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| Sebastian tries to convince the mutineers to go after the boy |
Nice night for a mutiny, eh? It's time for episode 4 of 1899. To see all of my 1899 recaps, go here.
In the last episode, the mysterious deaths of Ada in addition to other passengers leave the crew and third-class guests feeling threatened. Ling Yi remembers the events that brought her to the Prometheus. The captain finds reason to distrust Maura. All of this results in an inevitable climax.
Episode 4: The Fight
We open on a black screen and hear gunshots and swords in equal measure – the sounds of battle. The screen comes to life with an overhead shot of a vast desert. In the distance, four large pillars of smoke scar the sky. If it wasn't for all this sand, we might be looking at the distant smokestacks of the Kerberos. We cut to a lifeless body being dragged across the sand. The camera then reveals it's Lucien and Jérôme dragging the body together. The soldier is wearing white pants, a blue jacket, and has a red medal pinned to his jacket.
Both Jérôme and Lucien look beleaguered. Jérôme is having second thoughts about their actions. He doesn't feel it's right to be "doing this.": "Do you know what the legion does to deserters?" We the audience aren't sure exactly what is happening just yet. Lucien retorts that the man has been dead for two days. They haven't received any messages or the supplies they were promised. So the Legion perhaps thinks they are dead.
As they continue to speak, Lucien reveals his plan. He will take the lieutenant's clothes and impersonate him. He's now a wounded lieutenant and will say that Jérôme is a hero that saved him. That way, they can be sent home as honored men. Lucien doesn't plan to stay here and starve like "this idiot" who can't give him orders anymore. Lucien says Jérôme should "come back to reality, my friend."
Jérôme then begs him to reconsider. The supply troops should be there soon! Lucien stops and seems to reconsider the plan. But it's all just a ruse so she can pistol whip Jérôme in the head and knock him out.
Once more into the brig
Jérôme then wakes up in the brig with the other prisoners – Eyk, Olek, and Ramiro. Eyk is the only one who is cuffed to a pipe. He's considered the most dangerous for some reason. I have to confess, when this memory started, I thought it would be Lucien who woke up. After all, the featured characters in the past three episodes all feel guilty about something they have done in the past. Maura's story is the least explored, but she's worried about her brother. Eyk feels responsible for his family's death, and Ling accidentally killed her friend. This memory shows how Jérôme was betrayed, so it somewhat breaks a pattern. As far as we can tell, Jérôme has nothing to feel guilty about.
Regardless, we "wake up" to see Jerome. He's frightened and lashes out when Olek tries to comfort him. Both Olek and Ramiro use the universal sign of "it's okay" by holding their hands up in surrender positions. They talk to him softly. Franz interrupts the moment of peace and barges in with a group of men. Eyk tries to speak to Franz, but Franz ignores him. He tells Jérôme and Olek to come at once.
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| Jerome looks straight into the camera |
I've got a job for you
Outside, the rain is gushing. Franz and crew lead the prisoners to the main deck. In front the bodies of the dead are piled in a heap. The men point their rifles at the Jérôme and Olek and tell them to start throwing the bodies overboard. Olek hesitates for a minute but moves forward. Franz points his rifle straight at Jérôme and tells him to get working. Jérôme looks directly into the camera, and we cut to the theme music and title credits.
On the first-class deck, all the passengers are being told to stay in their cabins. The loud noises from the hallway come out slightly muffled inside of Maura's cabin. She and the boy stand together. She tells him not to worry. "They won't hurt you. They just want to turn the ship around." This doesn't seem convincing. She tells the boy to stay there and leaves the room, closing the door behind her. The boy looks at the pyramid.
Where are we … and when?
There's a sense of panic at the bridge. Franz comes in asking if "they found her." We the viewer wonder who "her" means only briefly when we realize they are talking about the Prometheus. They searched the horizon and don't see anything. Franz doesn't know how this is possible since the two ships were tied together. Wilhelm brings up the possibility that it wasn't the Prometheus but the Kerberos disappeared. Of course, this is what happened, but it's sort of surprising that Wilhelm is the one who brings up the possibility. Maybe he has better intuition than Franz.
In any case, Wilhelm continues listing oddities. The compasses are working again, but the bow is now facing west instead of east. Franz says, "What does that mean?" Wilhelm says, "Maybe we're not where we're supposed to be." Franz then tries to maintain control: "Wherever we are, our destination lies west. Turn on full power."
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| Wilhelm tells Franz the Prometheus is gone |
The boy is to blame
Down in third class, things look dicey. Sebastian and the crew that tried to stay loyal to the captain were thrown down with the third-class folks, and it's not going well. Einar (Jónas Alfreð Birkisson), the Norwegian man with the red beard seems to be the spokesperson now. He says, "There are new rules on this ship. We want answers. Why are people dying? You didn't care about us, and now we don't care about you. This ship will go to America with or without you." In other words, better do something quick to earn your keep.
Sebastian speaks up and tells them there's something they should know. The group decides to hear him out. He tells them that the captain received the order to sink the ship and refused. He speaks, and Tove interprets. So far so good. But then Sebastian starts making up stuff, "The ship company wanted us to sink the ship so that no one who was on it lived. But the boy was brought back. Ever since then, people have been dying."
Now in all fairness to Sebastian, he has been getting orders from some outside person, but we have no concrete evidence as to why the company wanted Eyk to sink the ship. Sebastian could be counting on the people's fear to turn attention away from himself and onto the boy.
In any case, Tove decides right then and there, she no longer wants to translate. Once the boy is mentioned, Tove is out. But Krester decides to speak up. He sees it as an opportunity to gain some points with his mother. He tells everyone that Sebastian thinks it's the boy. Iben, the mom, says, "The devil dresses as an angel. But the devil won't get his way." She puts her hand on Tove's belly and takes the gun from her. She is ready to find the boy. Krester and the rest of the mutinous crew leave. Tove and Anker are the only ones who don't move.
For his part, Anker is in deep mourning. He hasn't really said much since his daughter's body was discovered. He doesn't seem like he's on the same war path as Iben.
Eyk gets free
Maura is on the move now. She's moving down the corridors as covertly as she can. Inside the brig, Eyk kicks at the metal pipe trying to break it loose. I don't know about you, but I don't think you could break a metal pipe by kicking it with your feet. Apparently, Ramiro can though because he gives it a few kicks, and the pipe break at the bottom. Eyk is still handcuffed, but he's no longer trapped by the pipe.
Okek and Jérôme get to work
Back on deck, Olek and Jérôme consider their next move. They simultaneously decide to start doing as ordered and toss the bodies overboard. They start with Ada. After they throw her over, Jérôme looks over his shoulder at the men guarding them. Olek can tell what's on his mind. Jérôme is a rabble rouser. He's going to try and escape somehow. Olek suggests he don't do anything for now. Regretfully, Jérôme grabs the next body. But there's a glitching, and all the sudden, the body becomes the body of the lieutenant that he and Lucien dragged together. Jérôme falls to the ground in shock. Olek checks on him. When Jérôme looks back though, the lieutenant is gone. Jérôme wonders if he was seeing things.
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| Lucien tells Clemence about his health issues |
We transition to Clémence and Lucien's cabin. Clémence confronts Lucien about his whereabouts last night and about the vial. Jérôme lashes out and claims she doesn't care. Clémence states that she's his wife. Lucien here is not easy to get along with. Clémence claims she just wants to understand him and also points out that with a mutiny going on, this would be a good time to come together. Lucien just says, "Life hurts. The moment you think you've got it all, it smacks you in the face." He confesses that the substance in the vial is potassium bromide. If he doesn't take it, he risks having seizures, but if he does take it, he can't maintain an erection. He also claims he will die in a few months or less. Lucien's got a victim mentality bad.
Clémence then plays the "why didn't you tell me?" card. Lucien then says, "You don't give a f*** if I'm dead or alive." She doesn't really argue with him. It's not clear whether his statement is true or if she is just tired of trying to reason with him. He lights up a cigarette and open his desk drawer. Lucien's eyes land on the red medal, and he totally flips out. He demands to know how it got there. She starts to explain, but he pushes her against a wall and starts choking her. As soon as she protests, he stops and decides to leave the room.
The main function of this scene is to find out about the contents of the vial and see how Lucien responds to seeing the medal.
Maura caught
Back on the bridge, one of Franz's men catches Maura trying to sneak her way into seeing the captain. Maura demands to speak to the captain immediately. Franz explains that Eyk is no longer in charge and is no longer the captain. Maura remains stubborn: "I need to see the captain. You are making a huge mistake. You have no idea what's really going on." Franz tries to stay in control: "He is not the man you think he is." Maura goads him and says, "You are just a little boy toying with power." Franz tries to remain unaffected, but you can tell that Maura's words bother him. He tells his grunt to lock Maura in her cabin.
We now check on the captain and find that he is finding his own way to break out. He is using a clip of some kind to open the grate inside the brig. Ramiro acts as his watchman as he does this. We will check back with Eyk and Ramiro shortly.
Anker and Tove
Back in the fairly empty third-class common areas, Anker tells Tove that he has tried to hear God's voice to know the way to go. But God seems to only talk to Iben. Tove talks to her father gently: "You believe mother that the boy is evil?" Anker is in a kind of anguish. He doesn't really answer Tove directly. He just says, "What if she's right. What if it's all true. Maybe God gave you a gift. Maybe you do carry the light inside of you." He puts is his hand on her belly and continues, "She [Iben} said that the devil will try to take everything away from us. We can't let that happen." Tove has tears in her eyes.
You wonder what this family has been through. Was there some kind of prophecy as to the nature of Tove's pregnancy? Who is the father? Was this a miraculous birth? Iben seems to be in the middle of some kind of religious ecstasy. Fueled by fear, she can justify almost any action if she believes it may result in God's good favor, even if that action clearly goes against godly morals. Anker has allowed his stronger wife to sway his decision-making. Tove is in the middle, and she thought she could rely on Krester, but now Krester is allied against her.
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| Iben is on the search for the boy |
They search Maura's room
On the first-class deck, Einar and the wrecking crew prepare to kick down or shoot open Maura's door. In the nick of time, Maura arrives, and the group starts threatening Maura with their rifles. Sebastian tries to keep things calm. He says, "We're all on the same side," which is not true. They are on the side of wanting to blame the boy. Maura wants to protect the boy. Sebastian says, "We just want the boy." He says this in German, which leaves Maura to interpret the situation. "What did you say? He wants the boy?" She insists that he's not sick, and it's not his fault people are dying." Iben and the group are not swayed by her words. Iben asks Krester to search Maura. He does so, with an apologetic look in his eyes. You can tell Krester feels bad towards Maura. She was the person who came to help his sister, after all, when no one would.
Krester finds the key, and they open the door. Everyone pours in like moths to a flame, searching for the boy. The boy is nowhere to be found. Sebastian himself looks under the bed. Maura now looks at her desk and notices that the black pyramid is missing. Iben once again tries to threaten Maura with her rifle. She demands to know where the boy is. Krester intervenes again on Maura's behalf. He steps between his mother and Maura.
They decide to look elsewhere on the ship. Sebastian gives Maura a meaningful look and walks out. The door is then locked behind Maura so she can't escape.
Maura falls to the floor, breathing hard. She grabs her medallion necklace to steady herself. Then, we hear the sound of two knocks coming from under the bed. Maura moves the bed with excitement, and sure enough, there's a panel under her bed. She moves the panel, and there's the boy, giving her the shush signal.
This scene interests me because Sebastian came with the group to help them find the boy. Clearly, Sebastian knows about the panels and made sure to look under the bed so no one else would. Yet he doesn't share this with anyone else. So he "protects" the boy from the group. My guess is that Sebastian plans to keep the ship's secrets as best he can. He has been placed as guardian over the modifications. He will keep the secrets. I also surmise he isn't really after the boy. For him, the boy is just a tool to keep the people distracted and occupied. Sebastian plans to keep things orderly as possible, at least until he is relieved of his duties.
Boiler room vampires
Down in the boiler room, it's time for our Thing 1 and Thing 2 discussion. Thing 1 is wearing a garlic necklace now. He complains that no one tells them anything. Thing 2 wants to know why he's wearing the garlic bulbs. Thing 1 says it protects him from the wolves. So we're back to the wolves again. Thing 2 tries to educate Thing 1 on the differences between werewolves and vampires, but thing 1 has an answer for everything. Thing 2 says that vampire don't really exist. Thing 1 says, "I've never seen Russia but I'm pretty sure it exists."
This is all comedic gold, but it's also an interesting thought exercise on reality and assumptions. Thing 1's reasoning is solid. Perhaps werewolves don't like garlic either. This might just work!
With all of this arguing going on, neither of them notices the real-life vampire among them – Daniel Solace. He's not a vampire per say, but he is lurking in the shadows. He slips into the boiler room with no one the wiser. He moves to the panel that Eyk showed Maura on the Prometheus. He takes his handheld device and plugs it into the panel. He begins moving around the buttons, and sparks appear. The machinery thrums to life.
Jérôme escapes
Back on the deck outside, Jérôme finds an opportunity to escape from his captors. He ducks out by jumping over the railing and hiding out of sight. Olek helps him by creating a distraction. Jérôme ends up coming back over the railing and goes down the steps to first class. The men set off in pursuit. Jérôme runs the length of the hallway and begins glitching into his memories of the past. He is running in the hall and then running in the desert. He runs to the only room he knows: Room 2108, the cabin of Lucien and Clémence. Luckily, only Clémence is there.
I'm wondering if Jérôme expected to find him there or if he just ran on instinct. He bangs on the door, and Clémence answers. She asks what happened, and he says he shouldn’t have come. He turns to leave again. Clémence wants him to stay. He says, "I've seen it before. People taking power who don't deserve it. It never ends well."
He looks outside the door to see if it's safe to leave yet. He tells Clémence he plans to free the captain. She decides to help him. Instantly, Clémence becomes Jerome's plus 1. For the rest of this episode, those two are a team. She's his Maura.
Give them the boy
Back on the bridge, Franz beats the crap out of Olek trying to figure out where Jérôme went. Olek stays tough though and denies everything. A newish crew member, credited as Eugen on IMDB (Joshua Seelenbinder) brings Sebastian to the bridge. This startles Franz momentarily, since he put Sebastian in the dog house. But Eugen say, "It's okay, he's on our side." I guess this was decided when Sebastian started ratting on the boy. Sebastian tells Franz that he has screwed up: "You don't know what you've done. We're sitting on a powder keg that's about to explode. There are 1500 (Just a note: in episode 2, the captain said there were 1612 passengers) souls on board from who knows who many different countries. You armed them all."
Franz scowls at this accusation. Sebastian says that they have five days until they will reach their destination. In order to preserve order, they should "give the people what they want – an explanation for why people are dying." He recommends the boy be that explanation.
Ángel's unmasks Krester
Meanwhile, the search parties are still on the hunt for the boy. The Norwegian dude and his crew start kicking people out of their rooms so they can search them. Once the room is determined clear, they then just lock the people in their rooms again. No one is immune – even the formidable Virginia gets the treatment.
The party reaches Ángel's room. The search begins as normal. Then one of the mutineers decides he will take a bonus and swipe Ángel's pocket watch. Ángel figures he might have some leverage with Krester so he calls out Krester by name and asks for immunity from this violation. This does not go over well with Krester's mom, Iben, who becomes highly suspicious when she realizes that Ángel knows Krester's name.
She gives Ángel back his watch but does so by dropping it on the ground right in front of him. It's the same strategy that Tove used when returning his cigarette case to him. This move must run in the family. The mother sizes this whole situation up. There's a lot we could imply, but she gets a disgusted look on her face and tells Krester, "I wish he [God] would have taken you instead of Ada." Harsh, Iben!
Everyone walks out, and Krester goes to follow. Ángels calls his name and tries to stop him from leaving. Perhaps he feels bad or just wants to commiserate with Krester. In any case, Krester shows him once and for all that their connection is over by spitting in his face.
Iben rejects much of who Krester is probably because of his homosexuality. He helps the family with their plot to find the boy as a way to please his mother. Ángel, who has always always had the power in their relationship, is the vulnerable one for once. It's a lesson he may have needed to learn. Now, he knows what it's like to feel powerless. Krester truly doesn't reject Ángel. He's just rejecting that part of himself that is attracted to Ángel because that part is odious to his mother.
The boy leads Maura
Back in Maura's room, Maura moves the bed back over the panel and tries to communicate with the boy again. He remains silent. Once again, she moves to leave the room, claiming that she's going to find the captain. She tries picking the lock. But the boy gets up from the bed and comes over to her. For the first time, he takes action. He opens his hand and shows her the scarab beetle.
The beetle crawls under the door, and the boy makes to follow it. Maura tries to get him to talk to her, but he just follows the beetle, taking her hand so that she comes with him. Maura finally submits to his direction. They both follow the beetle.
Up ahead, we see that they have Olek by the scruff. They push him towards the brig. But once Franz sees the grate and realizes that his prisoners are free, he switches direction.
A familiar touch
The group fighting with Eyk all holes up in first-class dining. Somehow they have seized control of those upper decks again. The mutineers retreat down in third class. Krester sits apart from everyone, praying and looking at his cross.
Olek patches up Jerome. Maura sits at a table with Daniel. She's still in shock: "I can't believe they killed the boy. He didn't even fight it. It's like he accepted it was coming." Daniel just sits with her and doesn't say anything. He reaches out and puts his hand on her elbow. Maura looks surprised but doesn't move away from his touch. She covers his hand with her own, as if on instinct. They make eye contact.
Eyk interrupts and tells Maura he needs to talk to her now. Off to the side, he shows her the page he tore from the logbook that has her name. He wants the truth now. Maura looks shocked and says, "This is impossible."
There's a loud knocking sound. Everyone looks around to see where it's coming from. The noises appear to be coming from inside a cabinet that looks very similar to the one at the end of episode 1. There's a flash of light and the cabinet door opens. Out comes the boy. He comes out holding the pyramid and walks towards Maura, embracing her. And that's the ending.
Burning questions
Until next time, shipmates.
On the first-class deck, Einar and the wrecking crew prepare to kick down or shoot open Maura's door. In the nick of time, Maura arrives, and the group starts threatening Maura with their rifles. Sebastian tries to keep things calm. He says, "We're all on the same side," which is not true. They are on the side of wanting to blame the boy. Maura wants to protect the boy. Sebastian says, "We just want the boy." He says this in German, which leaves Maura to interpret the situation. "What did you say? He wants the boy?" She insists that he's not sick, and it's not his fault people are dying." Iben and the group are not swayed by her words. Iben asks Krester to search Maura. He does so, with an apologetic look in his eyes. You can tell Krester feels bad towards Maura. She was the person who came to help his sister, after all, when no one would.
Krester finds the key, and they open the door. Everyone pours in like moths to a flame, searching for the boy. The boy is nowhere to be found. Sebastian himself looks under the bed. Maura now looks at her desk and notices that the black pyramid is missing. Iben once again tries to threaten Maura with her rifle. She demands to know where the boy is. Krester intervenes again on Maura's behalf. He steps between his mother and Maura.
They decide to look elsewhere on the ship. Sebastian gives Maura a meaningful look and walks out. The door is then locked behind Maura so she can't escape.
Maura falls to the floor, breathing hard. She grabs her medallion necklace to steady herself. Then, we hear the sound of two knocks coming from under the bed. Maura moves the bed with excitement, and sure enough, there's a panel under her bed. She moves the panel, and there's the boy, giving her the shush signal.
This scene interests me because Sebastian came with the group to help them find the boy. Clearly, Sebastian knows about the panels and made sure to look under the bed so no one else would. Yet he doesn't share this with anyone else. So he "protects" the boy from the group. My guess is that Sebastian plans to keep the ship's secrets as best he can. He has been placed as guardian over the modifications. He will keep the secrets. I also surmise he isn't really after the boy. For him, the boy is just a tool to keep the people distracted and occupied. Sebastian plans to keep things orderly as possible, at least until he is relieved of his duties.
Boiler room vampires
Down in the boiler room, it's time for our Thing 1 and Thing 2 discussion. Thing 1 is wearing a garlic necklace now. He complains that no one tells them anything. Thing 2 wants to know why he's wearing the garlic bulbs. Thing 1 says it protects him from the wolves. So we're back to the wolves again. Thing 2 tries to educate Thing 1 on the differences between werewolves and vampires, but thing 1 has an answer for everything. Thing 2 says that vampire don't really exist. Thing 1 says, "I've never seen Russia but I'm pretty sure it exists."
This is all comedic gold, but it's also an interesting thought exercise on reality and assumptions. Thing 1's reasoning is solid. Perhaps werewolves don't like garlic either. This might just work!
With all of this arguing going on, neither of them notices the real-life vampire among them – Daniel Solace. He's not a vampire per say, but he is lurking in the shadows. He slips into the boiler room with no one the wiser. He moves to the panel that Eyk showed Maura on the Prometheus. He takes his handheld device and plugs it into the panel. He begins moving around the buttons, and sparks appear. The machinery thrums to life.
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| Iben decides the boy needs to be eliminated |
Jérôme escapes
Back on the deck outside, Jérôme finds an opportunity to escape from his captors. He ducks out by jumping over the railing and hiding out of sight. Olek helps him by creating a distraction. Jérôme ends up coming back over the railing and goes down the steps to first class. The men set off in pursuit. Jérôme runs the length of the hallway and begins glitching into his memories of the past. He is running in the hall and then running in the desert. He runs to the only room he knows: Room 2108, the cabin of Lucien and Clémence. Luckily, only Clémence is there.
I'm wondering if Jérôme expected to find him there or if he just ran on instinct. He bangs on the door, and Clémence answers. She asks what happened, and he says he shouldn’t have come. He turns to leave again. Clémence wants him to stay. He says, "I've seen it before. People taking power who don't deserve it. It never ends well."
He looks outside the door to see if it's safe to leave yet. He tells Clémence he plans to free the captain. She decides to help him. Instantly, Clémence becomes Jerome's plus 1. For the rest of this episode, those two are a team. She's his Maura.
Give them the boy
Back on the bridge, Franz beats the crap out of Olek trying to figure out where Jérôme went. Olek stays tough though and denies everything. A newish crew member, credited as Eugen on IMDB (Joshua Seelenbinder) brings Sebastian to the bridge. This startles Franz momentarily, since he put Sebastian in the dog house. But Eugen say, "It's okay, he's on our side." I guess this was decided when Sebastian started ratting on the boy. Sebastian tells Franz that he has screwed up: "You don't know what you've done. We're sitting on a powder keg that's about to explode. There are 1500 (Just a note: in episode 2, the captain said there were 1612 passengers) souls on board from who knows who many different countries. You armed them all."
Franz scowls at this accusation. Sebastian says that they have five days until they will reach their destination. In order to preserve order, they should "give the people what they want – an explanation for why people are dying." He recommends the boy be that explanation.
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| Angel tries to use his connection to Krester to gain leverage |
Meanwhile, the search parties are still on the hunt for the boy. The Norwegian dude and his crew start kicking people out of their rooms so they can search them. Once the room is determined clear, they then just lock the people in their rooms again. No one is immune – even the formidable Virginia gets the treatment.
The party reaches Ángel's room. The search begins as normal. Then one of the mutineers decides he will take a bonus and swipe Ángel's pocket watch. Ángel figures he might have some leverage with Krester so he calls out Krester by name and asks for immunity from this violation. This does not go over well with Krester's mom, Iben, who becomes highly suspicious when she realizes that Ángel knows Krester's name.
She gives Ángel back his watch but does so by dropping it on the ground right in front of him. It's the same strategy that Tove used when returning his cigarette case to him. This move must run in the family. The mother sizes this whole situation up. There's a lot we could imply, but she gets a disgusted look on her face and tells Krester, "I wish he [God] would have taken you instead of Ada." Harsh, Iben!
Everyone walks out, and Krester goes to follow. Ángels calls his name and tries to stop him from leaving. Perhaps he feels bad or just wants to commiserate with Krester. In any case, Krester shows him once and for all that their connection is over by spitting in his face.
Iben rejects much of who Krester is probably because of his homosexuality. He helps the family with their plot to find the boy as a way to please his mother. Ángel, who has always always had the power in their relationship, is the vulnerable one for once. It's a lesson he may have needed to learn. Now, he knows what it's like to feel powerless. Krester truly doesn't reject Ángel. He's just rejecting that part of himself that is attracted to Ángel because that part is odious to his mother.
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| The boy and Maura deepen their bond in The Fight |
Back in Maura's room, Maura moves the bed back over the panel and tries to communicate with the boy again. He remains silent. Once again, she moves to leave the room, claiming that she's going to find the captain. She tries picking the lock. But the boy gets up from the bed and comes over to her. For the first time, he takes action. He opens his hand and shows her the scarab beetle.
The beetle crawls under the door, and the boy makes to follow it. Maura tries to get him to talk to her, but he just follows the beetle, taking her hand so that she comes with him. Maura finally submits to his direction. They both follow the beetle.
Up ahead, we see that they have Olek by the scruff. They push him towards the brig. But once Franz sees the grate and realizes that his prisoners are free, he switches direction.
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| Ramiro shows amazing strength in this episode |
A new alliance
Somewhere else on the boat, Eyk pops his head out of another grate. He's found an escape route. He's still handcuffed, though and looks to remedy that situation. He finds a hammer. Ramiro goes to try and break the handcuffs. That's when Jérôme and Clémence comes around the corner. Yay! We now have a quartet: Jerome, Clémence, Eyk, and Ramiro. Jérôme offers him a large nail he can use to break through the chains. Ramiro breaks each cuff with one mighty blow.
The captain explains that they are trying to get to the lifeboats. He will then row to the Prometheus and call for help. Clémence and Jérôme immediately sign up to help them. This crew doesn't yet know that the Prometheus has vanished from sight.
Lucien finds an empty room
Back on deck, Lucien examines the medal once more and tosses it overboard. He walks back to his room and can hear the voices of troubled passengers crying. When he sees his door is ajar, he looks concerned. He calls out for Clémence but finds the room empty. He goes to his desk and opens a drawer, finding his letter. Underneath the letter is a gun and some bullets. He checks the cartridge and finds the gun loaded.
Chaos on the lowering deck
We return to the boy and Maura following the beetle. The beetle comes to a stop, and the boy gives Maura the "hold up" signal. This miraculous beetle not only acts as a GPS, but it also knows when you should stop and start to avoid running into anyone. They can see Franz pushing Olek into the room with the other prisoners in third-class dining.
Once the coast is clear, the boy and Maura advance again. They take a meandering path through the halls. The beetle stops in front of a door and unlocks it. The boy and Maura follow. We can see someone watching them. The camera pulls back to reveal it's Krester.
The new quartet make it to the lowering deck and unhook the lifeboat for launch. Maura and the boy show up, too. Maura runs towards Eyk and looks so happy: "Eyk, I've been looking for you." She grabs his arm as she says this. He looks happy to see her, too, for a minute, but then pulls back. He demands to know what's going on and that she needs to stop lying. Maura looks really surprised. The boy comes forward and steps between the captain and Maura. This was so cute. The boy shows a protective streak here.
Maura doesn't get a chance to admit anything, though, because Krester and the mutineers all show up. Franz points his rifle at the group. Jérôme and the captain immediately try to figure out ways to fight back. Krester thinks he can find an easy solution, "We just want the boy." But this solution does not please Maura. Krester doesn't realize that they won't give the boy up easily.
Maura steps in front of the boy to protect him. But the boy steps forward and doesn't seem afraid. Maura tries to stop him, but he keeps moving. Jérôme tries to protect: "This isn't right." Franz shoots him point blank. Everyone either runs or is captured by the mutineers. They leave Jérôme to rot on the deck.
Jérôme then glitches into his second longer vision.
Jerome's second vision
Jérôme stands behind bars, locked in a cage. Lucien now wears the lieutenant's clothing. Lucien seems apologetic for his actions but not enough to let Jérôme out. Lucien explains that he can start a new life for himself. As a consolation prize, he gives Jérôme the red medal and encourages him to use it as a bribe when in prison. He does plan to tell people where Jérôme is and report him as a deserter. So Lucien doesn't leave his friend to die – just to rot in prison.
Jérôme says, "This isn't real. Why is this happening again." Like Ling, this is a memory from his past. It doesn't make sense that he is re-living this nightmare again. Lucien says sorry and prepares to leave, but Jérôme is able to grab him and get in a chokehold. But Lucien gets away and knocks Jérôme out before he can get another grab in.
Jérôme then wakes up from his vision and comes to consciousness on the lowering deck. He looks at the bullet wound in his arm and then gets to his feet. He's wounded but not dead. He grabs the hammer and sets off to find his friends.
I was interested in the red medallion and found a very close match. In watching the scenes between Lucien and Jérôme, I wondered what war they fought in and what the medal might represent. In the late 1890s France did several tours in Africa as part of their colonization efforts. There were three main chapters: The Second Franco-Dahomean War of 1892-1894, The Second Madagascar Expedition of 1894-1895, and the Mandingo War of 1898. The scenes with Jérôme and Lucien have no identifying dates or location, so we can only speculate. But the desert scenery could indicate an African continent location. Of course, it's not yet established if everything we are seeing is real.
The medal itself is called the Napoleonic French Legion of Honor, Officer Type III Medal.
More interestingly, in doing all of these research about France in wartime, I discovered that in 1899, French foreign policy was based on a fear of Germany. The German economy was booming, and France feared that would lose any leverage. At the same time, the French looked for new allies. One of the countries they sought to woo was Japan. The French sent military missions three times in order to help train and modernize the Japanese army. This tickled my nerd alert because it put into context why Lucien might be so fascinated with Ling. And why Jérôme and Franz are immediate rivals. I can't say for sure whether Bo and Jantje included these character dynamics because of these historical politics, but it made for an unexpected bit of historical accuracy within the show.
Elsewhere, Franz and company lead the boy away. The boy has no facial expression. He seems neither scared nor resistant. Krester is the last to come. Tove steps out to talk to him. She wants to know if he actually believes the boy is evil. And if he's willing to do anything to win mother's love. Krester attacks back: "You have to stop blaming us for what happened to you. Not everything is about you."
Right now, Tove and Krester don't seem to be able to get on the same side. They are each trying to do the right thing, but they find themselves on opposite sides.
Jérôme becomes de facto leader
Jérôme walks the halls to find where the prisoners are being held. He easily takes out the guards on duty with his hammer. Once he enters the third-class dining, Clémence runs to him. Jérôme now rallies the troops: "You have no idea what I've been through to get on this ship. I'm not planning to die here. They are out of control, and it's up to us to stop them." This inspires everyone to get into the fight once again.
Iben makes her move
Back on the main deck, Iben makes her own speech in the pouring rain. She stands with her back to the ocean and encourages everyone not to be fooled by the boy's innocent look: "The devil comes in many disguises. He is taking what is ours. Collecting our souls just as he did on the other ship. But we know pain and suffering, and it will not break us. Throw the boy overboard!"
Maura and Eyk and all of our good guys then show up. Maura begs them to stop. She testifies that the boy isn't to blame. Gunshots ring out and a brawl begins. There's lots of confusion and punching. Through the commotion, Maura tries to find the boy and everything slows down. At this point the speed turns to slow motion. Maura fights through the tide of people like a person swimming against the current.
Everything culminates in Iben picking up the boy and tossing him overboard as if he were a sack of potatoes. Maura runs to look down and sees him falling into the stormy sea and going under. A mournful tune plays.
Maura is in shock and can't move. Daniel finds her and leads her to safety. Eyk yells for his team to retreat. Clémence and Jérôme find each other and hug. Lucien spots them together and comes after Jerome, pointing the pistol at him. He drags Clémence away from Jerome. He tells her not to believe anything that man says because he can't be trusted.
Somewhere else on the boat, Eyk pops his head out of another grate. He's found an escape route. He's still handcuffed, though and looks to remedy that situation. He finds a hammer. Ramiro goes to try and break the handcuffs. That's when Jérôme and Clémence comes around the corner. Yay! We now have a quartet: Jerome, Clémence, Eyk, and Ramiro. Jérôme offers him a large nail he can use to break through the chains. Ramiro breaks each cuff with one mighty blow.
The captain explains that they are trying to get to the lifeboats. He will then row to the Prometheus and call for help. Clémence and Jérôme immediately sign up to help them. This crew doesn't yet know that the Prometheus has vanished from sight.
Lucien finds an empty room
Back on deck, Lucien examines the medal once more and tosses it overboard. He walks back to his room and can hear the voices of troubled passengers crying. When he sees his door is ajar, he looks concerned. He calls out for Clémence but finds the room empty. He goes to his desk and opens a drawer, finding his letter. Underneath the letter is a gun and some bullets. He checks the cartridge and finds the gun loaded.
Chaos on the lowering deck
We return to the boy and Maura following the beetle. The beetle comes to a stop, and the boy gives Maura the "hold up" signal. This miraculous beetle not only acts as a GPS, but it also knows when you should stop and start to avoid running into anyone. They can see Franz pushing Olek into the room with the other prisoners in third-class dining.
Once the coast is clear, the boy and Maura advance again. They take a meandering path through the halls. The beetle stops in front of a door and unlocks it. The boy and Maura follow. We can see someone watching them. The camera pulls back to reveal it's Krester.
The new quartet make it to the lowering deck and unhook the lifeboat for launch. Maura and the boy show up, too. Maura runs towards Eyk and looks so happy: "Eyk, I've been looking for you." She grabs his arm as she says this. He looks happy to see her, too, for a minute, but then pulls back. He demands to know what's going on and that she needs to stop lying. Maura looks really surprised. The boy comes forward and steps between the captain and Maura. This was so cute. The boy shows a protective streak here.
Maura doesn't get a chance to admit anything, though, because Krester and the mutineers all show up. Franz points his rifle at the group. Jérôme and the captain immediately try to figure out ways to fight back. Krester thinks he can find an easy solution, "We just want the boy." But this solution does not please Maura. Krester doesn't realize that they won't give the boy up easily.
Maura steps in front of the boy to protect him. But the boy steps forward and doesn't seem afraid. Maura tries to stop him, but he keeps moving. Jérôme tries to protect: "This isn't right." Franz shoots him point blank. Everyone either runs or is captured by the mutineers. They leave Jérôme to rot on the deck.
Jérôme then glitches into his second longer vision.
 |
| The medal that Lucien stole |
Jerome's second vision
Jérôme stands behind bars, locked in a cage. Lucien now wears the lieutenant's clothing. Lucien seems apologetic for his actions but not enough to let Jérôme out. Lucien explains that he can start a new life for himself. As a consolation prize, he gives Jérôme the red medal and encourages him to use it as a bribe when in prison. He does plan to tell people where Jérôme is and report him as a deserter. So Lucien doesn't leave his friend to die – just to rot in prison.
Jérôme says, "This isn't real. Why is this happening again." Like Ling, this is a memory from his past. It doesn't make sense that he is re-living this nightmare again. Lucien says sorry and prepares to leave, but Jérôme is able to grab him and get in a chokehold. But Lucien gets away and knocks Jérôme out before he can get another grab in.
Jérôme then wakes up from his vision and comes to consciousness on the lowering deck. He looks at the bullet wound in his arm and then gets to his feet. He's wounded but not dead. He grabs the hammer and sets off to find his friends.
I was interested in the red medallion and found a very close match. In watching the scenes between Lucien and Jérôme, I wondered what war they fought in and what the medal might represent. In the late 1890s France did several tours in Africa as part of their colonization efforts. There were three main chapters: The Second Franco-Dahomean War of 1892-1894, The Second Madagascar Expedition of 1894-1895, and the Mandingo War of 1898. The scenes with Jérôme and Lucien have no identifying dates or location, so we can only speculate. But the desert scenery could indicate an African continent location. Of course, it's not yet established if everything we are seeing is real.
The medal itself is called the Napoleonic French Legion of Honor, Officer Type III Medal.
More interestingly, in doing all of these research about France in wartime, I discovered that in 1899, French foreign policy was based on a fear of Germany. The German economy was booming, and France feared that would lose any leverage. At the same time, the French looked for new allies. One of the countries they sought to woo was Japan. The French sent military missions three times in order to help train and modernize the Japanese army. This tickled my nerd alert because it put into context why Lucien might be so fascinated with Ling. And why Jérôme and Franz are immediate rivals. I can't say for sure whether Bo and Jantje included these character dynamics because of these historical politics, but it made for an unexpected bit of historical accuracy within the show.
Elsewhere, Franz and company lead the boy away. The boy has no facial expression. He seems neither scared nor resistant. Krester is the last to come. Tove steps out to talk to him. She wants to know if he actually believes the boy is evil. And if he's willing to do anything to win mother's love. Krester attacks back: "You have to stop blaming us for what happened to you. Not everything is about you."
Right now, Tove and Krester don't seem to be able to get on the same side. They are each trying to do the right thing, but they find themselves on opposite sides.
Jérôme becomes de facto leader
Jérôme walks the halls to find where the prisoners are being held. He easily takes out the guards on duty with his hammer. Once he enters the third-class dining, Clémence runs to him. Jérôme now rallies the troops: "You have no idea what I've been through to get on this ship. I'm not planning to die here. They are out of control, and it's up to us to stop them." This inspires everyone to get into the fight once again.
Iben makes her move
Back on the main deck, Iben makes her own speech in the pouring rain. She stands with her back to the ocean and encourages everyone not to be fooled by the boy's innocent look: "The devil comes in many disguises. He is taking what is ours. Collecting our souls just as he did on the other ship. But we know pain and suffering, and it will not break us. Throw the boy overboard!"
Maura and Eyk and all of our good guys then show up. Maura begs them to stop. She testifies that the boy isn't to blame. Gunshots ring out and a brawl begins. There's lots of confusion and punching. Through the commotion, Maura tries to find the boy and everything slows down. At this point the speed turns to slow motion. Maura fights through the tide of people like a person swimming against the current.
Everything culminates in Iben picking up the boy and tossing him overboard as if he were a sack of potatoes. Maura runs to look down and sees him falling into the stormy sea and going under. A mournful tune plays.
Maura is in shock and can't move. Daniel finds her and leads her to safety. Eyk yells for his team to retreat. Clémence and Jérôme find each other and hug. Lucien spots them together and comes after Jerome, pointing the pistol at him. He drags Clémence away from Jerome. He tells her not to believe anything that man says because he can't be trusted.
 |
| Daniel's face before they discover the boy |
The group fighting with Eyk all holes up in first-class dining. Somehow they have seized control of those upper decks again. The mutineers retreat down in third class. Krester sits apart from everyone, praying and looking at his cross.
Olek patches up Jerome. Maura sits at a table with Daniel. She's still in shock: "I can't believe they killed the boy. He didn't even fight it. It's like he accepted it was coming." Daniel just sits with her and doesn't say anything. He reaches out and puts his hand on her elbow. Maura looks surprised but doesn't move away from his touch. She covers his hand with her own, as if on instinct. They make eye contact.
Eyk interrupts and tells Maura he needs to talk to her now. Off to the side, he shows her the page he tore from the logbook that has her name. He wants the truth now. Maura looks shocked and says, "This is impossible."
There's a loud knocking sound. Everyone looks around to see where it's coming from. The noises appear to be coming from inside a cabinet that looks very similar to the one at the end of episode 1. There's a flash of light and the cabinet door opens. Out comes the boy. He comes out holding the pyramid and walks towards Maura, embracing her. And that's the ending.
Burning questions
- What is the connection between Maura and Daniel?
- What happened to Tove before the ship? Krester's statement indicates something bad happened to her. I'm assuming it's about the baby.
- How did the boy get back into the cabinet from the water?
- What happened to the TV screens from the last episode?
- Will Lucien be able to keep Jérôme and Clémence apart?
- What will Iben think when and if she sees the boy alive again?
Until next time, shipmates.
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