Devil in Silver Episode 1 Reminds Us Monsters Aren’t the Real Horror

Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

4.5

From the very beginning of The Terror, the series has reminded us that the supernatural elements aren’t the scariest thing.

The Terror Season 1 focused on how people react when they’re stranded at sea and left for dead, while The Terror Season 2 brought the dark story of Japanese internment camps.

Now, The Terror Season 3 is focused on institutionalized horror and how people are willing to act, and it never lets up.

Institutionalized Horror at Its Best

Like many shows and movies that came before it, The Terror: Devil in Silver ran the risk of the overused institutional setting trope.

There was a risk of overlooking the realities of being locked in one of these places, focusing on patients’ mindsets rather than the real horror of the setting.

However, the series doesn’t go down that route.

While we certainly get to see that there are people who may need institutionalized help, they don’t become a stereotype on The Terror.

These people are used to help tell a story. At least, the first episode sets things up that way. 

Sure, this could change down the line, but for now, the series has captured the hearts of people who struggle to integrate into mainstream society.

They’re not used as the horror.

There are times when they can be used as jump scares, such as Pepper’s roommate standing over him as he wakes up, but they’re not used to push the darker stories.

In fact, Pepper’s roommate is willing to talk in a matter-of-fact way, and while it can come across as odd, it’s also refreshing. There’s no gatekeeping of the information.

The real horror is the doctors, nurses, and orderlies at the institution.

We get to the heart of the real horror in these places — those who either need patients for kickbacks or are so desensitized to their job that they don’t seem to have any empathy.

Pepper becomes just another patient, and no one is willing to acknowledge that he probably shouldn’t have been brought to the hospital in the first place.

The cops just wanted to make their night easier, so they sent Pepper to this horror house instead of just letting him go.

The doctors were more than happy to quickly label him as agitated — and wouldn’t you be considering the situation? — while Scotch Tape just didn’t care to even pay attention.

Nobody there seems to really want to help, but the deeper-rooted meaning doesn’t stand out just yet.

Do they know of the supernatural elements in the hospital, or are they just so used to how patients act that they don’t trust anyone coming in now?

That’s a story to tease out slowly, especially after the way things started with a strange death that even Scotch Tape questioned.

A Feeling of American Horror Story and Them

Throughout The Terror: Devil in Silver Episode 1, I couldn’t help but feel like I was in the worlds of American Horror Story and Them.

Part of that is the way that people are the real horrors of the situation.

American Horror Story Season 2 brought the asylum storyline, where the former Nazi doctor was more than willing to run tests on patients and make them disappear.

Them Season 1 delivered a story of segregation, racism, and danger, all while making it clear that home isn’t as safe as you would initially feel it should be.

The Terror has all those elements, while also making it clear that there is something much darker.

Opting for the name New Hyde is telling — Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? — as it’s clear that there are two sides to this institution.

There is a side where doctors may want to help people, but there is also a sinister side, where souls are being claimed. The patients know of this, but who is going to believe them, considering where they are?

Those who want to help end up meeting a sticky end. As Louie decides he can no longer be a part of Pepper being stuck in this place, he finds himself lost in the halls of the hospital.

Sure enough, he comes across the doctor who may or may not run the whole place. One thing is for certain: this doctor is the supernatural force that keeps everyone locked away, and he does so through sinister means.

I didn’t expect Louie to end up dead at the end of the episode, but I did expect to find out that he would become another patient. The only thing likely preventing that was Pepper taking the last bed.

However, Louie was becoming a threat to the entire place, and the ghostly doctor had to take care of things.

Will that lead Huey and Dewey to take steps to find their colleague, or will they just decide to move on and find another member for their trio?

They clearly didn’t sign up for everything that happened to Pepper — pointing out that he couldn’t take his medication if he was still out from the previous dose, so setting him up to fail — but they also don’t seem to care enough about the people to do anything about it.

Again, we come back to the real horror: people who are willing to sit back and allow bad things to happen to others.

They may only act when they realize that they’ve lost one of their own, and it shows the systemic issue within policing.

Right now, the story is bleak. 

If this follows the first two seasons or the likes of American Horror Story, we may not want to hope for a happy ending. As long as it’s well-written and explained, that works for me, and I am here for this ride!

Join me weekly as I break down the episodes and delve deeper into the real nightmare that is within The Terror: Devil in Silver.

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