Among the characters of the 1899 series, a mysterious little insect has slipped. What is this animal and what is it for? Warning, spoilers.
Warning, spoilers. It is advisable to have seen the 1899 series before continuing to read this article.
After Dark, creators Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar are back with an ambitious new series called 1899, which is already a hit on Netflix. Carried by a large European cast, this thriller tells the journey of European immigrants sailing aboard the ship Kerberos in the direction of New York.
Their journey to what he thought was a better future turns tragic when they discover another ship, called Prometheus, has been adrift at sea for months. This discovery will change their existence and reveal dark secrets.
If all the passengers are impacted by the mysterious events that take place during their trip, they will understand that everything is linked to one passenger in particular: Maura (Emily Beecham). In the final episodes of 1899, we are revealed that the characters are actually in a simulation program created by Maura and her husband Daniel (Aneurin Barnard).
Moreover, the little boy named Elliot (Fflyn Edwards) whom they found alone aboard the Prometheus, the abandoned ship, is none other than the son of Maura and Daniel. And the latter is in possession of a small insect which is important.
What is this mysterious insect and what does it represent?
It is a green and blue bug that Elliot named Alfred. We discover it in one of Elliot’s dreams where he picnics with his mother Maura. The young boy wants to lock the bug in a metal box in order to keep it and see it grow with him.
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But Maura explains to him that he must not be imprisoned and that he must learn to let living beings evolve as they see fit. An advice that she applies to herself since she says that she too will have to let Elliot go when he is older.
Yet Maura went against that advice. When she learned that Elliot was ill and that he was not going to survive, she created a simulation program in order to be with the boy and her husband Daniel forever. But she chose to give Elliot a way to walk around as he sees fit, using the Alfred thumbtack.
The thumbtack allows Elliot to move as he sees fit, to open doors, to create passages, tunnels between the different places in the simulation. The thumbtack therefore symbolizes this conflicting love that Maura has for her son.
She wants to protect him and make him live forever with her in her simulation, but she doesn’t want to lock him up in a cage either, so she allows him to move around thanks to the thumbtack, which is a kind of guide and happy memory for Elliot.
The 1899 series is available on Netflix.