The Terror - We Are Gone (Season Finale) - Review

Well, there we have it, folks. It's all over. The fate of our crew has been revealed and my heart aches a bit for some of those we lost. Others I cheered for. The Terror brought us full circle to the premiere and wrapped everything up in a nice, satisfying bow, but let's take a look at what our men went through this final week before getting to that ending.

Recap

We open the finale with Hickey having a chat with his freshly captured Crozier, during which time Crozier notices that Hickey has stolen Fitzjames's boots from his dead body. Gee, Hickey sure is rude. Back at the other camp, most of the men agree that Crozier's final orders to them to keep going without him should be followed. Little tries to use his appointment as leader to order that a rescue attempt be made for Crozier, but it is then revealed that the entire camp has already voted on what to do while he was sleeping. They decided that every man may choose what he wishes to do, but there will be a party heading out, leaving a few supplies behind for those who are too ill to continue. Things are turning pretty dire for everyone at this point, but Goodsir has a plan to help Crozier escape while punishing everyone in Hickey's camp. Goodsir informs Crozier that when the men make a meal out of Goodsir, Crozier should be sure to only eat from the soles of Goodsir's feet. Confused, Crozier agrees, and later that night Goodsir douses his entire body in poison before swallowing some and slitting his wrists open. He's poisoning the entire camp. Sure enough, as I'm internally sobbing for his death, the men have Goodsir as a meal the next day, insisting that Crozier eat some of it, and he takes from the sole, just as he was instructed. After dinner, they take off and stop at an open space to attempt to lure Tuunbaq to them so they can kill it and use its meat and fur. A noble plan, especially considering that Tuunbaq has been getting weaker from eating all the crew members who are infected from the bad canned food. In a nice parallel, the men who partook in Goodsir for dinner begin to show effects of the poison, just in time for Hickey to reveal that he doesn't intend to lead them back home as he can't go back because he murdered the real Hickey to take his spot and start a new life. What a mistake that was. Shortly after, Tuunbaq arrives in all his CGI glory to wreak havoc and make me wish it was a little snowier so I could see less of the CGI spirit. The men, who are all chained to each other and the boat, are quickly torn apart and/or eaten. In the midst of this, Hickey, fool that he is, cuts of his tongue as Lady Silence had and attempts to use it as an offering to bond with the spirit. He doesn't realize there's supposed to be a whole ceremony for this though, so when he offers his tongue, Tuunbaq simply takes most of his arm with it before ripping Hickey in half and devouring him. Well, attempting to devour him. Hickey and all the chains get stuck in Tuunbaq's throat and the poor, monstrous thing dies, leaving Crozier as the only living thing in the area.

Lady Silence and the man she was traveling with stop in their tracks when they feel Tuunbaq's passing, and the man looks at Lady silence a moment before turning and leaving her alone. Lady Silence eventually finds Crozier, clinging to life, and still attached to the chains. Unsure of how to get him out, she simply cuts of his hand so she can slide his arm out of the chains. She then drags him to the closest camp, which happens to be Hickey's, and, after taking a moment to morn when she sees Goodsir's partially eaten body, begins to patch Crozier up. Some time later, Crozier regains his faculties, and, together, they find that Crozier is the only crew member in any of the camps who is still alive. Eventually, they return to Lady Silence's people where Crozier is allowed to stay with them until he decides what he wishes to do. He also finds out Lady Silence's actual name is Silna, which is much prettier, and much less clumsy than Lady Silence. It's a shame we didn't learn it sooner. The next day, Crozier discovers that Silna has been banished from her people because she lost Tuunbaq, which is a big no-no. Crozier is assured that it is the way of their people, and that everyone, including Silna, accepts this, and Crozier begrudgingly does as well. We then jump two year later to where the show began, only now we realize that Crozier had been sitting outside of the tent for the entire conversation and he is choosing to stay with Silna's people rather than returning home in the wake of everything that had gone wrong. Crozier has now become one of them, and we leave this story with Crozier and a small, sleeping child next to a hole in the ice waiting to catch a meal.

Verdict
I'm so pleasantly surprised with this entire show. I was worried it would be too slow and I'd end up getting bored sitting through every episode. While it was slow going, it managed to grab my interest every week and never get old, right up to the end of this finale. I wasn't sure how I wanted it to end, but once I saw this, I decided this was what I wanted. Everyone dying at the hands of Tuunbaq would have been abrupt of an end to all the drama, and having more of them survive would have left too much open. Similarly, ending with Crozier returning home would leave too much to wonder about in regard to how he mentally copes with being the only one to return home. Crozier staying with Silna's people gives us finality to his story, showing us that he'd much rather live life in the Arctic than back at home with the guilt of losing everyone, or with the stares of the people who lost people from the two ships. Very well executed. If the show is renewed, I'm very much looking forward to whatever tale they decide to explore next season, hopefully with some of the same actors returning to play different parts!

Before I go, there were a couple things I had slight issues with though. As I mentioned, I wish we would have seen Tuunbaq a little less clearly, as the heavy CGI took me out of the moment slightly. I still cheered as Hickey was killed and watched in horror as the rest of the men were slaughtered, but the back of my mind was constantly saying "Boy, look at all that CGI." Another small gripe is that I wish I could have seen Lady Jane and Sophia learn of the crew's fate. I know this was only the story of the crews of Erebus and Terror, but we checked in with these ladies enough times throughout the season that I care about them and their feelings. It would have been nice to have some final scenes of Crozier living life in the Arctic intercut with the rescue team breaking the news to Lady Jane and Sophia. They were great characters, and it seems a shame that we don't properly see their endings in relation to this journey. Still, it was a stellar season with a stellar finale, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

How are you feeling after sitting with it for a week? Are you satisfied with the story's conclusion? And just how loud did you cheer when Tuunbaq annihilated Hickey? Sound off in the comments below!