Why Martha Nielsen Alternate World Plot Was Less Evil Than Jonas/Adam Plot?

The third season of Netflix’s sci-fi thriller Dark which released on June 27 last month has made quite the splash.

Experts, fans, as well as, the cinephiles have ranked the finale of the time-travel saga to be the most satisfying and perfect end in sci-fi series history.

That being said, the series wouldn't have been so popular if not for the solid performances from the phenomenal actors of the series. But among everyone, the actor who truly shined the most in the final season of Dark was Lisa Vicari. It was the fusion of her sheer acting brilliance and the prominence of her character, Martha Nielsen, which helped her stand out.

In my opinion, Vicari’s performance in the third and final season of series Dark was also her solitary best work, in comparison to the first two seasons. 

Why Was Lisa Vicari Shadowed In The First Two Seasons Of 'Dark'?

Lisa Vicari is a passionate and skilled actress who has been cast in numerous movies and series over the years. Her work has been praised and celebrated with every new release.

But the actress remained shadowed in the first two seasons of Dark playing the role of Martha Nielsen, a teenage high-school girl.

Although her performance in the first two seasons of the Dark was top-notch, the pace of the series was more focused on the journey of Jonas Kahnwald (portrayed by Louis Hofman) than her. The first two seasons primarily focused on Jonas' desperate search for answers about the death of his father Michael Kahnwald. Because of that, the character, Martha, got shadowed by Jonas.

Plus, it often seemed as if the character of Martha was only to fill up the blanks being Jonas' love interest

But there were certain moments, including her decision to choose Bartosz (Paul Lux) over absent Jonas during season 1, that hinted us that she also had an individual desire, self-respect, and hunger to answer the unanswered mysteries. Then, Jonas was traumatized by his father's suicide and was away taking therapy sessions to recover.

This shift of interest from Martha in season 1 said it out loud that she had a bigger role to play in the long run and thus, she did not want to be just referred to as someone’s love interest.

Lisa Vicari (Martha) and Paul Lux (Bartoz) in Netflix series Dark (Photo: Stefan Erhard/Netflix)

Having said that, Martha’s character was, again, never developed as someone who could possibly undo the knots and normalize/solve every twisted event in the series. Therefore, we as the fans were compelled by the showrunners to focus on Jonas’ emotional journey. This dimension concurrently shadowed Martha in the first two seasons of Dark.

What Made A Difference For Lisa Vicari (Martha) In The Final Season?

Still images of Lisa Vicari as Martha from Dark season 3 (Photo: Netflix)

The final season of Dark unfolded that there exists a parallel "alternate" world along with the world that was shown to us for the first two seasons. Plus, it was also clearly manifested that the alternate world was controlled by Eva (the oldest version of Martha), just like Adam (the oldest version of Jonas) ruled the existing world.

Now, this change in the shift of the plot made sense of why Martha was not centrally portrayed in the first two seasons. It was so because she had the major role to fulfill in her own world, indifferent to the existing world Martha. And all of these events were scripted to unfold only in the final season of the series.

Hence, with the introduction of an alternate world, the prime focus shifted from Jonas to Martha and her journey to save her as well as Jonas’ world.

In her journey, the elder-self Martha (Eva) instructs the young Martha (played by Lisa Vicari) to play a role in repeating the cycle. More so, Martha along with the Unknown Trio and Claudia Tiedemann manipulates Adam and the members of Sic Mundus Creatus Est to place events in both the world.

By the end of the finale season, we know Martha’s journey is less evil than that of Jonas (Adam) because she only wants the cycle to repeat so that she could save her world and save the son she had with Jonas. On the other hand, Adam's motivation is to destroy every paradoxical timeline, and the people connected with it.

In the end, the law of nature persisted. Only the original world remained and Martha along with Jonas and all of the main characters disappeared. It was only Martha's and her versions' willingness to save everyone that led to the most satisfying ending. 

Find out the unfolding of the final season of Dark and how brilliantly Lisa Vicari as Martha leads us to the most satisfying end. All episodes are now streaming on Netflix.