The series' first season begins with the Royal Navy's polar explorer ships and having recently left Beechey Island, heading south toward King William Island into uncharted territory, seeking the Northwest Passage. The ships are soon stuck, frozen and isolated, and those aboard must survive the harsh weather conditions and each other, while being stalked by an elusive menace. The second season takes place on the west coast of the United States during World War II and centers on the Japanese folklore of bakemono, "an uncanny specter that menaces a Japanese-American community from its home in Southern California to the internment camps to the war in the Pacific".
After the success of the show The Walking Dead, the American cable TV network AMC planned to create a horror TV series based on the novelThe Terror. In March 2016, it was confirmed that AMC ordered 10 episodes of the show, with an expected premiere date in 2018. David Kajganich and Soo Hugh serve as co-showrunners, while Kajganich penned the adaptation. Ridley Scott, Alexandra Milchan, Scott Lambert, David W. Zucker, and Guymon Casady are executive producers. In September 2016, it was announced that Tobias Menzies was cast as a series lead and the showrunners were seeking an Inuit woman, between the ages of 16–30, to play an unspecified 'major character', most likely Lady Silence. Most of the scenes on the ice were made with CGI.
Season 2
The second season, titled The Terror: Infamy, is co-created by Max Borenstein and Alexander Woo, who also serves as the showrunner and consists of 10 episodes. Derek Mio plays the lead role of Chester Nakayama, a son of Japanese born immigrants who joins the army. George Takei plays Yamato-san, a former fishing captain and community elder who was imprisoned with his family in two Japanese-American internment camps during WWII. Also cast are Kiki Sukezane as Yuko, a mysterious woman from Chester's past; Shingo Usami as Henry Nakayama, Chester's father; and Naoko Mori as Asako Nakayama, Chester's mother; and Miki Ishikawa as Amy, a Nakayama family friend. Takei also serves in a consulting role to ensure the accuracy of historical events and storytelling. C. Thomas Howell was cast as Retired Major Hallowell Bowen, an official with the War Relocation Authority whose "presence looms over the Japanese-American characters in the story." Josef Kubota Wladyka directed the first two episodes of the season. Production began on January 14, 2019, in Vancouver.
Release
The first season premiered on AMC in the United States and Canada on March 25, 2018, and concluded on May 21, 2018. It was released worldwide on Amazon Prime Video in every other country where the service is present starting March 26, 2018. Amazon released most of the first season ahead of its broadcast on AMC. In the United Kingdom, The Terror premiered on AMC on April 24, 2018.
Reception
Critical response
Season 1
The first season has received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a 93% "certified fresh" rating based on 57 reviews, with an average rating of 8.29/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A thriller wrapped in a prestige drama package, The Terror makes for gripping, atmospheric supernatural horror." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the season has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Season 2
The second season has received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a 83% "certified fresh" rating based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 7.38/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Real-world and supernatural horrors collide in Infamy, an exceptionally well-crafted ghost story that creeps under the skin and stays there." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 78 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
