The Terror is 2018 television drama/horror series about the crew of a Royal Naval expedition searching for the Arctic’s treacherous Northwest Passage who discovers instead a monstrous predator.
Last night was the premiere of AMC’s new show, The Terror. AMC has had a very successful track record of churning out hit shows, including such classics as The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad, and they could easily have another success on their hands here. With a top notch cast including character actor greats Ciaran Hinds and Jared Harris, if the story of the show holds up we could be on the brink of witnessing something special.
Part 1 – Go For Broke
The show begins by giving the audience some history about two English ships in the 1800s, The Terror and the Erebus, that went on an expedition to find a path through the Arctic; both of which vanished forever. We then see two British sailors talking to an Eskimo and inquiring about the whereabouts of a few of their companions. The Eskimo tell them that they were attacked by a creature, and that they said never to come back here.
Flash backward 4 years and we see these ships in the first year of their voyage. The captains of said ships are Francis Crozier (Jared Harris) and John Franklin (Ciaran Hinds), with James Fitzjames (Tobias Menzies) acting as second in command. Francis is rather reluctant and weary of their trip, whereas John and James feel much more optimistic and seem somewhat at odds with Francis.
The voyage is undoubtedly taking its toll on the crew. We see a young boy die of illness, and another member of the crew falls overboard, succumbing almost instantly to the icy depths. Due to the decreasing temperature and increasing thickness of ice, Francis suggests that they take a different route and abandon The Erebus, which has been damaged. He says that instead they could sail around the area deemed King Williamland, and see if it’s indeed an island. However, John believes that the ship can go forward and commands that they continue their passage.
A few days later we are shown how truly grueling passing through the Arctic is, as the crew is seen digging by hand and using dynamite to try and clear a path. Despite their efforts it is not long until they are completely frozen in their position for the duration of winter. Due to the standstill, they send out some teams on foot to explore King Williamland.
Part 2 – The Gore
In this episode we start off by catching up with one of the expeditions who are on foot. They are marking some of the areas that they come across for future expeditions. Upon returning to their campsite they find that it’s been destroyed. We then see a flashback that sheds some light on reasoning for the potential animosity between Francis and John. It appears that Francis was vying for the affection of John’s niece, to which John said that Francis was not welcome in their family. Francis also happened to overhear John saying so.
We then jump back to the expedition on foot and the men are being hit with massive hail, and believe they’re being tracked by a bear. In an effort to protect their camp and kill the bear, they accidentally shoot an elderly Eskimo who was near their camp with his daughter. Shortly after, the crew surgeon, Harry Goodsir (Paul Ready), witnesses their lieutenant, Graham Gore (Tom Weston-Jones), being attacked by what looks like a giant polar bear.
They bring the Eskimos back to their ships where Harry can attempt to save the wounded man, but he ultimately perishes. Harry then describes to the captains what he witnessed, and tells them that their search for Gore was in vain. In talking to the Eskimo daughter, Francis is told by her that if they do not leave, they are going to disappear.
Personally, I loved the first episode. Any great suspense movie or TV show needs to follow a pretty simple methodology at the beginning (in my opinion) – introduce the characters, help us understand what we’re getting ourselves into, and hook us with a taste of the horrors to come. In the first episode we are introduced to all of the major players in the game and given some background on the animosity that goes deeper than their disagreements on navigating. We are given some great insight into just how bad the conditions that are characters are dealing with are, seeing four people perish right off the bat. And of course, we get a glimpse of our potential monster. A man is attacked by what could be a giant polar bear, but it looked as though he was grasped by more of a claw. We only got a taste, but it was plenty to have me ready to tune in next week. Some may view the first episode as slow or boring, but I thought it was masterful.
The premise certainly had me excited for this show, but the cast is what took it over the top. Jared Harris, Ciaran Hinds and Tobias Menzies may not be household names for most, but they are phenomenal character actors. The fact that they were all brought in together for this show generated some real excitement. It’s not uncommon that a show would be able to loop in one of them at this point in their careers, but getting all three feels like a major success. It’s safe to say that the quality of acting won’t be an issue we run into.
At the end of the day, the real concern here will be whether or not the story is intriguing. The writing in the first two episodes was great. It flowed, it felt reminiscent of the times, and didn’t feel like the kind of forced dialogue that is all too common in modern television. We’ll need to see what is truly going on with our abominable snowman and keep our fingers crossed that cheesy graphics don’t ruin anything for us. Having said that, if Stranger Things has taught us anything, it’s that an amazing story, loveable characters and great writing can help us overlook subpar CGI.