Nine Perfect Strangers – Season 2 Episode 1 Recap & Review

The Review Geek

21-05-2025

Zauberwald
Episode 1 of Nine Perfect Strangers season 2 starts with Masha invited up onto stage after her psychedelic therapy with Tranquillum has become a hit. At The end of season 1, we saw her driving off in a scene that felt very Cruel Intentions-esque, with her book Nine Perfect Strangers on the dashboard.
Masha jokes about her multiple federal allegations, not shying away from what's happened, but also embracing her persona. She speaks to the crowd plainly about what she's been up to. Working with those in Silicon Valley, Masha has developed a new psychedelic delivery system to help patients revisit specific memories. Its been tested on rats and herself, but it hasn't been put out for public testing just yet.
Masha also lies, claiming that she no longer sees her daughter, when she clearly does. She suffers from bad dreams, Tatiana is still in her peripheral vision, and her mental state is still not completely tip-top. It doesn't help that Masha has been hit with multiple subpoenas and she's struggling to stay afloat.
Despite Masha's success in the States, she needs to get away from it all. Approached by a man named Martin, the head of Research and Protocol, Masha is encouraged to head over and run a new wellness centre in the Alps called Zauberwald.
This place has significance to Masha's backstory, which we'll learn about in episode 2. For now, we learn that a woman called Helena calls the shots, who happens to be the individual responsible for introducing Masha to the psychedelic therapy that helped her see Tatiana initially.
There are some ground rules laid out and it seems nobody here wants a repeat of the disaster over at Tranquillum. Much like the first seasin, we meet a bunch of different people who are going to be staying here on this transformative experience.
Masha and her drugs are famous though so there's not going to be any psychedelic surprises – or so we're led to believe! Masha puts up a bunch of hidden cameras around the place, complete with mics. She also has far more control over the guests, including allowing everybody to keep their phones on them given the terrible cell signal up in the mountains. Masha has carefully curated the group for this retreat, each with their own desires and need for healing.
There's Brian, a guy who's as clumsy as he is irritable and struggles with his bags. He runs into Sister Agnes staring blissfully into the horizon, whom he believes is a porter. She's actually a former nun but she keeps her cards close to her chest and it's unclear right now exactly why she's here.
There's also Imogen who flaunts her intelligence and questions Martin over the project and overthinks everything. The reason she's here is to try and repair the relationship with her mum, Victoria. Unfortunately, Victoria is too busy with her new boytoy, Matteo. We also learn here too that Victoria has been divorced several times so it seems she has trouble with commitment. According to Masha and Helena though, Matteo is part of their 'plan'.
Another couple that rock up are Tina and Wolfie who appear to have some demons clouding their relationship. They're both musicians but Tina appears top have lost her passion for playing the piano. She's also not particularly happy when she finds out Wolfie has set her up to go on this transformational retreat. She was under the assumption they were on vacation so it doesn't go over too well.
Finally there's Peter, who rocks up and shares some banter with Imogen at the bar. He's actually due to meet his father here, who is also supposed to be part of this group. He's an eccentric billionaire by the name of David Sharpe, and he always puts his work ahead of family.
As the guests flirt between letting their guard down or keeping their defences high, Imogen propositions Peter at the bar about staying in his room. As for Brian, he's got big mental issues, desperate to get his luggage back which appears to be lost.
As the episode closes out, we get our first look at David Sharpe, who's intrigued by the prospect of these drugs 'turning him into a good person'. He's still sceptical though over whether they'll work or not.
The Episode Review
So Nine Perfect Strangers is back and the first episode wastes little time diving head-first into the same premise that season 1 had. This time we see a slightly different operation, in a different location, and a bit more clarity from the guests about why they're all here.
There's clearly a lot of demons that need to be ironed out and Masha is at the forefront of this just like before, determined to disrupt the natural flow of everything and help the healing process.
Interestingly, the end of season 1 saw Ben and Jessica in charge of Tranquillum and it's still not initially clear whether that will factor into this or not. The show is also quite quick in fast forwarding past Masha's issues and not spending much time exploring what this means for her career – or how much time has passed between seasons.
What's here though is enticing enough, setting everything up for what should be a dramatic season to follow.
Previous Season
Next Episode
Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!