Dark’s third and final season is a stellar journey through time and space, with rewarding and gratifying plot twists.

At the beginning of the Dark’s final episode, Adam says “what we know is a drop, and what we don’t know is an ocean”. This could have easily been a dig aimed at the audience, since at that point my head was swirling trying to keep up with the many timelines, alternate worlds, and realities. However, you have to give props to the creators Odar and Freise for the stunning series finale that manages to explain everything (well, not everything, we still don’t know what happened to Woller’s eyes) and brings the series to an epic conclusion.

The final season picks up from Season 2’s jaw-dropping cliffhanger when Martha added another dimension to the already awesome “when, not where” line by saying “the question is not what time, but what world”. It was a good thing that I had watched the first 2 seasons earlier this month, because keeping up with Season 3 would have been even more challenging otherwise. I was still compelled to scribble quick recaps of each episode on my phone to keep track of the many happening. While some might find the plot a bit convoluted, I absolutely loved how the show rewards viewers who pay attention to red herrings. Even a throwaway remark or a chance encounter could mean so much more at a later stage.

Season 3 sees Jonas follow Martha into the alternate world, where he runs into other versions of Magnus, Martha, Franziska, Bartosz, and the rest of Winden gang. There are subtle changes, but the characters largely mirror their alternate world characteristics. For starters, Ulrich is married to Hannah, but that doesn’t stop him from cheating on his wife. But the biggest change in this world is the non-existence of Jonas, since Mikkel doesn’t travel back to 1986 and meet Hannah. Another power player, Eva, an older version of Martha, also enters the fray to join Adam and Claudia, in a three-way chess game spanning decades.

Dark‘s third and final season is a stellar journey through time and space, with rewarding and gratifying plot twists. While the show might have gotten convoluted in the middle, the brilliant series finale expertly unravels the many knots for a thoroughly satisfying ending.