1899, Episode 1: The Ship, or What's My Age Again?
Did you like Dark? I loved Dark, so I was super excited when I saw the trailer for the follow up series from the same creators, 1899. Have I ever done episodic recaping? No I have not. Does it seem like a fun thing to do, if potentially difficult to do in a timely fashion? Yes it does!
This is the first in what I intend to be an 8 part series, delivered twice weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Will I able to stick to that schedule? No clue. Will this be worth reading? Also no clue! With that said, let’s go.
Facts and First Impressions
1899, currently streaming on Netflix, is an 8 part series from the creators of the fantastic German puzzle box mystery Dark. Netflix describes the show thusly: "A migrant steamship heads west to leave the old continent. The passengers, a mixed bag of European origins, united by their hopes and dreams for the new century and their future abroad. But their journey takes an unexpected turn when they discover another migrant ship adrift on open sea. What they will find on board will turn their passage to the promised land into a horrifying nightmare."
I’m actually going into this completely blind - I didn’t know it was coming, but I love Dark, which is twisty, thoughtful, weird, and soulful. The moment I saw the trailer for 1899 I was immediately reminded of Dark, and when I found out that it was from the same creators, I was ready to dive in.
Plot Summary (Heavy Spoilers Ahead!!)
Episode 1, The Ship, opens with strikingly dark and moody imagery (an ornate church, an Egyptian style pyramid, the ocean) flashing across the screen, while the character we soon come to learn is Maura Franklin narrates in voiceover about the size of the mind versus the sky or the sea - “side by side, one the other will absorb” - before a smash cut to our… protagonist, perhaps? dashing through what appears to be an asylum, screaming to her father that she knows what he’s doing to those people on those ships, to her brother, and that she will recover her memory. She is dragged off, straight-jacketed, to room 1011, as her father steps out of deep shadow into slightly less deep shadow and hisses for her to “wake up!” We pull out from a close up of Maura’s open eyes as she gasps sharply. Is she waking up, or returning to life? She checks the paper, and gazes into the mirror as she recites her name and the date, “accidentally” letting a “19” slip before stating the date as “1899” (gee, wonder if that’s going to mean something) before exiting her stateroom - room 1011.
From there, we’re off. We are, it seems, on a ship bound for New York, populated by a cast of characters both lower class:
a family of seemingly religious Danes in steerage, including a young pregnant woman, her younger sister, and their brother, who sports a disfiguring facial scar
a Polish stoker working in the boiler room
a French speaking black man who seems to be hiding from everyone
- and upper class:
Maura Franklin, whom we’ve already met
the ship’s captain, AKA old Jonas from Dark, who keeps throwing significant glances at what looks like a family photo on his desk
a set of French newlyweds who are decidedly not enjoying their honeymoon
a pair of Spanish “brothers” (it’s in quotes because this show makes me question literally everything), a libertine and a priest, who seem to be on some kind of a deadline to reach their destination
a Japanese woman in elaborate garb, accompanied by her faithful servant
a woman in a green brocade dress who sits down next to Maura in the dining room and lays out all of the interpersonal dynamics at play on the ship and then takes a sip of her tea in eerie synchronicity with everyone else in the dining room, making you really wonder what the fuck her deal is
Since this is the first episode of a puzzle box series, a lot of time is devoted to introducing our central cast of characters and setting up our big mystery - what happened to the Prometheus, sister ship to the ship our cast is traveling on? The disappearance of the Prometheus is prominently announced on the newspaper Maura checks when she first wakes up and is a significant topic of discussion among the upper class passengers (the steerage passengers are more just like, “hope I don’t die before I get to America”), so it’s not a big surprise to the viewer when our ship receives a set of coordinates, but no other messages or information, from a ship that they believe to be the Prometheus. Captain Jonas, over the protests of the crew and passengers, alters course to check the coordinates, even though, after 4 months lost at sea, no one thinks there could be anyone alive on the Prometheus.
Maura and the Spanish priest accompany a small crew, including Captain Jonas, to the Prometheus to look for survivors. When they arrive, the signal sending coordinates stops transmitting. The ship seems, at first, to be deserted, but as the crew explores they hear a mysterious and very loud knocking from inside a cupboard. Maura steps up (yeah girl, no fear) and unlocks the door to reveal a small and very creepy boy. Aboard our main ship, a damp man who has apparently swum over from the Prometheus explores creepily, releasing a beetle for purposes that, as of now, remain unknown. Is someone about to get murdered, or possibly abducted by time travelers? Only time will tell.
Other Things That Happened That Are Probably Important
Maura is a doctor saves the baby of the pregnant Danish woman in steerage. Her specialty is, apparently, brains, but props to her for stepping up when a dirty (but hot) dude pleads, in a language you don’t know, for a doctor
Speaking of the dirty but hot Dane, he shares an intimate moment when the Spanish Libertine when he asks for a cigarette. And when I say an intimate moment, the Spanish guy admires his facial scar and hits on him in a language he doesn’t understand, which makes him uncomfortable and then he runs away
The lady in the green brocade dress knows the Japanese women and tells them not to talk in public. Ok…
Final Thoughts
I have no idea what’s going on, but I really want to find out. Given how utterly amazing Dark was from beginning to end, these creators have a lot of trust from me. So far the show is moody, atmospheric, and pleasantly creepy, and I can’t wait to see where it goes. My pet theory so far? Maura is sending her consciousness back in time to resolve the mystery of the Prometheus and her brother. That or she and the other passengers are trapped in some kind of simulation. At this point, anyone’s guess is as good as mine, and I can’t wait to see where this show goes.
