Below dropped October 8 on Netflix.
By Greg Wheeler
Spoilers follow for the entire season.
Below begins with a strange, haunting mystery. In 1986, the Penney family attempts to move their home by boat, only for the journey to end in tragedy when Calvin sees something beneath the water. Decades later, Calvin Penney is still living in the isolated Newfoundland community of Snook’s Arm, where he harvests icebergs to make ends meet as the fishing industry collapses.
The town is already facing an uncertain future. A resettlement plan backed by the powerful Crocker family promises residents money to leave, but it also threatens to erase their community. The arrival of an unusual iceberg, a missing fishing boat, and a series of gruesome attacks soon give the residents an even bigger problem to deal with.
What begins as a compelling creature mystery gradually expands into something more ambitious. The iceberg contains traces of an ancient organism, while the people exposed to it begin suffering from hallucinations, paranoia, and an uncontrollable thirst. At the same time, Calvin and marine researcher Fonda Howander attempt to understand the creature lurking beneath the water.
The early episodes are where Below is at its strongest. The show understands that suggestion can be more effective than constant spectacle. The creature is usually hidden beneath the waves, glimpsed through shadows, tentacles, footprints, and the reactions of those who survive encounters with it. That restraint creates a lingering sense of dread, particularly as the residents of Snook’s Arm begin to realize that something has been watching them for decades.
The town itself is just as important as the monster. Snook’s Arm is a dying community held together by tradition, family, and stubborn pride. The debate over resettlement gives the series a grounded social conflict, while the growing threat from the ocean brings those tensions to the surface. Everyone has a different idea about what the town needs: escape, money, scientific answers, or simply more time.
Josh Hartnett gives the series its emotional center as Calvin, a man haunted by his father’s death and determined to protect his family even when they no longer trust his judgment. Hartnett brings a worn-down sincerity to the role, making Calvin’s obsession with the creature feel rooted in grief rather than simple heroism.
Charlie Heaton is equally effective as Wade, Calvin’s estranged son. Wade begins the season as an aimless young man who feels trapped by his family and their fading way of life. His encounter with the creature leaves him traumatized, but it also forces him to confront the possibility that his father may have been right about the dangers surrounding them. The relationship between Calvin and Wade becomes the show’s most convincing source of tension and warmth.
The middle episodes are less consistent. Below introduces several intriguing ideas, including the sea-hag folklore, the poisonous effects of the iceberg, the mysterious research vessel, and the possibility that the creature is defending something rather than simply hunting people. However, the series occasionally struggles to balance its different storylines. The pacing slows as the conspiracy surrounding the Crocker company becomes more prominent, and some of the supporting characters are left with less development than they deserve.
Still, the show’s central idea is effective. The creature is not simply a monster attacking innocent people. It is responding to environmental destruction and human greed. The iceberg is connected to a nest, and the creature’s violence is tied to the warming waters threatening its offspring. By the final episodes, Below has shifted from a straightforward survival story into an allegory about exploitation, displacement, and the consequences of treating nature as a resource.
That thematic turn works better than the creature effects themselves. The series builds plenty of atmosphere through its rugged locations, gloomy skies, icy waters, and claustrophobic interiors, but the CGI is less convincing when the monster finally appears. The decision to keep it mostly hidden protects some of the mystery, but it also limits the horror. Viewers expecting a more visceral creature feature may be disappointed by how rarely the monster is fully seen.
The finale brings the major conflicts together quickly. As the town is evacuated and the military prepares to destroy the creature and its nest, Calvin, Wade, Fonda, and the other residents must decide whether to save themselves or risk everything to protect the monster. The resolution is emotionally satisfying, particularly as Calvin finally begins to trust Wade and recognize him as an equal.
However, the ending feels rushed. The Crocker family’s influence fades too easily, the town’s survival is resolved with minimal fallout, and the one-year time jump skips over several consequences that deserved more attention. The final discovery of multiple icebergs suggests that the creature’s offspring may have survived, leaving the story open to another chapter. It is an ominous final image, even if it arrives before the series has fully earned its sense of closure.
Below is an uneven but distinctive limited series. Its creature is not always frightening, its mythology can become cluttered, and the final episode moves too quickly. But the show’s atmosphere, Newfoundland setting, ecological themes, and central father-son relationship give it a personality that separates it from more conventional monster thrillers.
The real strength of Below is its understanding that the threat beneath the water is only part of the problem. The more dangerous force is the human desire to control, buy, relocate, and profit from everything around us. That idea gives the series weight, even when its storytelling becomes messy.
I give Below Season 1 a B-.
