‘The Terror’: A Snow Day Show that Crosses the Natural and the Supernatural

A promotional image for ‘The Terror,’ a show that tells the story of Sir John Franklin, the leader of the Franklin Expedition. The Expedition’s aim was to find the Northwest Passage, a trade route through the Arctic Circle. It set sail in May of 1845 and was last seen two months later. Photo credits: AMC

Edie Berke, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn

As the ice and snow of the past several weeks have shown us, it’s easy for cabin fever to take hold after so many days at home. One way to fight it is to escape into a binge-worthy TV show, one that captivates you and transports you beyond your snow-covered house. One of my favorite shows won’t transport you, though. It will cement you in your icy reality. AMC’s “The Terror” is a historical supernatural horror series that speculates on the fate of the infamous 1845 Franklin Expedition, lost to the Arctic and time.

The show’s plot follows the crew of two British Royal Navy ships as they attempt to find the Northwest Passage, a speculated trade route through the Arctic Circle. However, as the ships become stuck and the sailors are forced to spend several years on the barren ice, they face dangers from a horrifying supernatural creature of Inuit legend, their fellow crew members, and their own minds. While it takes many creative liberties, “The Terror” is based on the real Franklin Expedition, in which both ships disappeared and the crew was never seen again, beyond a few sightings by the local Inuit people. Senior Lila Page, who is a major fan of “The Terror” and has done much research on the real expedition, believes that they were sorely unprepared for the journey.

“Honestly, it was kind of doomed from the start,” said Page. “When you're going to the Arctic, you want to have a ship that's small with a small crew, but they took two massive ships with experimental steam engines and a crew of 129 people, which is way more than you need for an expedition.”

Most historians agree that the crews of the Terror and the Erebus perished in the Arctic from a combination of starvation, exposure to the extreme temperatures, and lead poisoning that resulted from poor food packaging. However, there were reports of groups setting out from the ships, likely in an attempt to find food and rescue.

“A lot of the reports are from local Inuit groups,” said Page. “When the British leader sent a few expeditions to try and recover the Franklin ships, people had told them, ‘We saw a bunch of people who looked like they were starving walking off of the ships.’ They also said, ‘This is where we saw the ship sink later in around 1852.’”

The harsh conditions that led to their disappearance are represented perfectly in the show. In fact, the setting is one of the show’s strongest elements. Many scenes take place outdoors, where the characters stand on several feet of ice and snowy wind slices through the air. The CGI that was used for these scenes looks extremely real, and the watcher is immediately thrown into the stark, barren, and nearly lifeless world of the Arctic. It conveys a sense of complete isolation that drew me in and created an eerie and unsettling atmosphere long before there were any clear signs of danger. The unease and fear caused by the setting pervades nearly every aspect of the show, constantly reminding you that nobody is truly safe. 

The setting is effective in foreshadowing some of the problems that the crew will face later in the show. It is easy for viewers to see how food and warmth would be both the most vital and scarcest commodities in a place like the Arctic. It also provides a sense of dramatic irony when you witness the levity with which the captains of the ships speak about their situation and their unwillingness to take the ice seriously in the first few episodes. As their hubris continued nearly unabated and the situation steadily degraded, I could feel the tension build as the characters suffered conditions that could have been avoided.

The acting and character development is another one of the strong points of “The Terror.” I had no trouble believing that the characters were truly experiencing starvation and sub-zero temperatures. They clearly portrayed the effects of such a harsh and barren environment on both the body and the mind, and they didn’t shy away from some of the more gruesome details like frostbite. The endless ice endangers their physical and mental health, and I was captivated by the ways different characters endured the downward spiral of the circumstances: some stepped up and took leadership roles while others allowed themselves to be dragged down with their expedition.

If I’m going to recommend “The Terror,” I have to address the horror aspects of the show. It is rated TV-14 and often contains gory images. However, it’s not just gore for the sake of gore: it accurately portrays the gruesome situation the characters are in. The straightforward way they show their injuries and illnesses reflects the starkness of their environment and the gravity of their predicament. As for the horror, the show relies more on dread than jumpscares. There are a few, but they have less of an effect than the growing feeling of impending doom. 

I am not normally the biggest fan of historical TV or movies, but “The Terror” is one of my favorite shows. It drew me in with promises of mystery and supernatural events and held my attention with amazing atmosphere, stark execution,  and characters that I truly rooted for. The real-life inspiration made the story even more intriguing, and even though I had a good idea of how it would end, I was still kept on the edge of my seat. “The Terror” has become my model for the perfect union of rich, layered storytelling and flawless technical execution.