DISCLAIMER: This is a spoiler filled recap for episode 7 of The Terror: Infamy, ‘My Perfect World’. Viewer discretion is advised.
Welcome back! If you’re still with us that means you’re still not over last week’s plot twist and you’re desperate to see what happens next. And I’m right there with you. Last week we finally saw a bit of Yuko’s (Kiki Sukezane) backstory. This included a very brief marriage with Furuya-san (Eiji Inoue) that ended when it was discovered Yuko was pregnant by another man.
After spending some time homeless, Yuko is forced to give away her baby which drove her to commit suicide. After spending a bit of time in the afterlife with one of her ancestors (Natsuki Kunimoto), Yuko quite literally digs herself out of the afterlife in a zombie style resurrection 21 years later. Thus, the Yūrei was born!
Meanwhile at the internment camp, it is July of 1943 and Chester (Derek Mio) returns from his stay in Guadalcanal. This is where he discovers Luz (Cristina Rodlo) has left the camp. This is where he also learns that Henry (Shingo Usami) and Asako (Naoko Mori) are not his biological parents. If you wanna get technical, they’re his Aunt and Uncle, because he is actually the son of Asako’s sister, Yuko. Chester a.k.a Taizo is the baby Yuko gave up shortly before her death. Yep. Sh*t hit the fan.
Later the Nakayama’s and Yamato-san (George Takei) get a hold of Yuko’s body and attempt ancient kind of exorcism. This ends, unbeknownst to them, in a total failure.
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In this week’s episode, we see that the Nakayamas have been torn apart, and Chester searches for the person he believes can help, even if it means taking drastic action. A tuberculosis outbreak in the community forces Amy (Miki Ishikawa) to act, though she’s caught between doing what she’s told and doing what’s right.
Let’s jump right in! Here’s our look at The Terror: Infamy’s new episode, ‘My Perfect World’!
Things kick off with a pretty gruesome scene. Ah, who am I kidding? My inner horror dork found the whole thing gloriously gross. A mortician, whom we quickly learn is possessed by Yuko, is skinning the body of another woman. The skin is then sewed onto the body of Yuko to repair the damage it received during the failed exorcism.
Once the transplant is complete, the mortician takes a syringe and injects something into his neck. I assume it’s poisonous because we don’t see him again after this. Plus this is when Yuko, now in her own body, gets up and decides to play dress up with the mortician’s makeup kit.
After the opening credits we see Amy discovering Chester by the camp’s lake. We learn that Chester has sent multiple letters to Luz only to get nothing back. He asks if there is any way Amy could use her position as Major Bowen’s (C. Thomas Howell) secretary to get Chester in touch with Luz. Amy gently tells him no. If they are caught they could both get shipped to Camp Tulelake. Besides, “…Bowen records everything in that office.” Ah, I love foreshadowing in the morning.
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When Amy suggests Chester talk to his parents, Chester quickly changes the topic to Toshiro’s (Alex Shimizu) coughing. Turns out the poor kid is getting sick and Henry and Asako have been taking care of him. This diversion shows us that Chester is still feeling betrayed by his parents while offering up some more foreshadowing.
Did you miss Luz? I know I sure did. Good thing we’re checking in with her during this next scene! In her family home Luz is sitting with her Father Bart (Ruben Garfias) at the dining room table. Luz is still depressed after everything that went on at the camp. Who wouldn’t be? Her mood certainly doesn’t improve when Bart insists she get out more, pushes her to date and points out the stack of unopened letters from Chester. Talk about tough love, Bart, geez.
Back at camp Chester sends yet another letter to Luz. Except things are different at the camp’s post office. This time he has mail. It’s a package from Bart containing all of his letters to Luz. Ouch.
Despite his frustration you can see the gears in his head beginning to turn. And they are going rapid fire. He drops the package of letters and with the stride of a man with a plan goes towards the camp’s open entrance. He ignores the guards orders and when one men threatens to shoot him if he doesn’t stop, Chester is fairly casual when he replies “Wanna shoot a seargent in the back? Fine by me, Private.” Anyone got ice for that burn?
The great escape comes to an end when Chester is shoved down, beaten and subsequently knocked out by three of the guards.
Later Chester is escorted by Bowen to a transport truck. He’s being shipped off to Tulelake. Asako pleads for mercy on Chester’s behalf while Henry is taking the tough love route on this one. “If he wants to be a fool, let him be a fool!”
Bowen explains that he has been lenient, but insists shipping Chester off is for the best. It was going to be a while before they saw each other again. So when Bowen asks Chester if there was anything he wanted to say to his parents before he left, he replies “My parents are dead.” This hits Henry and Asako hard. Henry tries to brush it off by insisting they need to get back to Toshiro. “He’s not doing well.”
But Asako doesn’t move. Not until the truck containing her son is out of sight.
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Later that night Asako is woken up by Amy. She informs Asako that Toshiro’s condition is getting worse. He’s shaking, has a high fever, he’s coughing nonstop and is coughing up rust colored mucus. A common sign of pulmonary tuberculosis.
The women take Toshiro to the infirmary. They are quickly met with Ken Uehara (Christopher Naoki Lee) who is volunteering. He and Amy exchange a quick, awkward look. Looks like they haven’t spoken much since episode 5. Ken explains that Toshiro isn’t the only one with this illness. It’s already hit several blocks throughout the camp. Oh, and the camp’s two remaining doctors? They’re sick too. Apparently the infirmary is only running on volunteers.
Ken urges Amy to talk to Bowen. “Tell your boss he needs to get the sick to a hospital. Or get real doctors in here… I know you like the safety of being Bowen’s pet but if he doesn’t do something quick people are gonna die.”
Meanwhile, in another part of camp, we see a much more put together Yuko sulking around. She heads into one of the barracks where she finds the package of Luz’s letters Asako picked up. She also finds a picture of Chester and Luz. Noting the address on the letters, Yuko assumes that’s where Chester is heading. We stan a detective ghost.
When she leaves the barrack she is quickly caught by Bowen. Bowen follows her for a bit before Yuko gets fed up. The only resolution to such a sticky situation? Performing her possession party trick, of course!
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Let’s check back with Chester. He’s still in the back of the transport truck when he notices they are driving by a bridge. This is when he insists he needs to go to the bathroom. The guard sitting with him hesitates but ultimately stops the truck. It’s not long before Chester swings at one of the guards before running off and jumping off the bridge. Told you! He’s a man with a plan! I mean, it’s not a great one. Seeing as he’s still handcuffed and the water below the bridge is pretty rapid. It’s still a plan!
Relax, he’s fine. We see him crawl out of the water seconds later.
Back at camp Amy pleads with Bowen to get some real doctors into the camp. But Bowen is still spooked after his encounter with Yuko. He’s not himself and goes off on a tangent about how most of the people at camp refuse to look him in the eye. “At first maybe it was out of respect. Or fear. And frankly either one of those is fine with me…The reason they won’t look me in the eye is because they know something that I don’t know.”
He then declares unless someone tells him about the “oriental magic tricks” nobody is leaving camp. Including the sick people. Just then the guards that were supposed to be transporting Chester walk into the office to break the bad news.
Later Amy heads to the infirmary. She informs Ken that talking to Bowen didn’t work. So Ken decides to take matters into his own hands. That night he walks to Bowen’s quarters to try reasoning with him. As soon as Ken knocks on the door he is met with Bowen’s gun in his face. He’s still paranoid about Yuko and is convinced she sent Ken after him.
Bowen demands Ken tell him what Yuko wants but Ken, obviously, has no clue what he’s talking about. When Bowen takes a swing at Ken the two break out in a fight. This brawl with Ken taking Bowen’s gun and basically taking him hostage.
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We check back with Luz, who is returning from a date that was arranged by her Father. She is standing outside her home when she notices a very familiar car with a very familiar driver. It’s Chester in Henry’s precious car. This whole time the car was tucked away safely by his old photography Professor.
The two share an intense conversation about…well, everything. Chester wants to know why his letters went unanswered. Luz explains that a part of her died with their babies and basically everything about Chester hurts her. “I’m so tired. I wake up in the morning and it’s like I can’t breathe. I can’t be here anymore. I have nothing to give you.” Chester insists he doesn’t want anything from her. All he wants to do is help in anyway he can. He has the car after all. If Luz feels that she can’t stay with her Father then, “If you could have a free ride to anywhere, where would you go?”
We cut back to camp real quick. Amy walks to Bowen’s quarters because he didn’t turn up to work and people are asking for him at the office. When the door opens she’s met with Ken. “It’s like you said, someone’s gotta do something,” he quips before explains his plan to her. A plan that can’t go into action until Bowen wakes up. He then insists Amy head back to work before she gets into trouble.
At Luz’s house we see her packing for trip with Chester. She leaves a note addressed to her Father. Since he’s not there, it’s probably just an explanation and a proper goodbye. While she’s preparing, Chester heads to the local missionary run orphanage to go through his adoption papers from years ago. He stealthy makes his way through the orphanage until he finds the office containing all the documents.
He finds the standard stuff a birth certificate, photos of him as a baby and a second birth certificate. Wait -what? This just took a soap opera turn as we discover Chester has a lost twin brother named Jirou. Holy! Hell!
At Bowen’s office, Amy gets stealthy too as she not only locates the recorder monitoring all the office phone calls, she shuts it off so she can get ambulances to relocate two dozen patients to the hospital. It looks like we are getting a happy ending for the camp’s patients. But Amy is another story. When she hangs up the phone, one of the guards walks in on her and demands to know what’s going on.
We assume she tells them everything because she later returns to Bowen’s quarters with more guards. Ken is pleased to hear Amy took the initiative to call the ambulances herself. He’s also quick to relay to Bowen that none of this is Amy’s fault. “I told her that I’d kill you if she didn’t make the call. She did it to protect you. She’d never cross you on her own.” He’s trying to save Amy from any punishment. A true gentlemen. And it works.
Ken places the gun on the ground so he can be handcuffed, Bowen is released and he walks out of the quarters with Amy. We’re left to assume that Ken will either be sent to another, even less humane camp. That is until Bowen gives the guards a signal. A signal that has Ken executed for the affront. What can Amy do but scream? The terror is only amplified once you remember she witnessed her Father’s death as well. A death that looks almost identical to this one.
Meanwhile, Chester explains this new information to Luz and deduces that his twin must also be at an internment camp somewhere. Perhaps under a new name. Luz finally explains that she wants Chester to take her to her Grandmother’s in New Mexico. I smell a road trip!
After a quick update from the hospital- everyone, including Toshiro, is totally fine- we see a distraught Amy working in Bowen’s quarters. Bowen is all bandaged up and is in need of extra help. Bowen creepily explains that Ken’s death isn’t Amy’s fault because “At heart I know you’re a good girl.” Ew.
Amy remarks that he could’ve just sent him to prison. He surrendered, after all. Bowen basically shrugs it off. “Here’s the lesson: Some dogs you just have to put down. It’s safer this way.” And just to up the creep factor Bowen then presents Amy with a flower, telling her she’s “one of the good ones.” Ew. Ew. Ew.
The camera the pans down and out of the house to reveal, just below one of the windows, one of Bowen’s recorders capturing all that super incriminating stuff he was saying. Hell yeah, Amy.
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A few days later Chester and Luz pull up to her Abuela’s house. After sharing a tender moment with her extended family, Luz asks Chester if he’d like to stay. Just for a little while. That way he’d have a safe place to rest while he comes up with a plan. In exchange he could do a little work around the house. We don’t get Chester’s answer because we head back to Bart’s house.
This episode ends with Bart finding and reading the letter Luz left for him. Which is super convenient for Yuko when she possesses his body. She forces him to find a map to draw out Chester’s location. Once that’s all settled this episode finishes just as it started gloriously gross. She forces poor Bart to commit suicide by jamming a pen through his eye.
Holy crap there’s a lot to unpack here.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR/ THOUGHTS:
- Let’s touch on the episode’s big reveal first, the twin brother. Honestly? I’m not sure how I feel about it. It comes off as almost…is cheap too harsh? Especially once you look back at the previous episodes and remember there was only evidence of Yuko having one baby. Either way, does that mean we’re getting a brotherly reunion?
- I hope that Amy holds onto that tape. If I were her I’d hide it in a safe place and, after getting released from the camp eventually, reenact that scene with Lana and Bloody Face in AHS: Asylum. You know the one.
- I hope his time spent with Luz will give Chester a chance to reflect on how his treated Henry and Asako. In the beginning of the episode he was basically blaming them for the death of his children, as if knowing that Yuko was his Mother would somehow save the babies.
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Check back next week and I may have some of the answers you’re looking for. The Terror: Infamy airs Mondays at 9pm on your AMC affiliate.
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