NOTE: This post contains spoilers for 1899 season 1 episode 1, The Ship
Created by the minds behind Dark, 1899 is an enigmatic series now available on Netflix. In its first episode, the show introduces viewers to an array of mysterious characters and the odd circumstances they find themselves in.
Let’s take a look at how a ship’s journey to New York takes an unexpected turn in 1899’s first episode, “The Ship.”
Not so sweet dreams
1899 opens in the most mysterious fashion one could have expected from this type of series: with a voiceover talking about how the brain is “deeper than the sea” while various cryptic images of the ocean and other landscapes follow one another on screen. Then, we cut to a woman running in a dark corridor calling out for her father and yelling that she is not crazy. This is Maura Franklin (Emily Beecham) and despite what she is saying, she looks a bit unhinged. She says she is looking for her brother, mentions him being on the Prometheus and something being done to “these ships,” but before too long a voice tells her to wake up and that’s what Maura does.
We are now on board the Kerberos, a huge steamship on its way to New York, and it’s time for the show to bombard us with exposition. Maura looks at her bruised wrists, obviously bearing the marks of ties, before picking up a newspaper front page informing us of the disappearance of the Prometheus, which has been lost at sea for four months. To keep telling viewers about what her character is up to, Maura goes to her desk to re-read a letter from her brother asking her to meet him in New York as he has found out what their father is up to. A not so subtle way to explain what Maura is doing on this vessel.
A ship lost at sea
Continuing on the exposition, a conversation between two coal workers in the steam engine room of the ship hammers in the fact that the Prometheus has disappeared and that rumors are circulating about what happened to it. It’s all very mysterious and even the people in the dining room are talking about it, like Clémence (Mathilde Ollivier) and her ignoring husband. But while everyone is having tea, and Maura discusses her profession with another passenger, a young man bursts into the dining room to ask for help. Good thing Maura is a doctor.
Forbidden lower levels
The young man is Krester (Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen), a lower-class passenger seeking help for his pregnant sister, Tove (Clara Rosager). Maura comes to the rescue, despite not being allowed in the lower-levels of the ship, but her assistance is not particularly welcomed by Krester and Tove’s mother, a very religious woman named Iben (Maria Erwolter).
While Maura is busy doctoring away, we are introduced to yet another mysterious character as a man emerges from the bowels of the ship. This is Jérôme (Yann Gael) and he clearly didn’t buy a ticket to travel aboard the Kerberos. He seems to be looking for something but we do not linger on him long before the show takes us to another set of characters. Indeed, Clémence and Lucien (Jonas Bloquet), the unhappy newlyweds from the dining room, are trying to consummate their marriage in their cabin although without much spirit.
Back on the bridge, Maura is catching a bit of fresh air when she encounters Eyk Larsen (Andreas Pietschmann), the German captain of the ship, but their meeting is cut short by two sailors coming to alert him that they have been receiving regular messages from another ship they believe to be the Prometheus.
Turning point
The message the Kerberos is receiving contains only coordinates, and Captain Eyk decides to see what’s that about. He orders the ship to turn around as they go investigate the signal.
As various characters start questioning why the ship is changing its course, Maura visits Eyk to ask about the rumor they found the Prometheus. The captain cannot help but notice that Maura’s interest in the lost ship means more than what she wants to admit, and tells her the situation will be addressed in the dining room shortly.
Meanwhile, other passengers cross paths on this boat. There is a mysterious geisha and her servant who get scolded by an English lady, two Spanish brothers arguing in their cabin, and of course, the unhappy French couple. In the dining room, Eyk is confronted by passengers who are not thrilled to be making a detour to assist the Prometheus, a ship they believe to be beyond any help.
Down the rabbit hole
When the Prometheus comes into sight, night has fallen and the no longer lost ship looks quite eerie. If Eyk is dead set on boarding that boat to see what happened there, his first mate and other sailors aren’t so sure. But the captain has the last word.
Maura volunteers to go check out the Prometheus, arguing she might be helpful as a doctor. Ramiro (José Pimentão), the Spanish priest, is also asked to join the crew as well as Jérôme and his new friend Olek (Maciej Musial). While everyone on the Kerberos pretty much holds their collective breath, Eyk and co go aboard to the sinister vessel. The ship appears to be empty and in shambles.
No one has the faintest idea of what might have gone on there, but they all have a strange feeling about it. They discover that the telegraph on board has been destroyed and wonder how the signals they received were sent. But their most unsettling discovery comes in the shape of a bug that leads them to a young boy they find trapped in a cabinet. He is healthy, despite the number of days the Prometheus has been drifting on the open waters, and he holds in his hands a strange, black pyramid.
On the Kerberos, Ángel (Miguel Bernardeau) meets Krester and is enthralled by his facial scar while Ling Yi (Isabella Wei) the fake geisha is practicing her Japanese with her servant-who-is-actually-her-mother (Gabby Wong). None of them truly realize that their journey has taken a dramatic turn. Especially when a mysterious man climbs on board the ship, seemingly straight out of the ocean, and makes his way to the cabins...with the help of a strange little green bug.
