4 disastrous expeditions we’d love to see in The Terror season 2
Tobias Menzies as James Fitzjames – The Terror _ Season 1, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Aidan Monaghan/AMC
Things may be coming to a grim end on AMC’s polar gothic The Terror, but it turns out it might not be the end at all — at least, not for the show itself.
Honestly, the most distressing thought about the upcoming season finale of The Terror is that there will be no new episodes of this glorious show to enjoy. But as it turns out, that might not be quite true: there’s a chance, especially in light of the show’s critical reception, that AMC might go for a second season.
In an interview with TV Guide, co-showrunner Soo Hugh said that multiple seasons were part of the creator’s original plan — but that we’d be leaving the Franklin expedition behind. “Season 1 would be the story of the Franklin Expedition, and subsequent seasons would take on a new narrative that carried the DNA that we established in Season 2,” Hugh says.
“Carrying the DNA” could mean a lot of things, but it seems certain to mean a new storyline and cast. And unfortunately, Hugh also mentioned that she and creator David Kajganich are moving on to their own projects, so if The Terror got another season they wouldn’t be a part of it. Which is massively disappointing, of course, but not a deal-breaker.
So the next question is, what would a season 2 of The Terror look like? With (presumably) a new cast and a new creative team, the possibilities are pretty much endless, but sticking with the theme of “historical wilderness expeditions gone wrong” seems the most likely option. And goodness knows there’s tales a-plenty of people rushing off the corners of the map and straight into an untimely death. And luckily, a good many of them take place in the 19th century, which means more beautiful period costumes!
The Donner Party
This one’s a pretty obvious contender, and maybe a little too obvious. On the plus side, most people have heard of how the Donner-Reed wagon train got trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the winter of 1846, and resorted to cannibalism to survive. Almost half the expedition died, and those that survived endured an awful ordeal. Certainly right up The Terror’s alley.
But at the same time, having another arc whose crux is cold and cannibalism might be a bit repetitive. Season 1 knocked those themes out of the park, and I’d love to see season 2 do something different. That being said, there’s some absolutely beautiful scenery to explore in that area of the world, especially when the characters aren’t confined to a ship for more than half the show. Another benefit is that the cast could have more female characters.
But if you’re looking for something a little more tropical…
Percy Fawcett’s search for “Z”
In 1925 Lt-Col Percy Fawcett set off into the Bolivian jungle to complete his work as a surveyor. While he was there, he discovered scattered artifacts which led him to believe that there was a secret metropolis hidden somewhere deep in the jungle. This belief would lead him to embark on multiple expeditions into the Amazon, traveling over a thousand miles before disappearing with his son in uncharted territory.
Going from the lifeless ice sheet to the teeming jungles of South America would certainly be an interesting shift. The release of The Lost City of Z last year shows there is certainly interest in this particular story, but it could also mean that it’s already been “done.”