#1899 speculation

note that pretty much none of this will follow canon and I am doing it for my personal Jewish enjoyment. It’s a boat full of Europeans fleeing Europe in 1899 what can I even say

a) Olek - by far the most likely, considering the absolutely mass immigration of Jews from Galitzia (where the postcard Olek carries is addressed to) to New York, where he wants to move. Olek being a secret jew is something I’m 99% the writers didn’t intent but that lines up incredibly well with what’s suggested of his story, the actual history of 1899, and the consistent thematic resonance of people concealing or lying about their ethnic or national origin, including not only Ramiro but Ying Li, olek’s deepest parallel and love interest. (Seriously like… these two parallel each other so deeply in everything and the cantonese speaking prostitutes’ daughter pretending to be Japanese aboard the white western ship and the Eastern European Jew pretending to be a polish Christian aboard the western Christian ship are such a fascinating parallel in nation and region and power relational to the West, as well as a negotiation of the brutal anti-Chinese and anti-Jewish immigration sentiment in the U.S. at the time.) The scenario would place Olek as a polish and Yiddish speaking Jew who was attacked by an antisemitic coworker at the oil refinery where he worked or something, or who had survived a pogrom or displacement, and ended up stealing his attackers identity and postcard after he killed him in self defense. This would be a Ramiro and a ying li parallel, and show the repeated and clearly heavy postcard metaphor in a new light - this isn’t a hopeful golden lit coming to America metaphor, as it seems in the first couple scenes, but a physical realization of olek’s guilt at what he did to survive AND a heaviness that lurks around where he took the postcard from (the coworker on the oil field.)

verdict: both totally unwritten and completely contingent with what we know of canon. JEW

b) unlikely but funny as hell: Ramiro. Ángel thinks he has problems having to pretend to be straight and here we have Ramiriko struggling every fucking day with having to pretend to be STRAIGHT and SPANISH and also remember the order of the mass and not get the paternoster mixed up with shmah yisrael. Absolute comedy act. (He also seems consistently bewildered by Catholic canon or how to even do the priest act.) Adds fucked up flavour and nuance to whatever the fuck is going on with Ángel and Ramiro and the “you aren’t even Spanish” line, although does Ángel know Ramiro is a Jew? Probably not. Had he ever worked out he blows kosher dick? Story suggests Ángel doesn’t blow enough sick to really know, nor that that kind of thing would ever occur to him. This one is kind of unlikely, given there were very few Jews in Portugal in the 1800s and the portuense inquisition didn’t officially end till the 1820’s, but it is technically possible - Judaism began to be legal again in the 1800’s and Portuguese jewish communities began to form again. Furthermore, Ramiro being a jew, particularly a descendant of conversos or marranos, could be the context of the showdown where ángel says that he’s never pretended to be anything other than what he is (unlike Ramiro.) they’re both clealry so fruity that whatever he’s talking about isn’t sexuality. (Ramiro is symbolized by the cross, but the cross, along with he background outline of a church, also shows up as a significant element in his Trauma Room, so it might even be the identity he was forced to take on and then casts off). (The crucifix is also the symbol of the priest Ramiro killed it seems, although I think by drowning. A Jew killing a priest - who might have been ángels abuser - would launch such an incredible amount of antisemitic deicide let’s hunt the godkillers backlash they’d have to leave immediately) verdict: unlikely but not technically against canon. Both hysterically funny in light of being a catholic priest winging it for 8 episodes and absolutely heartbreaking

c) eyk. Oh boy. Unlike the other two nothing to suggest it but also nothing to not suggest it, right, although the concept of a German Jew whose family burned to death in a house he keeps seeing is. Oh boy. Assimilated yekke who turned to piloting as a way to work his way up in the world (and part of why his crew disrespects him.) His wife’s name is Sarah which could be pretty Jewish. Nína isn’t like, Jewish, but also isn’t NOT Jewish, and we don’t know the names of his other daughters, which could be like, Rochel and Shoshana. (Or not! Considering the assimilated yekke thing.) clearly lying about a million things. Is this one of them? Is he even real? verdict: the fire was his maybe-automaton wife knocking over the shabbes candles. Possible yid. Who even knows? Not eyk, for sure.

d) you could spare a thought for Daniel, who actually has a Hebrew name that directly parallels the figure of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible what with seeing visions and being trapped in the den and all that but he and his wife (maybe) buried his son with a cross and that cross keeps repeating with some of the most objectively Christian imagery in the show. Also they’ve buried their son beneath the cross. This could be playing the machine but unlike Ramiro it doesn’t seem so performative. verdict: goy

e) clémence

Ada’s ghost ship story. It’s about how the sea gets so angry when the passengers and crew of a ship kill a whale that it sends a storm their way and turns it into an actual ghost ship. Could be an allegory for what the passengers do to Elliot and the simulation subsequently killing them afterwards, or it could be part of an even larger narrative.

Franz has been part of Eyk’s crew for as long as Maura and Daniel have been married.

Several important characters have scarring and wounds on their faces or arms, and some of Franz’ are fresher even before we see him physically fight.

Anker literally means anchor. It’s probably just a characterisation detail for Anker but still an interesting name choice.

«Die Gedanken sin frei» is a song celebrating freedom of thought.

When Maura wakes up the first time it’s Henry’s voice telling her to do so but afterwards and for everyone else it’s Maura’s voice.

When Ramiro and Angel hook up in 1.02 the scene ends with a shot of a painting of a wolf and a sheep.

While the earth symbol is everywhere, only Ling Yi, Virginia Wilson and Clémence seem to have it on their clothes or accessories. It might be a stretch, but I also think the embroidered flower on Clémence’s collar looks like a bug.

Tove describes Iben’s religious conviction and the fact that she hears voices as creating her own world that the people around her have decided to follow. This could be a parallel to Maura creating the simulation and pulling everyone into it.

In 1.05 Maura tells Eyk that she remembers being a doctor and that her father must have changed her memory to make her a patient. This is probably her doing because of the Elliot reveal, but she also says she thinks she managed to remember the purpose of what was happening and was made to forget. Is this her projecting her deeds onto her father again, or did she actually manage to remember one time and get forced back into forgetting by someone else?

After exiting her first flashback into the shooting scene, Tove sees that she stands in front of room 2102. There’s a big visual focus on room numbers in general too.

Speaking of numbers, Maura’s room in the ship and the room in the mental hospital are both numbered 1011.

Virginia Wilson is confirmed to speak and understand English, French and Cantonese so far.

There are multiple closeups of Eyk’s family photo.

All of the photos on Daniel and Maura’s nightstand seem to be from the same day. One of the photos shows Elliot holding the bug, indicating that this day is the same as Elliot’s flashback. Also Maura and Elliot’s clothing in the photos seem similar to if not identical to their simulation outfits.

When Maura and Daniel kiss we see flashes of them together, the mental hospital, the wooden cross from the tomb, a brain and Maura walking down a corridor with a hammer.

Daniel says that if Maura doesn’t wake up, there will be nothing left to wake up for.

Elliot and Daniel’s simulation flashbacks both end with either of them holding Maura’s frock in the middle of the same faulty simulation that Henry is in.

Henry says Maura has fooled «all of us».

Elliot looks a LOT like Daniel

daniel tells her he’ll always be there when she wakes up. The person who seems to be “there,” in 2099, is Daniel

the sex scene is in daniels head, not hers. (And maybe Daniel doesn’t know who or what he is.) is Daniel a split persona? Is he creating and fighting ciaran’s simulation?

there seem to be repeated “fake families,” but the only person in eyck’a family he seems to remember specifically is Nína. Maybe Nína is the child Maura lost in one reality, or maybe she isn’t. (Worth noting “Maura” is a version of Mary as in. The virgin mother etc etc)

at least one version of Maura isn’t married or isn’t officially so - miss Maura Franklin

is this a loop? Is Maura her father or her mother? Is she Henry-Henry?

are we talking codes or computer programs?