The ending of Nine Perfect Strangers season 2 has definitely left me at least a little bit confused. The 8-episode series follows a similar pattern to the first season, but tries too hard to be offbeat to give us any actual substance to go back with. At the end of the day, all we know for sure is that despite all the crazy stuff Masha does, she somehow helps people, so we’ve just got to believe she’s a good person? I’m not sure you should be allowed to get away with the amount of problematic stuff she’s done, but maybe the ending of the second season is telling us exactly that? This season is more focused on Masha herself, and as usual, the title of the series makes sense because, despite being strangers, there’s a massive connection between all those whom Masha has gathered. But with all that said, let’s dive into the ending of the final episode of season 2 and try to understand what went down.
Spoiler Alert
Is David Tatiana’s dad?
The big conspiracy that David’s son Peter comes up with is that Masha is using her daughter to get to David’s head and ruin his life. While a lot of what Peter believes is true, I do think he’s wrong when he claims that David is, in fact, not Tatiana’s father. I don’t think Masha would be so invested in this entire thing if David weren’t connected to her. Later, when Masha is with David alone, she tells him that they’re family, because they had a child together. I suppose Peter also realizes that what Masha’s done is actually the right thing when she puts David on trial in front of all the other participants. This is the whole point, and Peter finally trusts Masha over his own dad because he knows he’s a terrible person.
How Is David Connected To All The Guests?
In typical Nine Perfect Strangers fashion (I know it’s only been 2 seasons, but eh), we learn that David is the guy who connects most of the guests together. We already know that the reason Brian is here is because David’s media company was the initiator of his character assassination. Learning that David was the reason for Brian’s show being canceled is enough for the latter to realize that he didn’t do anything wrong and let go of his ventriloquist doll once and for all. Somehow, Masha’s plan worked out. Surprisingly, Victoria’s boy toy, Matteo, isn’t there just as eye candy. In fact, he lost his parents because David’s company marketed satellites that allowed purchasers to launch “precision strikes,” one of which caused the blast. However, the really shocking part is that Victoria’s husband, i.e., Imogen’s father, was the guy who created that software. And while he didn’t intend for it to be used for bad, that is what ended up happening, which led to him taking his life, leaving Imogen with serious issues.
As for Wolfie and Tina, we believed this whole time that they were around so Tina could get better and start playing the piano again, but in truth, she’s the plus one, because Wolfie used to have a grant sponsored by David’s company. When the company learned that these grants weren’t going to be helping them avoid taxes, they pulled out, leaving Wolfie with nothing to do but quit the thing she loves the most, music. At first, Wolfie’s reaction to Tina when she asks if she can still love her if she was “useless” came across as really shallow and selfish. It makes sense where it comes from now, because Wolfie lost everything with that one move by David’s company, but Tina could’ve kept going. This is not to say Wolfie’s right for essentially forcing Tina to try everything in her power to play the piano again; mental health is very important, but it contextualizes her reaction a little bit.
Victoria hopes that Masha will not tell her daughter about her father’s connection to David, but Imogen is a smart girl (as her mom mentioned earlier), so she figures it out on her own and punches David in the face, making him realize that he is, in fact, a bad person. When it comes to Agnes, David’s company was the reason that Mother Irene, the person who ran the hospital that Agnes worked at, was allowed to act on her religious dogma and deny people the medical care they needed, which led to so many deaths that Agnes always blamed herself for.
What Happens to David?
Put on the spot, David announces that he was never directly involved in any of these decisions, and he’s not a bad person. He then claims (drug-fueled, of course) that he’s going to pull his company out of weapon distribution and use that money to create the best charitable hospitals and schools. Peter points out that his dad’s been trained to cry on the spot, making all of what he says not credible. Additionally, Imogen rightly points out that he will just change his mind the next day. But hearing this, David decides to make the call right then and there. He goes out into the snow where his phone is meant to work, but it doesn’t. Masha and Martin follow along and get into an argument. Martin believes he’s a bad person, and the only way he can redeem himself is by killing a bad man like David. This is why he takes the gun and goes after him. Martin also thinks Masha manipulated his mom into selling her his family property, kind of how she’s doing to David right now. However, this is not true, because Helena wanted Masha to have a part of the hotel. Drugged to the brim, and not to his configuration, Martin hallucinates his mother, but not as a memory, and she tells him to get rid of Masha. This leads him to shoot at Masha, and though he misses, she falls off the railing of a bridge. Fortunately, there’s a mountain of snow, and she lands in a bed of it.
Is Masha dead?
In Nine Perfect Strangers season 2’s ending, a dying Masha sees her daughter coming to her and asking her to join her. Masha, who has been eager to be with her daughter this whole time, declines the offer, telling her daughter that she has a lot more work left; however, it’s finally time for her to let go of her. I suppose a part of Masha’s closure comes from how David reacts to the fact that he had a daughter with her. He claims he always thought about her and that he would’ve looked after Tatiana. While we could blame David for showing up with the Russian man whose accomplices eventually killed Tatiana, it was Masha who decided to show herself to the guy and make herself a target. I’m not victim blaming here, don’t get me wrong, but they’re both somewhat responsible, and I suppose Masha realizes this now.
Masha is fine the next day, and when Martin comes to apologize to her, she tells him that she was never going to steal Zauberwald from him; she was just following his mom’s instructions. I guess at this point, everyone who came has healed somehow through this chaos, which means Masha’s drugs still work and are a success? Brian leaves the bear behind, Wolfie and Tina break up, but Tina manages to play the piano again, Agnes and Brian might end up becoming a thing, and it’s quite cute to see them on the ropeway together, an ode to what happened on their first day there. Peter may not talk to his dad ever again, but he seems to be head over heels for Imogen, so that’s a good thing. They promise to see each other again, wherever in the world, and Imogen’s mother is eager to sell her off to a rich bidder (I’m only half joking). After everybody leaves, they finally have network coverage and discover that David’s outburst has been put on display for the world to see. He immediately calls Masha and threatens her. He’d already claimed that what he said was bogus at the time and that he wouldn’t even be investing in Masha because of what Martin ended up doing under the influence of her drug.
6 months later, David gets Masha to sign a contract with him. He’s paying her 100,000 dollars a month for working for him, and she has no choice but to sign because he will otherwise reveal all the illegal stuff that went down in Zauberwald while he was there. He has video evidence from Martin (I do think he might’ve threatened him, too, because he never went to prison for what he did to Masha). I suppose this research that Masha is going to do under David is meant to show the world that David is still doing some good and clear his name. Masha finally signs the agreement, telling David that they’re family because they share a daughter. She then kisses him and says the words “I do,” as if this is a marriage of convenience, because both of them are getting something out of this relationship.
Will There Be A Season 3?
While nothing is confirmed as of writing this article, the ambiguous ending of the show implies there are chances of another season. However, I’m not quite sure I’ll be interested in seeing the power play between David and Masha. Would you?
