The “1899” series will not be entitled to a season 2 despite its open end and the many questions that remain unanswered. Explanations.
[Mis à jour le 3 janvier 2023 à 14h21] The ax fell: 1899 will not be entitled to a season 2 on netflix. The creators of the series, Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar, shared the sad news to their fans on Instagram this Tuesday, January 2: “It’s the heart heavy that we announce to you that 1899 will not be renewed. We would have loved to end this incredible adventure with a second and third season as for Dark, but sometimes things don’t go the way we want. That’s life”.
The reasons for the cancellation of 1899 were not specified by the creators of the series. The series was in the top 10 most-watched English-language programs on Netflix for four consecutive weeks, despite competition from Wednesday Where Harry & Meghan. Reviews and subscribers of the platform of streaming were also enthusiastic, since 257.1 million hours of viewing were recorded in the first five weeks after its release on Netflix, which is far from negligible. Recall that the creative duo signed, in 2018, an agreement with the streaming platform over several years.
The announcement of the cancellation of 1899 after just one season left a sour taste for fans hoping to learn more about the Kerberos passenger experience. A petition was even created asking Netflix to save the series, especially since it ended on a cliffhanger that left many questions unanswered. Twelve hours after the announcement of the cancellation of 1899, more than 18,000 Internet users have signed the petition. A method that has already been implemented in the past for many programs on the streaming platform, which have however often proved unsuccessful. While waiting to find out if this will change the fate of the series or not, we detail below the very mysterious end of 1899.
You don’t have it all figured out at the end of 1899 ? We explain the main plot to you, with spoilers obviously. Because the Netflix series solves most of its mysteries… but many questions remain unanswered. Whether 1899 begins on a ship, the Kerberos, transporting European emigrants to the United States, we understand as the episodes progress that nothing is real. Indeed, the characters find themselves in a simulation that lasts eight days: the passengers constantly relive the same events and the same traumas, and would constantly make the same decisions, before dying tragically and starting over. This is also suggested by the graveyard of ships in which Eyk finds himself at the end of an episode: the simulation has been repeated many times.
IThere would then be two levels (at least) of simulation in 1899 : the boat with its passengers, and the psychiatric hospital where Maura’s father is. The latter, Henry, however, would not be the Creator of the simulation as one might think, since he too is stuck in a simulation. The Creator would be Maura, who would have set up this simulation to forget her son, Eliott, whom she had with Daniel, her husband. However, the reasons for this decision have not been explained.
At the end of episode 8 of 1899, Maura wakes up in the year 2099, on board a spaceship, the Prometheus (the name of the ship which had disappeared in the simulation and in which they found Eliott). She finds the other Kerberos passengers, like Eyk, asleep in cryogenic cabins. Daniel and Eliott are not present. She then receives a message from Ciaran, her missing brother, who has regained control over the simulation program. He tells her that she woke up in reality and that she is on a survival mission. A question then remains: is Maura really in the real world, or is she immersed in a new level of simulation?
1899 is ambitious on several levels. First, it’s a real script puzzle, multiplying the characters and the secondary intrigues to blur the tracks, while a greater mystery keeps the spectator in suspense. We can blame some slowness, especially at the beginning, but the creators of Dark and 1899 manage to create a unique atmosphere in their new series thanks to a historical and horrifying aesthetic, borrowing moreover the technology of the “Volume” seen in The Mandalorian (Netflix also offers a making-of of 1899 to know more). What is certain is that few Netflix series can claim to be as intense and daring as 1899Where Dark before her. If there is one streaming release not to be missed this week, it’s this one!
1899 is one of Netflix’s end-of-year 2022 event series, in part because it’s the new mystery from the creators of Dark. All eight episodes were released on the subscription streaming platform on Thursday, November 17, 2022.
The Netflix series 1899 follows a boat of migrants leaving Europe to reach New York. On board, there are passengers of different social classes from different countries of the old continent, all of whom hide their own secrets. Their journey takes an unexpected turn when they come across another drifting ship in the open sea that hides many mysteries.
- Emily BeechamMaura Franklin
- Andreas Pietschmann: Eyk Larsen
- Aneurin BarnardDaniel Solace
- Fflyn Edwards: The Boy
- Maciej Musial: Olek
- Isabella Wei: Ling Yi
- Clara Rosager: Tove
- Lucas Lynggaard Tonnesen as Krester
- Miguel BernardeauAngel
- Jose Pimentao: Ramiro
- Mathilde Ollivier: Clemence
- Jonas BloquetLucien
- Yann Gael: Jerome
- Anton LesserHenry Singleton
- Martin Greis-Rosenthal
- Rosalie CraigVirginia Wilson
- Maria Erwolter as Iben
- Gabby Wong: Yuk Je
- Alexandre Willaume-Jantzen: Anker
- Tino MewesSebastian
- Isaac Dentler: Franz