Article first published as TV Review: THE TERROR on Seat42F.
THE TERROR comes to television at a time
when there are a great many “true story” dramas on television. Given
that this show is about an actual boat, two boats really, called Terror
and Erebus, that went missing in the Arctic Sea in the 1840s, it is a
logical conclusion to make that the events portrayed actually happened,
at least in part. Especially because quite a bit was found from these
lost ships.
However, the AMC series is not claiming
to be true, nor does it take many of its cues from real life. It is an
adaptation of a novel, also called The Terror,
by Dan Simmons, in which supernatural horror mixes with reality. This
historical fiction is meant to be a good companion for The Walking Dead,
still the network’s (and scripted television’s) most popular show.
Whether it’s scary or gory enough to run in those circles, well, you can
make that determination yourself.
The cast is headlined by some familiar
faces. Ciaran Hinds (Game of Thrones) plays Captain John Franklin, the
man in charge of the expedition, whose poor decision gets the ships
stuck in ice before the first hour is over. He is assisted by a bunch of
officers, primary first mate Francis Crozier (Jared Harris, The Crown)
and second mate James Fitzjames (Tobias Menzies, Outlander). The show is
slow to really distinguish many of the characters as individuals, but
these three do lend it some heft that will buy the series some time to
find its footing. Though I couldn’t tell you much else about anyone else
in the cast.
The tone of the piece is pretty cool.
The cold is well communicated in both design and performance, likely to
give some in the audience chills just from watching. There’s also an
underlying feeling of dread from start to finish of the first hour,
giving you chills of a different sort. The isolated, dark, desolate
locale the ships are traveling through effectively sets the right mood.
It feels like there’s always something lurking around the corner, like
death could occur at any time. And it occasionally does.
Without having read the novel, I do not
know what is coming, other than that all hands were lost (going by
historical events). Some people may be hesitant to get too attached to
any of the characters, knowing their demise is certain. But without
knowing who will go and when, THE TERROR is good at building tension,
keeping you on the edge of your seat. Which is the point.
THE TERROR doesn’t seem to have much of a
mission beyond that. Since it’s a fictional take, it doesn’t inform the
viewer. The pacing is slow and character development seems minimal. The
focus is less on building a fully realized world and cast of characters
than having some highly qualified performers fill screen time until the
series gets around to killing them off. The names at the top of the
cast list (the three above) are likely to be some of the last ones just
for that reason.
And that’s why I have trouble
recommending THE TERROR. I enjoyed it, sure, and I may watch more of it
simply because I like both history and the actors. But I don’t think the
writers are really giving us a full story. It’s a valid choice to write
for the situation, not the players, but it makes for a far less
compelling narrative. Will anyone even care when any of the leads depart
this life? I’m not sure. Other shows offer more, so that knocks this
one down the priority list, even though it does expertly set a tone.
THE TERROR airs Mondays on AMC.