'The Terror: Infamy' Episode 8 review: Chester and Luz find their happily ever after haunted by Yuko's hunger for her 'sweet boy'
This article contains spoilers for episode 8.
As we move closer to the end of the second season of 'The Terror', titled 'Infamy', while we get the answers to a lot of questions in the eighth episode, things do tend to get more and more bizarre as well. On one hand, we have Chester battling the urge to find his long lost twin who may or may not be dead, while his relationship with Luz gets serious once again, with some dangerous consequences. On the other hand, back home at Terminal Island, it is the homecoming of the warriors - the 422 segment of Japanese men fighting for the Americans in World War II, which calls for a celebration in the internment camps and a long-overdue death.
When the episode begins, Chester and Luz are at her Abuela's place; things are settling in, and people are warming up to Chester quite well. The two discuss the prospects of Chester now that he's away from home and looking elsewhere, but somewhere deep down, there's no denying the longing he feels for the parents who raised him. Luz is a good distraction to keep him focused on the path of moving on, and the two are able to finally come together as a couple. One thing leads to another and she wakes up in his bed in the morning, paranoid her grandmother will find out, but Chester is able to calm her down and imply that it's about time the two took things to the next level.
Sadly, sweet as the wedding ceremony of Chester and Luz is - at a barn with a few intimate friends officiating the Spanish ceremony - far away from home, Chester isn't all that alone. Yuko's spirit, after possibly killing Luz's father in the previous episode, has been able to track the lovebirds down and she is coming for Taizo - Chester's birth name, meaning 'the third son.' Luz and Chester's wedding joy is shortlived as the police arrive at her grandmother's house in minutes, informing Luz that her father is missing. This spurs her grandmother to offer to perform an ancient Spanish magic ritual, where one can find out about whether a person is living or alive.
The ritual requires a photograph, and when spells are chanted, the person performing the ritual will be able to see the person in the photo provided they are dead. They will see the dead person in the exact same place, time, and specifics, as they were in the moment the photo was snapped. So when Luz backs off saying she doesn't believe her father is dead, Chester wants to go ahead with the ritual to find whether his twin, Jiro, is dead or alive.
Chester meeting Jiro is again bittersweet; at first, the older boy is glad to not be able to see a very young Jiro as he was in the photo. But right when he almost thinks Jiro might be alive, he hears sounds behind him, and there is the little boy. Jiro and Chester/Taizo, separated at birth, had no knowledge of each other. But once again, bordering on their Japanese heritage and their American upbringing, Chester is able to bond with the much younger version of his twin through baseball. There's regret and resentment we amply from Chester.
He regrets not being able to be there for his brother and resents his parents for adopting only himself. Things get even worse when Yuko appears in those hallucinations and is finally able to meet Jiro. She speaks to the young boy through Chester and it is clear this was her plan all along because she pushes Jiro into the sand and together they are wallowed by the decaying matter underneath, the way all dead spirits have been on the show so far. But while Yuko takes a dead boy to paradise, her intent is far more sinister, which is revealed when Luz announces she is pregnant again. Yuko can come to take her baby!
Back home, however, the horrors are a lot more human. Major Bowen finds out that Amy Yoshida was the one who was trying to go behind his back, and the creepy older man spikes her drink at the party, takes her hostage in a basement far away from the camp, and begins torturing her. Luckily, Amy is a fighter and she fights for her life, by taking Bowen's. This entire episode, wth Bowen breaking Amy's finger on purpose, tying her to a chair and assaulting her before she smashes his face to the ground until he dies, is a heavy parallel against the other horrors unfolding at the camp. The Japanese families are being hired by the Americans for a heavy sum of money to do odd jobs for them - basically enforcing slavery under the facade of payment. And one can only wonder how much worse this is going to get!
'The Terror: Infamy' episode 8 airs on Monday at 9 pm, only on AMC.