‘The Terror: Infamy’ Recap – ‘Shatter Like a Pearl’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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When it comes to wonderful horror stories, in any medium, I’m always left curious as to how exactly the story in question is going to handle the scares once it’s given us a taste of what it can really do to our emotions. Because there are some tales of terror that simply don’t let up when they unleash their respective fury, and they leave our hearts racing when the story comes to a close. Yet there are others that toy with us in the right kind of way since they ebb and flow when it comes to the scares, giving the audience a moment to catch their breath before bringing that sinking feeling back to the forefront of our minds. If anything, this is on my mind, simply due to the fact that I was wondering which category The Terror: Infamy was going to fall into when I settled in to watch last night’s episode.
 
For the previous tale truly let loose and left so many of us unsettled and heading to bed with a light on for good measure. But as it turns out, ‘Shatter Like a Pearl’ let us know that the peak and valley approach is going to be the focal point for this series since it scaled back the scares and brought about some fascinating character moments to dive into. For example, this is a tale that once again took the time to explore how fear and racism go hand in hand since the fear of having Japanese citizens betray the United States, prompted the Major to distribute a flyer designed to serve as a declaration of loyalty to America and those who refused to fill it out properly were dealt with in uncomfortable fashion and shipped off to who knows where and it is nice to see that this show continues to work on finding parallels to modern day since populism and nationalism and the ‘badge’ of citizenship are important to a lot of people right now.
 
But aside from the usual and fascinating commentary that this series offers, it also took the time to inject some serious humanity into the story as well, both good and bad and well, it’s best we talk about the sour stuff first and just get it out of the way. For this tale took the time to show us that Luz is in a bad place after losing her children, to the point where she’s despondent and lost and despite the care Chester’s family gives her, she simply won’t come out of her shell. And to make matters worse, her father brought her the news that her brother died in combat, prompting her to finally leave this desolate place and come home, and I suppose the lesson here is simply that sometimes, life is ugly and painful and all we can do is roll with the punches until the good comes along and take our time to heal when necessary. 

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​Yet as Luz dealt with her pain, halfway around the world Chester responded differently to the ache in his heart. Because he had indeed learned of the passing of his twin boys and rather than let it eat at him, he opted instead to try and immerse himself in the war effort and for his troubles he was given the opportunity to deal with a captured pilot. One that at first seemed to be the Yurei, but eventually he revealed that he was nothing more than a scared soldier, one that didn’t want any part of the war and Chester eventually came to learn that the two of them had a lot in common, putting a human face on his enemy. Something that quite frankly touched Chester like never before and he saw an opportunity to do something good in the midst of this mess, prompting him to untie the man and let him die with dignity, and it was just fascinating to see this side of Chester and learn how desperate he is to find some semblance of good in the world right now.
 
But while it was nice to take a little break from the foreboding nature of this tale and reflect upon some important life lessons, it wouldn’t be proper to have the Yurei simply disappear for an episode, and she made her presence known in eerie fashion once again. Because as all of these events unfolded, she was making her way across the ocean, first by occupying a translator before taking control of Chester’s bunk mate, all so that she could be near Chester at last. And in a chilling series of events, she kidnapped Chester and led him into the jungle, wherein she revealed her rotten form to him at last, and called out to him as though she knows him and that revelation is intriguing and horrifying to say the least, because it means the Yurei has some seriously unfinished business with Chester, the kind we don’t understand quite yet.
 
If anything, I have to admit that I was quite pleased with this particular tale. Simply because, while we all enjoy a damn fine scare from time to time, the characters have to matter to us when it comes to this type of story, and if we cannot connect with them, the terror doesn’t matter in the slightest. Meaning that everything that happened here was brilliant and thoughtful, since it really did give us some good insight into what Chester is all about, and I’m glad it didn’t shy away from the pain that Luz would be going through. And judging from the trailer for next week, it would seem that the next chapter in this tale is going to explore the Yurei’s origin, and why she’s so obsessed with Chester and that’s a wonderful place to go since it will likely challenge Chester, and the good within his soul, like never before. Until next time. 

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