Arka Mukhopadhyay
Created by Marianne Wendt, the Swiss-German series ‘New Heights’ is a tense and brooding family drama chronicling a family torn into pieces. Set in a village on the outskirts of Zurich, the series follows the suicide of a farmer and the subsequent uncertainty that conditions the family. Farming seems to be an outdated and loss-intensive profession, and thus, the family considers whether they should revive the family legacy or get rid of the property.
Katherina, the wife, does not want to be tied down; Michi, the son, has a high-functioning job in the city; and Sarah, the daughter, is struggling to keep her studio gym running. As the conflicting forces clash, they reveal some damning secrets buried within the family. Sarah and her daughter Angie form a compelling story arc, and you must wonder who Angie’s father might be. In that case, we have you insured. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Who Is Angie’s Father? Does Angie Find Him?
Angie is Sarah’s teenage daughter, and most of Sarah’s efforts and struggles revolve around Angie. When Sarah cannot gather money for Angie’s school trip, Angie is rude to Sarah. When she collects the money with some help from her budding friend Loris, she still has to hear verbal abuse from Angie. Most of Angie’s resentment towards Sarah stems from the absence of a father figure in her life. Some of you may initially conclude that Pirmin, the head of sales at the studio, is the father of Angie, as Pirmin and Sarah have dehumanizing sex.
However, as Angie knows from Sarah, her father died in a harrowing car accident. However, while staying at Neumatt, Angie has a confrontation with her loudmouth great-grandmother. She tells Angie that her father may still be alive and that Sarah has been feeding her a lie. After the revelation, Angie storms out of the house. Sarah and Loris go their separate ways to look for Angie, but both return empty-handed. However, Angie appears on the doorstep the following morning. She apparently headed out to blow off some steam and have a toast in the memory of her father.
Later that morning, probing into the office of Neumatt, Angie and Sarah find that Katherina has signed a non-disclosure agreement with the family of Angie’s father against a lucrative amount of money. It calls for a brawl between Sarah and Katherina, but Katherina later attempts to give an explanation behind the document. According to Katherina, the family of Angie’s father intimidated them into signing the contract. However, from the record, Angie deduces that her father’s family lives in Uster, a large township in the Swiss canton of Zurich.
Sarah decides to come clean to Angie about the pregnancy. Following Sarah’s account, she, Michi, and Urs, a friend of Michi, ended up at a concert. Michi had to take an early leave while Urs progressed to take Sarah to the bathroom and rape her. Presumably, Urs mixed some sedative drugs in Sarah’s drink since she could not even scream during the incident. Afterward, Urs takes an exit to pursue studies in France while leaving Sarah to rear the children all by herself. However, the irony entails that Michi has no idea about Urs’ doings until Angie confronts him outside the studio.
Later, following a moment of dilemma, Michi decides to make things right with Sarah. They have a hearty conversation while Michi asks Sarah to tell him if she needs help. Towards the end of the finale, Angie seems to have found Urs’ number from the non-disclosure document. She calls a Ms. Sutter, who appears to be the mother of Urs. Even if she gets to speak to Urs, we doubt whether she introduces herself as Urs’ daughter. Although we do not know the call’s outcome, we hope that Angie gets closure either way.
Read More: Where Is New Heights Filmed?
