Submitted by blacktuxedobrownshoe t3_z7kiox in television
1899 was a terrible show and certainly not as original as people think. It's meretricious with an absurd amount of empty padding. Masquerading as something deep when it's shallow and vapid. 8 hours wasted. Everything was so pointless. The other characters didn't matter in the slightest. On two levels they failed. They didn't matter to the main plot, and since it was all a fake simulation, we don't know anything about them. So there's no investment in them for the future either. I gotta say it again, they accomplished nothing, and nothing they did nor anything about them mattered to the main plot. And since it's fake, it was all EXTRA worthless. Their backstories weren't even real so all that time spent going through them was also worthless. Emotional manipulation when it wasn't stupid in itself. So much empty padding! No payoffs!
The show broke it's own internal rules and some almost immediately. We learned nothing of value, other than they were in a simulation and in space. But since there were no stakes to get invested in (partially because no one knows what the truth is, so the audience can't even get attached) even those reveals didn't matter. 1899 and the ship backdrop were utterly pointless. It could have been any time period and any location. Which makes it a bad title. Unless even the title was meant to misled but we can't be sure of that. But All of that to lead up to a reveal that we knew was coming since episode 3! It was obvious it was a simulation and obvious it was in the future (from the parts of the environment the showed like wires, to the logic that a simulation can only be created with future tech.) The mental health thing was a red herring. So again, so much was pointless. Double obvious if anybody recognized the Alice In Wonderland song in the goddamn James Bond title opening.
There were no stakes, there was no tension/immersion (especially when they played those terribly out of place licensed songs) past the first two episodes. What they played off as reveals at the end of episodes are things we already knew from previous events/dialogue during the very episode!
It's a cashgrab to make money on the selling of a mystery box that ultimately was a commercial for another show or 2nd season. Getting Lost flashbacks. That's cruel.
And not to mention the entire plagiarism claims from Black Silence. Not to mention it's ripped off the Matrix, Truman Show, Control, Danganronpa, Soma, Remember 11, the Nonary games, pretty much any loop story to cobble together this psuedo-philosophical monstrosity. As well as the super tired cliche of the whole thing being a result of a character who can't deal with loss. Why is that nearly every story? I just got done watching Midnight Mass before this and it had many similar problems (and it's own big ones) but even it didn't have such useless characters in it's cast.
How many times was conflict/drama/suspense contrived because a character was asked a direct question, and they decided to walk away and were just allowed to do so. It was great when that one coal shoveler attacked David because why wouldn't he? David had bad dialogue and even threatened the guy. It was all to deliver his line transparently meant for the audience of "You don't understand, if I don't turn that thing off, everything will start again." As if that guy would go, "oh sure sounds important." Bad writing and this happens in multiple scenes. Characters can't be smart or we might have to actually speed up the story to relevant things.
The kid doesn't talk but then reveals he can write and actually speak, and then in his very next scene after saying they are being observed, he calls across the room in a loud voice, "Don't be afraid". Literally forgetting the very reason he had to remain quiet and just told her moments before. The show breaks it's own internal rules and very quickly.
The philosophies by grandpa there were overly simplistic, almost mustache-twirling cartoon villain, levels of stupid. "Oh how these silly humans keep making the wrong choices because they got emotional." Emotions are absolutely core to being human and with no help or guidance, how could he ever expect them to change? Especially with false traumatic backstories? And the kid was stupid, "sure grandpa I've been convinced was the villain this whole time, I'll let you inject me with stuff I don't know nor understand. You seem super trustworthy because you said trust me."
People confuse convoluted for complexity. This show was just stupid. The tried and true format has always been simple stories, complex characters. We have neither. The characters are blank slates and the story was convoluted, not complex in any good or substantial way. It was obscured by the vapid character backstories and red herrings. Take those out and it's super easy to understand. How am I supposed to get invested by a little girl being dead when I was just laughing at two guys jacking each other off through a gate? Those scenes were right next to each other. Utterly tone deaf show.
So many things just ignored for no reason (like why David "killed" the little blonde girl) and I doubt they would be explained in any followup which I will not be watching anyway.
The did it. They got dummies to like the worst and most pernicious story trope in all of fiction: it was all a dream. Arrogant of them to assume a season 2 and 3. Need to make the first one worthwhile first which they didn't because it was all fake and therefore pointless. Might as well start with season 2 for all the good the characters have done.
We all need to have higher standards so crap like this can't pass and people stop thinking this type of pretentious junk is actually good when it's total shit.
mountainhighgoat t1_iy71qoy wrote
I fully agree. It was disappointing especially because I was interested in it from the creators of Dark. Now I saw Dark is a fluke.