The Terror

The first season of "The Terror" is superb. I binge watched it over three nights and I regard it as essential viewing. There are many great reviews here so I won't bother with much detail but it is brilliant TV. Marvelous characters and a great story set in the eerie Arctic. However, I must say the second season is a completely different story that is poor viewing and is so bad that you should simply give it a miss. So as far as ratings go, season one deserves 10/10 and season two barely deserves 2/10, but the first season is so good it makes the average 9/10.

This is a fictionalization of Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition to find the northwest passage through the Arctic in 1845-1848. He has two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, filled with the latest technology. Captain Francis Crozier (Jared Harris) piloted the Terror and led the expedition after the death of Franklin (Ciarán Hinds).

This is a very good ten episode limited series. When I first heard about this series, I feared the portrayal of the native population as the villains of the story. Historically, Lady Franklin with supporter Dickens had made the natives savages while disputing the report from explorer John Rae. It would have been tragic to continue that old colonial attitude. While this has some supernatural elements, the drama is the crew itself. There is a great villain and a very tense story. The outcome is not in doubt but the journey is fascinating. The isolated atmosphere is strangely haunting. There is harrowing action. There are great characters and more importantly, there are great actors. This is a good little surprise from AMC.

ADD: Apparently, its original success allowed the show to turn from a limited series to an anthology series. The second season has new showrunners and a ghost story about the WWII Japanese-American internment. I like the unique Japanese culture. I like the moment in time. It has a feel of a mixture of the J-horror and a modern slasher horror. It does meander a bit and the story would probably be much more compelling in a shorter span. It's a step down from the first season.

Based on the book by Dan Simmons, The Terror gives a somewhat fiction account of the real-life doomed 1845 Franklin Expedition to find the Northwest passage - with an added element of supernatural danger.

Having watched the entire season I feel a little cheated by the final episode. The atmospheric tension throughout the first 9 seemed to vanish as episode 10 progressed, in a race to get to the punchline with the little screen time they had left - and the rushed punchline became a total anticlimax. They strayed a little from the book, which happens, but, you can't help but think that with a little more time, and some better editing, the finale could have been so much better.

Going into the series with no expectations or impressions from the novel, and barely reading about the series at all before binge watching it, i was expecting a high paced master and commander type of series. And while it's set in roughly the same time period, it's unlike anything i was expecting. It's quite suspenseful and chilling. Much thanks to the great acting, casting and details. The ambient soundtrack (R.I.P Marcus Fjellström) is fantastic and really helps with the eerie feeling. There were some moments it made me feel really at unease. Right up there with the top series for sure. Well worth a watch.

This miniseries about two crews looking for a passage from England to India and China through the frozen north is very promising. I watched the first installment last night and was impressed with the acting, story and characters. I will watch future episodes in the dark. My tv doesn't have the best picture and I feel I may have missed some very subtle moments. It is beautifully filmed and the acting is top notch! I just wish I had a better tv! This series deserves it.