Summary: The crew leave the ships and travel over the ice. Morfin is sick and attempts to kill himself. He is talked out of it, but his rifle misfires and kills him anyways. Goodsir takes the event badly. Jopson is promoted as a lieutenant. Hickey, Irving and another crew member go on a scouting mission. Irving finds some Inuits and communicates with them to get him some food. He goes to tell Hickey only to find that Hickey killed the other member and Hickey kills him.
The Good: This was all Hickey's episode and is confirmed that he isn't a good person in the slightest and will likely be a major villain in the show. The plans for mutiny were red flags on their own, but those final few scenes certainly established how evil this man is. The murder scene was very well done and sent a chill down my spine (see: Best Moment), and the corresponding flashbacks did well to create unease surrounding Hickey's character. We understand now that Hickey isn't the man he is pretending to be and this murderous and psychopathic person is the man he really is. A scene like this was necessary to raise the stakes and tension as the show heads towards its conclusion. This episode was very dark and unsettling with its tone, and not only because of that final scene. The discovery of the rescue squad with their heads decapitated as well as Morfin's brutal outburst and Goodsir's breakdown all gave this episode a dreary tone and helped establish the theme that the real threat isn't from the supernatural forces, but rather the crew themselves. I liked the scenes of Irving communicating to the Inuits. The actor did a great job of conveying some joy and hope when the Inuits helped him and gave him food, and it felt like a genuine feel-good moment. Of course it was all ruined by Hickey a minute later, but I think it worked as a small scene of optimism. Another good scene which was light-hearted was Jopson's promotion. While Jopson's character leaves a lot to be desired, the execution and acting allowed the scene to have some resonance. The Bad: The show is still faltering and not hitting as hard as it should. The main problem is that I don't care about most of the crew. The characters except Crozier, are all very one-note and we don't get to understand who they are. We just see them struggling and we are expected to care because of that. Unfortunately it isn't that easy to make us care about what they are going through and we need to know who they are to allow us to sympathize better. The show has done a poor job with that, and as a result I find it difficult to really connect with this show. An example of this is Morfin's death. I didn't know who he was so I failed to care when he was threatening to kill himself. The rifle misfire not only felt implausible, but also unearned because it didn't affect me in the slightest. The lack of cold is still a problem. I saw some cold breath in this episode which pleased me, but it was very inconsistent which makes me question its inclusion at all. Furthermore, Hickey stands around almost naked with no reaction to how cold it is. That makes me feel like the story takes place in a warm desert instead of the freezing arctic. The first few episodes hinted this would be a survival horror, but the show hasn't done a very good job with that, especially now that the show has slowed down in its middling chapters. There is little tension and the show isn't providing any real fear to me now that the Tuunbaq is gone. Even that final scene was only unsettling and not so much scary, yet it was the most fearsome scene since episode 5. I wish this show would embrace its genre to become something a little more enjoyable instead of trying to be something more thought-provoking which it most definitely isn't. The show has a problem of not letting scenes stick. We have these huge and impactful scenes like Morfin's death and the carnival in the last episode yet they have no follow-up except maybe an impact on a background character who we don't care at all about. This is very bad and it makes every scene feel unimportant to the story, which makes me completely lose interest in the show. The Unknown: What happened to the rescue squad? What decapitated them? In the first episode I had assumed that every question would be answered. But with no follow-up to David's sickness and his vision, I'm beginning to suspect we may not be getting many answers at all which will be disappointing. What will happen to the Inuits now? Will Hickey befriend them or kill them? What happened to Hickey anyways? Why did he choose to join the crew? How did he join the crew despite knowing nothing? What are his motives? Why go on such a life-threatening journey for no apparent reason? Best Moment: Hickey's murders were genuinely horrific. The high-pitched music which was the only sound as Hickey repeatedly stabbed Irving was unsettling as well as Adam Nagaitis' deranged expression s he committed the murders. A very well-executed scene made all the more stunning after the show provided some feelings of joy in the previous scene. Character of the Episode: Hickey. Conclusion: This was another really average and flat episode with a great ending. The ending somewhat saved this but everything that came before it was disappointing and difficult to care about. I am a little worried about the conclusion of the show now, so hopefully I can be proven wrong. Score: 57
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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