Now the plot has got going, Dark just keeps delivering. 'Everything is Now' is absolutely full of discoveries, developments and twists, making the web of plotlines ever more fascinating.
Noah's presence, as always, is very creepy. Here, we see him working as an actual priest. During Greta's confession, what he says is at least a little revealing about what his true intentions might be: "God sent me to you". And his words to her about God's will clearly say something about time, too: "We don't meet the people we meet by accident. We touch the lives of others and are touched ourselves, and thus God's hands guide us to our true destiny." We also find out a bit more about Noah's aim, but only a bit. How does the time machine he is trying to build, with Helge's help, differ from the wormhole that already exists? And what does he intend to use it for? And then, in a third creepy Noah scene, we find out that Bartosz is one of his minions. It seems everyone in this town has something to hide!
The aftermath of Helge's murder is truly the thing I was waiting for in this episode. How would the writers resolve the grandfather paradox that had been created? The solution? Helge is alive. It's simple yet genius. It doesn't matter that Ulrich killed him, that he wasn't breathing, that he was clearly dead. Helge can't die because he is alive in the future. It's the only possible solution to the grandfather paradox: it's a paradox, so it can't happen in the first place. No matter what, the laws governing reality will stop it from happening. The fact that Dark showed what happens when someone tries to create such a paradox (even unintentionally, as Ulrich did) is important. Most time travel shows and films never really have consistent rules that allow for a cohesive rulebook for how time travel operates in their world. For a show like Dark, which takes time travel so seriously, it's vital that it sets the rules that govern time travel in its universe - and it has.
Claudia gets a surprising amount to do in this episode too. She becomes aware there's something mysterious going on with the power plant in 1986. And there's also her losing her dog in 1953 and finding it 33 years later. But a real surprise is that she is in fact a time traveller. And that she is responsible for H.G. Taunhaus's forays into time travel. How exactly she managed to come up with the blueprints is unknown thus far. It would be interesting if she only came across the blueprints because Taunhaus invented the machine, because that would create another paradox...
As people's lives connect with each other in more and more ways, new ideas come to mind. Is one reason why Egon hates Young Ulrich so much because he reminds him of the older Ulrich he met when he was younger? And is the reason for Helge taking the courses of action that does to do with what Ulrich said to him before "killing" him? Quite possibly. Meanwhile, for Jonas, the complication that Martha is his aunt is just perfect for illustrating the weirdness of time travel. At least, unlike Game of Thrones, he doesn't choose to date her regardless.
Overall, this episode is as close to a masterpiece as Dark gets in its first season. 9.5/10
Noah's presence, as always, is very creepy. Here, we see him working as an actual priest. During Greta's confession, what he says is at least a little revealing about what his true intentions might be: "God sent me to you". And his words to her about God's will clearly say something about time, too: "We don't meet the people we meet by accident. We touch the lives of others and are touched ourselves, and thus God's hands guide us to our true destiny." We also find out a bit more about Noah's aim, but only a bit. How does the time machine he is trying to build, with Helge's help, differ from the wormhole that already exists? And what does he intend to use it for? And then, in a third creepy Noah scene, we find out that Bartosz is one of his minions. It seems everyone in this town has something to hide!
The aftermath of Helge's murder is truly the thing I was waiting for in this episode. How would the writers resolve the grandfather paradox that had been created? The solution? Helge is alive. It's simple yet genius. It doesn't matter that Ulrich killed him, that he wasn't breathing, that he was clearly dead. Helge can't die because he is alive in the future. It's the only possible solution to the grandfather paradox: it's a paradox, so it can't happen in the first place. No matter what, the laws governing reality will stop it from happening. The fact that Dark showed what happens when someone tries to create such a paradox (even unintentionally, as Ulrich did) is important. Most time travel shows and films never really have consistent rules that allow for a cohesive rulebook for how time travel operates in their world. For a show like Dark, which takes time travel so seriously, it's vital that it sets the rules that govern time travel in its universe - and it has.
Claudia gets a surprising amount to do in this episode too. She becomes aware there's something mysterious going on with the power plant in 1986. And there's also her losing her dog in 1953 and finding it 33 years later. But a real surprise is that she is in fact a time traveller. And that she is responsible for H.G. Taunhaus's forays into time travel. How exactly she managed to come up with the blueprints is unknown thus far. It would be interesting if she only came across the blueprints because Taunhaus invented the machine, because that would create another paradox...
As people's lives connect with each other in more and more ways, new ideas come to mind. Is one reason why Egon hates Young Ulrich so much because he reminds him of the older Ulrich he met when he was younger? And is the reason for Helge taking the courses of action that does to do with what Ulrich said to him before "killing" him? Quite possibly. Meanwhile, for Jonas, the complication that Martha is his aunt is just perfect for illustrating the weirdness of time travel. At least, unlike Game of Thrones, he doesn't choose to date her regardless.
Overall, this episode is as close to a masterpiece as Dark gets in its first season. 9.5/10