Osmigo

Another little datapoint on that final scene. There are *4* of them going across the ice. But there can't be 4 in that very last image. So who are those people? Is that just Crozier and his daughter? Remember also this is only after 2 years have passed. That girl with him is clearly 6 to 8. Also, Crozier isn't holding the spear on his lap; he's holding it up in the air, several inches over his leg (note the shadow). And crossways to the hole, if there is one. That doesn't look at all like he's waiting for a seal's head to pop up. And obviously that's not a position you could hold for very long. Perhaps it's a combination of both: the girl is sleeping, while Crozier has frozen. Just speculation, of course, which may be exactly what the author intended, although it doesn't give the viewer much sense of closure. It would be nice if we could communicate with the author or screenwriter and just ASK them.

I was also looking for a hole. It looked like Crozier was staring at something. But they were motionless; they didn't even blink, even with that cold wind blasting him in the face. That's why I suspected they were frozen to death. But that wouldn't really make sense, either. That's a human tendency this show played upon: our natural demand to "understand" everything. Everything has to "make sense." When we see something we don't understand or can't explain, it really bothers us. What is that? Why did that happen? Where did it go? We insist on having answer to these questions. And so it was with that final scene. Were they alive, or frozen? Was there a hole? If not, why were they sitting there motionless like that? It makes sense if we stop insisting that it make sense. As Zobot stated, "...the final scene is meant to evoke a still photograph or painting...." which is an excellent proposition.

I was uncertain about this, too. When I saw that final shot, at first I thought it was a still photo. Then I saw the snow blowing, but Crozier et. al. were ABSOLUTELY motionless, like statues. My conclusion was that they had frozen to death. So everybody's saying they were alive? I found it a little dissatisfying for the show to end with this uncertainty. Thoughts, comments?

One of the things that can cause a show's appeal to fade is to have some antagonist character, the obligatory "bad guy," who just keeps "getting away with everything" over and over and over until you just lose interest. It eventually gets to be like the annoying guest at a party; you don't care any more what they say or do, you just wish they'd leave. We're very close to that point with Hickey, if we haven't passed it already. There are two episodes left. If they have some kind of cliffhanger finale that's Hickey-centric, that will be the last nail in the coffin for a lot of viewers. Beyond that, it's been a wonderful series, and I'm always anxious for the next episode.

When Hickey was standing there in the noose giving his protracted spiel, I figured the bear would show up. I'm getting a little disappointed in the bear. Earlier scenes, such as tearing the captain's leg off like a matchstick, and cutting that guy in half, then stacking the two pieces together, suggested some kind of really scary monster. But every time I see it, it looks more and more like just a plain old polar bear. One major viewer turn-off with this kind of show is when they drag a storyline on and on and on; you keep turning back in hoping to see it resolved, but it doesn't happen, and then you lose interest. I hope that isn't the case here. I wanted to see Hickey hang, so we could get on with the story, but now we'll have to sit and watch more Hickey and more Hickey.

In some ways, this show reminds me of the old Twin Peaks series. Some of the darkness, the unknown elements, the vagueness combine to create part of a total effect, instead of just being a collection of distinct, individual components. Hickey is like The Swede in Hell on Wheels: a repulsive character who disturbs you at a very deep level, but who is nonetheless superbly acted.

I agree, I thought that scene was pushing the envelope of credibility somewhat. He certainly could have cut it up higher, then manually ripped it open downward. Or even if he had to do it the way he did, he didn't have to ram the entire length of his knife blade through it; it was just a piece of fabric, for crying out loud.

Given the premium value of storage space on a ship, it's interesting that they BROUGHT all that stuff in the first place - I guess they were anticipating that they might have a carnival somewhere along the way....?

I watch it streaming on AMC via a Roku and it's captioned. Same here. I winced when the doctor said "let's get you salted down...."