‘1899’ Episode 7 Recap: A Glitch in the Matrix

Well, now we know. Sort of. I think.

The events you have been witnessing on 1899 are not real. They are a simulation, the latest in a line of dozens. The simulations are orchestrated by some kind of organization led by Henry Singleton, father of Maura, father-in-law of Daniel…and grandfather of Elliot, aka the Boy, Maura and Daniel’s son from their lives together in the 20th or 21st century. (It’s hard to tell, but it’s either relatively recent or in the near future.)

The simulation appears to be designed to test its human subjects’ decision-making capabilities by crafting a scenario in which only cold logic guarantees the survival of the ship and its remaining occupants. “One shouldn’t base a choice on love, anger, hate,” says Henry in his big supervillain speech near the end of the episode. “They’re just silly feelings that cloud the mind.” Because the test subjects do feel affection for each other, they have always died, and no simulation ship has ever made it to its destination. They wind up stranded with the Prometheus in “the archive.”

And indeed, many characters die in this episode. Olek gets washed away after rescuing Ling Yi from a similar fate, when she journeys onto the deck after seeing a vision of her mother beckoning her. Lucien dies of his brain condition, despite the efforts of Clémence and Jérôme to save him. Ángel gets crushed to death by falling debris, though he is beautifully kind to Ramiro in his dying moments. Franz reveals a depth of character we’ve never seen from him when he sacrifices himself to seal Tove away behind a waterproof bulkhead door, drowning in the process. Anker drowns alongside Iben, who in a combination of blind faith and suicidal ideation allows the water to claim her. And the ship sinks into a vortex in the sea as the simulation is shut down.

But there are survivors, contrary to Henry’s assertion that everyone dies every time. Presumably, this is because of a deal he makes with Daniel and Maura: In exchange for a key (the physical embodiment of a cheat code in the simulation) that she possesses after being sent it by her brother, he will return Elliot to her.

So, in one of the series’ most poetic images yet, Eyk ascends to the deck of the stranded Prometheus to watch the Kerberos ascend from a whirpool-like vortex. And there on its deck are the survivors: Jérôme, Clémence, Ling Yi, Mrs. Wilson (her hand is a corroded mess, but she’s still alive), Ramiro, Tove, and Maura. Maura and Eyk exchange meaningful glances from across the distance, their gazes bridging the gap between two individuals. (God, I love a moment when a film or show slows down and simply lets us look at two characters seeing each other.) The end, until the finale.

There’s all kinds of surreal sci-fi shenanigans going on in this episode: computerized glitches in the sky, portholes in the air, endless tunnels lined with a system of root-like cables and wires, touchscreen tablets that can search through multiple dimensions using Star Wars-like geometric readouts, the literally jaw-dropping revelation that Daniel and Maura were a couple in the present rather than in the 1890s, a keyhole in Elliot’s pyramid that’s a straight-up Mulholland Drive homage. 

But the stars of this particular episode are, well, the stars of this particular episode. Virtually every actor stranded aboard the Kerberos seems to be going for broke in this one, digging into depths of grief and despair and hope and love only hinted at previously. Emily Beecham, Aneurin Barnard, Andreas Pietschmann, Miguel Bernardeau, José Pimentão, Isabella Wei, Yann Gael, Mathilde Ollivier, Jonas Bloquet, Rosalie Craig, Maciej Musiał, Clara Rosager, Maria Erwolter, Alexandre Willaume, Isaak Dentler, Fflyn Edwards — just go-for-broke work from all of them, top to bottom.

It doesn’t all work, I should note. Honestly, the biggest problem is Henry, the one-dimensional Big Bad. It’s almost unfair to compare the character being played by actor Anton Lesser here to the villains he’s portrayed on Game of Thrones and Andor, the former a fuller mad scientist, the latter a more recognizable human. And it’s really quite something to see the creators of Dark return to the idea of being trapped in a loop of existence in their very next project; it’s like if Damon Lindelof spent the first season of The Leftovers promising THE ANSWERS to why everyone disappeared, Lost-style.

But the strength of that final image, and of the individual death scenes, and that stunning post-coital revelation regarding Daniel and Maura, and the equally shocking truth about the Boy, get this thing over the finish line. My curiosity about how things wrap up for the season finale is pretty damn strong now. Thank goodness this is Netflix, and the next episode is just a button click away.

Sean T. Collins (@theseantcollins) writes about TV for Rolling Stone, Vulture, The New York Times, and anyplace that will have him, really. He and his family live on Long Island.