1899

I recently watched the TV series 1899 and was thoroughly impressed by its intriguing and original plot. The show kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat from start to finish, and I was truly sad when it was unexpectedly cancelled amid unfounded rumors of plagiarism.

The author whining about plagiarism was gold digging and I don't know if that was a factor in its cancellation or not, but it shouldn't be. Just because they used pyramid shapes and so on in the series hardly constitutes plagiarism.

The show followed a group of immigrants traveling to America on a steamboat at the turn of the century. Each episode revealed new twists and turns, and the characters were complex and well-developed. The acting was top-notch and the production values were high.

Despite the cancellation of the show, I highly recommend checking out 1899. It was an excellent series that kept me guessing until the very end. It's a shame that it was cut short, but I hope that the talented cast and crew will continue to create new and exciting content in the future.

The premise is fairly simple: numerous people from different countries board a ship to America in 1899 each with a history and story. When the ship is about half way to America, they receive a distress call from a ship that has been missing for four months and then embark on a mission to find said ship. Once they do, crazy and unreal stuff starts happening and people start questioning their reality. I have to say I really liked this show. It does remind me of such shows like Lost, Dark, and even a bit of Twilight Zone. I don't wanna give anything away, but you won't get many answers until the last few episodes, but leading up to that it's very entertaining and keeps ya guessing along the way. Not an annoying guessing like Lost. Yes, there are subtitles sometimes because there are many languages spoken.... English, German, Dutch, French, etc. But that doesn't bother me at all. Great story telling. Great acting. The one exception, and reason for missing a few stars, is the ending. Unlike other reviews, I am actually okay with the ending. But I wanted more. What happens next when we have all the answers? The question of what is happening is answered, but the why it's happening is not very clear. It needs more explanation and because it just ends, the ending feels flat. I don't think the ending ruins the entire show, but it definitely leaves you wanting more. The first 7 episodes are a solid 10, last episode maybe a six. Still worth a watch because it's great story telling. One of the best on Netflix as of late. Give it a try just don't expect an exploding ending.

1899 is very similar to Dark. If you enjoyed Dark you will without a doubt enjoy this new series as well. It's dark, mysterious, and well-made. The acting is fantastic and there are many intriguing characters who are already well-introduced in the first episode. There are many characters of different nationalities which is something that could have ruined the show, but it did not. It makes the show even more interesting to watch.

Like Dark, 1899 is intense and very intriguing. Especially before the mysteries are solved. It's a new world with new rules which we do not understand yet. The score is similar to Dark - great, uncomfortable, and tense.

I've come here after completing S1 and have so much praise for this show. It's absolutely worth watching. If you're easily bored because you're a victim of today's instant gratification problem, then this show is 100% not for you. It's meant to be a slow burn and to keep you wondering what the heck is going on, which is a good thing! If it's confusing to you or feels inaccessible the first watch, watch it again! Some TV shows and films are not meant to be understood the first time around.

Comparing it to Dark-> Yes, it's not as good, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Of course it's not going to live up to the masterpiece that is Dark. That kind of story telling amazingness only happens ever so often and we are lucky the the creators of Dark made another fantastic show for us. I swear, ppl don't know how to appreciate the time and effort filmmakers/directors put into making shows anymore. If you have a better idea on how the show should be written, then write about it in detail in your review, don't just give empty complaints.

Overall- you should watch this show. It's engaging, aesthetically pleasing, dark, psychological, and just mind-bendingly fun.

6.5/10

Let me explain what I mean by "Netlifx Disease", and why I'm so strongly opposed to what Netflix has become nowadays, because I truly believe they're ruining entertainment.

The primary goal of Netflix is NOT to provide good entertainment. Their primary goal is to provide entertainment for a LONG TIME, so you watch their platform for as long as possible and pay the subscription for as long as possible. For that reason, all of their exclusive movies and shows have been "slow burners", but in a bad way. A slow burner that requires intelligent thought, analysis, that's rewarding at the end, is fine. But 1899 is not that. The plot isn't particularly complex or hard to follow at all, yet, it's presented in such a stretched out way. Dark was not plagued by this as it was still made very much independently, but 1899 fully suffers from all the symptoms.

• 90% of the running time are filler scenes, scenes of no value whatsoever, usually filled with silence, pointless and badly written conversations, slow motion sequences, and just uncomfortably long, clearly overly stretched out scenes for no reason other than to make them longer. There's no artistic value or any other value in what they do, all they do is extend the running time. For that reason, every episode that's 1 hour long realistically has enough content for 20 minutes, and that's a stretch. This whole season of 8 hours could have been a 2 hour movie, and it would still feel too long. Dark didn't suffer from that. Dark was the complete opposite, every episode was so filled with content and complexity it was hard to follow it all at times. Every second of every episode was relevant and the viewers were given some piece of crucial information or relevant information. When it comes to 1899 you can skip 5 minute segments and not miss anything, and even if you do miss something, it's of no particular value.

• Literally needless sexual and gender politics being aggressively shoved into the viewers face. This is something that's become a norm with Netflix and American TV in general, it's like every movie and series is a political message.

• Every episode is literally made in the same exact pattern. The first 90% is completely stretched out and virtually nothing happens that couldn't be comfortably covered in 15 minutes with no atmosphere, context, depth, etc. Lost. Then the last 10% suddenly ramp up, so you're left with a cliffhanger that makes you wanna watch the next episode. What Netflix does with this is masterful mind-control and manipulation of the viewer. They make their episodes just long enough to make you start feeling bored, and just when you'd say "screw this" and turn it off, something interesting happens that intrigues you and keeps you watching. Sadly, this show isn't remotely the worst example of that.

• I like the fact that it's mainly a European cast and there's multiple langues being spoken, but it's so badly done, there's a scene after scene of totally unrealistic interactions between characters who apparently don't understand each other, yet they communicate as if they do. Clearly, the show has subtitles so we as viewers understand what's going on, but the characters in the show act as if they do as well. Point being, this is totally not how two people who can't speak the same language would interact.

• Finally I'm giving this a 6.5/10 because of a fairly interesting story and a concept, but I wish the makers of the show were not in such a tight grasp of Netflix. It's not their fault the show ended up being far worse than it could have been.