The Terror: Infamy (2×10) Into the Afterlife Review

Yamato-san walks down a lonely road where he is greeted by an older gentleman he believes he once knew. The man tells them that they are in the after life and explains his life story ending with that his entire family from Hiroshima is there with them. As his great grandchild turns her head, the scars of the radiation blast are seen on her face and Yamato jerks awake. The Japanese Americans wake up to the sound of fireworks as people parade through the streets after the atom bomb strikes. Here’s what went down in “Into the Afterlife.”

Luz/Yuko walks down the dark road with the baby in her hands. A family sees them and offers a ride which she graciously accepts. Back at the farm, Chester and Henry bring the women back to recover when Hector reveals what happened at Hiroshima to them. The Nakayamas head out on the road in search of Luz while they discuss what happened in the war. Asako reveals the truth about Yuko and her marriage arrangements and she believes that when they find her sister, she will kill her. On the road, Chester manages to find Luz on the road, alive, but without their child. The Yuko changed bodies.

The next morning, the Nakayamas stumble upon the family’s car where the parents have been killed and their young daughter is missing along with the child. The girl is seen going into a cabin filled with Japanese inscriptions all over the walls. Chester brings Luz back to the house so she can be taken care of, but when Chester, Henry and Hector go to investigate the car, they find the young woman rambling about not causing this. Yuko, now back in her own body, prepares the child to bring to their ancestral place in the after life. Back in Los Angeles, Amy and Yamato-san talk about the effects of the war and she opens up about what happened with Major Bowen. He says that she needed to do it in order to survive. She asks how he is doing and he believes that everything they had is now gone.

In the past, Asako helps Yuko try on her wedding dress as the two sisters playfully joke with one another. She lies to her sister about Furuya and his good, kind-hearted behavior. Back to the present where Chester is ready to face his mother. Henry wants to come along, but he pleads with his adoptive father to stay back. He comes in anyways as they decipher that the writing on the walls are the names of their ancestors. Chester rushes to the quarry where he finds Yuko with the baby, but as he tries to reason with her Henry arrives. He takes out the photo of baby Taizo and entices Yuko with it before tearing up the photo and shooting Yuko with his shotgun. He gives Chester a sutra to hold while Henry reveals one on his arm. He tries to write a spell on her cheek that would keep her bound to this body, but she rips off Henry’s sutra followed by the piece of her face with it as well.

Chester runs as Yuko takes over Henry’s body and grabs the shotgun. He manages to hit Chester’s thigh before turning the gun on himself and shooting his stomach. Yuko returns to her body and hobbles over to the baby. She grabs the child, heads to the grave and falls back into it to enter the ancestral plane. The women arrive to find Chester injured and Henry dead. Yuko arises from the grave finding that she cannot enter the afterlife yet as she has sutras blocking her from it. Henry threw them into the grave before he died. Asako yells at her sister for destroying her family, but Yuko believes she deserves this suffering. As Luz goes to grab the baby, Asako repeatedly stabs Yuko in the stomach, but they need to find a way to kill her permanently.

Luz and Chester decide that with Abuela’s magic they will enter a photo of Yuko from when she was trying on her wedding dress. She decides to stay and enters the body of her former self. Before Chester leaves, she turns and smiles at him releasing their family from this terror. At another time, Chester is seen on his father’s fishing boat as he takes a photo of Henry. They discuss why Henry became a fisherman and how he felt adopting Chester. He felt calm, he felt purpose. Henry asks Chester to join him on a journey into the unknown ocean, but he says he has a lot on his plate. As a compromise he asks for one more photo. Back to the present, the family is holding Henry’s funeral. People come and pay their respects until Chester takes the baby to the grave and talks about how strong and amazing his father was.

After the war has ended and everyone is back together, the various remaining people of Terminal Island sit for portraits as Chester takes them one-by-one. Chester and Luz are see with their growing family as they welcomed twins. The families have a barbecue on the farm where Yamato-san is surprised by Luz’s authentic cooking. (Cue Takei’s signature “Oh my.”) Amy reveals that she moved far away to avoid the terrors of her family’s home. Luz reveals that their children are adopted and that their first born was named Henry after his father. That night, the community lights lanterns and sends them out into a lake to honor those no longer with them. Chester turns to his son and tells him the importance of remembering their traditions, just like his father told him.

What did you think of “Into the Afterlife”? Was it a good finale to the rocky season? Let me know in the comments below!

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Dylan Phillips