The Terror episode 4 review: ‘Crime’ and punishment
In terms of pure pain, there was no scene worse than seeing Cornelius Hickey whipped repeatedly as a punishment for his acts, which including insubordination and other misdeeds. To make matters worse, he was coined as nothing other than a boy in the eyes of his colleagues. As of right now, Crozier is prioritizing protecting the Inuit woman at all costs, even to the extent of punishing people who defy him. That’s a bold move, but it’s one that could have some serious complications after the fact.
The trouble for the Erebus and the Terror as of right now remains simply this: There is still little evidence that anyone is further along in their quest to either escape or take down the Bear that is haunting them once and for all. Instead, what we saw was Crozier being ruthless to anyone who defied him, while also getting more backstory that this was not a mission that he necessarily wanted in the first place. He’s trapped thousands of miles from home, shouldering a burden that he absolutely did not want.
As the episode went along, we saw Crozier in a situation where he had a very hard time grappling with both his crew, his new stowaway, and also trying to figure out the right way to secure his safety. He had separated most of the crew away from the woman to ensure that nothing would happen to her; yet, he does still need some to care for her.
This is what led to the events at the end of the episode, where Henry Goodsir found himself at the end of the episode doing whatever he could in order to get through to the Inuit woman aboard the ship. She is the one with the presumed connection to the Bear, and with that she is the one who could offer some sort of hope for the future. Alas, there are very few signs at present that hope is coming since she’s not altogether willing to communicate.
CarterMatt Verdict
The Terror remains fantastic, and the performances from Tobias Menzies as James Fitzjames and Jared Harris as Crozier are nothing short of fantastic. Yet, we do think that the show is going to be perceived as slow-moving for some, especially since this episode featuring Crozier’s survival had some scary moments, but also a lot of drawn-out scenes, whether it be the lashing scene or the final conversation with Goodsir. We’re down for this slow build personally, at least so long that the tension remains as strong as it is.
One more thing that is worth pointing out? The cinematography and production design, which at this point are exemplary and then some.
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