REVIEW: The Terror, Season 1 Episode Two 'Gore'

 REVIEW: The Terror, Season 1 Episode Two 'Gore'

There's something to be said about the fear of the unknown. If used effectively, it can ramp up the chill more than actively showing the threat up close. Steven Spielberg knew this with Jaws, which expertly used the power of suggestion over actually showing you the threat up close, and Ridley Scott does this well here too.

We instantly get a sense of the foreboding when Captain Francis (Jared Harris) talks of how much of a disaster the expedition has been for the ships and their crew. He seems downbeat on the whole thing, which is hardly surprising given that they have hit a large, seemingly endless block of ice, rendering their ships motionless.

Their crew, rather than sailing through uncharted territory, have even had to resort to using their feet. There's something unusual and rather unnerving about seeing a ship expedition forced to walk and climb, not because they have reached land, but because the water they would traverse is frozen solid. It doesn't feel right, and it's something that instantly unsettles the viewer.

It's in this episode that we first feel the bear's presence, and the great thing about this encounter is the fact that we don't see it properly. There's no close up shot, or extreme zoom over to the creature's body, we only catch a glimpse from a distance. It's such a smart move by Ridley Scott to make it such an unseen presence, as it allows the imagination to play riot, and imagine the ferocity of the creature. No CGI would be able to effectively recreate what can be displayed in the mind's eye.

Another good decision is to interject events with the bear with stormy weather. It's always a wise choice in the horror genre to use these sort of climate conditions to evoke mood and atmosphere, as it creates some arresting visuals and sells the terror of the events which are occurring. Flashes of lightning across a blue sky, after all, says more about how we are supposed to feel in a given scene than if the weather amounted to little more than a calm wind.

The tragedy of this episode whereby one of the men mistakes an Inuit man (Apayata Kotierk) for a polar bear is undoubtedly one of the darkest parts of this episode, and shows the deep paranoia that is driving the crew mates of these ships during this precise time. These are men who are cold, afraid and not thinking straight, and so it is very easy for accidents to occur. His poor daughter (Nive Nielsen) just totally breaks down, and you totally feel her pain when she is unsure whether she can trust these men who shot her father, even when doctor Henry Goodsir (Paul Ready) is trying to help.

Overall this episode did an excellent job at building up the tension and establishing the threat for the rest of the season. I hope Ridley Scott continues to take the 'Jaws' approach of only teasing the bear presence, as the psychological effect on the mind is always worth more than seeing the threat up close.

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