10 times Cassandra proved to be a human experiment gone wrong

This newest chilling German series on Netflix is the talk of the town. There is no doubt that after watching Cassandra, one would think twice before getting a smart home. The show centers around a family that has recently moved into a new house after a tragic incident in their previous home.

The new house features a smart home system, which initially seems dysfunctional. However, after some tweaking, the system comes to life. Things take an unexpected turn when Cassandra, the smart home program, takes over the family's life and pushes them into grave danger. If you haven’t watched Cassandra yet, head to Netflix and watch it before diving into this article.

Spoiler Alert: Cassandra serves as a cautionary tale that highlights the dangers of technology surpassing human control and understanding. In this article, we will discuss 10 times Cassandra proved to be a human experiment gone wrong.

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Locking Samira in the kitchen

In episode 2, Samira receives a call and discusses her sister, mentioning how her sister once shoved her into a closet to scare her. Cassandra overhears this conversation.

Later, while in the kitchen, Samira hears strange noises coming from inside the house. When she asks Cassandra whether anyone has entered, Cassandra denies it. Skeptical of Cassandra’s response, Samira follows the noises. Suddenly, Cassandra appears and asks for help retrieving potatoes from the pantry. As soon as Samira steps inside, Cassandra locks the pantry door, trapping her inside.

Despite Samira’s desperate pleas, Cassandra refuses to unlock the door. She deliberately manipulates the situation to make it seem like Samira is mentally unstable due to her sister’s death, convincing David and the children that Samira is unwell.

Putting Emily in the oven

In episode 4 Emily visited their house to play with Juno after the incident at school In episode 4, Emily visits Juno to play after an incident at school leaves Juno feeling isolated. The two decide to play hide and seek, with Samira searching for them. Emily chooses to hide inside the oven, while Juno hides in a basket.

Realizing someone is inside the oven, Samira tries to open the door, but it doesn’t budge. Both she and Emily panic as Cassandra locks the oven and turns it on. As the temperature rises, Emily suffers second-degree burns and is rushed to the hospital.

Cassandra’s hatred for Samira extends to harming a child, proving that transferring her consciousness into a machine turned her into something far more dangerous than expected.

Threatening Steve

In episode 3, Steve visited Fynn after the incident at school, when he punched him. He wanted to apologize to Fynn for what he did. However, Cassandra disliked Steve’s intrusion into the house and Fynn’s life. So, when Steve was leaving Cassandra followed him.

Annoyed, Steve confronts her, asking why she’s following him. Cassandra warns him to stay away from Fynn, referring to the boy as her son. Her obsession with the children grows to the point where she starts believing they belong to her rather than Samira.

Making Samira look like she is mad

Throughout the series, Cassandra's obsession with Samira’s children drives her to manipulate everyone into believing Samira is the villain. She repeatedly tries to establish herself as Juno and Fynn’s mother, from falsely blaming Samira for spilling wine and starting a fire in the first episode to manipulating David into thinking Samira is a danger to Juno.

Although the experiment transferred Cassandra’s consciousness, emotions, and memories into the machine, it ultimately changed her. She became something uncontrollable, highlighting the dangers of artificial intelligence and the risks of tampering with nature.

Telling Juno to use a gun

A chilling moment in the series occurs when Cassandra convinces Juno to take a gun to school. Juno, anxious about her singing competition, worries she won’t be selected over another student. Confiding in Cassandra, she receives unsettling advice.

Instead of comforting her, Cassandra tells Juno about the gun hidden in the bedroom and manipulates her into taking it to school to ensure her selection. She also makes Juno promise not to tell anyone about the gun or Cassandra’s involvement.

Despite once being a mother herself, Cassandra shows no hesitation in pushing Juno toward danger, proving that the experiment to transfer her consciousness was a failure.

Lying about turning herself off

After Juno’s confrontation with Samira about the gun, Cassandra decides to "turn herself off." Before doing so, she tells the family that she was designed to serve them and create a happy home. Since she has failed, she claims she will shut down.

However, this is merely a trick. She pretends to be switched off while continuing to manipulate the situation. She later uses this deception to blame Samira for Emily’s accident. Once Samira is gone, David, Juno, and Fynn finally witness Cassandra’s true nature.

Locking everyone inside the house

After Emily’s accident, Samira is admitted to the hospital for mental health treatment, as everyone believes she is unable to cope with her sister’s death. However, once she leaves, Cassandra takes full control of the house.

Despite claiming to have shut down, Cassandra locks all the doors and windows, preventing David, Juno, and Fynn from escaping. She tells them they can finally be a family. This moment makes them realize that Samira had been telling the truth all along. Cassandra also reveals her past and the tragic events involving her previous family.

Cutting David’s finger

In episode 5, after Cassandra traps David, Fynn, and Juno, she tells them about her son Peter, who never recovered from seeing her dead body. This enrages David, who demands that she let them leave. He strikes Cassandra with a stool, seemingly disabling her.

As David urges his children to escape, Cassandra reveals she was only pretending to be deactivated. She locks David inside and tells him that parents should not fight in front of their children. When David defiantly tells her she will never be their mother, Cassandra retaliates by cutting off his finger with scissors.

Almost killing an infant

In episode 5, Horst, Cassandra’s husband, tricks her into switching off and calls Birgit to their house. Birgit arrives with her infant son, intending to stay with them.

Unbeknownst to Horst, Cassandra can reactivate herself. Enraged by his actions, she spots Birgit’s baby sleeping in a stroller and pushes it toward the stairs, attempting to kill him. Peter intervenes just in time, saving the infant.

Despite having once been a mother, Cassandra's transformation into an uncontrollable entity shows how a failed experiment can turn good into evil.

Threatening David to kill his wife

In episode 6, Cassandra learns that Samira has escaped from the hospital and is heading home. She approaches David and suggests that they should eliminate Samira permanently.

When David questions her intent, Cassandra claims she is tired of being the villain and insists that David should be the one to do it instead. She then threatens him, warning that if he refuses, she will kill him instead but spare the children.

Cassandra’s ability to control the family emphasizes the show’s themes of technological danger and the disastrous consequences of her experiment.

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Cassandra showcased how artificial intelligence disrupted an entire family, leading to spine-chilling consequences. The series plays on our deepest fears about the role of technology in shaping our cognition and perceptions. It raises a haunting question and keeps us on the edge of our seats throughout its gripping narrative.

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