The Terror: Limited Series (AMC)

The question was do they get shaggy if they have to leave the ship? Certainly, while on the ship, they wouldn't as they have access to daily grooming instruments that would alleviate that. That could change if they have to leave the ship.

 

I don't know. But one thing is for certain, Hickey and Gibson get shaggy on the ship!

 

After finishing this series and not having read the book, I have to say the story really didn't need the TuunBaq monster IMO. It was a distraction, the CGI was terrible and the situation the expedition was in itself totally enough to let the human/nature horror aspects play out fine.
A missed opportunity IMO.
The Tuunbaq was certainly not on a level with the Shrike from Hyperion and ruined this series for me.

 

I kind of agree that the Tuunbaq wasn't needed, but this series was based on a horror novel. It wouldn't have been the same story without including the monster (which is much more mysterious, ominous, and prevalent in the novel creating far more chaos and death).

The idea of Dan Simmons was take the Franklin Expedition, which at the time of his writing the book, the location of the ships was unknown and only a few clues about the fate of the crew. Simmons wove the monster into the narrative adding a fantastical element which helped to lead/explain the expedition's demise and disappearance.

They've switched some things around from the novel and, in some cases, for the better, but to leave out the Tuunbaq (which is a believed spirit of Eskimo lore) would have merely made this a grim survival series. It is, of course, but I think people expected that fantastical element which keeps the dread factor on high throughout and helps foster the imagination of the viewers.

 

Excellent series. 9/10 for me. I knocked the point off for the CGI but I'm sure they didn't have an unlimited budget.

 

damn. i wish so many of you hadn't already finished watching. i'm only going week-by-week!

 

I'm looking forward to discussion after the final episode airs.

 

I’m still discussing! I’m going week to week for my commentary. I like talking about the current episode and, in addition, re-watching so I can keep things current. Besides, as I mentioned, watching without subtitles SUCKED, so I keep up because of that, too.

 

i'm finding it easier to understand as it goes on. or maybe it's because there's more of the two leads and they're very easy to understand.

if this week's episode doesn't earn harris some sort of nod for an award i'd be very surprised. he's such a great actor.

you guys have me excited! and i already was based on how damn good it is so far.

 

Random thoughts...

The opening tale of a past frozen misadventure was filled with violence and tension. Great start.

Hickey... do NOT touch that guy's brain.

Officer Lambchop Sideburns is having dark thoughts. And he's resembling Jack from the Shining while doing so.

A lead poisoned tiny monkey locked in a frozen tundra ship is way scarier than I thought it'd be.

It's cold as hell. The boat is tilting from being stuck in the ice. For years. We're being stalked by a giant polar bear. And... we're out of food. A carnival? Yay. But only if we can play dress up.

A now tongueless Lady Silence after a meal of seal guts, sees a cartoon man-faced Tuunbaq.

The Dr. decided the party needed more light. So he accommodated.

Carnivals suck.

 

Tongueless? I don't remember that. I thought she just stopped talking.

 

Not certain. But it looked like she put the same blade she used to cut up the seal in her mouth near the end. Then she waddled into the compound with blood dripping from her chin.

Earlier this season they said her father had his tongue removed as well.

 

I think she may have used her tongue as a peace offering to the beast. It worked for her father, who is said to be able to communicate with it.

 

That makes sense. I guess I just assumed she stopped taking by choice.

 

Lady Silence definitely cuts her tongue out. In the book The Terror there are tongueless shamans who sacrifice their tongues to be able to communicate with the Tuunbaq. Silence's father was a shaman with the ability to talk with it, but once he's dead, Silence has to take his place.

 

I thought it was a bit odd that the stern, sterile doctor is the one that goes berserk and lights the fire that destroys the carnival. You'd think it would have been Collins who was already wigged out and complaining to the doctor earlier in the episode. But, I guess it's a testament of how repressed and deep seeded the doctor's mental state is that he's the one. I had to watch several times to make sure it was the doctor who lit the fire. In the book, I believe the Tuunbaq comes into the maze of tents during the carnival and causes the chaos and a fire erupts from that.

Anyone else think when Goodsir was examining the monkey's gums that it would lurch at him? I kept expecting that to happen, but it did not.

 

I didn't think Episode 6 was going anywhere, but boy was I wrong!

The Tuunbaq looks like ****, but I'm not so sure that the creature is the most frightening thing about this show. This series is positively claustrophobic in the way that Das Boot was, maybe even more so. A person would have to really prepare themselves, mentally, to make such a journey.

I hope they show a bit more of Lady Jane before the series closes. So far, her parts have added to the narrative quite well, displaying her point of view from the home front...or, perhaps it's just my wish to escape that closed-in feeling by adding a little light into the picture.

Crozier's speech to the men was wonderful. Little good it did them after the fire, though. Or, maybe we can say that it lit of a fire under their asses to get the hell out of there!

Oh yeah, about the monster again: As @Scott222C mentioned, I don't agree fully with you; the story needs the Tuunbaq, yet the missed opportunity is that they show too much of the monster. Imagine if only they showed the creature in blurs and small swatches, where you never fully know what it looks like, only that it's huge, and from the looks on the men's faces, it's terrible. This isn't supposed to be a Camp-B series, so really there's no need show the fear; we only need to feel the fear.

That's often the most scary things, what we don't see, and our imagination takes over. So, yeah, like @Scotian said, I'm knocking some points off for the Tuunbaq's leisure attire, but his presence is welcome, as the life (death) of the party.

 

I know I keep referring back to the book, but it's relevant to how the story plays out on the television show. When the Tuunbaq first shows up on the tv show I was a bit amazed that that's what they went with in terms of the monster. It looked small and the head was too human like. In the book, the Tuunbaq is this huge, almost shadowy figure that is difficult to make out what it is (like @EVOLVIST describes) and less of a the polar bear/hybrid. I guess the producers felt like the show needed a real monster that can be seen instead of the almost invisible, implied monster of the book. I cannot remember now, but I don't think the crew are ever able to wound it or really have any idea what they're dealing with exactly. That would have been a better angle for the series in my opinion.

 

Was the book that this story is based on ficticous at all? Was there really traumatic injury due to this beast? Or was it added to make an otherwise tragic story more scary?

Most reviews I see of this series speak of the mythical beast... implying it might be made up.

 

The beast is entirely fictions. The Tuunbaq is a malevolent spirit that is part of Eskimo lore. Simmons used the Tuunbaq for the horror/fantasy element of the story. The true horror of the expedition was the solitude, starvation, and desperate attempt of the crew to save themselves by leaving the ships and going over land to try and find help. Simmons interweaves some of the deaths of the crew to the Tuunbaq and some to murder & mutiny. Truth is, not too much is known about the fate of the crew other than they perished trying to save themselves.

 

I didn’t get why they had all those masks and costumes in the first place. Seems like strange cargo although there’s probably a practical reason I missed.

 

The guy opening the trunk said something to the effect of thanking the dead captain, who I guess was a bit odd. In any case it seems to be kind of English tradition in the military in a certain time to dress up and put on shows.

John K.

 

The navy has longed carried around worthless kack like that for certain longitude and latitude crossing parties, especially the equator, but not limited to. Those who have made a crossing are called "shellbacks," while the uninitiated are "pollywogs." Nowadays it's mostly equatorial crossings, but back in the old navy times (US Navy included), the swabos would use any excuse they could to play grab ass with one another.

A case in point, did you guys notice that Hickey was recruiting a new "mate" during all of the revelries? Pretty funny.

This is why I joined the Marines back in the day. Not because the Navy had developed a taste for sea salt, but because I just don't like sea salt.

 

Shackleton carried the same stuff: costumes, props, and other items to carry out plays or revues during times when there’s nothing to do on the ship.

These explorers knew that the chances of getting iced in during the winter was likely so they knew morale would need to be bolstered. That was the reason for carrying that stuff. Pretty smart actually.

 

It's hard to fathom the sheer size of these ships that they could carry this many men & a few years of supplies. Here's the specs:

The vessels