1899

Netflix (2022)

Trailer available here

This show was incredible. It is that simple, it was incredibly well written, produced, edited and the acting selection and how well they performed made this incredible viewing and it breaks my heart a little that not more people have watched it. It was actually one of the first things I watched to get back into viewing shows and it could not have been a better choice for me in that moment.

1899 is a show about an ocean liner, the original ‘cruise ship’, that goes missing and another that is part of the same company that takes a similar journey and then goes on a detour and discovers it. Not all is as it seems though and it becomes one mystery after another where we believe we are learning one thing and then bam they throw another twist at you.

The show put me on an immediate positive footing with it when I watched the introduction for the first time because the song, a cover of White Rabbit, is an absolute delight in its own right and I will go out of my way to sometimes just listen to this song. Every time it asked if I wanted to skip the intro I actively ignored it, which is pretty rare for me.

This is also one of those shows though where, for those into the supernatural weird crime stuff, it had some expectations attached given the heavy involvement of Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese (both part of the Dark series on Netflix). Luckily for everyone involved and viewers it was worthwhile anticipation and the German production team brought in a perfect line-up including Emily Beecham as the leading lady playing Maura one of the first female doctors in the UK (as a neurologist/psychologist more specifically).

It is those additional details that bring this show together. It doesn’t fall completely into the tropes of the genres or discussing ‘the illuminati’ in a certain way but instead enhances elements of politics, psychology and social/cultural standards of the historical period at the time. There are also nods to relationships and personal struggles that are expressed in a way suitable for the time period but done in a way that people in the modern viewership still witness and experience in their daily life now.

In summary, please go give this a watch. Grab some hydration and a snack though because each lengthy episode will keep you hooked and on the edge of binge-watching this (which as good as it is you probably want to only watch an episode or two at a time to give you the chance to process all the events that happen in each one because it is a lot).