‘The Terror’ Recap: ‘Gore’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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We spent a lot of time in the prior recap of AMC’s The Terror discussing the fact that this particular series was going to work hard to provide its audience with a supremely traditional horror story, and how it gets to that point is something that I now realize, we didn’t discuss in detail, and we need to. Because it’s important to frame up the incredible journey this story is going to take us upon and in order to pull this off, we need more than a classical setting. Which means that the series needs to rob the men of hope in order to put them in a place where they can be emotionally destitute, so that fear can run rampant through their veins and of course, they need something to fuel that fear, and once we’ve achieved those goals, the audience is in for quite the chilling ride and thankfully, the second episode of the series, ‘Gore’, sets the stage for all of that happen.
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Because this particular tale finds us catching up with the crews of the Terror and Erebus in the spring of 1847, meaning that the ice should soon be thawing and oddly enough, the men are hearty and in fine spirits when we catch up with them, likely due to the fact that hope has sprung eternal aboard the two vessels since everyone undoubtedly thinks they’re heading home in a few weeks’ time when the ice does what they expect it to. Which means the time has come for the crew to find breaks in the ice to see exactly when they can begin steaming home, prompting Sir John to send three teams out into the wild to find cracks in the ice and sadly, there were no fissures to be found, putting a sense of gloom over this story since that likely means the men will be trapped in this wasteland for far longer than they were prepared for.

Which was a brilliant stroke of genius storytelling wise, because it truly sets up the desolation and destitution the men will likely experience in the weeks to come, checking one important item off of that classic horror checklist. But rather than spend an entire hour to preparing to rob the crews of these two ships of hope, the story also took the time to set up the horrors that await them as well in the most creative way imaginable. Because one of the ice teams encountered a little bit of mother nature while on their journey, since a polar bear picked at their food before returning for Lieutenant Gore, killing him when the opportunity to feed arrived. And while the power of nature is scary in its own right, since that bear and more of its kind could make their way to the pair of ships and attack soldiers walking between both, that paled in comparison to the ominous moment that followed the death of Gore.

For right before that young man met his unfortunate end, the troops accidentally fired in the wrong direction with their muskets, wounding an Inuit man. Which prompted the party to get back to the ships post haste in order to save his life and while their endeavors were fruitless, the cloud that hangs over this death is large and dark. For the woman that was with him, had serious concerns over the fact that this man’s death happened aboard a British vessel and not atop the ice, and her conversation with Captain Crozier only added to the suspicious nature surrounding these mystery guests. Because she voiced her concerns about these ships being stuck in the ice, and she wanted desperately for them to leave as soon as possible, and the implication that the arrival of the Terror and the Erebus in this place has brought forth something sinister was strong and well, all of these elements made for one supremely awesome episode when all is said and done.

Because this is old school horror at its finest, and I love how the story stayed true to its slow burn status, all while crossing off the important items on the checklist I made mention of earlier in the recap and well, the progress that’s made here storytelling wise outright intrigues me when it comes to the future of this tale. For now I’m wondering exactly how things are going to go when Sir John relays the bad news to the two crews about the ice, since it is up to him to try and keep hope alive, and it should be interesting to see if these hearty men follow his inspirational words and slowly slip into the darkness, or if they will quickly turn upon their leader. And I am equally as intrigued by the introduction of the Intuit woman, and what her warnings mean and what exactly is out there lurking in the dark. Which means there’s only one way to find out, and that’s to hit play on the next episode and it’s a good thing that I’m ready to return to the ice because that means this series is now under my skin, and that will make the terrifying ride that awaits, all the more worthwhile. Until next time.  

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