to determine the character in the plot at the beginning of paragraphs. For example:
- Jonas (teen)
- The Stranger (adult)
- Adam (elderly)
or
- Young Helge (child – 1953)
How does Dark season 3, episode 2, “The Survivors” open?
Episode 2 opens up with Jonas (teen) and Martha (teen – counterpart) having sex. It is a dream — Martha (teen – counterpart – 1888) wakes up with Jonas (adult) looking at her intently and asks her to get dressed — it’s 1888. Martha then enters the barn to see Bartosz (teen), Franziska (teen) and Magnus (teen) there. They are happy to see her alive. Jonas makes them aware it is not their Martha. Martha states she wants all this to end for both worlds. Episode 2 continues this convergence of worlds and ideas of different timelines with similar results.
September 22, 1987 — original world
Katharina (adult) wakes up and hears the phone ringing. In the next scene, a wake is occurring for Mads Nielsen. Jana (adult) is blaming Tronte (adult) for Mads’ disappearance and presumed death. Dark season 3, episode 2, “The Survivors” continues to explore the depth of the story in the original timeline in its finale season.
September 22, 2020 — original world
Peter (adult) is trying to access the restricted area with Elisabeth (teen) but border guards tell them it will be “walled” in five days. They visit a wall of photos of dead people. Peter asks if there is a young lady with red hair on the wall — presumably, Peter and Elisabeth are trying to find out if Franziska and other family members are dead.
Back to 1888 — you are lying
Bartosz (teen), Franziska (teen), and Magnus (teen) have questions for Martha (teen — counterpart) who has explained the differences in her world. Jonas (adult) gets angry at her thinking she is lying after she said she has met another version of Jonas. An old blind man comes in and tells Martha there is no need to fear him. The old blind man becomes clearer later on in episode 2.
September 22, 1987 — original world — questions
Katharina (adult) confronts Ulrich (teen) and her teen self at the school. She’s evidently confused about seeing her younger selves. Meanwhile, Tronte (adult) has questions for one of the staff members at the nuclear plant regarding the disappearance of Claudia. Jasmin recollects how Claudia acted oddly beforehand and there was a dog.
Katharina heads to the police station and demands information on her son. The officer tells Katharina that the Child Protective Services know where Ines and Michael Kahnwald are. Dark season 3, episode 2, “The Survivors” sees Katharina struggling to adjust to a different part of the timeline, bewildered by the changes.
That dog looks like Gretchen
On the way back from the nuclear plant, Tronte sees Regina (teen) at the bus stop and asks if the dog is hers — Regina claims it is her mother Claudia’s. Tronte believes the dog looks just like Gretchen. Regina asks Tronte if everything that’s happening with Mads and her mother is connected. Tronte wants to know if Claudia said anything about him or an old lady — Regina states she doesn’t know anything and asks if she can get out of the car.
September 22, 2020 — original world — I am one of the only survivors
Claudia (adult) is leaving a tape recording stating she is one of the survivors from the apocalypse on June 27, 2020 — she states she is still unsure what triggered the disaster in Winden. Meanwhile, Peter (adult) continues searching through Winden — Elisabeth (teen) bumps into Noah (teen). Peter sees Noah and asks him why he’s here. Noah states that he wants to protect Elisabeth when Peter is killed. Dark season 3, episode 2, “The Survivors” shows how Noah is still resourceful within the timeline, waiting for events to happen.
1888 — original world — lack of nuclear material
Bartosz (teen) approaches Martha (teen — counterpart – 1888) and apologizes for Jonas’s behavior, claiming he has changed. He explains that they traveled back in time at the exact moment the apocalypse happened and that the device is empty; nuclear material is somewhat hard to come by in 1888. Meanwhile, the blind old man asks Jonas (adult) to not allow the woman (Martha) to distract from what he’s trying to create — “Paradise! Every calamity can be reversed // a perfect world // sic Mundus creates est.” Episode 2 confirms we are seeing the beginnings of the secret society of time travelers before the war started against Jonas and Claudia for control.
September 22, 1987 — original world — I’ll get you out of here.
Katharina (adult) heads to the psychiatric hospital and is beside herself when she sees Helene Albers (adult), her mother. She begs Helene to allow her to see her husband Ulrich. Katharina meets Ulrich (elderly) who is playing chess by himself. She holds his hands and tells him that she’ll get him out of here.
Hell is here
Meanwhile, at the nuclear plant, Jasmin notices three people in one of the offices — the same three (child, adult and elderly man) that set Adam’s office on fire. The adult man tells Jasmin that Hell is empty and “all devils are here” and the group presumably kills her. Meanwhile, Jana asks Tronte to decide if he is for us or against us — she then states that Claudia never told them who Regina’s father is.
September 22, 2020 — original world — the only way
Tronte (elderly) visits a dying Regina (adult). Tronte apologizes to her before grabbing a pillow — “She said it’s the only way to save you”. He puts the pillow over her head and kills her. Meanwhile, Elisabeth (teen) is getting impatient with Peter (adult) wondering where her family is. Dark season 3, episode 2, “The Survivors” sees the fate of another character as her life ends.
September 22, 2053
Charlotte (adult) is looking at an old photo. Elisabeth (adult) sits next to her and it’s evident that emotions are in the air. Elisabeth tells Charlotte that everything will be okay. It’s strange seeing mother and daughter together in apocalyptic circumstances, almost the same age.
September 22, 1987 — original world
Katharina (teen) is listening to her music and her mother Helene (adult) tells her to clear the table. Helene is clearly frustrated by meeting the older version of her daughter unknowingly.
1888 — original world — who is Adam?
Bartosz (teen) shows Martha (teen — counterpart – 1888) a room and Martha asks what the place is. Bartosz states it is like a secret society — “Old Tannhaus is the only one of them left // his father was convinced he could supersede the rules of time and space and so did his son”. Bartosz explains that Jonas is trying to rebuild things — “he’s been here already. Not now. In the future”. Bartosz then ponders why Jonas asked Martha if Adam sent her here and asks who this man is. Martha tells Bartosz that Jonas is Adam.
How does Dark season 3, episode 2, “The Survivors” end?
The episode then flits to Martha (elderly — counterpart) in the other world who says, “We don’t know our end. But our end knows us. Salvation or there is damnation”. She’s talking to Jonas (teen). Martha states how they cannot escape their ultimate destiny — “The choices we make in each world may be different, but still they converge on the same moment // you believed a world without you would be a better one. But they are all going to die — Mikkel will die — everyone will die”. Martha then explains that the apocalypse in her world will happen in three days.
This scene is mindblowing as it suggests that the elderly Martha that Jonas is talking to is the other world’s Adam. Jonas and counterpart Martha are mirroring their worlds. Dark season 3, episode 2, “The Survivors” provides more answers to what happened after the apocalypse as the story continues to converge with the other world.
