‘The Terror’ Recap: ‘A Mercy’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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Over the course of its first five episodes, The Terror has done a phenomenal job of balancing every single element of the story it is working to tell. For we’ve seen a healthy mix of outright horror when Tuunbaq comes calling, and we’ve also watched the men of the Erebus and the Terror walk the fine line between madness and sanity since they keep gently swaying back and forth between the two. But I think we all knew it was only a matter of time before the horrors of man were put on full display in this tale and it just so happens that the next episode of this series allowed for the madness to be finally be unleashed in stunning fashion.
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Which is fascinating of course since ‘A Mercy’ started off in a manner that made it seem the story was going in a different direction. In fact, it seemed as though it was heading into positive territory for a change. Because this one opened up with a bold decision from Captain Fitzjames, wherein he ordered the crews of the two ships to begin preparations to abandon ship and prepare supplies for the long walk out of the arctic and on the advice of Mister Blanky, Fitzjames also ordered up a celebration for the men. Which meant that preparations were underway for a grand carnival, one timed perfectly to coincide with the first sunrise of the year.

All of those decisions treated us to some supremely lighthearted moments in this tale as we happily watched the men work to build the stage for the carnival and find joy in assembling costumes and a menu for this grandiose affair. Plus, we even saw Captain Crozier finally on the mend as well, since he decided he should attend this party and mingle amongst the men, and well, it was quite off putting to see the show go into more joyful territory and really, that was all part of a plan to deceive us and make us comfortable, if only for a moment. Because a chilling discovery when it comes to the canned food, in that, lead was present within each meal and slowly poisoning the crew, led to an outright horrific finale for this episode. For not only did Dr. Stanley ignore what Goodsir told him, he helped the party in question end in disaster.

For when Captain Crozier arrived to see his crew acting as drunken fools, the kind who were stumbling about and even feeding corpses, he finally reassumed command and ended the party, before announcing that the time had come to abandon the two ships and get back to civilization. But seeing the men in rough shape is not the disaster in question. No, instead what made this night so horrifying was that Dr. Stanley snapped in essence, either at the news that they had all consumed lead or because he was under the influence of its poisoning, and he tried to murder every last man by sealing off the tents and setting himself and everything within them ablaze and well, more men died on this night and while the sunrise did indeed arrive without an ounce of fanfare, the quick reappearance of the dark served as a perfect end to this harrowing tale.

If anything, I was ill prepared for how dark this episode turned out to be. Because the men are truly on edge and are trying desperately to hold on and even then, the ties that bind their sanity are strained to the limit at this point. Because seeing them still care for a dead comrade and try and feed him is unsettling to say the least, as were Dr. Stanley’s actions in this tale, and if his madness here was related to the food, then things are only going to get worse in the days to come. Which honestly leaves me nervous, because if the show is willing to show us men burning to death, it’s willing to show us anything, and that’s a terrifying realization to come to as the men prepare to enter a vast and icy wasteland. Until next time.     

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