Archive 81 - General Discussion

[Quilt Fairy]

On 2/18/2022 at 4:13 PM, AnimeMania said:

How the Sound Design of Netflix’s ‘Archive 81’ Hints at Its Dark Secrets All Along

I've already watched the show twice and articles like this make me want to watch again and pay even more attention to stuff. 

Edited February 20, 2022 by Quilt Fairy

[krankydoodle]

Nooooo! First they increase the price, and now this!

Netflix Cancels Archive 81 After One Season

 

[bilgistic]

[Chaos Theory]

On 1/27/2022 at 9:44 PM, Chaos Theory said:

This was actually more enjoyable then I thought it would be.  Figured it would be a cheap Netflix product but it actually turned out to be a fairly well made atmospheric supernatural  thriller.   My one gripe is that it had a cliffhanger.  Would have enjoyed it alot more if it had been a one and done story or even the first of a possible anthology series.  I am just not sure it is good enough for a multi season series. Plus I just don’t trust Netflix when it comes to multiple season shows.  

Called it!    Kind of.   Disappointed on Netflix  for cancelling yet another show without an ending.  But then again at this point if you are not Ryan Murphy or Shonda Rhimes you really shouldnt end a season 1 show on Netflix with a cliffhanger.    

Edited March 27, 2022 by Chaos Theory

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

Called it!    Kind of.   Disappointed on Netflix  for cancelling yet another show without an ending.  But then again at this point if you are not Ryan Murphy or Shonda Rhimes you really should end a season 1 show on Netflix with a cliffhanger.    

yeah, pretty much why I cancelled Netflix. I'm sick of getting into a show like this one only to have it taken away without a truly satisfying conclusion. 

 

[Dreamawake719]

7 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

yeah, pretty much why I cancelled Netflix. I'm sick of getting into a show like this one only to have it taken away without a truly satisfying conclusion. 

 

Same. I've gotten to the point where I only look for "limited series" to watch so I know it is guaranteed to be wrapped up with a little bow. 

[millennium]

On 1/18/2022 at 8:44 PM, libgirl2 said:

Just finished it. It was left open ended but, damn, I enjoyed it. 

Very well done, IMO.   Brooding, atmospheric, strange, weird ... well-acted (Dina Shihabi deserves an award for her performance) ... the casting was very good.   The writer had a sense of humor too -- I LOL'ed when Dan wakes up at the end and the first thing he sees on TV is Kurt Loder.   (I think we're supposed to feel bad for Dan but personally I would love to go back to the 90s!)

I liked the numerous Lovecraftian elements ... the comet, the mold, the modern-day secret cult trying to give an outside entity entry to our universe, the statue of Key Largo (in the same squatting pose as the Cthulhu statue), the flashback to the 1920s (the period in which Lovecraft was writing).

I also enjoyed the art and art-collecting angle.  Thought Annabelle's sketches of Iris Vos were great (her wall doodles of Melody Pendras, not so much).   As a bibliophile I also have high praise for the prop department.   The occult books on Father Russo's bookshelf looked amazing.  Same for the incantation book Iris Vos was using.

At first it may seem disappointing that the series is cancelled, but Netflix may have done the show a favor.  If I have one complaint it's that at the end, the story swerved from slow, methodical weirdness to more traditional sci-fi "must rescue the damsel" adventure.   With the underlying mystery of the Visser now revealed, I suspect that a second season would have been short on atmosphere and innovation and heavier on a time-traveling Scooby gang of Dan, Mark, Melody, Bobbi, etc., fighting a Big Bad.

The ambiguous ending was perfect for a Lovecraftian story.   There aren't supposed to be happy or satisfying endings in this genre.  At best, contests end in a draw, with losses on both sides.   Or merely a temporary respite from whatever horror is still lurking.   Dan being stranded in the past is the price that had to be paid for Melody's rescue.   Does he find a way back to the present?  Does his presence in the past change the timeline and alter the futures of some characters?  Has he taken Melody's place in the story?   It's all left to the viewer to decide. 

Can't believe something this good was made by Netflix.

Edited August 30, 2022 by millennium

[CigarDoug]

Just finished the show, binged over a few days. I had some thoughts about the alternate dimension that Kaelego lives in. I love the idea of alternate dimensions/universes, but shows spend so much time breaking into them, they don't put a lot of thought into how those universes should look or be set up.

It doesn't make sense that this is a mirror universe, or an alternate timeline, with only minor differences. The compound where Dan is working... why would that compound be built, if the Vos Mansion and Visser Hotel were never burned in the other universe? But it appears that every place we see in the other dimension is pivotal to our story: The Vos Mansion, the Visser, the compound, Dan's childhood home.

My answer is, this is a pocket universe. It only contains bit and pieces of places relevant to the people looking in/visiting. Now, that makes sense, that Kaelego would simply construct spaces, illusions if you will, to trick the people he wants to keep there. We may have no idea of what the actual dimension looks like, it's just what Dan and Melodi see. Kind of like a holodeck of sorts, run by Kaelego.

I know the writers can't explore every single aspect, they are trying to tell a story. But what is Kaelego's goal? Does he want to break into our dimension? Does he want to draw people into his dimension? What does he get from it? If he kills people in our dimension, are their souls drawn into his? Lucas mentioned "batteries", as if everyone at the Vos Mansion was going to die in the fire as a result of the ceremony. He could see it, his sister could not, apparently. Or she didn't care. Plenty of stuff to chew on, but honestly a second season would have less to work with after these reveals.

[Bruinsfan]

I think I'm most interested in knowing what Davenport was trying to do. He claimed to be uninterested in either rescuing his brother or opening the door for Kalego. If that's true, why go to the trouble of setting up a remote compound riddled with surveillance devices and a secret underground replica of the ritual basements from the Voss Mansion and Visser apartments? Why install the Kalego idol there? Why collect blood samples, apparently from numerous Baldang witches? Whatever his goal, he was clearly willing to sacrifice people like Dan and his predecessor to achieve it.