‘Dear Child’ is a psychological suspense miniseries on Netflix that Isabel Kleefeld and Julian Pörksen created.
The German-language series, originally known as “Liebes Kind,” is based on the same-titled book by author Romy Hausmann. Lena, a mother and wife, and her two children, Hannah and Jonathan, live in a high-security building where most of the show’s action occurs.
However, several family mysteries begin slowly coming to light when an accident compels Lena and her children to interact with the outside world. Here is everything you need to know about the conclusion of “Dear Child” if you’re looking to explain the gloomy, suspenseful, and frightening events that determine Lena, Hannah, and Jonathan’s futures.
In the German thriller series Dear Child, Jasmin Grass (Kim Riedle) finds herself imprisoned in a tiny, windowless apartment in the heart of a northern German woodland after being abducted in a parking garage.
Her captor, whose face we never see, bleaches her dark hair blonde and refers to her as “Lena.” She is then compelled to follow his rigid guidelines and take care of “their” small children, Hannah (Naila Schuberth) and Jonathan (Sammy Schrein).
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Plot Of The Show
Lena, a mother, and her two kids, Hannah and Jonathan, are shown in the opening scene of “Dear Child” going about their everyday lives in a locked-up home. The family’s “Papa,” whom the kids must always follow, welcomes them.
Lena frequently receives punishment for disobeying the rules, even though the kids are respectful and obey all the rules. Lena wanders away from the house one day and enters the nearby forests.
She gets struck by an approaching vehicle and taken to the hospital in an ambulance with Hannah. While Lena has surgery at the hospital, Detective Aida Kurt arrives at the incident scene to investigate the alleged hit-and-run case.
Nurse Ruth, caring for Hannah in the meantime, discovers that Lena attacked Hannah’s father before fleeing. Hannah also says her brother Jonathan, who is with her father, is in the residence.
Aida consequently launches a search and rescue operation at the military complex near the scene of Lena’s tragedy. On the other side, State Police Officer Gerd Bühling alerts Matthias and Karin Beck of Lena’s attack after learning of it.
Lena Beck, a daughter of the Beck family, was reported missing almost thirteen years ago, and the victim of the hit-and-run case in Aachen matched Lena’s description.
The Becks are surprised to discover that the woman is not their daughter when they go to the hospital. The Becks and the detectives find the case perplexing because Hannah resembles a young Lena. Hannah is placed under the supervision of a psychiatrist while Lena recovers from her surgery.
Matthias meets Hannah at the psychiatric clinic after becoming persuaded she is his grandchild. Gerd informs Aida about Lena’s disappearance at the same time, and the two women look into any connections between the two cases.
Gerd questions Lena after she regains consciousness, but she won’t say anything due to a voice in her head. The woman introduces herself as Lena, and Aida discovers Jonathan with what appears to be the children’s father’s damaged body.
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Dear Child Netflix Ending Explained
In the end, it is revealed that Jasmin was abducted by the enigmatic “Papa” after a job interview. She was compelled to take over as Lena’s biological mother for Hannah and Jonathan. Her kidnapper mistreated her physically and sexually.
Jasmin became very close with the kids over time. Jasmin once used a snow globe to assault Papa and then escaped. While Hannah and Papa were looking for her, she was struck by a car.
When they discovered Jasmin, Hannah persuaded Papa to allow her to accompany her to the hospital because the kids adored their new mother. Ultimately, Papa snatches Hannah up from the Becks’ residence and returns to get his family when the time is perfect.
Jasmin is ready and has blonde hair like Lena when Papa arrives to take her. In keeping with her attire while being kept captive, Jasmin also wears a long skirt and a white top. The security firm’s owner that manages surveillance for the military base, Lars Rogner, is revealed to be Papa in the last episode.
He monitored his family using the monitoring technology provided by his employer. Lars was not included in the questions Aida and Gerd asked of the staff members. Gerd discovers that Lars is responsible for the case just as he learns that Jasmin has been abducted and Hannah is missing.
While Hannah insists, Jasmin and Lars stop at the beach en route to their new house. Jasmin justifies needing to use the restroom when she collapses. As it turns out, she exploits the pretense of being unconscious to get close to Lars and then butchers him for torturing the kids and her with Hannah’s glass piece.
Jasmin is tortured by Lars’ voice in her thoughts during the entire series and cannot get over the tragic events. It comes as a great shock, then, that she voluntarily decides to go back to Lars. Jasmin didn’t want to live in fear anymore, so she simply went along with Lars’ plan so she could kill him.
Lars’ passing allows Jasmin to finally gain her independence and go on. In addition to locating Lena’s body, Gerd discovers a dying Lars, ending the investigation and providing the Becks and himself with some closure.
The evil “Papa,” who appears in various episodes tormenting Jasmin and the kids but whose face is never revealed, gradually develops over the series. In the climax, security firm owner Lars Rogner is identified as the perpetrator. Lars’s mother left him, and his grandparents cared for him as a child.
After working for the Becks, he fell head over heels in love with Lena. Lars abducted Lena and held her hostage one evening. Lars abducted Lena because of a relationship with an ex-boyfriend while she was already pregnant.
Hannah admits they had a younger sister, Sara, who passed away as a newborn, though it is never said how Lena passed away. It is implied that Lena passed away due to the shock of her pregnancy or the sorrow of losing her daughter.
Later, Lars kidnaps several women to take Lena’s place, but Jasmin becomes his downfall. Lena resembled Lars’ mother, who had abandoned him for an unspecified reason, it was subsequently discovered.
The implication is that Lars is a psychopath who tormented Lena and several other women, including Jasmin, because of unresolved sentiments about his mother. In the end, Lars is put to death by Jasmin, ending his reign of terror.
Aida and Gerd also expose the connection between Lars and the victims whose bones were found at the military base. It is reasonable to suppose that the police released Jasmin while holding Lars responsible for his actions because they believed that Lars’ death was the consequence of self-defense.
The children of Lena who endure suffering at the hands of Lars are Hannah and Jonathan. Even though the kids seem to love their “Papa,” they live in constant fear of punishment because they are aware of some of Lars’ actions.
In the final scene, Jasmin murders Lars, raising the possibility that Hannah was also involved in the plot. Hannah convinced Lars to let her accompany Jasmin to the hospital. Jasmin also received the glass shard from Hannah, which she later used to stab and kill Lars.
In the last moments, Hannah and Jasmin visit the beach, precisely as Lena had described it in bedtime tales for her children. The encounter deepens Hannah and Jasmin’s connection and raises the possibility that they worked together to escape from prison.
We might conclude that Hannah and Jonathan are given a chance at a normal life after seeing Hannah live with the Becks, and Jonathan continues to work on his mental health at the psychiatric unit and make new friends.
The children now seem able to put their worst experiences behind them and look forward to building fulfilling lives.
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