Review of "1899," the new Netflix mystery hit from the creators of "Darkness
Without spoilers, we tell you why one of the main series of the fall turned out to be a disappointment.
1899. A ship with the suspicious name of "Cerberus" is sailing from London to distant New York. The crew members and passengers are of different classes, countries, and nationalities, who clearly got on the ship for a reason. Among them, for example, the neurologist Maura (Emily Beacham) - she reads a letter from her brother, who offered to meet in New York. True, the heroine has a suspicion that a relative never sailed to the New World. Coincidentally, the "Cerberus" captain Eke (Andreas Peachman) receives a distress signal from the "Prometheus" - the infamous ship that disappeared a few months ago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The captain decides to change course and sail in the company of Maura to help the wretched ship, although there seems to be no one there to save her.
1899. A ship with the suspicious name of "Cerberus" is sailing from London to distant New York. The crew members and passengers are of different classes, countries, and nationalities, who clearly got on the ship for a reason. Among them, for example, the neurologist Maura (Emily Beacham) - she reads a letter from her brother, who offered to meet in New York. True, the heroine has a suspicion that a relative never sailed to the New World. Coincidentally, the "Cerberus" captain Eke (Andreas Peachman) receives a distress signal from the "Prometheus" - the infamous ship that disappeared a few months ago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The captain decides to change course and sail in the company of Maura to help the wretched ship, although there seems to be no one there to save her.
Without straying too far from the authors' past creation, we must say that "1899" is such a maximally viewer-friendly and simplified "Darkness," somewhat predictable and headache-free. Even before the release we wanted to believe that the novelty will cross the best of the European TV industry and American opportunities and become a big-budget realization of the wildest and boldest ideas of the creators of a truly unique series. It turns out exactly the opposite - a Hollywood blockbuster in a European setting and with an ear-crushing accent. Most of the twists here are not just readable in advance - the characters themselves warn of them with maximally meaningful but actually understandable phrases like "none of this is what it seems" or "I don't think they're really dead." The central mystery is so obvious that you have to try very hard to get your first guess about what's going on wrong. Add to that an offensively superficial soundtrack consisting of the most popular rock songs of the last century, and you get an unremarkable series from the Netflix catalog.
Without straying too far from the authors' past creation, we must say that "1899" is such a maximally viewer-friendly and simplified "Darkness," somewhat predictable and headache-free. Even before the release we wanted to believe that the novelty will cross the best of the European TV industry and American opportunities and become a big-budget realization of the wildest and boldest ideas of the creators of a truly unique series. It turns out exactly the opposite - a Hollywood blockbuster in a European setting and with an ear-crushing accent. Most of the twists here are not just readable in advance - the characters themselves warn of them with maximally meaningful but actually understandable phrases like "none of this is what it seems" or "I don't think they're really dead." The central mystery is so obvious that you have to try very hard to get your first guess about what's going on wrong. Add to that an offensively superficial soundtrack consisting of the most popular rock songs of the last century, and you get an unremarkable series from the Netflix catalog.
Ironic, but even if you try to praise "1899", you can only do so by comparing it to something else. Technically, the series is just as good as other flagship and expensive Netflix series, boasting quality special effects with plenty of memorable visual characters and an eerie sound design. And in its best moments, "1899" is reminiscent of "Staying Alive," another series about a bad trip and unintentional passengers thrown together; and the sci-fi "OA," which was supposed to restart the story in each season. In fact, you'd better spend your time on them, because both series need an audience now more than ever. The first is undergoing a massive revision - even old fans are giving the classic another chance to soberly assess the scandalous finale. Well, no one really watched the second one: it gained a cult status in narrow circles and was closed after the second season. The question is, why waste time on a secondary failure when you can watch the original and much more successful competitors?
This article was sponsored by Paul Stephens
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