Unfamiliar recap and ending explained: Simon and Meret lose Nina, Katya escapes with her biological daughter, and Josef's dark secrets come to light

Netflix's latest espionage thriller Unfamiliar just premiered and is already the 6-part series is already the talk of the town. With Paul Coates at the helm of the project, Unfamiliar features an ensemble cast including Felix Kramer, Susanne Wolff, Samuel Finzi, Seyneb Saleh, Henry Hübchen and Andreas Pietschmann.

The plot revolves around two former German spies, Meret Schäfer and Simon Schäfer (portrayed by Susanne Wolff and Felix Kramer, respectively), from the foreign intelligence department BND, whose somewhat peaceful lives take a 180-degree turn when a ghost from the past returns to haunt them. Their only daughter, Nina (Maja Bons), is the apple of their eyes, but when an old threat resurfaces, dark secrets from their days as intelligence officers start to emerge.

At the end of Unfamiliar, Simon reveals to his wife Meret about Nina's real identity (she was actually the daughter of Katya, an agent working for Gregor Klein, the ex-chief of BND) and her father was Josef Koleev, a high-ranking official from GRU (Russian intelligence), also the main antagonist in Katya's story. Nina thus becomes the central character stranded at the crossroads of the troubled past of Simon-Meret on one side and Josef-Katya on the other. Keep reading to find out more.

A ghost of the past returns in Unfamiliar and Simon and Meret are forced to retaliate

As the plot of Unfamiliar unravels, Simon and Meret Schäfer are seen leading a low-key life, running a safe house in Berlin with their daughter Nina. The family is celebrating on the occasion of Nina turning 16 and it is at this point that they get the most mysterious call from a person who is apparently injured.

The caller asks for help, but the couple, thanks to their alert senses as ex-spies, easily figure out that he is making up the story. Meret and Simon also soon realize that the man has inflicted the blows on himself and the way he is talking also does not sit right.

Their suspicion turns into confirmation when the caller brings up the name of Joseff Koleev and a deadly mission back in Belarus more than a decade ago. The two are left helpless once they understand that a ghost of the past has returned, and there is no going back from here - the truth shall come to light.

Josef Koleev's backstory sets up the whole plot of Unfamiliar

Unfamiliar sets up the main whole pretty well with Josef Koleev's backstory. It is revealed that Koleev is a Russian Intelligence Officer from the higher ranks who has been on the radar of BND for a while. Not only has he carried out several covert missions in Germany, but he is also infamous for his notoriety in the field.

His wife, Valeria, was planning on running for the next Russian ambassador to Berlin, and her position, once confirmed, would mean free passage for Josef in Berlin. In order to stop Josef, Gregor Klein (the ex-BND head) was appointed.

Gregor brings a spy named Katya on board to trap Josef into working for BND as a double agent. However, Katya and Josef accidentally have a romantic encounter, and the former gets pregnant with his child. In the meanwhile Josef learns about Gregor's plot, and his marriage to Valeria also complicates his situation with Katya.

In the showdown, Gregor gets killed by Josef (after he gets help from a mole in BND about Gregor's safe house co-ordinates), and Katya is also tied up by him and poisoned. Although it apparently seems that Josef has killed Katya along with his unborn kid, the latter surprisingly survives.

Katya learns about Simon and Meret's secrets, and the mole in BND is revealed ahead of the explosive showdown

As Unfamiliar ending approaches, it is eventually revealed that Ben (Gregor's recent replacement) had always been the mole, and to save his cover, he framed another agent named Alice, whom he also killed later. On the other hand, Valerie is shattered after learning about Josef's secret affair with Katya, and thus she plans a bold move to protect her career in politics (because if her husband's scandal comes to light, that will be the end of her position as the Russian ambassador).

So, Valeria takes help from her father (a high-ranking diplomat) to send Josef back to Moscow after divorcing him and takes up the job of the handler herself. Right before the transfer, Josef comes face-to-face with Valeria's father and realizes that something is off. At the end of Unfamiliar, Josef is seen being held at gunpoint as his father-in-law reminds him of his wrongdoings.

However, it does not become clear whether Josef gets killed or makes it out after persuading Valeria and her father (about how his death could become the trigger to the revelation of a big political scandal). Did Valerie's father actually give Josef a chance to clean his mess and leave a clear pah for her daughter to progress in her political career? That remains unanswered and a potential plot line if a second season of Unfamiliar happens.

While all of this happens, Meret is left in pieces after Simon reveals the story from sixteen years ago about how he saved Katya's baby (who is now their daughter, Nina). In the aftermath of Gregor being shot by Josef, Meret takes him to the hospital along with the infant and soon gets attached to her.

Simon finds himself sitting on the fence about what to do with the baby and eventually makes a decision. He sets up the stage for the fake death of Katya's kid and convinces her of the same. The decision to keep the baby comes from Simon's thoughts of trying to save his tumultuous marriage to Meret - and he succeeds, but just for a while.

Things go awry when Katya returns to Berlin after sixteen years to confront Josef, who spoiled her entire life. In the conundrums of a personal loss, Katya is even more heartbroken when she learns that her daughter is alive and all well. She has a face-off with Simon and Meret, but they request that she not reveal the truth to Nina right away.

In the finale of Unfamiliar, Simon teams up with Meret to fight off Josef and his team, but sadly, in the tumult, the former gets injured. However, Meret did the right thing as she left a flash drive containing the truth about her and Simon for Nina (that they were German spies). But Katya loses her calm at the end of Unfamiliar and seeks help from Julika (the BND analyst who helped to find the mole) to get a clear passage out of the country for her daughter Nina and herself.

So, she takes Nina with her and escapes from the hospital (where Simon was being kept to treat his aneurysm) room. Though Simon planned to save his marriage with Meret and the two had plans to move out of Berlin with Nina, things did not go as expected. Meret was no longer in love with Simon, and the two mutually agreed to go on with their separate lives.

As Meret leaves the hospital to look for Nina, she panics when she cannot find her daughter and spots Katya escaping with her in a car. Meret chases them down, followed by Simon, but in the final moments, they get surrounded by the cops. It is soon learnt that they were being arrested for Jonas Auken (Josef's political aide), who had a secret relationship with Meret back in the day.

Though their love story never came out in the open, Meret apparently got help from Jonas in dealing with Josef and was killed by the latter. Josef then framed Meret and Simon for the murder, leaving their fates hanging at the end of Unfamiliar. Now, whether the couple gets the chance to reunite with their daughter remains a big question to be answered in Unfamiliar Season 2 if it materializes.

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