Review: Sanctuary, “Icebreaker”

After last week’s stumble, it seems Sanctuary’s got its groove back again.

“Icebreaker” has Henry Foss and a team from the UK sanctuary investigating  a derelict icebreaker (Whodathunk?) in the Bering Sea that supposedly carries a shipment of Hollow Earth Abnormals.

When they arrive, though, they find that Abnormals have massacred each other, as have the ship’s smuggler crewmembers, leaving them with a mystery to solve.

It’s a standard Sanctuary caper filled with monsters and scary dark corridors, but quite fun, even if it’s nothing new. The writers were having one of their good days, and “Icebreaker” is not afflicted by any of the cheesy moments or plot holes that too often come up on Sanctuary.

One thing about this episode that pleases me no end is that the writers continue to remember that Henry is a werewolf and work it into the plot. For the first three seasons, they hardly bothered to mention it, but now they’re managing to make it play a major role in the episodes’ stories.

It makes him a more interesting character. Instead of just being the geeky guy who runs their computers, he’s the geeky guy who runs their computers and will turn into a ****ing werewolf and rip your ****ing face off if you piss him off.

One other thing I really liked about this episode is the atmosphere. I find most TV shows, movies, and even books usually do a very poor job of depicting wintry scenes, but “Icebreaker” had enough little details to make it feel right to my discerning Canadian eye — from the layers of ice on the windows, to the howl of the wind outside, to the squeaking of little ice crystals with every footstep the characters took. The lack of breath misting did detract from that a bit, but overall, I really felt the cold, and it gave the episode a more real and spooky feeling.

My only complaint is that the ending could have used a little more punch. I saw the twist coming a mile away, and the climactic confrontation was over too easily.

Overall rating: 8/10

The first three seasons of Sanctuary are available to buy on my Amazon Affiliate for anyone looking to get into the show or catch up.