The very previous episode had an incredible plot revelation that no one could have predicted, and established the series as an amazing scifi mindbending show with meticulous and genius writing. But writing alone does not make something a masterpiece hence why I only gave that episode a 9.
Sic Mundus Creatus Est, in my own opinion, is a genuine masterpiece. No other TV show has ever had an episode of this calibre in only the first season. This episode is like Breaking Bad's Ozymandias, but at the beginning of a show instead of at the end. Now obviously it's not as good as Ozymandias buuuuuut my point is that the whole episode is scene after scene of moving and powerful moments, and more emotionally charged than it has any right to be for such an early episode.
This is also the episode that includes the Martha Ariadne play scene, which is among a great number of people's favourite scenes (not mine though) and is one of the most heavily analyzed scenes in the show. And that was before s2 and s3 came out. Now more than ever especially after watching the entire show, we can see just how important and full of foreshadowing that one scene is and just how well it ties (pun intended) into the core themes. That scene is almost irrefutably a master stroke and contributes towards this episode being the masterpiece it is.
Like (almost) all episodes in the show, it has a music montage scene that features one of the nicest songs in the whole series. Too bad the scene is short and doesn't show a lot, but nonetheless it is still beautiful. Dark has a knack for utilising the perfect song, almost as uncannily as the casting.
Overall this episode is indeed a masterpiece and is series 1's magnum opus.
Sic Mundus Creatus Est, in my own opinion, is a genuine masterpiece. No other TV show has ever had an episode of this calibre in only the first season. This episode is like Breaking Bad's Ozymandias, but at the beginning of a show instead of at the end. Now obviously it's not as good as Ozymandias buuuuuut my point is that the whole episode is scene after scene of moving and powerful moments, and more emotionally charged than it has any right to be for such an early episode.
This is also the episode that includes the Martha Ariadne play scene, which is among a great number of people's favourite scenes (not mine though) and is one of the most heavily analyzed scenes in the show. And that was before s2 and s3 came out. Now more than ever especially after watching the entire show, we can see just how important and full of foreshadowing that one scene is and just how well it ties (pun intended) into the core themes. That scene is almost irrefutably a master stroke and contributes towards this episode being the masterpiece it is.
Like (almost) all episodes in the show, it has a music montage scene that features one of the nicest songs in the whole series. Too bad the scene is short and doesn't show a lot, but nonetheless it is still beautiful. Dark has a knack for utilising the perfect song, almost as uncannily as the casting.
Overall this episode is indeed a masterpiece and is series 1's magnum opus.