“1899” is a story about international passengers on a ship who are on their way to New York. The ship they are on is called “Kerberos’. The journey is across the ocean, and they are supposed to reach their destination in seven days. But will they? It’s “1899,” and the mysteries start coming up, leaving you perplexed from the beginning. We see a woman at a mental institution trying to remember her brother, but a voice says, “wake up,” and the whole scene makes me wonder if hypnosis is involved this season. Anyway, the narrator is female, and her name is Maura Franklin. Yes, get ready to write down a tough list of character names to remember. If you are keenly watching the show, I know you are a fan of “Dark,” aren’t you? Well, “1899” does give off the same vibe with the aesthetics. The cinematic aspect of the show is commendable, as I had already expected from the creators; no surprise there. Also, the background score is spooky, so I hope you did not watch it alone! (But, honestly, it is how one should watch a series like “1899”). I would like to talk about the characters first. So Maura Franklin is a doctor of the human brain during the timeline “1899.” We see a zoomed-in shot of her room number, which is 1011, and you need to note this down because it will be significant, given how important things are when they are the focus of the camera in “Dark” as well. But if you haven’t seen “Dark,” you must be confused. Well, first time? It is okay. Buckle up and read on because I have done some homework for you!
Spoilers Ahead
Who Is Maura Franklin?
Maura Franklin is the lead actress in “1899,” and she is a doctor. Well, she might be posing as a doctor, but who knows? It’s just the first episode. Anyway, according to her, she is studying the human brain, but she is not allowed to practice on real patients because, during the timeline they are in, it was very uncommon for women to even go to school; it was a privilege for rich girls to enjoy. Further, we see that Maura is in search of her missing brother, Henry. She takes out a letter written by him, and we see a little note written on the envelope: “What is lost will be found.” Let me tell you, the excitement this simple phrase brings to fans is wild!
The visuals of the sea, the interior of the ship, and everything about the first episode looks perfect and scary at the same time. In the episode, a lot of weird and unusual things happen. I felt like a lot happened in the first episode itself, so it was a little hard to concentrate on every detail, but the episode was captivating nonetheless.
Maura Helps Someone
First, let me break down the system of the ship for you; the shovelers are not allowed to be on the upper part of the ship; it is only for the elite people. There, we see different races all sipping tea in unison, and that scene is very unsettling. Anyway, we see a man from the coal store running in the common hallway of the ship, asking for help. His sister is pregnant, and she is in pain, but nobody except Maura is ready to help. We see Maura following him downstairs after the man is dragged out by the crew members. We see how empathic Maura is when she actually helps the pregnant woman in pain. When a little girl asks Maura if she has a child, she informs her that she can’t have children.
Other Characters That Were Introduced In ‘1899’ Episode 1
Next, we are introduced to a French couple. They stay in room number 2101. The lady living there wears triangle-shaped earrings, and I have a feeling it is some kind of cult symbol. Everything is about triangles, remember? It must be connected! The French couple is clearly not happy with their marriage in “1899,” and we get to know that it was an arranged marriage. Then we get introduced to a pair of brothers who, by the way, do not look like brothers, so doubts arise here. Anyway, one of the brothers is called Angel, and the other one is called Ramiro. Ramiro is a priest, and again, I doubt it because they are running away from “something.” There is Mrs. Wilson, who is seen ranting about misogyny and informing Maura that there are always rumors around on the ship. She introduces us to two Chinese people sitting across their table; they are called Yuk Je and Ling Yi. There is Jerome, who is hiding in the ship, and a Polish laborer Olek who sits by the lifeboats when they share a scene.
Strange Events
The captain of the ship is the star of “Dark,” who goes by the name Eyk in “1899.” Eyk looks rather saddened over something. He is informed by his crew members that they have been receiving signals on their telegram! Eyk deduces that it is from the missing ship Prometheus because they are not so far from the course of the missing ship. He decides to follow the coordinates given in the cryptic telegram message. While reaching the coordinates, they see a ship. Yes, it’s the Prometheus ship that had been missing for four months. The captain goes to the side where the lifeboats are kept, along with his crew. There were no signs of light or life on the Prometheus, but Eyk decided to take a lifeboat and go to see if anybody was still alive. You’d think this is a stupid decision, but our hero is empathic, and God knows what he has seen as a captain. Anyway, the crew decides not to go with Eyk after getting scared by the ship’s silence. Upon their refusal, he orders one of his crew members to join him; Maura voluntarily decides to go, and Olek and Jerome are forced to go. On their way, they decide to take the priest, too, because according to Eyk, if there is anyone alive, they’d be relieved to see a priest. Much to their disdain, the passengers now have to wait for the captain of the ship to come back from a creepy ship. A point to note is that the most scared among the passengers were the Spanish brothers. Have they committed a crime back home? I assume so! We see that the crowd is in disagreement and everyone wants to reach New York, but the captain’s command is the order!
Does Eyk Find Anyone Alive?
The team reaches Prometheus and climbs up one by one. One of the team members, Franz, is ordered to stay back and ask for help if they don’t return in an hour after investigating the ship. Maura follows a beetle and finds a cabinet locked with the help of a crowbar. Something is clearly inside. Maura opens the door and finds a boy inside. A boy who looked more than fine, which was very weird to witness. Four months and the boy looks very fit? There must be more to the boy because as soon as they show the boy, they also show some stranger climbing onto Kerberos from Prometheus! Who is this boy? Who is this other stranger? I’m very curious to know. Anyway, near the end, we see another triangle! The boy passes a black pyramid-like structure to Maura and says nothing. Where did the boy come from? Why is he not speaking? Does he understand English? Will he find someone who understands him, or is he even going to speak at all? I sense an Egyptian angle to this series because everything is connected with a triangle. Also, what’s up with the beetle? It does not look like an insect but a robot. Is there more to the beetle too? In my opinion, yes. But we’ll see in the next episode!
