The Terror has been a consistently chilling blend of true-life folly and supernatural stalking. And it has also been performing well, particularly in the States, where it ranks behind only the Walking Dead shows and Better Call Saul for home network AMC. So chances are it could come back, albeit in a very different form.
The Terror adapts Dan Simmons, itself based on the true-life story of the catastrophic Franklin expedition by the Royal Navy to find the Northwest Passage. It ended... badly. And while the book and resulting show are named for one of the vessels on the expedition, the title is likely to stay in place. And what of the story, as the end of the first season wraps up the narrative from the book.
According to co-showrunner Soo Hugh, it'll tell a very different story under the same name. "When AMC greenlit the show now almost three years ago, they greenlit it as an anthology show," Hugh tells TV Guide. "Meaning 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."
Hugh worked on the first run of episodes with David Kajganich, who has been with the project through various iterations, including a big screen film. But they are, apparently ready to hand over the reins. "Dave and I aren't coming back for Season 2 by our choice," Hugh says. "We're just really excited to see what AMC does with what we've done."
The Terror wraps up this evening (Monday 21 May) in the States, and ends on AMC International in four weeks.
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