1899

Flopper

Diamond Member
Mar 23, 2010
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Saw the series 1899 on Netflix.
Good or Bad?
It was ok, not my kind of entertainment. The series begins with passengers on an ocean liner bound for the US in 1899. Strange things begin to happen, a lost ocean liner is found without passengers, a strange little boy is found, passengers go overboard, etc. As you go through the series, there are more mysteries upon mysteries. Before long you and the passengers are questioning what is real and unreal. As you near the end of season, it gets pretty mind bending. In the last epoxide, all is revealed, well most all. There are hints that there will be a second season but I will probably skip it. Don't get me wrong the series is well done, acting is pretty good, and lots twists in the story. It just wasn't my cup of tea.
 
To have so many channels producing their own content there aren't a lot of new series that are good, despite all the noise claiming that breaking free of the Big Three networks was going to be wonderful n stuff. I liked Homeland, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Ray Donovan, The Last Ship, and a few others, that's about it, after many years of 'independent content creation'.
 
1899 was created by the same people who created the Netflix series Dark. Some of the same actors are in both.

If you have not seen Dark, you must, you must!

Dark was so convoluted, I had to sit down and draw a map of the characters and timelines to keep everything straight in my head. Not long after, a lot of other people posted similar maps online.

I've never had to do that for a show before, but it was well worth the effort.

1899 is not as complex as Dark, but it has more than its share of nooks and crannies and twists and turns.

1899 takes place on a steamship, the Kerberos, crossing the Atlantic in, you guessed it, 1899. As we are introduced to a wide array of characters, it soon becomes apparent they are each fleeing some heinous act they committed back in the old country. They are trying to put as much distance between themselves and Europe as possible.

There are French, Dutch, German, Polish, Italian, Chinese and English passengers/actors, all speaking in their native languages.

Not long into the voyage, the bridge receives a telegraph message which they somehow determine is from the Prometheus, a ship which vanished without a trace four months prior.

Obeying the law of the sea, the Captain directs the crew to proceed to the Prometheus post haste, despite the superstitious misgivings of the crew.

The Captain is a German Das Boot kind of guy, in a long bridge coat with the collar turned up. He has just the right measure of rugged good looks and harpoon scars on his face to give the type of women who wear tea-length dresses night fevers.

The Prometheus is found and boarded and is discovered to be one big wreck and ruin, with not a corpse in sight. A small sullen boy is discovered locked in a cupboard.

It turns out this boy is the devil.

No, not really.

Actually, he is.

I'm just kidding.

No I'm not.

Well, we should probably kill him at some point, just to be safe. I mean, there's a reason they locked the kid up, right?

The Kerberos then receives a message from the company which owns both ships to sink the ship. But the Captain thinks there are too many unanswered questions which need to be answered and so he tells everyone he is going to tow the Prometheus back to home port.

"Oh noes!" says everyone on the ship. You are outvoted, Captain. Keep going to America. We absolutely cannot return to the clutches of Europe. That would be bad. Very, very bad.

I'm the Captain says the Captain, and I have plenipotentiary powers out here which is a really big word that means we are going back to Europe.

Much hilarity ensues.

By hilarity I mean murder, mayhem, mutiny, and madness.

Alliances are formed, dissolve, re-form, priorities shift like so much sea froth. And a shit ton of people are voted off the island.

Among all this is this guy all in black with big deep black eyes and a mournful mug. He keeps popping up in all kinds of situations and no one questions him about his business. And all through the series he keeps trying to solve a 15 puzzle.
15-puzzle.jpg


For those of us who watched Dark and made maps, you can't help but think, "I know EXACTLY who this guy is!" And you are almost right, but you are not right. Dammit!

It's a little extra gift of a mindfuck by the creators of 1899 for the fans of Dark.

So, yeah. I hope I have not spoiled the show too much.

Well worth watching. Lots of fun. And I doubt anyone makes the right guesses about what is really happening.
 
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1899 was created by the same people who created the Netflix series Dark. Some of the same actors are in both.

If you have not seen Dark, you must, you must!

Dark was so convoluted, I had to sit down and draw a map of the characters and timelines to keep everything straight in my head. Not long after, a lot of other people posted similar maps online.

I've never had to do that for a show before, but it was well worth the effort.

1899 is not as complex as Dark, but it has more than its share of nooks and crannies and twists and turns.

1899 takes place on a steamship, the Kerberos, crossing the Atlantic in, you guessed it, 1899. As we are introduced to a wide array of characters, it soon becomes apparent they are each fleeing some heinous act they committed back in the old country. They are trying to put as much distance between themselves and Europe as possible.

There are French, Dutch, German, Polish, Italian, Chinese and English passengers/actors, all speaking in their native languages.

Not long into the voyage, the bridge receives a telegraph message which they somehow determine is from the Prometheus, a ship which vanished without a trace four months prior.

Obeying the law of the sea, the Captain directs the crew to proceed to the Prometheus post haste, despite the superstitious misgivings of the crew.

The Captain is a German Das Boot kind of guy, in a long bridge coat with the collar turned up. He has just the right measure of rugged good looks and harpoon scars on his face to give the type of women who wear tea-length dresses night fevers.

The Prometheus is found and boarded and is discovered to be one big wreck and ruin, with not a corpse in sight. A small sullen boy is discovered locked in a cupboard.

It turns out this boy is the devil.

No, not really.

Actually, he is.

I'm just kidding.

No I'm not.

Well, we should probably kill him at some point, just to be safe. I mean, there's a reason they locked the kid up, right?

The Kerberos then receives a message from the company which owns both ships to sink the ship. But the Captain thinks there are too many unanswered questions which need to be answered and so he tells everyone he is going to tow the Prometheus back to home port.

"Oh noes!" says everyone on the ship. You are outvoted, Captain. Keep going to America. We absolutely cannot return to the clutches of Europe. That would be bad. Very, very bad.

I'm the Captain says the Captain, and I have plenipotentiary powers out here which is a really big word that means we are going back to Europe.

Much hilarity ensues.

By hilarity I mean murder, mayhem, mutiny, and madness.

Alliances are formed, dissolve, re-form, priorities shift like so much sea froth. And a shit ton of people are voted off the island.

Among all this is this guy all in black with big deep black eyes and a mournful mug. He keeps popping up in all kinds of situations and no one questions him about his business. And all through the series he keeps trying to solve a 15 puzzle.
15-puzzle.jpg


For those of us who watched Dark and made maps, you can't help but think, "I know EXACTLY who this guy is!" And you are almost right, but you are not right. Dammit!

It's a little extra gift of a mindfuck by the creators of 1899 for the fans of Dark.

So, yeah. I hope I have not spoiled the show too much.

Well worth watching. Lots of fun. And I doubt anyone makes the right guesses about what is really happening.
Is it best to be stoned while watching these two series?
 
1899 was created by the same people who created the Netflix series Dark. Some of the same actors are in both.

If you have not seen Dark, you must, you must!

Dark was so convoluted, I had to sit down and draw a map of the characters and timelines to keep everything straight in my head. Not long after, a lot of other people posted similar maps online.

I've never had to do that for a show before, but it was well worth the effort.

1899 is not as complex as Dark, but it has more than its share of nooks and crannies and twists and turns.

1899 takes place on a steamship, the Kerberos, crossing the Atlantic in, you guessed it, 1899. As we are introduced to a wide array of characters, it soon becomes apparent they are each fleeing some heinous act they committed back in the old country. They are trying to put as much distance between themselves and Europe as possible.

There are French, Dutch, German, Polish, Italian, Chinese and English passengers/actors, all speaking in their native languages.

Not long into the voyage, the bridge receives a telegraph message which they somehow determine is from the Prometheus, a ship which vanished without a trace four months prior.

Obeying the law of the sea, the Captain directs the crew to proceed to the Prometheus post haste, despite the superstitious misgivings of the crew.

The Captain is a German Das Boot kind of guy, in a long bridge coat with the collar turned up. He has just the right measure of rugged good looks and harpoon scars on his face to give the type of women who wear tea-length dresses night fevers.

The Prometheus is found and boarded and is discovered to be one big wreck and ruin, with not a corpse in sight. A small sullen boy is discovered locked in a cupboard.

It turns out this boy is the devil.

No, not really.

Actually, he is.

I'm just kidding.

No I'm not.

Well, we should probably kill him at some point, just to be safe. I mean, there's a reason they locked the kid up, right?

The Kerberos then receives a message from the company which owns both ships to sink the ship. But the Captain thinks there are too many unanswered questions which need to be answered and so he tells everyone he is going to tow the Prometheus back to home port.

"Oh noes!" says everyone on the ship. You are outvoted, Captain. Keep going to America. We absolutely cannot return to the clutches of Europe. That would be bad. Very, very bad.

I'm the Captain says the Captain, and I have plenipotentiary powers out here which is a really big word that means we are going back to Europe.

Much hilarity ensues.

By hilarity I mean murder, mayhem, mutiny, and madness.

Alliances are formed, dissolve, re-form, priorities shift like so much sea froth. And a shit ton of people are voted off the island.

Among all this is this guy all in black with big deep black eyes and a mournful mug. He keeps popping up in all kinds of situations and no one questions him about his business. And all through the series he keeps trying to solve a 15 puzzle.
15-puzzle.jpg


For those of us who watched Dark and made maps, you can't help but think, "I know EXACTLY who this guy is!" And you are almost right, but you are not right. Dammit!

It's a little extra gift of a mindfuck by the creators of 1899 for the fans of Dark.

So, yeah. I hope I have not spoiled the show too much.

Well worth watching. Lots of fun. And I doubt anyone makes the right guesses about what is really happening.
Have you seen last episode? I would never have guessed the ending.
 
Would you compare it the series'' Lost''. From what you describe it may end up the same way.
It is similar to Lost in that each episode begins with one of the characters in the before times to give you some backstory about them and what they are running from.

There are also supernatural elements which feel Lost-ish.
 
I would not watch Dark stoned. It is way too complex. Maybe meth?

1899 would be fun stoned.
I took my girl friend to see Chariots of Fire when it was in the theater. We weren’t high. I fell asleep it was so slow. About a year later I come home after a night of partying. I was high. On HBO was Chariots of Fire. I watched the whole damn movie and really enjoyed it. Funny how that happens.
 
To have so many channels producing their own content there aren't a lot of new series that are good, despite all the noise claiming that breaking free of the Big Three networks was going to be wonderful n stuff. I liked Homeland, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Ray Donovan, The Last Ship, and a few others, that's about it, after many years of 'independent content creation'.
The reason why you're not seeing as many good series or movies is because creators have lost creative control of the production. In the old days, a writer or director who had a good idea for a series or movie would raise the funds to produce a pilot or the film. Then market it. That's not how movies or series are sold today to TV or major streaming services like Netflix.

Today the buyer, streaming services or TV networks solicit proposals for material that meets their specification. For example, Netflix tries to maintain a balance of genre so they might require a 19th century western with conflict between Native Americans and the Calvary. Since Netflix has mostly women subscribers, they would require a least one women would be in a pivotal role in the story. Since Netflix growth is now strongest in Asian countries, marketing would insist on some Asians cast members. And of course there would need to be something for the LGBTQ, Black, and Hispanic subscribers. The actors lines in the production are irrelevant because after the video is shot, an audio production company will be hired to dub the movie or series into a half dozen languages.
 
The reason why you're not seeing as many good series or movies is because creators have lost creative control of the production. In the old days, a writer or director who had a good idea for a series or movie would raise the funds to produce a pilot or the film. Then market it. That's not how movies or series are sold today to TV or major streaming services like Netflix.

Today the buyer, streaming services or TV networks solicit proposals for material that meets their specification. For example, Netflix tries to maintain a balance of genre so they might require a 19th century western with conflict between Native Americans and the Calvary. Since Netflix has mostly women subscribers, they would require a least one women would be in a pivotal role in the story. Since Netflix growth is now strongest in Asian countries, marketing would insist on some Asians cast members. And of course there would need to be something for the LGBTQ, Black, and Hispanic subscribers. The actors lines in the production are irrelevant because after the video is shot, an audio production company will be hired to dub the movie or series into a half dozen languages.
My youngest daughter will not watch any movie or series with me unless there is some romance in it.

She's missed out on a lot of good stuff.
 
Netflix officially cancelled the series.
This business of Netflix canceling popular series is getting absurd.
At this point, why would anyone invest in a Netflix series??

angry-face_1f620.gif
 
Netflix officially cancelled the series.
This business of Netflix canceling popular series is getting absurd.
At this point, why would anyone invest in a Netflix series??

View attachment 746736
Netflix cancels seasons more than some other services such as HBO because they don’t usually contract for multiple seasons and to make it worst they typical wait till after the season ends before making a decision.

But even if the show had been renewed for Season 2, any meaningful continuation after the ending of Season 1 would’ve meant that 1899 as we knew it was already finished.
 
Oh,man. That sucks.
I try to avoid series with 1 season. There are two many that are setting around for 3 years and still just one season.

This problem with Netflix. They never seem to contract for the second season until the first season has been released for 3-6 mos. By that time the production staff and cast have other commitments. Not sure about prime but HBO usually makes the decision to continue the series as soon as they release it. Once the cast has other commitments, it's hard to get the next season started and sometimes impossible.
 
I try to avoid series with 1 season. There are two many that are setting around for 3 years and still just one season.

This problem with Netflix. They never seem to contract for the second season until the first season has been released for 3-6 mos. By that time the production staff and cast have other commitments. Not sure about prime but HBO usually makes the decision to continue the series as soon as they release it. Once the cast has other commitments, it's hard to get the next season started and sometimes impossible.
1899 was made by the same people who made Dark, and Dark was outstanding and I think it was 3 seasons. I loved Dark and so could not resist 1899.
 

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