The latest shows from the creators of 1899 — dark — is currently streaming on Netflix. However, some people watching it may wonder why it feels a little bit. off.
My wife brought this up after seeing the show at her mother’s house.
If you’re watching 1899, you definitely can’t watch the dub.
Please let me explain. For some people, Netflix’s dialogue options seem to default to the “English – Dubbed” setting for 1899.
Some people prefer to watch foreign language programs with dubbing instead of subtitles, which is usually fine, but with 1899 things are a little different.
1899 is a mystery show set on a passenger ship en route from Europe to America, with characters from different countries speaking different languages. , some characters speak Portuguese. Some characters, like the captain, speak multiple languages. He most of the time alternates speaking English to the passengers and German to the crew.
This is where things get weird.
In dubbing, English-speaking characters have original actors. Characters speaking other languages are dubbed in English by various actors. It’s weird. Sounds strange, feels strange. the worst.
Worse, it makes most of the show irrelevant.
Without getting into spoiler territory, there are sections of the show where certain characters don’t understand a significant part of what’s happening on the ship because it’s told in another language. A character heard the German captain explaining something in German, but did not understand. She later tracks down the captain and has him explain in English.With a dub that makes absolutely no sense since everyone on the ship speaks English!
If the show were only set in places where everyone spoke the same language (eg Dirk where everyone spoke German), no such confusion would exist in dubbing. In 1899, however, there is constant confusion as different languages are spoken. All of that is lost when you don’t realize which characters speak which language.
Bottom line, if you prefer dubbing over subtitles, I’m not judging you! But this time, unfortunately, this show only makes sense with subtitles.
How to change 1899 to subtitles
It’s pretty easy. Once the show has started, use your remote to click the small speech bubble option at the bottom of the screen. From there, I recommend changing it to what you see in the image above. [Original]subtitles should be “English” [CC]”Obviously there are people who need the ‘English dub’ for a variety of reasons (perhaps they are blind), but I would recommend sticking with those options if possible.
Enjoy the show either way!