REVIEW: The Terror, Season 1 Episode One 'Go For Broke'

 REVIEW: The Terror, Season 1 Episode One 'Go For Broke'

Over the last few years, it has become a commonly held view that television is becoming increasingly more like cinema. With bigger stories and greater budgets gracing the small screen, it is no longer a requirement to sit in a darkened room with a bunch of strangers in order to see a narrative on a grander scale. So it's interesting to note that this U.S. drama series currently being broadcast on BBC2, The Terror, is produced by none other than the legendary film director Ridley Scott.

The Terror follows the real life story of two ships that were lost at sea in 1846. The HMS Erebus and the titular Terror were seeking the Northwest Passage when they encountered icy waters, and mysteriously disappeared.

It's a strong premise for a TV Series, as it evokes that sense of mystery that we all love in a piece of fiction; the idea of the unknown. A historical event that remained unresolved means one thing, that anything could have happened, and so the only limit for this series is the imagination of the writers.

In this first episode we are introduced to our lead characters, commander James Fitzjames (Tobias Menzies) and captains Sir John Franklin (Ciaran Hinds) and Francis Crozier (Jared Harris), and their personalities could not be more different. Whereas James seems the pompous sort who dreams of glory, Francis seems much more reserved, and has this hidden anger that flares when things do not appear to be going his way, whereas Sir John will do whatever it takes to rally his crew. All three actors do a great job in their roles, as you would expect from such well-established names within the industry, and bring a great deal of life to the protagonists of this tale.

Go For Broke conveys a very foreboding sense of the ocean. There is this great feeling throughout that life on the open sea is extremely unforgiving, with everything from crew members coughing up blood and falling overboard plaguing the voyage for the northwest passage.

It's certainly not a voyage for the faint-hearted either. One particularly gruesome moment sees David (Alfie Kingsnorth) being dissected by the ship's surgeon Doctor Stanley (Alistair Petrie). The sequence sees Stanley cutting David open and going as far as to move guts from his body, something which - it's fair to say - requires a very strong stomach in order to sit through.

It's Henry Collins (Trystan Gravelle) who best sums up this episode's lingering atmosphere, however, as he takes a deep dive into the ocean and returns looking traumatised after having seen the dead body of the man who had fallen overboard early into the episode. It's a brutal moment, seeing the psychological impact that seeing such a disturbing sight has on this member of the crew, and something which helps to establish the tone that this series is clearly going for.

Overall, Go For Broke is a decent start for this drama series. The episode establishes a foreboding atmosphere for the crew of the two ships lost at sea, however if you are a squeamish soul around more gory elements this may be one to avoid.

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