Tribes of Europa Recommendation and Ending Discussion. It’s no secret that Dark is really big here on THiNC. I mean, yeah, and yeah, and yeah…. I think something like 5 to 10% of my traffic in the past few years has come directly from just a handful of Dark posts. So, yes, when the producers that created Dark, Wiedemann & Berg, craft a new television show, I’m obviously going to take a look and see what’s going on. And when Quirin Berg of W&B comes out and says that Tribes of Europa was another obvious selection for Netflix, one that, similarly to Dark, should have broad international appeal? We should all take stock and see what might be happening here.
“If you tell a story right, if it’s really strong, it will travel and grow. The beauty with ‘Tribes of Europa’ is that it’s very organically rooted; it’s very local. At the same time it is global because it’s about Europe as a continent; it’s about different tribes and naturally different backgrounds, different languages. I think it’s very rare to find that kind of idea and setup where so organically those things come together.”
Quirin Berg
So what is Tribes of Europa all about? What is going on here, and is it worth your time?
Well, apparently, Philip Koch, the creator of the show, originally came up with the idea for “Tribes of Europa” in 2016, with Britain’s referendum to exit the European Union. Koch found the entire political ordeal extraordinarily shocking. And with that germinated seed that he began thinking about a bifurcated, even a poly-furcated, Europe and what would cause that to happen… what would that look like? Tribes of Europa tracks three siblings from an unknown forest tribe, who struggle to stay alive after some sort of advanced technology crashes into their neck of the woods. The year is 2074, and the story runs after Europe has been hit by a Black December years before. An apocalyptic shattering of the continent (and globe?) when the power blinks off suddenly. The tribes we encounter are each as unique as the next. Some are violently despotic and horrific – The Crows. You have the Origines, the tribe where Elja, Liv and Kiano, who live a simple life, disregard all technology, living a more Amish lifestyle. The Crimsons that are a militaristic society, hellbent on recreating the old world of Europe. And as the show progresses we discover the various tribes and their distinct personalities.
Personally, I was 100% in because of Dark. Not going to lie. And I stayed because of Dark. But, the show actually did a few things that really helped the series dodge multiple bullets headed straight for its head. The main worry? Hunger Games and the plight of modern YA drivel. You know, the whole, post-apocalyptic, kill or be killed games? Yeah. Tribes of Europa heads, right, towards, that, cliff, and doesn’t even hesitate. And yet, they found a way to make this whole post apocalyptic retread work. Just trust me on this one. It’s a little bumpy. It’s a little too ambitious. And yet, the sets are glorious. The CGI is really very good. And the biggest concern was that they bit off more than they could chew in only six 40-minute episodes. But you want to know the trick? The producers are aiming for 18 or 24 shows. That’s how. That’s the trick. That much is obvious.
Here, have a trailer. Watch this, and then, if you haven’t seen it yet, you are going to have to leave. Why? Because I’m going to walk through the series, episode by episode, then we will be able to discuss where we think the show is going after episode 6. Because if you have watched the show, that is what you are thinking about. A) Did Netflix extend Tribes of Europa to Season 2? B) What the heck happened at the end of Tribes of Europa episode 6? C) Where is season two of Tribes of Europa going to go?
Tribes of Europa Episode Walkthrough
Okay, once again, please keep in mind, we are diving into spoilers from here on out. Fair enough? Great. But I will say that the show is worth your time, and you can watch it, starting with episode one, right here.
Tribes of Europa – Episode #1 – We learn quickly at the beginning of episode one, that all of society, as we know it anyway, has completely broken down. We follow along within the Origines tribe, who – as I said before – reject technology, live peacefully in seclusion, there in the black forest of Germany. When, out of the blue, an Atlantian spacecraft crashes near their outpost. What is an Atlantian? No idea. Who are the Atlantians? Great question – I’m still unsure even after finishing the season. And, I can guarantee you, season two will deal a lot with the Atlantians. But, what we do know is that their technology is much more advanced than the rest of the world’s. And, one of the most sought after technological devices is an Atlantian Cube. And it is because of the Atlantian ship crashing nearby that endangers the Origines, their settlement and their way of life.
Soon after the crash, and the discovery of the pilot and the ship, the Origines are being hunted by the Crows. You know, the maleviolent (You know, malevolently violent?? Oh, never mind.) society that captures slaves, grinds them to nubs, and then does it all over again? Yeah, those guys, arrive and begin systematically imprisoning and murdering the people of the Origines tribe. The children’s father, the leader of the tribe, and Kiano are captured. Elja? He has a chat with the pilot of the craft, wherein the pilot basically bequeaths the cube to Elja, bonding it to him, imprinting him on the cube somehow. (Which, I assumed immediately that it meant that we’d be doing the Terminator 2 thing here. Which, is sort of true? But isn’t thoroughly played out like I thought it would be.) And their sister Liv? has been stabbed and left for dead. So, we have three children, and all three are going in different directions. And it’s a highly ambitious plot to assume we are going to get them all back together again in six episodes. Yeah, that doesn’t happen.
Tribes of Europa – Episode #2 – And this is where I found the show finally picking up. Moses. Elja meets Moses…… wait for it, who is played by Oliver Masucci. Waiting a beat. Yes? ULRICH NIELSEN! From Dark, people! And his acting here is fantastic. He is funny, idiosyncratic, and the stereotypical technology/junk collector. Replete with facial ticks, funny sayings, and self-interested motivations. Moses, in my opinion, makes the show. Where everyone else is horrified by the apocalypse, Moses has figured out a way to make a better life for himself in spite of the chaos. Anyway, Elja and Moses meet, and Moses rescues Elja from a hunting party searching for the cube. Meanwhile, Liv, recovers from the chaos of the Crow infestation, and ends up capturing a female Crow named Grieta. (The first time a Crow has been taken captive apparently. They are trained to commit suicide when caught.) And it is through this Crow that Liv learns that her family has been marched to Brahtok, the Crow fortress in Berlin. And that is when we see that Liv’s only possible course forward will be to head to Brahtok in order to rescue her brothers and her father. Impenetrableness be damned.
Tribes of Europa – Episode #3 – So, in order to convince Grieta that she only wants to rescue her family, and that she really isn’t selling out to the Crimson tribe, Liv breaks Grieta out of the Crimson camp. On their way to Brahtok, Grieta let’s slip the way to get into the city, which was via the only non-flooded train tunnel. But the moment Grieta shares this key defense detail, Liv alerts the Crimson soldiers via a flare, and they are both brought back to the Crimson headquarters.
In Brahtok, we follow Kiano as he tries to survive in the slave world of brutality and chaos. He is put to work helping to manufacture wolk, a drug of choice for the Crows that is extraordinarily valuable. One night, Kiano watches as a few of the other slaves are smuggling wolk to Crows. When Kiano tries to let Lord Varvara know of the treachery, he ends up fighting with a few of the other slaves. And is ultimately condemned to death by Varvara.
Tribes of Europa – Episode #4 – Moses (yes! we are back to Moses again!!) and Elja, after having visited with an old love of Moses’, tells Elja that he will bring him and the cube to Bracker, and old “friend” of Moses’ who can help them fix the cube. But as they are all three about to leave together, a Crow search party attacks and Amena stays behind to slow them down.
Back at Brahtok, Kiano’s life is spared at the last second when she discovers that what he was telling her was true. That a few of the slaves really were stealing the drug as she has found some of it in one of the other slave’s intestines. Thankfully for Kiano, his life gets decidedly better when he is elevated to one of Varvara’s personal slaves. Which, ultimately leads to Kiano being forced to have sex with Varvara, and more importantly, to his witnessing his first Boj. A Boj being a fight to the death – and the winner being allowed to become a Crow, and elevated from the position of slave.
Liv and David, the son of The Father, the head of the Crimson tribe, are planning an assault of the Crows stronghold at Brahtok when their assault is stopped by a betrayal of one of David’s lieutenants who informs his father, General Cameron, of the plan. General places David under arrest and informs him that he will be executed for treason. Cameron has decided that a peace agreement with the Crows is the best way to progress to a unified Europa. (Which, I gotta say, was one of the dumbest jukes of the entire show. I get it now, each of the three threads needs to be self contained… but come on.)
Tribes of Europa – Episode #5 – Back with the Crimsons again, Liv brings David food, and he tells her that she needs to kill his father. That there is no way her mission of saving her family is possible without Cameron’s death. She’s given poison to put in his drink but ultimately decides against it when General Cameron offers to trade the captive Crow for Liv’s family. (Cause this is a brilliant plan. The Crows are the most vile and horrific clan of people to ever grace the surface of the planet or anything.)
Kiano asks Lord Varvara for a Boj so that he can be free, but apparently this is forbidden, and Varvara humiliates him in combat. Varvara is pushing for a promotion from the leader of the Crows, Yvar but is ultimately denied the promotion. And when Kiano tries to comfort her for the lack of promotion, Varvara tells him to kill himself. But at the last second she saves him, and informs him that he will receive his request for a Boj. Because, duh.
Moses and Elja barely beat the Crow trackers to Moses’ friend Bartok’s bar. Bartok is a broker in valuable old world technology. And Moses offers piles of technology in order to get a new fusion drive for the Atlantian cube. But Bartok steals the cube instead. When Elja shows Bartok that he has bonded with the cube, and shows him that a black swarm is coming there way, and that unless he delivers the cube to the Atlantian Ark the world is going to end (Or something, I’m a little unclear on the black swarm, and the sequelization of the world ending, and all that. But we’ll get to all of that in good time.) Bartok agrees to let them go. That though is when the Crow search party arrives, and, sensing danger, the Atlantian cube morphs into a hand canon of sorts.
— Pause For A Second —
Now, we are literally 40 minutes away from the end of season 1 and where are we? We have Elja and Moses running with the cube… miles and miles away from Brahtok, which is where Kiano and his father are. And we have Liv, still outside the impenetrable city. The threads are way too far apart for this thing to be get anywhere near the resolution we know needs to happen. So, what the heck? How are we getting the siblings and the father back together again? And how are we going to see any sort of daylight from this horrific world we find ourselves in? Here’s a clue, we don’t. Let’s continue…
Tribes of Europa – Episode #6 – Liv goes with General Cameron and his military unit to the border of Brahtok. He then attempts to use Grieta as a trade for a truce as well as for Liv’s family. But almost immediately, General Cameron is shot in the head, and a large swath of his men die right away. Liv gets Grieta out of the random firing, and safely into one of the side buildings. Which is where David finds them. (Oh, did I mention that Liv tells one of David’s leaders how to break him out of the jail he was in? Yeah, that happened back there somewhere…) In a bit of a tiff that Liv didn’t kill his father, and that a random Crow bullet had to do it instead, David allows Liv to go free, but is none to happy about it. At which point, Liv encounters a member of the Femen tribe. (???)
Back to Kiano, he is prepared for his Boj, and is excited to finally get his chance at freedom. When he walks into the ring though, he discovers that his father will be his opponent. Refusing to fight, Kiano obviously would rather die. But his father? Kiano’s father knows that Kiano must kill him in order for his son to go on living. And during the “fight” Kiano “accidentally” stabs his father in the heart. After which Lord Varvara tells Kiano her real original name (Sophia… you know, like wisdom (???)) and then has him prepped for his initiation.
Back at Brackers, the Crow contingent is met with Elja’s new powerful hand canon and saves Moses who was about to be executed. Saved, Moses thinks that Elja was just lying to Bracker’s pub about a black swarm in order to just keep him from stealing the cube. But when Elja makes it clear he was telling the truth, Moses flips out because he thought they were in it together to sell the cube. Following the cube’s navigational directions to the ark, Elja and Moses arrive at a desert and lake when the cube’s power conveniently die. Pissed, Elja chucks the cube into the lake, but it hovers over the lake, and some large cube surfaces out of the lake. The two go, and climb into the now opened cube, at which point, the cube closes and re-submerges with Elja and Moses inside. END OF SEASON 1.
Tribes of Europa Recommendation and Ending Discussion
Remember up at the top, when I expressed my fears that Tribes of Europa was going to be just another post-apocalyptic YA Hunger Games retread? Well, it sort of headed that direction, but then an interesting thing happened. Each of these three story-lines goes in so vastly different directions that I’m very curious as to where redemption will be found. For example, Liv befriends a Crow and works really hard to fulfill her promises to her. Elja? He befriends a selfish trader, and goes his entirely own direction. But the most interesting thread is Kiano. He kills his own father, and embraces this new Crow life. We seem to be told that he is just looking for his freedom and that he won’t be beholden to the Crow’s horrific way of life, but we see that he identifies with Lord Varvara’s advice to embrace the hatred, that it will protect him from the pain. I mean he did just murder his own father after all. This kid needs a counselor. No?
But most significantly is the question about the end of the world and that fateful Black December. What happened? How did the world end? I mean, beyond all the power going out? And what is this black swarm that is coming their direction out of the east? We were hinted at the existence of the black swarm all the way back in episode 1 or 2 weren’t we? And we get a much better picture of the black death coming their way in the final episode.
I personally think that the Atlantians are just a final alcove of modern humanity… modern technology (we’ve already seen their advanced ships, suits, and cubes), modern community and social order. I believe that Elja and Moses are going to have to find a way to convince the Atlantians that the outside world is worth saving. That the black swarm (which is probably some modern technological bio-warfare virus of some sort) should be stopped, and that they shouldn’t just let it ravage the depraved planet. I also think Kiano has really flipped. That he will challenge and beat Yvar as leader of the Crows… setting him up for a decision as to which direction he should go with his life. Redemption or embracing the anger fully. And Liv and the Femens (oh, my lord, such an awful name – maybe Femens means something in German? Please, tell me this is the case.) will struggle to search for a way into the city, while simultaneously hunt for her other brother as well.
Ultimately though, we know that the story of The Tribes of Europa is all about the reunion of Liv’s family. Sure, they may save the planet from the black plague, and avoid death multiple times along the way… but there is no plot point more clear and essential than this reunion. Now, will Kiano allow it to happen? I have no idea. But I will say this… while The Tribes of Europa isn’t the greatest show I’ve watched… I still would like to know how it will ultimately resolve itself. You? What do you think about the show?
Edited by: CY
