Netflix’s Dark: Each Main Character’s First & Last Lines In The Series

Currently ranked #76 on the Internet Movie Database’s list of Top 1oo TV Shows of All Time, Netflix’s original German sci-fi series, Dark, concluded its three-season run exactly one year ago. One of the most compelling aspects of the show is the cryptic dialogue that alludes to the mysterious nature of the show. For example, many of the main characters’ first and final lines of the series allude to specific plot elements that go a long way in deciphering the meaning of the story.

Dark jumps back and forth in time as the local citizens try to figure out why children continue to disappear from the town. The drama centers on four key families involved in the mystery, including the Kahnwalds, Nielsens, Dopplers, and the Tiedemanns.

10 Mikkel/Michael Kahnwald

“A good magician needs a distinct style.” – “There’s no girl there. Come on.”

Prior to disappearing as a child in November of 2019, the character of Mikkel Nielsen (who later becomes Michael) is introduced as an aspiring magician. After his mother gives him a hard time over his wardrobe, Mikkel hints at the magic in the series to come.

In Michael Khanwald’s tearful goodbye in the series finale, the character appears in one of Jonas’ childhood visions. As the little boy dons the yellow raincoat, Michael says “Jonas, is everything okay? What do you want in the basement?” When Jonas responds by saying there’s a girl standing there while pointing to Martha, Michael states this last line. The profound moment of closure marks a moment in time and space when the same character interacts with each other at different points in their life. It’s one of the most touching sendoffs on the show.

9 Hannah Kahnwald

“You’d think by 16 they’d know how to make toast for themself.” – “I always thought Jonas was a good name.”

As Jonas’ mother, Hannah Kahnwald becomes deeply involved in the show’s primary mystery. In her opening scene, she interrupts a sexual tryst when Jonas calls for help, which underscores how integral her motherhood is.

In the final scene of one of the best episodes, Hannah explains the entire experience of the Winden mystery. The final line comes when Katharina asks if pregnant Hannah has decided on a name for her baby, which she recites while peering directly into the camera. This brings the series full circle as Hannah, now coupled with Torben Woller in the original world, has a fleeting memory of her child Jonas in the alternate reality that kicked the entire show off.

8 Jonas Kahnwald

“Mom! Mom! Mom! The power’s out again.” – “You and I are perfect for each other. Never believe anything else.” 

Jonas Kahnwald is the best main character of Dark, as he has inherent ties to every mysterious strand enrapturing Winden. In his introductory scene, he is shown relying on his mother, Hannah. The line also foreshadows the power outage in the series finale.

In an emotional and sympathetic sendoff in the series finale, Jonas tearfully looks into Eva’s (Martha) eyes as their bodies disintegrate into thin air. The sendoff is the most emotionally resonant of any on the show. More significantly, both characters fade away into nothing after being stuck in a matrix glitch, but not before saving their mothers and allowing them to subsist in the future.

7 Katharina Nielsen

“Mikkel, you can’t go to school dressed like that.” – “Have you decided on a name yet?”

As the Winden high school principal and the mother of Mikkel, who disappears, Katharina Nielsen is one of the central figures on the show. In her introductory scene, she berates Mikkel for a magician outfit he has on. Magically, missing Mikkel would later become the adult, Michael Kahnwald.

While sitting at the dinner table in the show’s final scene, as a storm rages on outside, Katharina ends her arc by asking Hannah the above question. Hannah’s profound sense of nostalgia as she glancingly remembers her former child, Jonas, who now ceases to exist in the Original World is something audiences won’t easily forget.

6 Ulrich Nielsen

“Thanks for breakfast!” – “What did you do to him?”

When Ulrich Nielsen is first introduced on the show, he is having an affair with Jonas’ mother, Hannah. The crass euphemism establishes Ulrich’s sleaziness right away in the show.

Before suffering a grisly demise, Ulrich accosts a young version of Helge Doppler and asks the kid the date. After declaring, “If you don’t exist, none of this will happen,” Urlich utters his final underwhelming line while wrestling an adult version of Helge, moments later. Ulrich’s goal was to travel to both 1953 and 1986 to kill Helge, declaring that if none of them exist, he can change the past. Unfortunately, the plan backfires and Helge kills Ulrich instead.

5 Martha Nielsen

“Are you sure he’s not adopted?” – “I wonder if anything of us will remain. Or is that what we are? A Dream. And we never really existed?”

As Ulrich and Kat’s attitudinal middle child, as well as Jonah’s love interest, Martha Nielsen makes a disparaging remark about her little brother, Mikkel, in her intro. Martha would soon regret the remark once Mikkel goes missing, which establishes her heartfelt affection for her brother, despite the mockery.

In the final episode, Martha retains her bodily form as Eva before dissolving into thin air hand-in-hand with Jonas. The significance of Martha’s teary final line is that every alternate version of herself will cease to exist now that she and Jonas have saved the lives of Hannah and Katharina.

4 Charlotte Doppler

“Mr. Obendorf. Your son matters to us. We’ve done 172 interviews.” – “You’re not my father.”

The Winden police chief, Charlotte Doppler, is a likable character who is key in solving what happened to the town’s missing children. She proves such in her opening statement, in which she tries to console a father of a missing child. Charlotte’s first line in the series underscores her dedicated professionalism.

Charlotte’s final line in the series comes in the penultimate episode during a confusing montage that jumps several timelines. However, when approached by the nefarious Noah and learning that she is his offspring, Charlotte looks him dead in the eye and delivers the above line. The self-explanatory rebuke of Noah, who was instructed by Adam to kidnap children in Winden, means Charlotte really had no idea of where she came from as a baby.

3 Peter Doppler

“How have the last three months been?” – “Do you have a lighter?”

Peter Doppler is Jonas’ psychologist and the husband of the police chief, Charlotte. In the pilot, Peter walks through the woods with Jonas and utters his first line. The scene alludes to Jonas’ past trauma and his need for therapy.

In the show’s final scene, Peter, Regina, Hannah, Katharina, and the Wollers sit at Regina’s dinner table. When a storm knocks the power out, they search for ways to light the house. Peter’s final line is ironic given the stygian title of the series, but it also alludes to the nature of enlightenment that characters find in the end.

2 Regina Tiedemann

“Hotel Winden. Regina Tiedemann here.” – “A world without Winden.”

Functioning as the Winden Hotel concierge, Regina Tiedemann establishes her influential reach in town with her first line. The quote also foreshadows Regina’s presence as one of the few who survive the original world.

During the tableside finale, Regina exits the show with a deep philosophical question. First, she asks Hannah, “If the world were to end today and you only had one wish, what would you wish for?” However, her final line is spoken in tandem with the other characters when they reinforce Hannah’s answer. The grand irony of the final refrain is that none of the alternate worlds featured in the show would exist without Winden.

1 Bartosz Tiedemann

“Hey! Welcome back to the madhouse, Jonas.” – “Come where?”

Bartosz Tiedemann is Regina’s son and Jonas’ high-school best friend. When arriving at school for the first time on the show, his first line suggests the drama of what’s to come in the series.

Bartosz gives his final line in the penultimate episode, just as he and Martha are confronted by an older version of Magnus. Just before Jonas sneak attacks, Bartosz can be heard off-screen saying,  “Martha, what’s going on here?” When she immediately beckons him, Bartosz’s anticlimactic final words suggest that he is lost and has no clue what the future holds for him.