The Terror

:

Season 2
  • Network: AMC+
  • Series Premiere Date: Mar 26, 2018
Season #: 3, 2, 1
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 45 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 45
  3. Negative: 12 out of 45
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User Reviews

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  1. Davrosdaleks1
    Dec 1, 2019
    8
    The second season in this series that combines realistic horror with the supernatural continues the trend as it follows a Japanese American family and their neighbors as they are interned during World War II and are threatened by a ghost. I definitely preferred the first season, but this is a good work by itself.

    The show is a sad look at, but an important lesson on, the Japanese American    The second season in this series that combines realistic horror with the supernatural continues the trend as it follows a Japanese American family and their neighbors as they are interned during World War II and are threatened by a ghost. I definitely preferred the first season, but this is a good work by itself.

    The show is a sad look at, but an important lesson on, the Japanese American interment camps. It even contains some details I hadn't heard before. The season doesn't shove the awfulness down your throats at once, rather having the show breathe and have the worse parts hit you in occasional gut punches. Between it all is some good drama of people dealing with adversity.

    I felt this was a good view into Japanese culture, especially the paranormal part of it. It's just refreshing for an American supernatural show to use a non-Christian religion as a basis.

    Cast is good across the board. Shingo Usami and Derek Mio work great together as a combative dad and son showing the differences between generations (immigrant and first generation Japanese Americans). Usami is probably the best actor in this. He plays the stoic Japanese father but is able to convey so much with so little.

    Unfortunately, the story does have its share of leaps of logic. It's cardinal sin though is that it simply can't compare to the superb combination of acting, story, and execution that was the first season.

    Overall, I've found this to be rather interesting and recommend this.    … Expand
  2. Felindie
    Oct 15, 2019
    5
    Highly disappointment after the great season 1, the whole story was so boring.
  3. Trillcosbey
    Jan 16, 2020
    8
    A very intriguing premise, I really enjoyed the crossover of traditional supernatural elements from cultural settings and how the film explored loss and ancestry in a unique way. Very impressive.
  4. JonnyDean
    Oct 30, 2019
    3
    I was looking forward to this show, and there were some interesting moments, but most of it was just goofy.
  5. Ahkman
    Oct 12, 2019
    3
    Well this is unfortunate. For context I loved Season 1 of this show and it is very much worth your time. Given that story has wrapped up it makes sense that they would need to start fresh with season 2. So the premise here is that we merge the historic experience of Japanese Americans during WW2 with J-Horror elements (similar to Ring or the Grudge etc). This isn’t a bad idea at all, andWell this is unfortunate. For context I loved Season 1 of this show and it is very much worth your time. Given that story has wrapped up it makes sense that they would need to start fresh with season 2. So the premise here is that we merge the historic experience of Japanese Americans during WW2 with J-Horror elements (similar to Ring or the Grudge etc). This isn’t a bad idea at all, and in the hands of competent story tellers could have worked brilliantly. Unfortunately in the Terror Infamy both of these ideas are handled with all the subtlety of a brick to the face.
    For the supernatural horror aspect what’s missing is build up or slow burn - exactly why Ring worked and this doesn’t. The historic horror aspect fails for the same reason but also because of the lack of nuance and one sided view of history that the writers have.
    The intent here is to use a historical event to create a piece of political propaganda commenting on modern day - complete with sympathetic references to ‘fellow travellers’ (Season 1 did NOT do this). An expert writer can pull this off but its a tall order. If it handled badly you are immediately going to alienate people who don’t agree with you and also those on the fence. This show is doing the latter.    … Expand
  6. BioTofu
    Nov 26, 2019
    4
    It had a nice beginning when the the story was shrouded by a mist of mystique but once the curtains fell half way into the season everything just fell apart with it. the protagonist also became such an unlikable jerk around that time.
  7. Marcos_El_Malo
    Oct 4, 2020
    9
    Season 2 is almost perfect. It’s two tales of terror intertwined. One is the Japanese Ghost story brought to America by immigrants. The second is the historical terror wrought upon those immigrants (many were American Citizens) by a racist government.

    The ghost story aspect is good spooky fun and culturally grounded. It gave flesh to spooky stories told to me by family. Most    Season 2 is almost perfect. It’s two tales of terror intertwined. One is the Japanese Ghost story brought to America by immigrants. The second is the historical terror wrought upon those immigrants (many were American Citizens) by a racist government.

    The ghost story aspect is good spooky fun and culturally grounded. It gave flesh to spooky stories told to me by family.

    Most importantly, the historical aspects were dead on. Everything rang true, every detail matched up to the family stories about that horror, of being caged like animals without trial based on your physical characteristics and country of origin. And making the best of it. And remaining loyal patriotic Americans despite it, even, as some did, giving their lives to defend our country and democracy worldwide.

    I’m giving this a 9 because there are a few places where the script dragged. That’s just me being honest—the pacing problems were few, but they’re there imo.

    Performances were good to great, with the standout being George Takei, portraying the old fisherman and community elder. (Honestly, the performance was uncanny because he looked, talked, and acted like my late Uncle Michi, although Michi was a teen at the time of the camps.)

    One other aspect I really appreciated as an Angelino was the intersection of the story with Mexican culture, and later blending in of Mexican folklore with the Japanese folklore. This was done well. I shudder to think of the hash that lesser writers could have made with it. The writers obviously have a profound understanding and love for Los Ángeles, and I freaking dig that.    … Expand
  8. greenisgood
    Oct 25, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. TL;DR - True Historical Events wrapped in a thin veil of Supernatural, this was how I felt about the first season of The Terror because of the excellently harrowing experience Season 1 provides. Season 2 took that thin veil and turned it into a heavy and thick blanket of Supernatural, the weight of this thick blanket unfortunately overshadows the True Historical Horror of the subject matter. The by product of what I just described is a lackluster experience with good and wasted acting performances. The writing really let the show down as the otherworldly horror aspect of the show is too overwhelming, this is also very surprising since the supernatural addition to the story is one of the most bland and overused tropes in horror.

    The Good
    Acting was good all around, nowhere near the performances of Season 1 but I think this is due to the stakes not being as high as it was in the first season. Eiji Inoue was the stand out performance for me this season even though he is one of the supporting cast, his screen presence and delivery overshadowed everyone else.
    Unfortunately Inoue's role is not too important in the overall story; Cristina, Shingo Usami, George Takei, Naoko Mori and C Thomas Howell turn in the next best portrayals. Derek Mio the lead along with Kiki Sukezane who is the main antagonist turn in a sometimes good sometimes uneven performance but this is mainly due to weak writing and character motivations rather than acting skill.

    Cinematography was good for the most part barring some post production effects like a reoccurring focus/out of focus combination effect being very distracting rather than adding to the excellent shot composition and art direction for the sets and costumes considering the period piece nature of the show.

    The Bad
    Writing of the show really let it down, on a major level when it came to the supernatural side of the story. It felt very front and center compared to the real human story going on in the background, as if the writers decided that maybe the subtlety of the first season was too much and this time the horror side of the show needs to be dialed up.
    It ends up hurting the show taking away from the historical side of the story which should have remained the primary focus.

    The trope of possession was used too many times, overused by the end of the season. But this possession was lethal only when it needed to be while most of the time the spirit would covertly try to make things happen it felt very disconnected.
    Dialogue writing was also not the best this season, some decisions, character reveals and character motivations felt weak and contrived just to add on the drama eventually providing a very bland and meandering experience.

    The Terror Season 2 was uneven, slow and ultimately boring because the writers and the season decided to focus on the Spirit/Yurei horror aspect of the show. Either the supernatural horror should have been dialed down to allow the real human horror to take center stage or if the paranormal was the primary focus it should have been written better into the story with a more unique angle.    … Expand
  9. tufrull
    Nov 29, 2020
    4
    comparing with season 1 its not a good season. min 75 character is nonsense..

Awards & Rankings

58
#58 Best TV Season of 2019
67
#67 Most Discussed TV Season of 2019
89
#89 Most Shared TV Season of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. i
    Reviewed by: Rachael Sigee
    May 9, 2022
    80
    Moments of visceral body horror were used sparingly and to shockingly good effect in a show that is carefully choreographed to unnerve viewers from the off.
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  2. The Telegraph
    Reviewed by: Michael Hogan
    May 6, 2022
    40
    The result is suspenseful and atmospheric but slow-burning to the point of inertia. The story works better as a righteously angry family saga than a fantasy chiller. Worth a look out of historical interest but for far superior drama, seek out the first series.
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  3. Vox.com
    Reviewed by: Aja Romano
    Aug 20, 2019
    80
    In its most successful episode, Chester confronts a Japanese prisoner of war who taunts, threatens, and ultimately bonds with him over their shared love of baseball and their exhaustion with the battlefront. It’s a deeply compelling episode of television and warrants a place for The Terror in any list of the year’s must-watch series. But it has nothing to do with ghosts. I wish The Terror had done a little more work to make its ghosts feel as necessary as its timely history lesson.
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