Netflix’s latest German action crime drama series, Unfamiliar (2026), takes its sweet time to unfold, placing equal weight on espionage mechanics and emotional fallout. Set largely in Berlin, with crucial threads stretching back to Belarus sixteen years earlier, the series follows Simon and Meret Schäfer, a married couple living under assumed identities with their teenage daughter, Nina. Like most spy thrillers, the protagonists seem to be leading a calm family life, but it raises a simple question. Do former intelligence operatives ever really leave their past behind?
Unfamiliar focuses more on the consequences faced by its protagonists than on spy thrills or flashy missions. It constantly examines how lies compound over time, how secrecy reshapes relationships, and how decisions made under pressure refuse to stay buried. The spy narrative exists, but it is filtered through marriage, parenthood, guilt, and fear. While the series is deeply character driven, it keeps switching timelines, which can feel more like a hindrance than an exciting way to add depth to the plotline.
In this article, I will dive deep into the plotline of the Netflix series Unfamiliar, explaining what happens throughout the show and what the ending signifies. Please note that this article contains spoilers, so reader discretion is advised.
Unfamiliar (2026) Episode 1 Recap:
The series opens with a man sitting on a bench, cutting a device out from under his skin, then shooting himself in the leg. He then calls a man named Simon Schäfer, asking for help in exchange for some money.
That same night, Simon and his wife, Meret, bring the injured man to a safe house and treat him. He claims he once worked in private security and stole something from his employers, who are now after him. However, the couple do not trust him. While Simon decides to return home for their daughter Nina’s sixteenth birthday, Meret stays behind with the injured man.
At the BND in Berlin, team leader Ben introduces Josef Kaleev, a Russian power broker whose wife, Vera, is about to become an ambassador. Because of Josef’s past, the government wants him investigated. Former BND chief Gregor Klein is questioned but offers little help.
Back at the safe house, the injured man secretly lifts Meret’s fingerprints from a glass. When Meret notices this on her cameras, she realises he has mistaken her and Simon for siblings. The last time they posed as brother and sister was during a mission in Belarus sixteen years earlier. A flashback shows Simon and Meret being sent by Gregor to extract a woman named Katya. The safe house was already compromised, which leads to Gregor being wounded and Katya being poisoned.
In the present, Gregor warns Julika that Josef will work through others. Josef is soon shown arriving in Berlin with a man named Jonas. They send the injured agent to identify the Schäfers. The agent contacts Jonas with Meret’s fingerprint, but Meret traps him using gas. Jonas runs the print and learns that Meret and Simon are listed as dead. Josef recognises them and orders their execution, along with Gregor’s. A hit on Gregor fails. Simon collapses after being drugged, while Meret fights and restrains the agent.
At the hospital, Simon downplays his condition. The family reunites that night. Later, Gregor urges Simon and Meret to kill Josef before he kills them. Another flashback reveals that Katya survived and her baby was saved. In the present, Meret receives a call from Katya. She is alive, in Berlin, and in trouble. Meret realises Simon has been lying to her.
Unfamiliar (2026) Episode 2 Recap:
The second episode goes back in time to Belarus sixteen years earlier. Katya is close to death, and Gregor needs urgent medical help. Meret leaves with Gregor and the newborn, while Simon is ordered to stay behind, let Katya die, and erase all traces. He argues but is told there is no alternative. Once they are gone, Simon ignores the order and saves Katya by giving her his blood.
In the present, Meret confronts Simon about his lies. He admits the truth. Saving Katya also meant saving the child. Nina is Katya’s daughter. He says it was the only way to protect all of them. Elsewhere, Josef speaks to a senior Russian official who pushes him to rehire Jonas. Simon and Meret place the dead assassin on a public bench. Meret watches from a nearby roof to see who reacts.
The police and the BND arrive, followed by Jonas, whom Meret seems to recognise. Meanwhile, Simon goes to the hospital to retrieve Katya. At the BND, Ben assigns Julika to the bench case, now identified as an MI6 agent. She brings in Alice to help. Around the same time, Vera arrives in Berlin and questions Josef about Belarus, but he avoids giving answers.
Simon sneaks Katya out of the hospital by triggering a medical emergency and posing as staff. Meret stays behind to erase the footage. While there, she checks Simon’s records and learns his collapse was caused by a brain aneurysm. At the safe house, Katya says she came to Berlin to face Josef, believing he killed her child. A flashback reveals Meret naming the baby Nina and wanting a family. Simon later lied to Katya, showing her a fake grave.
Back in the present, Meret is furious about the lies. To keep Nina safe, they send her to Paris. At the BND, Alice links a fingerprint from the body to Helena Kohn and Karl Brehme, both presumed dead. Josef threatens Jonas into working again and pressures his mole to expose Gregor. Julika tracks Gregor to a safe house and arrives as mercenaries attack. She escapes. Nina leaves on the train but decides to return. Gregor is captured and tells Josef that his daughter is alive.
Unfamiliar (2026) Episode 3 Recap:
Episode 3 takes us back again in Belarus where we see Simon and Meret dropping Josef and Katya at a safe house. However, things shift rapidly as Gregor and Katya betray Josef. Gregor promises Katya and her unborn child a safe life in Berlin, but orders Josef to go to Russia and spy for him. Josef refuses to submit. He shoots Gregor, then forces Katya to drink poison for turning against him.
In the present, Josef interrogates Gregor, who reveals that the baby survived. One of the agents was a doctor who saved the child. Gregor also gives up Karl and Helena’s original identities, though he claims he does not know where they are now. In the city, Meret follows Jonas but is spotted, leading to a chase. Simon steps in to help her escape. Before leaving, Meret traps Jonas’ car. They lock eyes and exchange a wave. When Simon asks if she knows him, Meret says no.
At the BND, Julika tells Alice she suspects Ben might be a mole. CCTV footage from the chase leads them to Helena Kohn, and the team decides to dig deeper. Meanwhile, Gregor escapes his restraints, finds a phone, and attempts to log into an account. Josef catches him and demands the password. Gregor refuses. Back home, Meret confronts Simon about his aneurysm in front of his staff. Yul overhears and later meets Nina, telling her what he learned. Nina realises this is what her parents have been hiding.
Vera discovers she is only a cover for Josef, who is actually handling a BND mole. Refusing to lose her power, she takes control. Simon later admits to Meret that he fears dying during surgery. Josef finally tortures Gregor and sends proof to Meret, knowing it will draw her out. She and Simon walk into the trap anyway. Jonas and his men are waiting. Katya arrives first, shocking Josef. Chaos breaks out. Meret and Simon fight their way through, then leave with Katya still standing there. Simon asks Meret why she drove away, since this was never the plan.
Unfamiliar (2026) Episode 4 Recap:
Episode 4 begins with Simon and Meret arguing about the choice they just made. Meret admits she always planned to leave Katya behind. Their conflict is interrupted when both Katya and Nina show up at their home.
Katya realizes Nina is her child and begins to unravel. Simon knocks Katya out and takes her back to the safe house. Meret speaks to Nina about Simon’s aneurysm and reassures her. She also shares a deeply personal story about her brother, who died by suicide though her family insisted it was an accident. She admits that Nina’s refusal to accept lies is something she admires, even though Meret herself is built on them.
A flashback reveals Meret’s affair with Jonas during a mission in Morocco seventeen years earlier. In the present, Meret meets Jonas again, triggering a fire alarm to force him outside. He admits he did not know she was the target back then and claims he has tried to leave this life. She asks for his help taking down Josef, but he refuses, warning her about Josef’s father-in-law, Sasha.
Simon tells Katya the truth about Nina’s chronic kidney failure, caused by the poison Katya was forced to drink. Gregor calls Simon before dying, having been abandoned by Josef. Katya removes his tourniquet, and Simon allows Gregor to die. Julika briefly recognizes Simon during a chase. Jonas betrays Meret, sending her location to Josef. The episode ends with Meret tied up in a hotel room.
Unfamiliar (2026) Episode 5 Recap:
Episode 5 opens with Simon rescuing Meret from the hotel. Together, they knock Jonas out and escape before Josef arrives. At the BND, Julika and Alice discuss the mole. Julika informs Ben despite Alice’s warning. Internal Affairs becomes involved. Alice is later found dead in her office, ruled a suicide. Ben realizes Josef used lines from a book called The Starfish, revealing Alice’s code name. Julika doubts the explanation.
At the safe house, tensions explode. Simon accuses Meret of only caring about herself and of her affair with Jonas. Despite this, they form a new plan. Katya contacts Josef, offering to work together to get her child back. When they meet, Katya attacks Josef instead of letting Meret take the shot. Jonas fires at them, injuring Meret. Vera learns that Starfish is dead. Julika confronts Vera about Belarus. At the safe house, Simon removes the bullet from Meret’s shoulder and discovers a GPS tracker. Josef knows their location.
Unfamiliar (2026) Episode 6 Ending Explained:
Who is the mole inside the agency?
The final episode of Unfamiliar begins with Simon and Meret preparing for Josef’s arrival. Nina demands the truth. They give her a flash drive and send her away with Katya and Yul. Josef arrives, and a violent confrontation unfolds. Jonas pretends to betray Meret but is killed by Josef. Simon collapses as his aneurysm worsens. Meret drags him to safety. Josef is wounded but escapes. Simon undergoes surgery and survives. Vera reveals Ben as the real mole and blackmails him.
Unfamiliar (2026) closes the Belarus chapter while deliberately leaving the story unresolved. Josef’s death is framed as a transaction, ordered by Sasha, who views Josef as a liability who lived too long. In the end, we also see Vera exposing Ben as the real Starfish. His confession confirms long-standing corruption within the BND. Vera takes control of the system, blackmailing Ben into continued cooperation, which ultimately allows the spy world to keep moving forward without any real change.
On the other hand, Simon and Meret confront the truth of their marriage, where Simon admits to stealing a child to save their relationship. Consequently, we see Meret accepting that the relationship was built on lies and control, and that it is best they go their separate ways.
Nina, who had been living her life with two people she knew as her parents, goes under Katya’s care in the end, which possibly opens up another storyline for season two. The ending of Unfamiliar (2026) finally shows Simon and Meret getting arrested for murdering Jonas after Katya strikes a deal with the BND.
