S2 E6 An Endless Cycle

Each recap aims to be spoiler free. I won’t speculate too much on the future but will get you up to speed in the current episode. Thank you for reading and you can contact the show by emailing wakeupwinden@gmail.com. I am putting this part at the top of the recaps to prevent spoilers from the posts. Cheers!

Plot:

At least all of the events in this episode happen in one day and mostly in one timeline. There’s a lot to unpack here. Adam sends Jonas back to June 20, 2019 – the day before Michael Kahnwald died.  There are two Jonas’ close in age now – I’m going to call the one from 2019 Jonas Alpha and the one that was sent by Adam ‘Jonas Raincoat.’

Jonas Alpha wakes up in his house on June 20, fixed on going to the lake with Martha, Magnus, and Bartosz.  Michael is alive and we see how disturbed he is when he hears that Ulirch and Katharina’s party is that night.  He’s been trying to forget, but he knows something bad is about to happen. Hannah wishes he would come with, but he has a picture to finish.

Ulrich and Katharina are having a party for their 25th anniversary.  In the morning, Mikkel intrudes on their personal space, but only because he is sick. Katharina and Ulirch take Mikkel to the hospital. On the way there, they see Jonas Raincoat, who is now back in 2019.  Jonas Raincoat sees his father as Mikkel again. They talk about how Martha loves Jonas.  At some point on their drive, they stop by Hannah and Michael’s house to get some supplies for the party.  Mikkel goes to use the restroom and sees the  older version of himself on the way out of the house. He sprints away terrified.  

At the lake, the teens have fun messing around.  Jonas Alpha and Martha find the coin of St. Christopher – patron saint of travelers.  When Jonas Alpha leaves, Jonas Raincoat enters. He tells Martha “You and I are perfect for each other. Never think anything else.” They share a magical kiss (you can tell by the music and camerawork how magical it was).  Magnus also finds Franziska naked at the lake and they share an awkward moment.

Charlotte and Peter are going through their marital problems – Peter says Charlotte is dead inside. Charlotte knows he’s been cheating. When he goes to see the sex worker at the end of the episode, Franzsika is there to witness. 

The party is a joyous scene – everyone there is happy sans Charlotte.  The police chief has been having marital problems with Peter. He calls her dead inside and visits the sex worker with the trailer.   Katharina dances, Magnus chats with his grandparents, Ulrich pops champagne. They were forced to party inside because of the rainstorm. Mikkel still isn’t feeling well so Katharina goes to comfort him.

Meanwhile, Jonas Raincoat goes to speak to his dad. Jonas RC confesses to Michael/Mikkel that he knows everything. He has come back to tell him not to do “it.” This confuses Michael and Jonas asks him if he’s already written the letter. He shows him the letter and Mikkel theorizes that if he doesn’t kill himself, then Jonas will  never be born. Enter the eldest version of Claudia. She tells them that Adam sent Jonas to trigger the event (oof). She is the light and Adam is the shadow.  Michael must make sacrifices still because she has seen a world without Jonas and it’s not what he’s expecting.

Back at the party, Martha and Jonas get intimate in her room.  Ulrich and Hannah have a mirror image scene replay of the bust stop in 1986. Their lines are reversed and Hannah imagines a world without Winden.  The rain starts, they run for cover, and commit adultery. 

During the musical montage, Jonas RC goes with Claudia through the cave. Michael begins to write his letter. Charlotte comes home to an empty house, while Peter snuggles in the trailer. Bartosz is sad. 

We circle back to Adam. Two people in their fifties enter the room.  The man says that he could have at least told Jonas the path he was sending him on.  Turns out that this couple is Fransziska and Magnus!

(Geez, I know this episode is called An Endless Cycle but I sure didn’t need an endless recap)

Whip Around Winden

Ulrich and Hannah

Remember the bus stop scene of a young Ulrich and Hannah in 1986?  It was in Season 1, Episode 3 “Past and Present.”  We had almost a mirror image of that scene with Hannah and Ulrich’s dialouge reversed. Ulrich asks her if the world started anew tomorrow, what would you wish for? Hannah responds “A world without Winden.”  The exact same thing Ulrich said to her 33 years ago.

Boy, they must have had some connection to be able to recite these lines back to another.  Do they meet up and recreate this scene every year? Maybe when they really get the delivery right, it leads to a hook up like this one!  I think we are to believe this is the first time they commit adultery.  

Katharina

Nothing snarky from me because it’s so nice to see her happy! She’s dancing to her favorite song (Heaven is a Place on Earth), she’s buddy/buddy with Hannah, she’s sipping champagne.  So sad that when she was being a good and selfless parent, it leads to Ulrich cheating on her.  Ulrich, you slimeball!

Not gonna lie, I did like it when Ulrich called Jonas “Romeo.” (Hey fella this is Katharina’s section)

Claudia vs Adam

Light vs. shadow. Good vs. Evil. Claudia vs. Adam. Blah blah blah, I always get slightly disappointed when these two are on screen in their eldest version.   They know everything, but can’t tell us, the audience, anything.   When we do get information, who knows if it’s even reliable? Adam makes Jonas go back to trigger his father’s suicide and then Claudia makes sure he goes through with it. Am I supposed to like one of these people? As far as I’m concerned, the light vs shadow thing is a smokescreen and these two are in kahoots. 

Mikkel/Michael

I’m wondering why Michael hid in the corner while Mikkel was in the restroom. Why not simply run back to his creepy paint studio?  Did he remember this moment and remember seeing himself there and thus he had to be there? It doesn’t seem like there’s any free will in this world, everything is stuck in a cycle.  

It was really nice to get to see the actor for Michael, Sebastian Rudolph, get some time to work in this episode.  He had good chemistry with Jonas and I wish we could have seen more from him before this episode.

Random Thoughts

• Who lost the traveler’s coin at the beach? That’s got to come into play in the future.
• Jana and Tronte were happy for the first time in this series.
• How did Charlotte and Peter ever get together in the first place?
• If Michael noticed Jonas’ longer hair, I have to think Martha would as she was making out with him.  Good thing she didn’t unzip that yellow jacket, eh?
• I thought whoever was in charge of costume/makeup did a fantastic job to get us back before the events even started.  Did they film this while they filmed season 1? Magnus has such short hair and looks like a child.  All of the youth look a lot younger. 
• Charlotte has friends and socializes? I almost died when Katharina asked her to dance.  She is the best, but I couldn’t see her at the club. 
• No invites for the Tiedemann’s (no surprise there)
• Bartosz said they were having a party, but it looked like just a family dinner. Bartosz’ face while Jonas and Martha do it: