1899

1899 is a strong contender for the best feel-bad show of the year, with its conniving characters, unrelenting suspense, and grim stakes. It's a case of atmospheric gloom overload, and it proves all the more frustrating considering that the show's aesthetics are otherwise effectively spooky.

Like Friese and bo Odar's previous streaming gem, this supernatural thriller is so knotted up that trying to untangle its mysteries is not simply challenging but borderline headache-inducing-generally, in the best way possible.

With its mystery and horror, 1899 manages to right the ship, even if it's sometimes confusing. The truth is, fantastic costuming, strong performances, dynamic set design, and a score of modern songs that somehow works in the period context keep the series worth watching.

A perfect 10/10 for me.

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.

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.

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.

This show was.. busy to say the least, nonetheless it was intriguing. The actors were chosen wisely & characters well written. Every time you think you have it figured out & know what's going on there's a U-turn. The way the last episode ended made it clear that the story was going somewhere with a lot more twists & turns & answers to audience questions. I'm not sure what these networks base the decision of cancellation on, but when I look at IMDB ratings & reviews I just do not get it! Netflix, Prime, Hulu, etc must not check out this app/site prior to finalizing giving a lot of these shows the boot or don't take into consideration that new viewers are going to watch the show after all episodes have been released which would alter how many people tune in on each episode's release & even if an entire season is put out at once, a lot of people will finish binge watching whatever they're on before moving to the next. Some people may not start a new series until they & their significant other both have the free time to start it. The list of reasons can go on. I just feel that so many great shows w/great potential aren't given the proper chance to peak. At the very least there should be a system, if a show doesn't perform as expected in the first season the writers/producers/show in general should be given a second season no matter what to, at the very least, tie everything up for the story arch as well as for the audience. It's very unsatisfying to have a shows season end on a cliff hanger to just cancel it & us viewers not have a clue what might've been.