1899

It succeeds far more often than it sinks, and with the sixth episode (“The Pyramid”) yielding some of the most powerful moments and revelations thus far, there’s little doubt that 1899 will be altogether satisfying when it finally reaches its destination.

An intriguing, densely layered puzzle-box mystery that defies easy categorisation but somehow works.

On the other hand, this is an expertly-crafted puzzle which, from episode four on, goes to truly mind-bending places. It isn’t for the easily-bored or anyone partial to zoning out in front of the television. But for those who enjoy drama that challenges as much as it dazzles, 1899 is a date worth keeping.

For a show to be successful in the long run, there must be characters to care about with meaningful stories. And while 1899 succeeds in building a puzzle that’s at the same time brilliant and accessible, it fails to have us cheering for the future of its best characters. When the credits roll in the season finale, so much has been subverted that both their victories and failures have no further purpose.

The story doesn’t particularly move quickly. Maybe as we dig into the back stories of the other passengers, things will pick up. But we get wary of shows that choose long shots of an abandoned ship over character development or plot movement, and 1899 will very easily slip into a too-languid pace if it’s not careful.

This is several shows at once, and part of the puzzle lies in figuring out which one it wants to be. ... Despite an often witty interpolation of 20th century pop (“The Killing Moon,” “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” “White Rabbit”), the prevailing humorlessness becomes wearisome after a while: as with the recently canceled “Westworld,” the game leaves you not with a smile, but a furrowed brow.

Ahead of the predictable and unsatisfying cliffhanger, the series slows to a crawl, and there’s an inescapable sense that it’s built every inch of its reveal-driven plotting around a mystery that can’t even manage to be very mysterious.

1899 surprises over time. The biggest mistake is not giving time to the series and dropping it after watching the first episodes. 1899 is a true smart Sci-Fi. That Sci-Fi, which is almost gone. First of all, you should not expect from the series what Dark once gave. These are completely different series that give different emotions. 1899 is when you watch 5 hour-long movie and do not understand what is happening and consider yourself an idiot. These are the very emotions that the right Sci-Fi should give.

Pretty cool - awesome twist at the end. It becomes somewhat repetitive and almost...silly about 3/4ths through. After trying to watch all of dark, though - I feel like this would have petered out about halfway through the 2nd season had it been made. Dark became unwatchable in the 3rd season.

Entertaining, but not mind-blowing. I'll watch Season 2. I enjoy listening to foreign languages, and the mystery of what's going on is ok. I don't know why characters insist on talking at each other for so long when they know the other person doesn't even speak the same language. :-D

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The guy with the dark, soy sauce colored hair is particularly hard to love.