The Terror (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The first season is named after Dan Simmons's 2007 novel The Terror.
• The third season is subtitled Devil in Silver and is based on Victor LaValle's 2012 novel of the same name.

Premise

The first season follows the Royal Navy's polar explorer ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror after leaving Beechey Island, heading south toward King William Island to find the Northwest Passage. The ships become trapped in ice, and the crew must survive harsh weather and each other while stalked by an elusive menace. The second season is set on the west coast of the United States during World War II and centers on Japanese folklore of bakemono harassing a Japanese American community. The third season follows Pepper, a man wrongfully committed to a psychiatric hospital, where he faces adversarial patients, doctors, and the supernatural.

Production

After the success of The Walking Dead, AMC planned a horror series based on the novel The Terror. In March 2016, AMC ordered 10 episodes with an expected 2018 premiere. David Kajganich and Soo Hugh serve as co-showrunners, with Kajganich writing the adaptation. Executive producers include Ridley Scott, Alexandra Milchan, Scott Lambert, David W. Zucker, and Guymon Casady. In September 2016, Tobias Menzies was cast as a series lead, and the showrunners sought an Inuk woman aged 16 to 30 for a major character likely named Lady Silence. Most ice scenes were created using CGI. The second season, The Terror: Infamy, also 10 episodes, was co-created by Max Borenstein and Alexander Woo, who serves as showrunner. Derek Mio plays lead Chester Nakayama, a son of Japanese immigrants who joins the army. George Takei plays Yamato-san and also serves as a consulting role for historical accuracy. Other cast include Kiki Sukezane, Shingo Usami, Naoko Mori, Miki Ishikawa, and C. Thomas Howell. Josef Kubota Wladyka directed the first two episodes. Production began on January 14, 2019, in Vancouver.

Reception

The first season received positive reviews, with a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 69 reviews, and a Metacritic score of 76 out of 100 from 20 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews. The second season also received positive reviews, with an 80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 46 reviews and a Metacritic score of 75 out of 100 from 17 critics. The third season received generally positive reviews, with a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 21 reviews and a Metacritic score of 71 out of 100 from 11 critics.