(TV SERIES) 1899 - Another Mind Bending Series from the Creators of Dark

After being promoted in Netflix as well as circulating in some social medias, I was curious to find out more about this series that I knew nothing about. I started watching the first episode while I was on my holiday vacation trip with my wife last weekend and continued for few days until finished the final episode last night. Well here's more on the series.

Brief Story Line

Set in the year 1899, the ship Kerberos was heading to America where it was led by Captain Eyk (Andreas Pietschmann - Dark TV series etc) and his first mate Sebastian (Tino Mewes). Kerberos was filled with people from various background and countries and having their own reasons for migrating to the US. They included among others the neurologist Maura Franklin (Emily Beecham - Cruella, Daphne etc), the Spanish wealthy guy Angel (Miguel Bernardeau) who was travelling with Father Ramiro (José Pimentão), the newlywed French couple Lucien (Jonas Bloquet - The Nun etc) and Clemence (Mathilde Ollivier - Overlord etc), the woman dressed in Japanese style Ling Yi (Isabella Wei) and her mother (Gabby Wong), and the British socialite Virginia Wilson (Rosalie Craig).

There were also 3rd class passengers who were travelling in the lower cabin such as the pregnant Danish woman Tove (Clara Rosager) with her family. During that period, the ship was fueled by coal and required some stokers to work on it, with one of them a Polish guy named Olek (Maciej Musiał). There was even a stowaway later on revealed to be Jerome (Yann Gael) and a mysterious man named Daniel (Aneurin Barnard - Dunkirk etc) who seemed to take an interest on Maura.

While the ship was on its way, they got a message seemingly coming from the ship Prometheus which had been missing for few months earlier. Despite the objection from passengers, Captain Eyk decided to go to the location and try to rescue the ship where things become really complicated and even dangerous. So what actually happened on the Prometheus and what would happen to the crews and passengers of Kerberos? You can find out in this series.

End of Brief Story Line

I had high expectation of this series as it was created by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar who were also the creators of that highly acclaimed and amazing, complex time travel series Dark which I really liked. When I started watching this, I was a bit surprised that the dialogues were conversed in multiple languages and not entirely in Germany which also meant that it has a very diverse cast. The opening sequence showed the names of the cast and there were a lot. Luckily even though there were so many of them, it was quite easy to remember because of their uniqueness (the French couple, the Asian women, the Spanish guys, the Dane family, the captain and crew and of course the lead character Maura).

While getting to know the people, we were slowly shown the mystery surrounding that missing ship Prometheus. It took a while to see what kind of mystery in store but once it appeared towards the end of first episode, the story became more exciting. However, the series also filled with some drama and story about the characters involved which were pretty interesting, though sometimes it could feel sidetracking from the main mystery. Not until the end of second episode that there was a bit more intensity in the series. Subsequently, the mystery grew larger and the series more suspenseful with the fifth episode the most intense (and also my most favorite).

As for the final 2, 3 episodes, the series became more complex but at the same time felt more like something from other movies/series (Inception, Westworld immediately came to mind), especially with what was revealed towards the end. Even though it was surprising (though not the totally blew my mind type), the ending seemed to beg new questions but it did resolve the main mystery. So I was quite content even if the series was not renewed. But if it was indeed renewed, it would still be interesting to find out more. After all, the creators already had the proper conclusion in their mind which should be done in 3 seasons.

As a mystery/science fiction drama series, it was quite complex and required some thinking. However, personally I liked Dark more than this one, probably because the mystery was not as engaging and I have a soft spot for time travel. The characters were still interesting and few of them were intriguing enough, especially the one that appeared in the end of first episode and the other in fifth episode. The cast did their job well and gotten praise for their acting. The cinematography was good with the 19th century setting looked really convincing and the sound effects were good too.

Overall this is indeed a good series that understandably was well received by critics. The mystery should be pleasing for fans of this type of genre and those who like to see drama set in this period would also be satisfied. If you like Dark, then likely you would enjoy it too. So if you would like to watch a mind bending series, then this would be a good choice. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars