REVIEW: The Terror, Season 1 Episode Five 'First Shot A Winner, Lads'

REVIEW: The Terror, Season 1 Episode Five 'First Shot A Winner, Lads' 

The previous episode of The Terror gave us an interesting insight into the events that were transpiring back on land. It was nice to see how John Franklin's loved ones were reacting to the news back at home of the missing expedition, as it gave us a unique perspective from characters who were not a part of the main narrative. This episode of The Terror, on the other hand, is almost exclusively within the confines of the good ship 'The Terror'.

It's a bit of a slow burner, this one. The episode spends a great deal of time with the crew of both ships firmly onboard the vessel known as 'The Terror', and very little traversing across the icy landscape. It's a good way for us as the viewer to get to know the various crew members better, although I did find my attention waning a tad as not much appeared to happen.

Finally the Inuit girl (Nive Nielsen) - known as Lady Silence - speaks - and it's not a surprise to learn that this is largely down to the efforts of Henry Goodsir (Paul Ready). He has been spending a great amount of time with the woman, learning her language in order to effectively hold a two way conversation. He has even composed a dictionary of her words in order to help the rest of the crew speak with her, and this is a development that seems to fit naturally with what we have been shown of Henry's character. He has always seemed like someone with a sense of dedication, who wants to understand and perhaps holds a greater degree of empathy than some of the others on the crew. Henry, to put it simply, is a good man.

It's through Lady Silence that we learn more about the bear creature, who it turns out is a spiritual entity called the Tuunbaq. Once again there are hints that Lady Silence has some degree of control over the creature, through the way she runs off whenever it disappears after an attack, and seems strangely defensive whenever asked about how they defeat it. There's clearly something odd going on here, and it's intriguing for sure.

Even without the Tuunaq, this is certainly one very doomed expedition, to say the least. Take Captain Francis Crozier (Jared Harris), for example. The man has a serious drinking problem, and it is even hinted through Lady Silence that he's holding suicidal thoughts. This isn't the kind of captain who can lead his crew to success, but more a broken individual who has somehow managed to lose his way. Even when James Fitzjames (Tobias Menzies), confronts him over stealing the spirits and engages in a minor tussle with Francis, you have to sympathise with this man who is clearly struggling a great deal. He makes for a tragic figure, and Jared Harris plays him brilliantly.

Then there's the death that occurs independently of the Tuunbaq. A man named Hornby collapses on an expedition across the icy landscape, and this is the result of a heart condition rather than any supernatural presence. It's terrible, and shows just how cruel the world can be without a malicious bear creature added into the mix.

When the bear turns up, we see more of the creature this week than before. This is something that I found a little disappointing, as I would rather they had kept it at little glimpses rather than showing us full body shots of the Tuunbaq. It doesn't help that the CGI is totally unconvincing and looks like something from 2002 rather than the current modern age. The creature was more intimidating when its presence was teased rather than actually shown to us attacking poor Thomas Blanky (Ian Hart).

Blanky ends up with an injured leg, which ends up being cut off in a hackneyed effort that seems more than a little brutal. They don't show too much of this, so thankfully it doesn't get particularly gruesome, but the imagination does convey a pretty nasty image of what it probably would have looked like had we seen more, and I suppose it shows how primitive life at sea would be.

Overall, this was a slow episode of the horror anthology. This instalment does a good job at developing the characters further, and establishing just what this creature is, but the decision to show the Tuunbaq is a disappointing move from a director who should know better, and the CGI effects are not very convincing.

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What are your thoughts on The Terror's fifth episode? Let me know in the comments section.