The Terror Episode 7 Review: Horrible from Supper

This The Terror review contains spoilers. 

The Terror Episode 7

The Terror doesn’t quite deliver the goods this week. “Horrible from Supper,” the episode that finally sends the crews of the Terror and the Erebus away from their ships in search for help 800 miles away, turns out to be a bit dull. It’s the big revelation about Hickey that saves it in the end. 

Just how unhinged is Hickey? We certainly begin to find out this week. Of course, that’s not Hickey at all, is it? We learn through a series of flashbacks that we’ve actually been following an impostor Hickey all along. The real Hickey, a doe-eyed boy preparing for his first voyage, apparently didn’t heed the advice of that officer: make sure you’re aboard the ship when it sets sail. He’s not. Instead, it’s the Hickey we know who boards the Terror.

So who is this guy? I assume that bad Hickey killed the real Hickey and stole his identity at some point before the ships set sail for the Northwest Passage. The real question is: why did he board the ship? That’s an answer we don’t get in “Horrible from Supper,” but we do witness what Hickey is capable of.

In the last few episodes, we’ve seen Hickey’s plan take shape. While seemingly loyal to Captain Francis at first, that quickly changes when he’s punished for taking Lady Silence prisoner. The funny thing is that I probably would have called Hickey a good guy up until that point. The main focus of his arc seemed to be his sexuality at first, but perhaps that was The Terror’s way of creating sympathy for the character. I certainly felt bad for this misunderstood man who has to live his true life in secret, away from the eyes of the lieutenants. 

Lt. Irving certainly pays dearly for his prying eyes and continued animosity towards Hickey. I’m not sure how I was expecting their hunting expedition to play out, but I definitely didn’t see it ending with a shirtless Hickey stabbing the shit out of Irving. It’s the terrifying moment The Terror slowly builds up to this week and it delivers, as Hickey rapidly pushes the blade in and out of Irving’s chest on that cliff, just out of sight of the Inuit travelers. 

The murder seems so perfectly planned out, as if to suggest that Hickey’s done this before. I wouldn’t doubt it from the way he strikes at the precise time and takes off his uniform so as to not get blood on it. There’s just no hesitation. Despite the fact that the show’s been building up Hickey as the main antagonist for the past few weeks, it’s still shocking to finally see him act out. It looks like the mutiny has finally begun. 

There were a couple of other good moments tonight. We finally learn what happened to the expedition north. The men went off in the second episode but never returned. It’s not surprising when we find their frozen heads sticking out of the snow, though. It’s the gory visual that this show delivers so well. How else could that expedition have gone?

Morfin finally succumbs to the poison seeping through his gums. As Goodsir suspected, the lead in the canned food is driving the men mad — and it does look like Collins, who is growing more anxious by the second, could be next. We’ll just have to wait and see. 

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek US. Find more of his work on here. Or just follow him on Twitter.