Summary
The final episode of All the Light We Cannot See treads a fine line between heartwarming and sentimental, much like the rest of the series. It’s action-packed and always engaging, but also abrupt and slightly unsatisfying overall.
Netflix’s four-part World War II drama series All the Light We Cannot See concludes with its action-packed Season 1 finale. In Episode 4, the final chapter, Marie faces off against the villainous Nazi, Reinhold von Rumpel, whilst the heroic German soldier Werner Pfennig journeys across a war-torn city to Marie’s aid, tackling explosions and gunfire along the way. Will All the Light We Cannot See have a happy ending? Does it differ from the source material?
This article contains major spoilers.
All the Light We Cannot See Season 1 Episode 4 Recap
All the Light We Cannot See Episode 4 opens with the inevitable showdown between the Nazi Sergeant Major Reinhold von Rumpel and the blind French girl Marie in Saint-Malo in 1944, Nazi-Occupied France. Reinhold is after a special diamond called the Sea of Flames, which he believes Marie is in possession of, and he will stop at nothing to claim it as his own.
Marie hides in her uncle Etienne’s attic away from her attacker. She blocks the entrance and barricades herself in. As Reinhold tries to reason with Marie, the bombs continue to drop all around them. Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Werner wakes in a daze after narrowly avoiding death at the hand of another bomb explosion.
Then we are treated to flashbacks from 4 months earlier. Etienne receives a secret signal from the Brits on his radio and prepares for the arrival of the American army. This inspires Etienne to leave his house for the first time in 20 years. Etienne and Marie work together to deliver messages all across town to the Resistance.
What is Etienne’s dying wish?
Back in 1944, Werner speaks with Etienne, who has just saved his life. Etienne realizes that he doesn’t have long left, and is bleeding out after a fatal hit from the latest explosion. He tells Werner to protect Marie and to pass on a message. In this message, Etienne thanks Marie for setting him free. Etienne then passes away, leaving Werner with his dying wish.
Meanwhile, Reinhold is practically begging Marie to tell him where the diamond is, but she refuses to answer. Undeterred, Reinhold decides to play mind games, updating Marie on the details of what happened to her father, Daniel. A year earlier, in Paris, Reinhold captured Daniel and interrogated the man. Daniel refused to give up the location of the diamond or his daughter though.
Who killed Daniel LeBlanc?
Reinhold tortured Daniel for three hours straight for information and then shot him dead when he refused to comply. Angered by Reinhold’s words, Marie grabs her uncle’s gun in the present and fires it in her enemy’s direction. In retaliation, Reinhold rigs up an explosive to gain entry to the attic. At the very same time, Werner races across the city to Marie’s side. He dodges gunfire and explosives on the way, sprinting towards Marie’s home.
Reinhold detonates the explosive and enters the attic. Marie is deafened by the noise and struggles to hear Reinhold’s approaching footsteps. Then Werner arrives, calling out to Marie from the ground floor. He tells Marie that he is on her side and that he knows Etienne, aka. the Professor.
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Marie’s hearing returns to normal and so she shoots at Reinhold. The Nazi decides to go after Werner, the traitor, instead. Marie warns Werner about Reinhold’s whereabouts, giving him time to grab a weapon. Werner takes some spare wire and strangles Reinhold with it. They then tussle and Marie’s wooden city model is knocked over in the fray. This dislodges the hidden diamond, which Reinhold spots straight away on the floor.
Who kills Reinhold?
Next, Reinhold goes for the precious diamond, but Marie shoots him in the head before he can grab it. Reinhold collapses to the floor dead, mere millimeters away from his prized diamond. Marie has killed Reinhold. Werner then thanks Marie for saving his life. The German soldier goes for the diamond himself, but Marie tells him to stay away. She believes that it is cursed.
Werner passes on Etienne’s message to Marie as he had agreed to. She is heartbroken to hear that her uncle is dead. The two teenagers then bond over their love of the Professor’s broadcasts. Werner fixes Marie’s radio and they play the Professor’s music. The German soldier then makes his own broadcast, updating his sister Jutta on his current safety.
All the Light We Cannot See Season 1 Ending Explained
Marie and Werner hold hands and sway together as the music plays. They then kiss one another. Marie wants to run away with Werner, but he fears that she will be killed as a Nazi collaborator if they are caught. Instead, Werner suggests that they meet up once the war is over.
With the arrival of the American soldiers that dream seems to have already come true. The locals celebrate in the streets as the war comes to an end. Werner then surrenders himself to the American troops. Marie takes the cursed diamond and throws it into the sea as the series concludes.
What did you think of All the Light We Cannot See Season 1 Episode 4 and the ending? Comment below.
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