In episode 8, the series spectacle "Der Schwarm" (ZDF) comes to an abrupt end.
The finale raises a lot of questions - and may indicate a second season.
Mainz – In just eight episodes of 45 minutes each, ZDF retells the around 1000 pages of Frank Schätzing's (65) novel in its elaborate "Der Schwarm" film adaptation.
But there are numerous differences between the book and the clearly streamlined series offshoot - also in terms of the end.
This could actually indicate a second season of the ratings hit.
"The Swarm" season finale comes suddenly and leaves many questions unanswered - on purpose?
With “Der Schwarm”, ZDF has presented the most expensive German TV series of all time – a risky venture that has already clearly paid off, at least in terms of the ratings.
On Thursday evening (March 9), the broadcaster will show the last two episodes of the eight-part series, but these leave some important questions unanswered until the end.
The (preliminary?) end is both abrupt and open.
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Attention, spoilers:
Compared to Frank Schätzing's original ending, the "Der Schwarm" season finale seems almost a little meaningless: the last minutes of episode 8 show how the young marine biologist Charlie Wagner (Leonie Benesch, 31) boards a deep-sea boat to go far below in the ocean to make contact with the Yrr - a fluorescent, previously unknown life form that has lived in the sea for millions of years.
The goal: to make it clear to the foreign threat that coexistence with humans is possible.
In the end, the protagonist even sacrifices herself for this purpose.
A few minutes later, however, viewers learn that Charlie Wagner survived.
Her body is washed up on a beach, where she wakes up a short time later.
A blue glow in her eyes indicates that the Yrr are now a part of her.
The fate of their colleagues, however, remains uncertain: Although they are safe for the time being, it is not clear whether the peace negotiations with the Yrr have actually been fruitful.
Significant differences to Frank Schätzing's novel - "The Swarm" end points to season 2
The ending isn't really satisfactory in this form.
In Frank Schätzing's book, some of the protagonists die in the course of a conflict with the military, who want to destroy the Yrr instead of making peace with them - a storyline that does not exist in the "The Swarm" series.
Charlie Wagner doesn't appear in the original either, but is supposed to replace the character in the novel Karen Weaver, who also sets off on a corresponding dive, but does not form a symbiosis with the Yrr.
Instead, Schätzing describes how the fragile peace still lasts a year later, but humanity itself is only slowly recovering from the events.
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Charlie Wagner (Leonie Benesch) plays a major role in the season finale of The Swarm.
The fate of the young marine biologist could provide information about a possible second season of the ZDF series (photomontage)
© Stefano Delia/Fabio Lovino/ZDF
The open end of the ZDF series leads to the conclusion that "The Swarm" could possibly get a second season. However, nothing is officially known about this. A written request from
Ippen.Media
has not yet been answered by ZDF (as of March 9th).
However, there are some arguments in favor of a sequel: "We started with the hope that there would be a second season," producer Frank Doelger told
TV Movie
.
A possible second season should be about a "last chance" that "this intelligent life form" gives people to "correct our way of life".
A possible implementation is, however, "far in the future".
Both the cliffhanger end and Doelger's statements show: A second season of "The Swarm" is quite conceivable - but could fail due to financing, after all, season 1 already cost around 40 million euros.
However, the good ratings offer an incentive for a possible series comeback: With almost 17 million ZDF viewers, "Der Schwarm" caused problems for the rest of the TV landscape.
Sources used:
"Der Schwarm" (ZDF/ZDFmediathek), zdf.de, tvmovie.de
List of rubrics: © Stefano Delia/Fabio Lovino/ZDF