1899

The Fight Season 1 Episode 4 Editor’s Rating 4 stars ****

1899

The Fight Season 1 Episode 4 Editor’s Rating 4 stars ****

Well, things have escalated quickly on ye olde Kerberos. What started out as just Ada and then three more dead passengers has now become a big ol’ pile of bodies sitting out on the deck. Very cool and not at all alarming. But, a mysteriously increasing body count isn’t the only thing Franz, our lead mutineer, has inherited now that he’s tossed Eyk into his makeshift holding cell with Ramiro, Olek, and Jérôme. Because when things go off the rails in 1899, they really go off the rails.

There is that first little issue — totally a minor detail if you really think about it — of the fact that now the compasses are working and the Kerberos is somehow back to the location it was before Eyk deviated off course to find the Prometheus. And, oh yeah, the Prometheus, that giant-ass boat that was literally tied to their boat, that’s completely gone now. Of course we know that Daniel and his little triangle machine are the cause of this mystery, even if we don’t fully understand what he’s up to just yet. But Franz and the rest of the crew have no idea.

Okay, actually, one of the nameless crew members does sort of figure it out when he asks if instead of the Prometheus disappearing, what if it is them who disappeared? This poor guy! He solved the whole thing but not one person cares even a little bit. What’s Franz’s response to this new information? Well, we need to go westward anyway, so this is totally fine. We’ll just be continuing on toward New York City as planned. It’s a real “nothing to see here, folks” type of response and it is real, real dumb. When two different characters remark that Franz has no idea what he’s doing or what he’s up against, they aren’t lying! Maura calling him “a little boy toying with power” is especially satisfying. Franz will rue the day he turned on Eyk! He! Will! Rue! It!

The first mate is very much over Franz, too. This guy is a tricky one to nail down, for obvious reasons: He’s clearly working with whoever is running this whole shebang — whatever this whole shebang is. For the most part, he’s been a sort of observer, reporting back to someone. His response to most issues that arise is to wait and see what Eyk would do or say “perhaps.” His deal is unknown. But now, with Franz’s mutiny getting wildly out of hand, he has to step in. He reams Franz out for arming the entire steerage class with guns and setting them loose on the ship when, hello, they have five more days until they hit any land. He tells Franz that to keep things from getting even more out of hand, they need to give this group, led by Iben (Tove, Krester, and Ana’s mother), whatever they want to keep the peace. Right now what they want is the boy.

Iben is one of those psychotic religious types. She claims God is speaking to her. She clearly believes Tove’s pregnancy is some gift from God, even though I’d put money on the fact that this is very much an unwanted pregnancy. Tove is over her mother’s strict adherence to her religion, she sees that her mother’s devoutness is only going to lead to violence — and unfortunately, she’s exactly right.

Iben gets it in her head that the boy is the devil in disguise and he must be killed in order to save everyone onboard. Most of the people Franz armed are more than willing to follow her lead and Franz and the first mate can only stand there and let it happen. Iben leads a search through first class, ripping apart rooms and then locking passengers inside. No one can get out or in until they find the boy. When they first get to Maura’s room, the boy hides in the tiled shaft under her bed. Later, it’s Krester who spots the boy and Maura just as they meet up with an escaped Eyk and the group of allies he’s brought together — Ramiro, Olek, Jérôme, and Clémence — as they attempt to grab a lifeboat and set up camp over on the Prometheus (no one’s told them yet!!). Krester makes a desperate move that has some wild consequences.

Earlier, as Iben’s armed group of mutineers made their way through the first class cabins, they came across Ángel’s quarters. When Ángel uses Krester’s name, Iben connects some dots and realizes her son must be hooking up with this guy. Are you even a little bit surprised that she’s horrified by this? Iben sucks the big one. Krester, however, is so desperate for her love and approval. It’s why he translates information about the boy for his mother, even though both he and Tove (who refuses to translate) know what it will lead to. It’s why, in a wrenching moment, he spits in Ángel’s face in front of Iben. And it’s why he leads his mother and her goons right to the boy even when Tove tries to stop him. He gives her a speech about this not being about her own pain or her issues with their mother and about people on the ship dying, but come on, we all know why he’s handing over this kid to his death. Mommy issues and self-hatred are universal, babes!

When our two warring ship factions come face-to-face, Maura throws herself in front of the boy (she’s very attached, which is curious!!) but the boy steps forward and pretty much hands himself over to Iben and Franz. It’s as if he knows that this is what he’s meant to do.

While Iben and her crew lock Maura, Eyk, and everyone else who hasn’t lost their damn mind (well, they haven’t lost it in the way Iben has, but there’s like a 70/30 chance that they have indeed lost it in some other way), Jérôme springs to action. Jérôme! Sweet Jérôme. He gets the “wake up” call in this episode and the nightmare he’s lucky enough to relive on this ship of horrors is one that sheds a little more light on his relationship with Lucien. The two men were friends and soldiers together until in one dire moment, Lucien plans to impersonate a dead lieutenant to get out of the war altogether rather than wait for a supply troop that may never show up. He’s done with the whole thing. Jérôme hates this plan — they shouldn’t be deserting their post and they shouldn’t be taking on identities that aren’t theirs. “This isn’t right,” he says.

For self-preservation purposes, Lucien locks Jérôme up and goes through with his plan. He’ll tell the French army that Jérôme was a deserter and he’ll wind up in prison for several years. Lucien gives him the medal on the dead lieutenant’s uniform as a gift to barter with in prison and then goes on his way. Of course, we know that Jérôme kept that medal — he’s been using it to torment Lucien on this very ship. It’s a very “Tell-Tale Heart” move on his part. But Lucien is the least of Jérôme’s problems at the moment. When Iben et al. come to take the boy, once again Jérôme sees a grave injustice happening in front of him. “This isn’t right,” he says again, echoing his memory. He reaches for a hammer to fight to protect the boy, but is shot and left for dead.

But Jérôme is not dead! Jérôme lives! And it’s a good thing because he comes to the rescue of his now-friends who were locked up. He gives a rousing speech about not dying on this ship and not letting those who are out of control win. His whole life seems to be about standing up to those who make power grabs when they don’t deserve to have that power. It’s very moving! I mean, there’s probably only like four people in that whole group who know what he’s saying, but he’s very passionate and body language can be quite effective!

The group reaches the deck of the ship just in time to witness Iben giving a ridiculous sermon about how the boy is the devil and then, pun intended, all hell breaks loose. In the middle of an all-out downpour, the two groups begin to brawl. It’s wild! Maura uses the chaos to try and get to the boy, but she’s too late: Iben throws the kid overboard!! I don’t know how you say it in Danish but, um, it’s very fucked up.

There are no winners here today and both groups retreat to their respective HQs on the Kerberos. The people who are not complete lunatics (again, that we know of) settle into the dining hall. Eyk uses this down time as the perfect moment to finally confront Maura about her name being on the Prometheus’s passenger list. He’s convinced she must know more than she’s letting on. She looks even more confused than he was when he saw it. “This is impossible,” she says. When we first met Maura in the premiere episode, she had the same type of vibe as she does in this moment. Like she’s teetering between reality and a dream (but which is which!). It’s the same look she gets when she’s near Daniel, who once again, pops up in the dining hall and sits near her. At one point, as she’s grappling with the boy walking to his death without fear, as if he knew it was going to happen, Daniel reaches to comfort her and she takes his hand for a moment. It seems like a familiar gesture. The moment is fleeting though and she’s rattled once more.

Eyk’s accusations that Maura is hiding something get interrupted by a loud banging. That banging is coming from the cabinet. It’s exactly the same thing that happened over on the Prometheus when the team found the boy sitting inside the cabinet. Well, friends, guess who’s making that banging noise? It’s the boy! That kid is not dead! And, pyramid in hand, he walks right up to Maura and wraps his arms around her. Maura was right, this is impossible.

The Manifest

• Jérôme and Clémence share some charged moments and seem kind of into each other. This show needs more kissing. Lucien, who loses it a little when he finally finds the medal Jérôme left in his room, spots one of those moments in the middle of the big brawl and, gun blazing, he grabs his wife and locks the two of them in their cabin. He’s terrified by what Jérôme may have told her.

• Clémence doesn’t know the extent of her husband’s lie yet, but she does question him about the vials of liquid she found. He tells her about his seizures (and that these meds are the reason he can’t get it up) and that he only has maybe a few weeks to live. When she questions why he never told her his response is “because frankly, you don’t give a fuck if I’m dead or alive” which is intense!

• The scene in which Olek and Jérôme are ordered to toss the piled up bodies overboard is some real nightmare fuel. Poor Olek, this seems like a show in which no one will get a happy ending, but if it can only be one, I think my vote might be for this guy.

• Our engine room comedy two-hander is back! This time, the guy worried about wolves is wearing a garlic necklace, assuming what works for vampires will work for this. His friend could not make fun of him any harder.

• I’m all for having patience while 1899 unravels its mystery for us, but the one place I’m getting antsy about it is with Daniel. Now he’s hooking his little triangle instrument up to the wiring cabinet on the Kerberos and turning that on. What is this man’s deal? Tell me your deal!

1899 Recap: Going Overboard