The Terror: Infamy has been quite a different show than its preceeding season, but it had made that abundantly clear from the beginning. While the thematic similarity of a struggle for survival in harsh conditions and the lengths humans can go to -both in idealistic and deeply selfish ways- in order to endure such hardship is shared by both, it was always evident that Infamy is aiming for a tale about family and loss where Terror 1 was aiming at human hybris and the extents of solidarity.
As such, it was not hard to predict the seemingly main-twist of the series and how the haunting of the yurei relates to the Nakayamas and Chester in particular. Infamy´s bigger achievement is thus not really how it handles its narrative turns, but how it presents the story and characters in such a way that it remains interesting even when the story lacks a bit of flourishes so far. Presentation is key here and Infamy has been quite excellent in this regard, this episode being a prime example for this. In a weird way, this episode encapsulates all that is great and not-so-great about this season.
First of all, the performances are once again astounding throughout. In particular Kiki Sukezane and Natsuki Kunimoto, which the episode focuses heavily on, bring equally vulnerable and haunting performances and play off each other extremely well. Derek Mio, who has grown on me as the both short-tempered and contemplative Chester who cannot quite balance both sides, delivers one of his strongest moments in the series yet. Still,Shingo Usami as the gruff, proud, yet immensely vulnerable Henry remains the stand-out for me and steals the episode in the quiet moments. This cast is simply remarkable. All around, Infamy lives and dies with its characters and they are three-dimensional and definitely interesting enough to follow throughout.
Secondly, the production-design was once again on point for most of the time and far above typical horror-shows with narrow corridors and virtually no usage of bright colors and wide spaces. Not only has this episode a remarkable depiction of a more supernatural plane, it also uses subtle yet effective camera-techniques to instill a sense of unease. Every setting, every interior and exterior oozes care and attenton to detail, it does not feel at all like these are simply sets in a studio. Only when it leans into CGI too heavily, some cracks start to show. In two instances in this episode, the otherwise flawlessly realistic design of the show get bogged down in a.) a very obvious CGI-background and b.) some weird-looking fire-textures. It´s not the biggest point of criticism, but in a show so intent on showing "realistic-looking horror" with otherwise outstanding designs, it shatters the illusion a bit (the first season had the same problem a couple times and it´s probably related to budget).
However, all this would still leave this episode as a high point of Infamy if it were not for the biggest blunder of the season which drags it down from great to simply good for me: it rushes through its plot without leaving much room to breathe for the undoubtedly interesting characters or its narrative per se. For instance, the cliffhanger of last episode does not remotely get resolved as of now, emotional moments get cut short to rapidly move on to the next plot-point and character-confrontations are thus sometimes left feeling contrived or simply out of the blue. Derek Mio could have had one of the most emotional moments of the show, but a quick cut ruins the atmosphere. The major plot-twist is made too predictable because the series never took time to set up hints at other solutions, thus attentive viewers probably figured out the twist long before the show presents it as shocking. A confrontation between Chester´s mom and another mother has been set up, but is now amped up seemingly disproportionately, making it look contrived. The army-storyline and the NoNo-Boys-storyline, too, get shifted in and out of focus as the plot demands it, they don´t flow organically.
In a twisted way, Infamy is way too content to move on while its characters want to linger. It is a beautiful mess of great parts that do not come together as of now to form a truly coherent whole. However, with four episodes to go and the predictable twist out of the way, Infamy finally has cleared the table to move into truly unique territory and to come into its own. It is time for it to become a great show instead of a good one.
As such, it was not hard to predict the seemingly main-twist of the series and how the haunting of the yurei relates to the Nakayamas and Chester in particular. Infamy´s bigger achievement is thus not really how it handles its narrative turns, but how it presents the story and characters in such a way that it remains interesting even when the story lacks a bit of flourishes so far. Presentation is key here and Infamy has been quite excellent in this regard, this episode being a prime example for this. In a weird way, this episode encapsulates all that is great and not-so-great about this season.
First of all, the performances are once again astounding throughout. In particular Kiki Sukezane and Natsuki Kunimoto, which the episode focuses heavily on, bring equally vulnerable and haunting performances and play off each other extremely well. Derek Mio, who has grown on me as the both short-tempered and contemplative Chester who cannot quite balance both sides, delivers one of his strongest moments in the series yet. Still,Shingo Usami as the gruff, proud, yet immensely vulnerable Henry remains the stand-out for me and steals the episode in the quiet moments. This cast is simply remarkable. All around, Infamy lives and dies with its characters and they are three-dimensional and definitely interesting enough to follow throughout.
Secondly, the production-design was once again on point for most of the time and far above typical horror-shows with narrow corridors and virtually no usage of bright colors and wide spaces. Not only has this episode a remarkable depiction of a more supernatural plane, it also uses subtle yet effective camera-techniques to instill a sense of unease. Every setting, every interior and exterior oozes care and attenton to detail, it does not feel at all like these are simply sets in a studio. Only when it leans into CGI too heavily, some cracks start to show. In two instances in this episode, the otherwise flawlessly realistic design of the show get bogged down in a.) a very obvious CGI-background and b.) some weird-looking fire-textures. It´s not the biggest point of criticism, but in a show so intent on showing "realistic-looking horror" with otherwise outstanding designs, it shatters the illusion a bit (the first season had the same problem a couple times and it´s probably related to budget).
However, all this would still leave this episode as a high point of Infamy if it were not for the biggest blunder of the season which drags it down from great to simply good for me: it rushes through its plot without leaving much room to breathe for the undoubtedly interesting characters or its narrative per se. For instance, the cliffhanger of last episode does not remotely get resolved as of now, emotional moments get cut short to rapidly move on to the next plot-point and character-confrontations are thus sometimes left feeling contrived or simply out of the blue. Derek Mio could have had one of the most emotional moments of the show, but a quick cut ruins the atmosphere. The major plot-twist is made too predictable because the series never took time to set up hints at other solutions, thus attentive viewers probably figured out the twist long before the show presents it as shocking. A confrontation between Chester´s mom and another mother has been set up, but is now amped up seemingly disproportionately, making it look contrived. The army-storyline and the NoNo-Boys-storyline, too, get shifted in and out of focus as the plot demands it, they don´t flow organically.
In a twisted way, Infamy is way too content to move on while its characters want to linger. It is a beautiful mess of great parts that do not come together as of now to form a truly coherent whole. However, with four episodes to go and the predictable twist out of the way, Infamy finally has cleared the table to move into truly unique territory and to come into its own. It is time for it to become a great show instead of a good one.
