Being an arctic explorer ain't easy.
AMC's new horror show, The Terror, keeps getting scarier. The crews of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror--two real ships that set out from England in 1845 and disappeared for over 150 years--arrived in the frigid Northern wastes in search of the Northwest Passage. Episode 3 deepens the characters, but it also provides some real horror, with the return of the mythical creature the Tuunbaq.
Please don't consider it a spoiler that things won't turn out great for these characters in the end. These real life shipwrecks weren't discovered until 2014 and 2016, respectively, and their crews had died long ago from cold, starvation, disease, lead poisoning, and cannibalism. Anything that happens in The Terror between the start and that foregone conclusion is just embellishment invented by Dan Simmons, the author of the book on which the show is based, or showrunners David Kajganich and Soo Hugh.
But what embellishments they are. With that in mind, we're going to keep a running list of all the scariest s*** that goes down in each new episode of The Terror.
Don't miss our interview feature on how The Terror embraces horror without resorting to jump scares. Now click through to find out what's new.
1. Man Overboard
Episode 1
Of all the things that are no doubt going to kill these characters over The Terror's ten episodes, you might think falling overboard and drowning would be the least terrible. Then you imagine your whole body going numb, your vision shrinking, and your senses deadening as you slide further into the depths, unable to move or help yourself or do anything but die. Not a great start to this voyage.
2. This Guy
Episode 1
We don't know what it means. We just know that he's terrifying.
3. A Boy Among Men
Episode 1
It's unclear what this poor kid died from, but does it really matter? It's easy to envision these expeditionary crews as ships full of brave, hardened men, big sailors with 5 o'clock shadows and tattoos of mermaids and anchors. Seeing this kid get sick and scared and die is pretty jarring.
4. Hello Again
Episode 1
This trip underwater is filled with so much foreboding that you spend the entire scene just dreading that something awful is going to happen. Ultimately it could have been worse, but it was still a deeply unsettling moment.
5. World of Ice
Episode 1
The final shot of episode 1 is the most chilling of the whole episode: The two ships are completely encased in ice, presumably with no hope of digging out any time soon. This is only the beginning of the doom, though.
Episode 2
6. Crew, Meet Tuunbaq
Because probably starving to death in an Arctic wasteland isn't bad enough, the crew met the Tuunbaq, an Inuit creature of legend, in The Terror Episode 2. It doesn't seem very nice.
7. Bye Dad
Episode 2
Given that they were able to get this woman (who will come to be known by the name Lady Silence) and her dad back to the ship, there was a brief hope that they would save his life. Her frantic cries that he couldn't die below deck were terrible to hear.
8. Lady Silence's Warning
Episode 2
If only Lady Silence knew how right she was when she said they're going to disappear. Was it a prescient prophecy, or is she going to make sure of it? We'll have to keep watching to find out.
9. Photo Fnish
Episode 3
Captain Franklin poses for a photograph with the men chosen to hunt and kill the "bear." This being 1846, the group must pose for a full 30 seconds for the picture to be taken. Nothing really happens here, but the atmosphere is seriously ominous, as Goodsir watches his pocket watch to count down until the picture is done. It's almost like they are counting down to something terrible happening...
10. Tent Attack
Episode 3
And it does! Before the hunting party can even leave their tent, the Tuunbaq attacks, ripping open the tent from above and grabbing one of the men. As the rest of the group fire wildly into the blizzard and Franklin makes a run for it, the creature's victim loses his head in gruesome style.
11. Owwww-lid!
Episode 3
Episode 3 might be filled with decapitation and dismemberment, but one of the most excruciating moments comes shortly after the Tuunbaq attacks the hunting party. Crozier hears the gunshots and screams so runs to the deck, using a telescope to see what's going on. After he spots the terrified men retreating back to the Terror, he moves the telescope away from his eye, only to find that the metal has frozen to his eyelid, pulling a chunk of skin away with it. OWWWW!
12. Franklin Checks Out
Episode 3
Franklin's death was a genuine surprise. He had been introduced as one the show's main characters, and his antagonistic relationship with Crozier provided much of this episode's drama. But he becomes the Tuunbaq's third victim, pulled through the ice before having his leg torn off and dumped in same icy grave that we saw the Eskimo dad's body lowered into at the start of the episode.
13. Dinner Gift
Episode 3
This episode closes with Lady Silence back at her camp, alone. From outside the igloo we hear the ominous sound of large, beastly footsteps and the breathing of something big and scary. But the Tuunbaq is not here to kill--it is leaving her some food (a dead seal). The final shot of Lady Silence's terrified face as she emerges from the igloo is one of the most chilling moments of the whole episode.
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