true north

This is what bugged me most about show!Tuunbaq. He was sort of dirty gray instead of white, and that really took a lot away from his level of creepiness.

The most interesting thing I got from Smith's biography, as well as from Fleming's Barrow's Boys is that Crozier actually had a chance to lead the expedition, if he was so inclined. The choice was between him and Franklin, basically, and everyone, even James Clark Ross, supported Franklin. I guess Ross and Crozier's previous expedition to the Antarctic played its part in that, because otherwise it's hard to explain why Ross preferred Franklin. He only knew him as a civil servant, and not even a particularly good one.

I pretty much thought that Little and Jopson was the same person until probably episode 6. No idea why, they don't even look alike, save for dark hair. Although thinking of it, it was probably that scene where Crozier makes Little steal whisky for him that confused me. Logically, it is something I would expect a captain to ask from his steward rather than from his 1st lieutenant.

To be fair, officers commissions were only sold for cavalry and infantry, i.e. where all that was required from new officers was looking good in a new uniform and not fall of a horse. Royal Navy commissions were never sold like that. However, there were so many navy officers and so few possibilities for promotion that without connections in the highest possible circles the possibility of making it to commander or captain was minimal. Franklin also joined RN as a volunteer back when he was 14. He didn't do much captaining immediately prior to the expedition though, and was mostly appointed as the expedition leader because various important people felt sorry for him and didn't want him to be sad. How crazy is that?

As far as I know, there have been some accounts of him surviving for a few more years, but we'll probably never know for sure. It would make sense though: he spent some time in the Arctic with Inuit people before and probably picked up a few useful skills along the way. But no matter how experienced an explorer someone is, there isn't much to do when the men are dying of a combination of exposure, starvation, scurvy and possible lead poisoning.

Yes, me too. It was Jopson, wasn't it? After Peglar collapsed and was put in a boat, Jopson looks away and asks the others whether they see a bird. Not that it would've helped them much: they had neither proper hunting rifles nor skilled hunters among them.

Seriously, that last shot is an absolute genius move on the part of the showrunners. I've read in an interview that they did mean it as Crozier hunting seal the way Simmons described it in the book, but they also didn't want to explain it in any way, leaving viewers to come to their own conclusions. And it's amazing how different those conclusions are, even if you only look at this particular discussion. This shot is almost like a Rorschach test, in that we all process what's going on differently based on our own experiences.

I wouldn't describe him as happy, but to me he seemed content, in the best possible way. Based on what we've been told and shown about him as a person hunting seal and babysitting suits him much better than social climbing.

Actually, it looks like a nod to the end of the book, where Crozier helps Silna with seal hunting. That scene is really, REALLY long, but the gist of it is that seals make small breathing holes in the ice, and a hunter must wait above such hole for hours without moving or making any noise. And then when a seal swims to that hole to take a breath, the hunter flings his/her harpoon vertically down the hole and kills the seal.

From now on when I have a cold/flu, my default response to "How are you feeling" will be Crozier's "Like Christ, but with more nails".

Another book for the collection: On the Proper Use of Stars. This one is a fictionalised account of the expedition (mostly from Crozier's POV) and of lives led by Lady Jane and Sophia back in England. I'm enjoying it quite a bit. However, after reading The Terror and then also watching The Terror a few times I sort of expect Tuunbaq to appear in this story as well :) Still, I really like Crozier's portrayal in the book, and the author clearly did her homework when it comes to historical details.

I'm a big fan of his since the good old days of Fringe, where he played such an evil and ruthless character that Hickey would look like a harmless baby compared to him. But IMO his best recent recurring role has been in The Expanse. It's an amazing and terribly underrated sci-fi show that probably won't continue past the current season, unfortunately. If anyone here is into sci-fi, I can't recommend it enough. Here I can't even say whether JH's character is a good or a bad guy, which makes things 1000 times more interesting. He's sort of a gang/union leader with understandable goals but questionable means of achieving them. Actually, have a sneak peek: this is one of my favourite monologues from the show.

Crozier's biography is excellent as well, especially the parts about his friendship with Sir James Ross. Although as with Fitzjames' one, it's like looking at a car crash in slow motion. One can't help but feel sad reading about even the happiest moments of their lives, because the shadow of their final expedition is always there. Next on my list: Barrow's Boys by Fergus Fleming, about that whole age of polar exploration that ended after Franklin's expedition was lost. As far as I know, there are also some expedition relics on display in the Greenwich maritime museum. I wonder if "need more fuel for my current obsession" is a good enough reason to extend my London work trip for another day this summer :)

The ISBN for Fitzjames' biography is 978-1-55488-781-1, according to my Kindle. I've now moved on to Crozier's biography and also have a book of Scott's journals waiting for me. After all, nothing takes one's mind off stories about people dying in the Arctic better than stories about people dying in the Antarctic.

I've recently did a rewatch together with my husband to have him catch up on the show in time for the finale. It's even better the 2nd time, because now I know who everybody is, and the 1st time it took me 5 episodes to figure out that Jopson and Little weren't the same person :) I'm also incredibly invested in all the characters. Isn't it strange: we've been told explicitly in the very 1st scene of the very 1st episode that everyone dies in the end, and I still care much more than I care about any characters in other, much more high profile shows. Actually, the show made me want to dig deeper, so I've just finished the recent (and only) biography of James Fitzjames, which the showrunners definitely used for the show. It was a real treat, and a much needed improvement of book-Fitzjames, who isn't boring or anything, but he's just sort of there.