The Terror pits man’s noble heart against the monster in “The C, the C, the Open C”

If you’ve been following AMC’s brilliant gothic-horror series The Terror from the beginning, you know it’s is as much about men fighting their own dark instincts as it is about men fighting an arctic snow monster. The Inuit animal-spirit beast tuunbaq arrived to wreak havoc and death in the previous episode, but “The C, the C, the open C” is quieter, focusing on the characters facing great personal trials.

BEWARE, MATEYS! SPOILERS FOR “THE C, THE C, THE OPEN C” LIE BELOW.

“The C, the C, the open C” begins in London, with famous author Charles Dickens (Tristan Teller) speaking at a meeting of the London Cultural Society. Lady Jane Franklin (Gretta Scacchi) and Sophia Cracroft (Sian Brooke) are in attendance. Dickens presents Lady Franklin so she may address the assembly. The ever-loyal and persistent Lady Franklin petitions the wealthy attendees for funds to form an “intrepid rescue mission” to venture north into the Arctic in an attempt to save Sir John Franklin (Ciaran Hinds) and his missing expedition.

One day later, the members of the Franklin expedition, reeling from the previous night’s attack by the tuunbaq, are counting their losses and trying to collect the dead. Captain James Fitzjames (Tobias Menzies) reports heavy casualties to Captain Francis Crozier (Jared Harris): 32 dead and 23 “unaccounted for.” Assistant surgeon Harry Goodsir (Paul Ready) is among the missing.

With Goodsir away, medical assistant John Bridgens (John Lynch) tries to help the injured men, but there’s little he can do. A number of the mauled survivors are catatonic, as if their minds have been erased. Once the corpses are laid out on the barrens, Crozier proves his salt as a commander with a speech that rouses the nobility and purpose in the hearts of his traumatized crewmen:

"We set sail from Greenhithe three years ago with 133 men aboard. Who could have imagined such grief could come to us? We have no choice now but to carry it with us as we go, to bring home the names of our dead, so their loved ones can find solace knowing that friendship and courage were with them to the very end. Take up the word with me, men. South!"

Nobody makes rousing speeches about doomed marches like the British. Crozier orders the bodies of the dead burned so they can leave this world warm, and the survivors prepare to continue the trek. There are more supplies than the remaining men can carry, so Crozier tells Fitzjames to leave them in a “tidy little pile” for Hickey and the mutineers in case they return to loot what is left of the camp. Crozier suspects that a number of Hickey’s conspirators are acting out of fear, and he wants them to witness his benevolence in case they cross paths again. Obscured by the clouds of the mass funeral pyre, the last men of the Franklin expedition depart camp, hauling their sledges with them.

Lost and alone on the barrens, the starving Lt. George Hodgson (Christos Lawton) tries to eat his boot leather, losing bloody teeth in the process. He is found by Cornelius Hickey (Adam Nagaitis) and the bedraggled mutineers (including the shanghaied Goodsir) and brought into the group. Elsewhere on the rocky barrens, Crozier and his command struggle to pull their sledges, and halt when the ailing Fitzjames, bleeding from a healed gunshot wound suffered six years previously, collapses. Crozier has Fitzjames loaded into a sledge and cared for.

Now encamped, Hickey talks to Hodgson about the “mystery tins” they’ve been eating from for the last three years. Watching the badly weakened William Gibson (Edward Ashley) stagger to Goodsir’s tent for assistance, Hickey explains that, “Our needs have changed, Lieutenant. We need to ask ourselves . . . what are we willing to eat next?”

Hickey goes in to check on his former lover (Gibson), who has just been told by Goodsir that he is dying and likely no longer able to haul the sledges. Hickey walks directly to his tent, collects his knife and returns to the medical tent to murder Gibson in front of Goodsir.

Back in the land of the sane, Crozier and his group sight the tuunbaq, but the creature looks wounded and apparently does not notice them. Fitzjames’ condition further deteriorates, so Crozier orders camp made for the night. Taking stock of their dwindling supplies and slowing pace, Lt. Edward Little (Matthew McNulty) suggests leaving the ill behind in the camp while the healthier men keep going, but Crozier gently refuses.

Visiting an Inuit man, Lady Silence (Nive Nielsen) listens as he blames the English invaders for the lack of game and the starvation of their people. He suggests finding another shaman to help deal with the tuunbaq — the beast belongs to her now — and putting the environment back into balance.

At Crozier’s camp, the dying Fitzjames tells Crozier to use his body to feed the men. The weeping Crozier gives Fitzjames a drink of poison to deliver him from his agony.

The body of Fitzjames is buried the next morning. The men realize that the tuunbaq is hunting them, and Crozier tries to devise a strategy for a last stand. Crozier’s faithful first mate, Thomas Blanky (Ian Hart), reveals that his amputated knee has gone bloody and gangrenous, and volunteers to take a rifle and lure the tuunbaq away while Crozier and the men escape inland. The distraught Crozier reluctantly agrees.

As Crozier’s group continues on, seaman Henry Peglar (Kevn Guthrie), close friend to Bridgens, collapses as they haul the sledges. They see a seagull flying overhead, suggesting the closeness of open water.

In Hickey’s camp, Hickey tries to force Goodsir to dissect the dead Gibson’s body for food. Goodsir refuses, but Hickey threatens to kill Lt. Hodgson if Goodsir continues to elevate his “morals” over his “practicals.” Goodsir relents, and butchers Gibson’s remains.

Alone out on the barrens, Blanky sees where the ice pack has moved between the land masses, and realizes that he has discovered the Northwest Passage. He throws away his wooden leg and smokes his last round of pipe tobacco in celebration.

In the Hickey camp, Goodsir brings Gibson’s dissected body parts to the cook. Hickey and his men eat the meat in silence, and Goodsir does not partake. Later that night, Hodgson bares his religious soul to Goodsir.

The next morning, Marine Sergeant Solomon Tozier (David Walmsley) reports to Hickey that the tuunbaq has been seen stalking the space between their camp and Crozier’s. Tozier wants to go back to the Terror and the Erebus, to escape the monster and wait for an ice melt to free the ships. Tozier is terrified because he believes that the tuunbaq “ingests” men’s souls, something he witnessed when he saw it kill Henry Collins (Trystan Gravelle) in the main camp attack. “It breathed that man’s soul in.”

Hickey seems to agree with Tozier’s new plan, but rather than putting it into action, he walks to the top of a nearby hill and plants himself there, leaving Tozier and the other men to wonder what he’s up to.

In Crozier’s camp, Bridgens walks out into the barrens by himself after his dear friend Peglar dies. That night, Crozier tends to the ailing Lt. Thomas Jopson (Liam Garrigan), just as Jopson cared for him during his alcohol detox. Meanwhile, Lady Silence is told that the tuunbaq has come to see her.

The next morning, one of Crozier’s sailors brings news that he has seen a stretch of open water. Thrilled, Crozier and Lt. Little realize they can row their boats across the strait to the mouth of the river, which would save them weeks of trekking. But when Crozier, Little and their men follow the sailor to the shoreline, they are ambushed by Lt. Hodgson and gun-toting members of Hickey’s group. Crozier’s men draw their shotguns and the situation becomes a standoff. Hickey’s men announce that they only want Crozier.

When Hickey’s men kill Crozier’s crewman Thomas Hartnell (Jack Colgrave Hirst), Crozier agrees to go with them. Hickey’s men take the weapons, and Crozier tells Lt. Little to head south; he is now in charge of what is left of Crozier’s command.

Out on the barrens, Bridgens lies down to die. In England, the depressed Sophia Cracroft stands barefoot in the snow. At the Northwest Passage, Blanky, having covered himself in bent forks, laughs as the tuunbaq comes for him. Cut to black.

The Terror has never been afraid to take its foot off the accelerator and spend time with its characters, explore inner motivations and stoke slow-burning fires of dread. “The C, the C, the open C” may have slowed down a hair too much, but the rewards are worth it. One of the main themes in this episode is choice: the choice of a desperate, starving person to stick to their “morals,” as Hickey puts it, or to increase their odds of survival by abandoning societal and cultural taboos and embracing their “practicals,” Hickey’s code word for cannibalism.

The Terror has now split into two camps, two tribes, representing the “morals” and the “practicals.” As the leader of the “morals” tribe, Captain Crozier still believes in the goodness of men even though he has always been wary of unsound characters like Hickey. Crozier cares for his crewmates as best he can, comforting the dying Fitzjames and Jopson. He maintains his ethical standards, refusing to cannibalize the dead, even when the dying permit it (Fitzjames). Cornelius Hickey is the chief amongst the “practicals,” perhaps insane but ultimately perceptive and cunning, in a star-making performance by Adam Nagaitis. Hickey and his men may regret what they have done, but they intend to live long enough to regret it in their old age.

As “The C, the C, the open C” unfolds, it leaves us bereft. This episode kills a lot of good guys, including Captain Fitzjames, Bridgens, Peglar and Blanky. The remaining noble souls such as Captain Crozier, Goodsir, Little and Jopson appear to have been outmaneuvered by the devious and ignoble Hickey and his followers. As the final desperate struggle to survive reaches a climax, the most important choice may be between dying badly or dying well.

EPISODE GRADE: B+

Here’s AMC’s sneak peek of the series finale, “We Are Gone.”

The Terror  is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by author Simmons, who based his historical fiction on the true story of the Franklin Expedition. It currently airs Monday nights at 8:00 p.m. CST.

Next: AMC’s The Terror lands its final, satisfying blow in “We are Gone”

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