We will face a great many challenges in our life, and we are taught at an early age that remaining strong when they drop into our laps, is the key to overcoming every last one of them, and there is a lot of merit to that particular line of thinking. Because when we keep our head up and forge ahead, we can certainly accomplish wonders, regardless of the odds that we face. But while the human spirit is indeed resilient, it most certainly can be broken and eventually shattered if it is continually assaulted, but how and when it is finally broken is up to the individual and it just so happens that all of these aspects of the human condition were put on display in the next episode of The Terror.
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For ‘Punished, as a Boy’ allowed for us to catch up with the crews of Terror and Erebus in November of 1847, in the midst of their second winter of being stranded in the Arctic and surprisingly, the men were holding up in decent fashion. In fact, when we first reunite with them, there’s a birthday celebration getting underway and daily life has settled into a routine despite their losses. But it didn’t take long for the horror to return to this tale, since whatever was lurking in the snow outside was emboldened and hungry, and it is precisely what put the two crews to the proverbial test, when it comes to what kind of abuse they can take, since it repeatedly began to successfully attack the men, regardless of whether or not they were safely aboard a ship.

Which led to some supremely disturbing moments and gore, wherein these men were forced to watch their crewmates die slow and painful deaths with wounds that no man should ever have to see, and it didn’t take long for these constant assaults to bring about panic and fear, to the point where some of the men wondered if there was someone responsible for their troubles, Lady Silence to be exact. After all, she was still out there, minding her business in the igloo she made months ago. But the lack of progress of fighting this creature, and her quiet presence near the boats gave the men something to focus upon as a potential fix to their problems and that prompted Petty Officer Hickey to lead a contingent of soldiers to capture her and bring her aboard Terror, against Crozier’s orders and that, led to some ugly infighting.

Because Hickey clearly made up a wild story about what he had seen to justify bringing her in, and to make matters worse, he disrespected his captain and pushed the envelope when it comes to his actions. Which prompted Crozier to take action and punish the man with lashes, the kind that ensured he wouldn’t sit for weeks on end and this, this was the culmination of the fear present within the men’s hearts, and the finest example of how they are steadily heading toward their breaking point. Because now they’re lashing out in every way they can, in order to stop the horror that is assaulting them, and Hickey’s insubordination truly serves as a harbinger of doom. For there is a fair chance that his lashings won’t teach him a lesson, and he may push harder to sow the seeds of insurrection in the weeks to come.

But for now, there is peace and there is quiet and this, this was just another magnificent episode. For this particular tale was all about subtlety, and I love how each and every character here showed us how hard they’re working to keep it together under pressure, and how the more delicate moments in this story demonstrated how they’re failing in that endeavor, especially Captain Crozier since command of this fleet doesn’t suit him in the slightest, but the drink certainly does. If anything, this just serves as a tense and unsettling transitional episode, one designed to show us the beginning of a downward spiral for brave men who are slowly succumbing to fear and that’s just brilliant and powerful and it’s only a matter of time now before they crack as they continue to be pushed to the brink. The only question left on my mind now is, what exactly will it take, to finally push them over the edge? Until next time.  

There are things that help to define who you are as a person. Depending on how you react in different situations, people will know if they can count on you when the chips are down, or if they need to look in another direction. It does not have to be life or death situations for people to be able to get a read on what type of person you are, it can be something as simple as opening a door for someone else, or if you are willing to chase off freaking clowns lurking in the woods. The fight or flight response comes in handy when you do not have another choice, but if you are willing to put your neck on the line for someone else, well that means you might have a little hero gene inside of you.
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Heading out to take care of their buoy, friends and soon to be brothers Josh and Rory are having fun at Josh’s hungover expense. With his wedding to Tina in the not too far off future, the two have bonded and are looking forward to what life has in store for them. Taking a break with his bride to be, Josh is happy. But he is about to see that his life will forever change, and not for the better. Seeing Rory in the water as a shark is making its way towards the buoy, Josh tries everything in his power to get his friend’s attention. Not being fast enough to escape, Rory becomes another victim of a shark attack in the Australian waters.

Ryan is keeping his day low key at the grocery store when his girlfriend Jaimie is ready to celebrate their anniversary. With sticky fingers, Jaimie has picked up many fine items from the store, but little does she know that she is being watched by management today. Getting caught red handed, the police are called and Jaimie is taken into custody while Ryan gets fired. Not thinking anything else could go wrong in the store, Doyle comes in with the intent to rob the location and finds out his partner in crime is looking for more than just a payday as he is willing to take a life at very little expense. While on the other side of the store, Josh sees his love Tina return with another man in her arms and does not know if things could get any worse, and well, they can.

A surprise tsunami hits the island causing catastrophic damage to everything in its path. As cars go flying by, buildings get toppled and people become a distant memory, and the grocery store is submerged in several feet of water with a few survivors. Trying to get their wits about them, Josh tries to figure out what he can do to keep everyone safe and with the water rising, they know there are great problems that await them. Not being able to find a way out of the building, the group seems to be trapped, but that is not their only problem as a shark has been spotted making its way through the flooded isles. As time is not on their side, the group must find a way to work together and fight for their survival with the odds seemingly stacked against them.

Sharks in a supermarket just seems like an everyday occurrence to me, but I might be wrong about that.  I must admit that I would not expect as many survivors from the initial tsunami hit as there were, but it makes for a great story and plenty of people for a Great White to munch on. I liked how each character really got the same amount of screen time while their stories came to light. There are plenty of characters to like in this movie and once you get to know them, you really don’t want to see any of them be taken by the shark, but it is a shark movie, so some sacrifices must be made. With large sharks, sea life swimming through a grocery store, a lot of water, attitudes being put away, a love story, a redemption story and plenty of blood, it really is a good movie when everything is said and done. I really liked how the story played out and all of the shark attacks, because in the end, that is what a shark movie is supposed to do, tell a story and have people become just another snack. Stay Scared.

As I settled in to watch the next episode of AMC’s The Terror, I have to admit that I was outright prepared for more psychological warfare from this show. For I truly thought the slow burn approach to horror the first two episodes established would continue along here, which meant we were in for more dark and ominous moments that were designed to engender dread and worry in the audience, all while the crew began its downward spiral into fear. But wouldn’t you know it? This series actually had quite the surprise in store for us, because ‘The Ladder’ actually managed to kick everything up a notch storytelling wise, by providing us with a tale filled to the brim with chills and tense moments.
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Which is fascinating to say the least since the early part of this episode, stayed close to the slow burn formula that brought us to this point. For this segment of the story once again focused on the mythos of the world these men were now plunged into, since it was revealed that the newly deceased Intuit man was carrying some important charms, the kind that the crew should have paid closer attention to. But alas, they simply didn’t understand anything that this man dealt with, but his mysterious companion did, and the newly dubbed Lady Silence made a point to stay near the ships after the old man’s burial, in order to keep an eye on things and create new totems, out of outright concern and that’s where the slow burn approach came to an end this tale, because what followed next was outright incredible.

Because cracks appeared in the interpersonal foundations that the two crews laid down ages ago, and they came from the most unlikely of places since this episode saw two captains go at one another with refined impunity. For Captain Crozier and Captain Franklin both disagreed on how they should handle their next steps when it comes to the fact that the ice simply isn’t thawing, and Francis, well he wanted to send out a rescue party now since their location was unknown to anyone outside of the crews. But that kind of thinking finally pushed sir John over the edge with Francis, and he spoke his mind freely and more or less called his number two a coward, prompting Francis to prepare a rescue team behind Sir John’s back, one that he would lead. But before he could pull off this bold plan, the horror in question arrived.

For Sir John decided to spend a little time with the marines that were hiding within a blind to hunt the bear that feasted upon Lieutenant Gore, and what seemed like a fairly by the numbers moment, turned into a waking nightmare when ‘the bear’ decided to surprise this little platoon of soldiers. And I use quotation marks around the description of that animal, because clearly what slaughtered the men isn’t a bear, it’s something mystical and powerful, a being that quite frankly, is able to attack from any direction and has a sense of revenge within its heart. Since, it clearly punished Sir John for his crew’s disrespectful burial of the Intuit man and well, this was just a powerful and terrifying sequence of events to watch since it truly came out of the blue and it truly changed the dynamic of this first season going forward.

After all, this evil is no longer hiding itself, which means it will more than likely strike again whenever the heck it feels like it, and to complicate matters further, a reluctant leader is now in charge of this frozen fleet since command now falls to Captain Crozier, and already, there are forces working against him aboard the Erebus since Sir John’s lackeys are clearly hell bent on carrying out a dead man’s agenda and well, this was just a magnificent episode when all is said and done. Because this is everything, I’ve been waiting for when it comes to this series. The men are afraid, hope is fading and something genuinely evil is lurking about the boats, and while that doesn’t seem like something to celebrate, from a storytelling standpoint, it’s pure genius. Because things will only get worse from here, meaning that the audience is in for one wild ride, one that features more scares as this creature works to feed upon two ample crews and one that will show us the darkest parts of man as fear takes root, and I am both curious and mortified to see what horrors await us, as things fall apart. Until next time.

Dreams can be something that you take seriously, but most of the time since we don’t remember them, we cast them aside. Not really knowing the power of dreams or what comes out of them can be depressing for some people, especially when they want to take control of them. But nightmares on the other hand are things that most people want to forget, yet if there is something bothering them, they never will. While I have not been able to figure out what to dream about on a nightly basis, I have found out that if I watch a zombie flick before I fall asleep, I will wake up hungry for steak and eggs in the morning, so at least I have that going for me.
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Waking up after having the same nightmare, Ava is trying to find the reason behind it since she really needs to find a way to sleep. Her boyfriend Enzo might have stumbled across the perfect opportunity to solve her problem as he has just received an email from Doctor Novak who is not only working on a drug that suppresses these dreams but will pay them for testing this wonder drug. Thinking that this is some sort of phishing scheme, Ava goes along with it just to make Enzo happy, but she will keep her reservations about it until after she meets with the doctor. Arriving at the doctor’s house out in the mountains, it appears that the old man has his affairs in order, but there is something just a little bit off about the situation as she meets with two other couples that are experiencing the same thing that she is.

After getting the baseline readings on his new subjects, Doctor Novak sits them all down and has them open up about what traumatic thing happened to them that has caused these shark themed nightmares. Starting with Ava, she remembers her boat sinking and sharks eating her parents when she was very young. Gina and Kaplan are next and recall the time when they were forced to battle for supremacy over an Atomic Shark, along with Rob and Jolene having to battle for their lives against a corrupt politician, with sharks to boot, it turns out that the same shark has been affecting all of their dreams the same way. Coming clean that he is seeing the same shark as well, Doctor Novak is looking for answers, but he may have some other way of using them when all is said and done.

As the night closes in, the groups all retreat to their rooms for some rest and relaxation, but as each member starts to get tired, their dreams will come to not only haunt them, but hunt them as well. As Ava suffers from the wickedest night terrors, Doctor Novak has a special treatment for her as he sedates her and places the young woman in his MRI machine to try and map her dreams. As other members of the group start to nod off as well, they come face to face with their nightmare shark nemesis, but the dreams are really starting to take hold of them. Trying to find out what is happening to them, the group sees that Doctor Novak is not really trying to help them but trying to bring forth something that the world has never seen, at least not when everyone is awake.

To say that this movie is a wild ride would be an understatement, since it is beyond difficult to know if you are living in a dream or reality for most of it. Getting that out of the way, it was really interesting to see what dreams kept the group members from Atomic Shark and Trailer Park Shark up at night. With wild dreams for each member and a shark that could kill in dreams, I can say that this is like all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies rolled together on crack, with a shark of nightmares, and that is good thing. Having some great shark kills, an ancient beast, a doctor with alternative motives, plenty of sleepy people and uncertainty revolving around reality, this movie might make you want to think twice about surviving a shark attack, as it never really seems to let you be, even on the mainland. Stay Scared.