If you would like to spend some of your socially distant time to explain to the masses what The Terror is all about and why we should watch it, I can think of at least one person (that's me) who would be extremely grateful. Obviously no pressure here, I'm just intrigued but also sort of wary because straight-up horror is nothing something I can really deal with? (Either way, the posts you've made are excellent, ty.)
THANK YOU for this lovely question and sorry it took so long to answer, i get long winded about this show. here is a post for you and for anyone else who still wonders what the hell the terror is and whether or not it’s something they might be interested in!
amc’s the terror season 1 is about the franklin expedition, a very real and very ill fated voyage that two royal navy ships made to the canadian arctic in 1845. 129 people sailed off the edge of the map and presumably all died, leaving behind a trail of battered artifacts, cryptic notes, and some bones that show evidence of cannibalism. some facts have been pieced together over the years but a LOT is still unknown, and the terror is a fictional (and slightly fantastical) take on the missing pages of that story. which sounds sad and gruesome and IT IS. it’s about fear, death, and the folly of imperialism. but it’s ALSO about how this extreme situation causes the characters grow and connect and show tenderness towards each other. my all time favorite description of the terror is this tweet:
the terror is a study of the human condition using the crew as a society in miniature. it’s about a lot of things, and everyone gets something different out of it. but the message that stuck with ME the most is this: no matter how bleak the situation is, we should try to be good to each other. compassion is hard work and it doesn’t solve everything, but inevitable tragedy doesn’t make that effort pointless, if anything it makes it all the more precious. the most heroic characters strive towards empathy and emotional intelligence, and the characters who “fail” are the ones who let fear and bitterness make them selfish. and yet the story has sympathy for all of them, while letting none of them off the hook entirely.
the terror presents heavy moral conundrums without ever moralizing, forces you to question your initial assumptions, invites you to supply your own interpretations. it is elliptical, ambiguous, layered, designed to be rewatched and analyzed scene by scene. the cinematography and soundtrack are eerily beautiful, the attention to period detail is stunning, the acting is brilliant (note: all these white dudes in similar uniforms are notoriously hard to tell apart at first. it gets easier i promise. also this guide can help). the genre is hard to pin down - it behaves like horror when the characters FEEL horrified. it’s a monster story where the monster is sort of beside the point. an age of sail period drama with barely any sailing, a science fiction story with no real sci fi elements, a war story without a war and a post apocalyptic story without an apocalypse. occasionally it is a workplace comedy! like it’s important to note that the terror isn’t just a melancholy slog - it is fucking HILARIOUS, often morbidly, but sometimes joyously. it made me feel emotions i have literally never felt before. it’s unlike anything else i have ever seen. watch it on amazon, hulu, or here ;)
more behind the cut about some general, spoiler free, but hopefully thorough descriptions of disturbing content/horror elements so you know what to expect!
