*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*

“The brain is deeper than the sea…”

1899 premiered on Netflix on November 17th 2022 with all eight episodes available to stream now.  The German horror-mystery series (from the creators of Dark) stars Emily Beecham, Andreas Pietschmann, Aneurin Barnard, and Mathilde Ollivier. Each episode is approximately 50-58 minutes.

Passengers on a ship heading to New York get caught up in a mystery after finding an abandoned ship in the middle of the open sea.

Here is the trailer:

1899 is chilling and intriguing with a compelling mystery at its core, but does it jam-pack in too much? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Netflix

Does enough at the end of each episode to keep you coming back for more…

At the end of each episode, there was another piece of the puzzle unlocked. Of course it created more questions, but I think the series did a good enough job hooking its audience with a unique mystery.

In a lot of ways, this series reminded me of a mashup of Ghost Ship, LOST, and The Terror. Unlocking the mystery was the best part of the series for me even though I had mixed thoughts on the ending.

Decent main character.

I had a little bit of trouble connecting to a lot of the characters, even though this series adapted a LOST style with character-centric episodes and flashbacks. However, the character of Maura had the most layers and kept me invested. I think she was a strong lead with a sympathetic story.

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Netflix

This series dragged…

The pacing did not do this show any favors. The episodes were on the long side and the pacing felt so slow. I drifted off a few times because of this.

The series was able to bounce back at the end of each episode, but wow was this slow at times.

I also think there was way too much overstuffed into this show. The main mystery was interesting, but there were so many other parts and a lot of characters to focus on. This is not one of those shows you can tune in and out of. I felt like I needed to take notes the entire time to keep up and even then, I still had a lot of questions and was not thoroughly excited by the ending reveal…

So am I in or out?

I’m 50/50 on this one…

This series had an interesting hook and a solid mystery, but the pacing really worked against it and I wasn’t a fan of the ending.

I have a feeling that some people will absolutely love this show because it is unique and I can see why, but it was a bit of an exhausting watch overall for me personally.

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on 1899 in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

A VACATION TO DIE FOR…

When sisters, Nina and Gemma are vacationing in Hawaii with their friends, they get invited to an exclusive party on a private island that seems too good to be true. There’s only one rule…they can’t miss their ferry at midnight or they’ll have to wait until morning to leave the island. Only they didn’t realize that breaking this rule meant they would be hunted down on the island one by one.

Who will make it off the island alive?

I hope you enjoy my new island thriller!

Blood Rose Island is available here!

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