Previously on GZSZ…the writers gave us a reprieve from the sadness of this month by giving us the most adorably sweet episode. Nele and Mesut get engaged but don’t want to tell anyone because they are all still so sad about Nik, and so they try to hide it. But after Jasmin hilariously almost swallows the wedding ring, the secret is out of the bag and Jasmin and Anni couldn’t be more happier for them. YAY!

Oh boy…we have finally reached it. The day of Nik’s funeral. In honour of this recap I am currently wearing black. I’ll be recapping the entire episode…so hold on to your (black) hats….here we go…

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We open with Elena getting ready for the funeral and as she does so, she remembers back to just the other week when Nik whisked her away to Denmark to get married. In her sadness, she smiles as she remembers that day. For a split second she can even see Nik standing behind her in the mirror.

We cut to Dr G, who is having a hard time doing his tie and he remembers back to when he helped Nik with his tie.

Over at the cafe, Tuner and Jasmin stare at a big black and white picture of a smiling Nik. Tuner tells her that one minute they are celebrating his wedding and now this. He also tells her that Dr G is still insisting that Nik be buried in the family tomb. Jasmin explains to him that Dr G just needs a place to be able to mourn Nik.

At Dr G’s place, Dr G just stands in the middle of his apartment quietly with his tie unfinished and looks like a little 5 year old boy. Sophie comes in and immediately hugs him. Good thing too, because if she hadn’t, I was just about to.

Elena lovingly strokes Nik’s wedding ring, which is around her neck, summons all her strength and picks up her jacket and heads out.

Over at the cafe Leon is delegating to his staff just as Sophie comes in. You can sense a little bit of awkwardness between them, as she tells him that she’s here to pick up Nik’s picture for Dr G (they technically admitted to each other that they were in love with each other and I think Sophie was considering leaving Dr G but then Nik died and so now she feels like she can’t possibly break up with him now #soapangst). Sophie asks if there’s some sort of packaging for the picture and Leon gets it and helps her with it. After some more awkward moments, Leon asks if she’s sure it’s OK that he comes to the funeral and she says yes. He asks her how she is but before she can answer, Tuner and Elena appear. Tuner double checks that Sophie is going with Dr G and Leon is going with Anni and Jasmin.

Cut to some scenic countryside, where Dr G and Sophie are driving to the church. A motorcycle overtakes them and it’s all a bit too much for Dr G who has to pull over immediately as he flashes back to Nik’s accident. He jumps out of the car and Sophie gets out after him. He breaks down and tells Sophie that he even offered Nik his car that morning, because it had been cold but he refused. He bursts our crying asking Sophie why Nik had to take his motorcycle that day. All Sophie can do is hold him.

At the church, everyone arrives and heads inside. It’s a very solemn scene in a cute little church, with Nik’s smiling picture front and centre. His ashes sit on top.

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All the usual people are there but I’m actually surprised that there isn’t MORE people there. I mean he was a nice, friendly sort of guy, you’d think he would have had a packed out funeral…but no…it’s just the GZSZ folks.

Elena hugs Dr G and Sophie. Everyone seems almost mesmerised by Nik’s picture and they all just quietly stare at it. Jasmin puts her flowers down in front of it, followed by Anni. Everyone then takes their seats and the priest goes up to the pulpit and starts the service. And while he is talking we get shots of all the sad and crying faces of everyone. Later Dr G gets up to make his eulogy but decides against standing behind the pulpit, instead electing to stand next to it. As he makes his speech, Jasmin breaks down and sobs into Anni’s shoulder and all our hearts immediately break.

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Tuner lovingly takes Elena’s hand to comfort her. Dr G talks about a father showing the way to his son in life, but that Nik always knew what he wanted. At this point, Dr G becomes quiet and more thoughtful.

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He says that they always argued about this and that now he’s doing it again. He says that even now he wants to tell Nik how he should be buried. He looks down at Nik’s picture and apologises to him. He looks over at Tuner and asks him where this lake is, the lake that they both went to. Cue confused looks from everyone.

Cut to Dr G’s car, with Elena in the front and Jasmin and Tuner in the back. Tuner is holding Nik’s ashes and tells them all that the last time he had an urn on his lap was when his buddy Markus wanted to be buried under the penalty spot of a soccer club. Elena jokes that she hopes he doesn’t accidentally leave this urn by the side of the highway again. It breaks the mood slightly and they all laugh about it. After a moment, Dr G tells them all that he’s sorry he was so stubborn but that he just thought that was how it had to be. Nik being buried in the family tomb. Elena looks over at him and thanks him.

Over in the other car, Anni is telling them all that she’s not sure about this trip to Costa Rica anymore and that they don’t even have travel cancellation insurance. Ayla tells her that they should just go on the trip anyways then. Anni tells her that they can’t just take off now, but Ayla asks why not. Anni tells her that Tuner has to go back to rehab and Elena is now all alone. Ayla argues that Tuner will only be gone a week, she is also here to help and that they shouldn’t let the tickets go to waste. Anni tells her that it still feels wrong but Ayla tells her that they deserve this vacation and that even Nik would have wanted them to go.

Meanwhile, the whole time Anni and Ayla have been talking, in the back seat Leon’s hand has been inching closer and closer to Sophie’s, until eventually they are secretly holding hands. When Anni suddenly asks them what they think about the whole trip thing, they quickly rip their hands apart. They both agree that Anni and Jasmin should just go.

We finally get to this beautiful lake and the Scooby gang all walk sadly onto the dock with Elena carrying Nik’s urn.

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Tuner and Elena turn around to talk to everyone. Tuner tells them all that him and Nik talked a lot about death recently. That he wrote a bucket list because he was preparing himself for death. At this point Emily and Tayfun arrive.

I’m assuming someone texted them what was going on…otherwise they might have just been waiting around at the empty church wondering where everyone was.

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Tuner tells them all that it was right here at this lake that he and Nik looked up at the sky and talked about all the things they wanted to do with their lives. He said that Nik said that if he ever scatters his ashes, he should do it right there. Don’t ask me why Nik would have suddenly brought that up *cough* convenient plot point *cough*. He tells them all that Nik thought it reminded him of a good time in his life; the lake, fresh air, blue skies. Tuner tells them all that they had no idea it would happen this fast though. Then we see this and our heart breaks again…

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As much as it hurts to see Anni and Jasmin so distraught, I’m glad Anni finally was able to let her feelings out here and finally cry. She has been trying to be so strong for Jasmin and that’s a huge credit to her character…but she also lost a friend and I’m glad we are able to see that it does affect her.

Tune goes to to tell them that Nik had a dream, and he went and got that dream. And that dream was Elena. He went looking for her, found her and fought for her and married her. He continues, saying that he left when he was most happiest in his life. He thanks Nik for being his best friend and turns to hug Elena. Cue more crying and Dr G coming over for a three-way hug.

Cut to Dr G’s car where Sophie has run back to get her scarf or something. She spots Leon on the phone, who hangs up and comes over. They sweetly smile at each other and he tells her that it’s good to see her. After some more moments of them smiling at each other, Leon steps in to kiss her but Sophie stops him. He steps back but can’t resist and says “Just a quick one” and kisses her anyway. But after his quick kiss, he looks at her more seriously and goes back in to kiss her for reals. But who’s that peering out from behind the bushes…it’s Alex! RUH ROOOOH! You’ve just been busted!

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Leon tells her that he misses her and it’s understandable. They are both in a sucky situation but I’m just not sure that this was the right episode for this scene to take place. It felt awkward and out of place and made Sophie a less unsympathetic.

Back at the dock, Elena is summoning her strength to talk and the most amazing song of the year starts playing. Jasmine Thompson’s cover of Guns N Roses, ”Sweet Child O’ Mine”.

This is quite clearly for me the MUSIC DEPARTMENT’S MOMENT OF THE YEAR! They absolutely nailed it with this song.

As Elena is gathering her strength she actually hears Nik calling out to her from the lake and telling her not to be afraid, that he is by her side. That he will ALWAYS be with her. She tells him that she still feels like he’s super close by and he tells her that he loves her.

OHH LORDY…where are my tissues?!!

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I must applaud Elena García Gerlach (Elena) here, for this was definitely her episode. When they reintroduced her into the storyline to marry Nik just before his death, I was a little doubtful that this would even work. That the time for us to bond with them as a couple and have them be believable, was too short. But she has blown my socks off in this episode. Way to go Elena!

Back to the dock, Elena is crying and Anni and Jasmin try to hold it together.

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A bit later on we see Elena sitting and hugging Nik’s urn. She eventually gets up and heads through the crowd to an opening on the other side of the dock. In the background we need Anni intently watching Jasmin and rubbing her back. As Elena stands over the lake with Dr G and Tuner next to her, she pauses for a second and turns around looking at Jasmin. She stretches out her hand toward her. This moment was when I completely lost it. It’s such a tender, loving and touching moment from Elena to include Jasmin in this part. She is acknowledging just how important she thinks Jasmin was in Nik’s life. And it’s super sweet.

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Elena takes Jasmin’s hand and places it on the urn along with Dr G’s. And after a moment they lift the lid and Elena starts pouring it into the lake. The rest of the gang all sadly look on and throw flowers down on top of it. We get shots of everyone’s crying faces and finally Tuner cries also.

** This recap proudly brought to you by the amazing bloopers that came out after this episode aired. It was nice to laugh about something after the sadness of this episode, that’s for sure. Apparently when they poured Nik’s ashes into the lake, the wind blew it right back all over the actors. Classic stuff.

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