1899 is proving to be something of a hit on Netflix. However, a number of fans of the show have claimed that it makes more sense if you slightly tweak the captions settings before watching. 1899 tells of a group of migrants from across Europe travelling on a mysterious steamship by the name of Kerberos to begin new lives in New York.
The synopsis for the show reads, “A migrant steamship heads west to leave the old continent. The passengers, a mixed bag of European origins, united by their hopes and dreams for the new century and their future abroad. But their journey takes an unexpected turn when they discover another migrant ship adrift on the open sea.”
One of the unique features of 1899 is that each of its characters speaks a different language, which results in them constantly needing to be translated by another character. However, the default Netflix setting is for English Dub, which replaces the original actor’s voice with an English actor’s voice.
This consequently leads to a deep misunderstanding in parts of the show because there are indeed meant to be segments where certain characters within the show’s realm are not meant to understand what is going on. To alleviate this problem, you should set the audio to English [Original] and the subtitles to English [CC].
With those settings activated, if you’re watching 1899, you will hear the English-speaking characters speak English, while those speaking in other languages will have their words appear in subtitles. This is said to make the revealing of the plot of the show happen at about the correct intended speed.
The show is proving a hit and currently occupies the second spot on this week’s top 10 most-watched series on Netflix. Check out the complete list here, and discover your next favourite show.
