The Terror Season 2 Review

The Terror [The Terror: Infamy] (2018-)

Season 2: Infamy - 10 episodes (2019)
Rent The Terror on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Max Borenstein, Alexander Woo
Starring: Derek Mio, Kiki Sukezane, Cristina Rodlo, Shingo Usami, Naoko Mori, Miki Ishikawa, George Takei
Rated: TV-14
Watch the trailer

Plot
In this supernatural, semi-historical horror anthology series, each season is inspired by a different infamous or mysterious real-life historical tragedy.

Set during World War II, the second season focuses on the Japanese folklore of bakemono, which harasses a Japanese American community in Southern California.

Verdict
This doesn't just examine rifts between parents and children, also setting this against the backdrop of World War II and widespread xenophobia. Then there's the demon that's following the protagonists and killing people. It's a manifestation of the old traditions, creating a character for what the government is doing to American citizens when it imprisoned them. There's the contention between generations as a family tries to find belonging, both as immigrants and the second generation. By setting this in history, it provides the horror so much more depth and meaning.
Watch It.

Review
How you do you survive in a country that marginalizes your entire race? After Pearl Harbor anyone Japanese is deemed bad and moved to interment camps, despite living in America. Chester (Derek Mio) is second generation trying to find his place and figure out how to "be a man" but the old world isn't that far away. A demon terrorizes the camp, a Japanese myth from the old world that, in a way, is just as scary and marginalizing as what the U.S. government is doing to them. Both entities prevent them from transitioning fully to life in America.

This is set in the 1940s. Chester represents the duality of an immigrant trying to embrace a new country while balancing traditions and his family's former country. He's college educated and resents his father for not standing up to white oppression. Chester's father has had to capitulate to survive and provide. He didn't have the resources and opportunities Chester got.

E3: Derek Mio plays Chester Nakayama

There's also an eerie death in the first episode as the show has to live up to its name. That and some kind of demon that's terrorizing families and causing chaos.

After the Pearl Harbor bombing, anyone that looked Japanese was deemed guilty, even those living in America. Chester and his family are moved to internment camps. We see rampant racism. Even soldiers that were friendly with Chester now treat him as an other. In episode three Chester enlists to become a soldier, not because he's patriotic, but he wants to get out of the camps.

Chester's girlfriend Luz (Cristina Rodlo) is pregnant and his family is not overwhelmingly supportive. Over the season she and Chester's father grow closer. Luz's midwife just happens to be the demon, appearing normal, and that generates a lot of dread as no one realizes. The pregnancy ends as you might expect, and it's devastating.

Chester is caught in the middle, trying to do the best for himself while caught between his future and his family's past. He's in a country with plenty of opportunity, but clearly only if you're white.

Episode six follows an annoying formula for modern series. It explores the demon's background. I'd rather the series focus on the story and move forward. I don't know why so many shows take an episode to provide backstory and humanize an antagonist. If you wondered why this spirit seems to target Chester, this episode does provide answers. One is that the demon's name is Yuko.

E8: Cristina Rodlo, Derek Mio play Luz, Chester

The seventh episode seemed like it was winding the series down, but then in the next episode we learn that Chester had a brother that apparently has been just off screen the entire time. Chester must contact him for answers. This show feels like it's stretching to hit ten episodes.

Despite all the precautions Chester and Luz take, Yuko still finds them. Chester has a plan, but it has major flaws. Chester and his family conquer Yuko while finally getting to leave the internment camps, both the demon and their treatment by the government are monstrous and that's the point.

You could look at this as just a horror series, but setting this during World War II adds so much depth and history. For three years the U.S. imprisoned Japanese Americans without a trial as they lost property and liberty as a result of fear and racism. This series gives the monster a face.