Netflix ‘1670’ Season 3 Review - A Clever Satire That's Running Out of Tricks

To say that 1670 is a show devoid of ambition would be discourteous, given the amount of energy poured into its costumes, production design, and its "I don't give a fuck about historical accuracy" mania. The series revels in bringing the late 17th century into the 21st (or is it vice versa?) through topics like climate change and activities like gambling in a casino. The third season, in that respect, even more brazenly destroys the illusion of watching a story set in the past. It invokes the iPhone, the Constitution, space travel, and horoscopes. None of it is a wink; Season 3 strenuously rubs your face in its anachronism. That approach felt fresh and inventive in the first season. By now, though, even the inventive production design has lost much of its allure (there's a library on wheels—or something like it—filled with books and topped with a rotating brain).

1670 is a series bursting with color. Season 1 drew you in with its wit and vibrant imagery (I still remember that ambulance with a chicken in place of a siren). The two subsequent seasons, though, proved to be more misses than hits. One welcome decision this time is not to overwhelm viewers with an endless parade of elaborate visual gags. Season 3 instead numbs the senses by throwing jokes at the wall at a breakneck pace without caring whether any of them stick or not. When one does, it earns a smile rather than a laugh. Consider these samples: Aniela (Martyna Byczkowska) puts her fist on her chest to cheer Jan Paweł (Bartłomiej Topa) up by trying to tell him that he has a heart, but he replies that his biology isn't very strong. The "1670 equivalent" of forwarding WhatsApp messages to other contacts for good fortune is making multiple copies of Muhammad's letter. A Tatar leader delivers a motivational speech about how he rose to power by waking up early every morning to read books. He focused on the journey, not the destination.

Despite being densely packed with comical touches (a background extra blows bubbles at a castle), Season 3 mostly leaves the viewer feeling enervated. The visuals lack kinetic energy; many scenes drag without really moving forward, such as the one in which the nobles debate between two seers and then between two "gifts" for the Tatars. Everything culminates in a conflict between aristocracy and democracy, but the anarchic rebellion evokes little beyond the creators' noble intentions. The cast, as always, remains committed to the show's aims, though there is one complaint here as well: the utter waste of Katarzyna Herman's talent. Her Zofia is reduced to looking gloomy and lying on the floor. Given how delightfully she sparkles whenever she's given the chance to do more, you can't help but feel she deserved better this season.

Then again, as someone who genuinely liked the first season, this viewer, too, deserved a better version of this mockumentary satire. Or perhaps 1670 was always a one-trick pony. Maybe it reached its peak the moment it debuted, and all it can do now is repeat itself. If the series does return for a fourth season, I hope it proves me wrong. Invalidate my theory; hit me with everything you've got. Nothing would please me more.