- THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (2021)
Region Code: B
Rating: 15 Cert.
Duration: 419 Minutes
Audio: English PCM 2.0 Stereo, DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 100p HD Widescreens (1.78:1)
Directors: Josef Kubota Wladyka, Michael Lehmann, Everado Gout, Lily Mariye, Meera Menon, Toa Fraser, Frederick E.O. Toye
Cast: Derek Mio, Kiki Sukezane, Naoko Mori Everest, Miki Ishikawa, George Takei
The first-season of the anthology series The Terror struck a chord with me, it was quite eerie and i enjoyed the mix of human drama and supernatural threat the story of explorers trapped in an inhospitable frozen land. The second season The Terror: Infamy is another self-contained single-season storyline, also dealing with people trapped in an inhospitable place with a supernatural threat lurking. This time set during a very bleak period of American history, when just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor when Japanese-Americans were evicted from their homes, rounded up, and moved to an internment camp on Southern California’s Terminal Island, based solely on their race.
The internment camp is an interesting backdrop to the story, as the Japanese community are not only dealing with the injustice of forced evictions and the racial prejudices of the era, but they're being haunted by a folkloric specter who brings death to the community. At the heart of the story is the headstrong Chester Nakayama (Derek Mio), the adult American-born son of Japanese immigrant fisherman Henry Nakayama (Shingo Usami, TV's Invasion) and mother Asako (Naoko Mori, TV's Torchwood). Also figuring into the equation is Chester's Hispanic girlfriend Luz (Cristina Rodlo, No One Gets Out Alive), who because she is pregnant with his child also moves into the camp. College educated Chester and his fisherman father do not see eye-to-eye on things, even before they were forced into the camps, and once they're inside the camp that situation does not improve, made worse when the series of strange deaths rattle both the Japanese community and the soldiers assigned to the camp. These mysterious deaths coincide with the appearance of a woman who seems to be a a harbinger of doom, which brings community elder Yamato-san (George Takei, Star Trek) and Chester's father to the conclusion that a Japanese spirit might be loose upon them, perhaps a "Yūrei".
The unsettling setting during a dark stain in American
history makes for a terrific watch, the period setting and historical context are wonderfully realized and well photographed, it's a very attractively shot season of TV. The spirit that haunts them and how it's explored in both the present and in the past is quite well done as well, offering some fantastic visuals and eerie atmosphere, plus the characters are well-textured and developed throughout the season. Eerie and unsettling is what I think this season does well, it's not frightening or even that scary, but the exploration of the spirit and what it wants, why it's chosen to haunt this community, and it's effects on that distressed community is quite fascinating.
Audio/Video: All 10-episodes of The Terror: Infamy arrives on 2-disc Blu-ray from Acorn Media International in 1080p HD framed in 1.78:1 widescreen. Audio comes by way of uncompressed PCM 20 or DTS-HD MA 5,1 with optional English subtitles. Extras on the set include a pair of featurettes running about nine-minutes in all exploring the settings, themes and characters of the shows with the cast and crew. The 2-disc release arrives in an oversized flipper keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork.
Special Features:
- A Look at the Series (5 min)
- A Look at the Characters (4 min)
Screenshots from the Acorn Media Blu-ray:
