Close Menu
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    HITMAN World of Assassination - Signature Edition

    ‘HITMAN World Of Assassination’ Struggles On Switch 2

    06/16/2025
    One Piece But Why Tho 5

    Fathers of ‘One Piece’: Powerful Bonds, Legacy, and Found Family

    06/13/2025
    Elena Street Fighter 6 But Why Tho

    Elena Brings Style And Versatility To ‘Street Fighter 6’

    06/06/2025
    Lune and Sciel from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

    Lune, Sciel, And The Romance Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Fails To Realize

    06/05/2025
    Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro

    Everything To Know About Eve Macarro In ‘Ballerina’

    06/05/2025
  • Star Wars
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Switch 2 Games
  • Summer Game Fest
But Why Tho?
Home » TV » REVIEW: ‘The Terror: Infamy,’ Episode 5 – Shatter Like a Pearl

REVIEW: ‘The Terror: Infamy,’ Episode 5 – Shatter Like a Pearl

Kate SánchezBy Kate Sánchez09/09/20195 Mins ReadUpdated:11/06/2021
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Episode 5 - Shatter Like a Pearl

The Terror: Infamy is the second season of AMC’s horror anthology series The Terror. An emotional blend of historical horror and a traditional Japanese ghost story, this season has blended a story revolving around the sins of a community and the monstrous treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II that highlights levels of fear that hit hard.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Last episode, we got to see the treatment that Chester receives as a Japanese American who chose to serve in the military. Treated badly by the people who are supposed to have his back, the episode focussed on showcasing that he is not seen as American by his brothers in arms. On the other side, this week’s episode, “Shatter Like a Pearl,” highlights that he is not seen as Japanese by the Japanese soldiers. Chester is forever in the middle and despised by both sides.

When his unit brings back a Japanese soldier, Chester must put aside his grief at the news that his girlfriend Luz miscarried and begin to serve. However, as he interrogates the prisoner, his fear of that the yurei followed him abroad takes root and the soldier uses this to unsettle him, to poke at him, and to ultimately push him. That being said, Chester finds a way to push through superstition and get to understand the prisoner in a deeper way than he thought was possible.

While Chester is the protagonist of the series, Luz has come into the spotlight. Having chosen to enter internment, she was been accepted by Chester’s family and ready to deliver her twins. Instead, they were stillborn. Coping with the loss of her children, Luz is lost in “Shatter Like a Pearl.”

I didn’t expect to see such a beautiful and mournful homage of the Mexican folktale, La Llorona while watching The Terror: Infamy. But that is what director Lily Mariye and writer Steven Hanna. The first we see of Luz this episode is by the river, white dress muddied, feet in the water, we watch her from the eyes of children as she sees the faces of her twins in the water.

The story of La Llorona, the weeping woman, is one that doesn’t necessarily fit with Luz’s narrative. In the folktale, the weeping woman cries for her two children after drowning them to gain the love a man. It is a tragedy, but one of her own making. For Luz, the only commonality is the number of children and her grief. While I wish that someone on the show had thought into this. Equating Luz to the weeping woman allude selfishness on Luz’s part, which is the farthest from her character’s choices thus far.

But this oversight is likely due to the crew’s knowledge of the imagery and not the deep meanings of the tale that I grew up hearing from an early age. Nevertheless, the depiction is haunting and Luz’s grief is palpable, especially as she pushed into making a choice about whether to stay with the Nakiyama’s, her new family, or to return to her old one.

Episode 5 - Shatter Like a Pearl

Like other episodes in the series, “Shatter Like a Pearl” brings in elements of life in internment as the Japanese Americans are forced to undertake a humiliating exercise that divides the community. Given papers to fill out and sign, the members of the community are forced to prove their loyalty to the United States by answering questions that diminish their identities and falsely accuse them of treason if left unanswered or if they answer no instead of yes to questions 27 and 28.

As with other elements of the series, the authenticity in the document and the divides in the community is true to the history of internment. Answer no and be tried for treason, answer yes and be drafted into a war, fighting for the people who are abusing you. The question of loyalty was no longer a philosophical one, but one that existed on a government form. Titled Statement of United States Citizen of Japanese Ancestry it asks “Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, or any other foreign government, power, or organization?” This question highlights the differences in identity among the community.

While Ken leads a group of men set on answering no, offended that they would have to answer and too aware of their mistreatment to willingly fight in a war that is being used hurt them, the Yoshidas answer yes to the question, looking to pass through the questionnaire and not cause waves.

“Shatter Like a Pearl” focuses a lot on the human, with the supernatural not coming until the end, which works to drive home the reality of internment and develop the characters more, namely Luz and Amy Yoshida. Luz is overtaken by grief and Amy refuses to let more be taken away from her by the military, even if it means hurting the man she loves.

Overall, The Terror: Infamy remains a show that questions our humanity, identities, and shocks us with horrors both human and yurei alike. “Shatter Like a Pearl” is a gem of an episode that doesn’t do much to expand on the ghost story but does everything to tell the human one.

New episodes of The Terror: Infamy air on AMC on Monday nights.

'The Terror: Infamy,' Episode 5 - Shatter Like a Pearl
  • 8/10
    Rating - 8/10
8/10

TL;DR

Overall, The Terror: Infamy remains a show that questions our humanity, identities, and shocks us with horrors both human and yurei alike. “Shatter Like a Pearl” is a gem of an episode that doesn’t do much to expand on the ghost story but does everything to tell the human one.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticlePAX West 2019: ‘Best Friends Forever’ Brings a Much Needed Update to Dating Sims
Next Article REVIEW: ‘The Wrath’ is Unrelenting Horror from the First Moment
Kate Sánchez
  • Website
  • X (Twitter)
  • Instagram

Kate Sánchez is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of But Why Tho? A Geek Community. There, she coordinates film, television, anime, and manga coverage. Kate is also a freelance journalist writing features on video games, anime, and film. Her focus as a critic is championing animation and international films and television series for inclusion in awards cycles. Find her on Bluesky @ohmymithrandir.bsky.social

Related Posts

Eric McCormack in Hell Motel
7.0

REVIEW: ‘Hell Motel’ Takes A Stab At True Crime

06/17/2025
The Survivors promotional image from Netflix
7.5

REVIEW: ‘The Survivors’ Tackles Crime Fiction With Empathy

06/15/2025
Mercy For None But Why Tho 11 1
10.0

REVIEW: ‘Mercy For None’ Ups The Action Ante For Netflix

06/15/2025
Rebecca Romijn as Una, Melanie Scrofano as Batel, Anson Mount as Capt. Pike and Christina Chong as Laían in Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 3
8.0

REVIEW: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 3 Balances Horror, Heart, And Trek Legacy

06/14/2025
Taecyeon and Seohyun in The First Night with the Duke Episodes 1-2
8.5

REVIEW: ‘The First Night With The Duke’ Episodes 1-2

06/12/2025
FUBAR Season 2 promo image from Netflix
8.5

REVIEW: ‘FUBAR’ Season 2 Is Still Hilarious

06/12/2025
TRENDING POSTS
Taecyeon and Seohyun in The First Night with the Duke Episodes 1-2
8.5
TV

REVIEW: ‘The First Night With The Duke’ Episodes 1-2

By Sarah Musnicky06/12/2025

The bar is set pretty high with The First Night With The Duke Episodes 1-2. While exposition-heavy, it is a delightfully silly watch.

Nuestra Magia Secret Lair Set Art News

The Nuestra Magia Secret Lair Drop Starts Today And It’s Hitting Me Hard

By Kate Sánchez06/16/2025Updated:06/16/2025

The Nuestra Magia Secret Lair Drop is open for orders now, and they support NALAC. To be honest it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Gundam Seed Battle Destiny Remastered promotional art from Bandai Namco
6.0
PC

REVIEW: ‘Gundam Seed Battle Destiny Remastered’

By Matthew Glenn06/14/2025

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Battle Destiny Remastered is runs on nostalgia and great Gundam piloting, but there is more left to be desired.

Still Wakes the Deep: Siren's Rest
6.0
Xbox Series X/S

DLC REVIEW: ‘Still Wakes The Deep: Siren’s Rest’ Is Too Brief And Lacks Closure

By Mick Abrahamson06/18/2025Updated:06/18/2025

Still Wakes the Deep’s Siren’s Rest DLC is tense yet unsatisfying in its encore and will leave you wanting more than what’s offered.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here