The Terror: Infamy keeps things simple with Yuko’s backstory and that’s a good thing

Too often, supernatural storylines are deep and twisty to be interesting. The Terror: Infamy kept Yuko’s backstory simple and it was refreshing.

More often than not, a supernatural story can get deep and twisty. The idea is to keep the storyline intriguing, but sometimes it can be bloated. This is where The Terror: Infamy remains refreshing.

Episode 6 finally gave us Yuko’s backstory. We picked up the story in 1919, where Yuko has married Hideo Furuya—yes, the same man who she blinded and then devoured—and he cast her out when she revealed she was pregnant with another man’s child. It explained immediately why she chose him as her victim when there were so many others to begin with.

More from AMC

• Why is Fear the Walking Dead no longer streaming on Max?
• Interview with the Vampire season 2 release updates, strike delay, and more
• How many episodes is Carol on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon?
• Orphan Black: Echoes release updates, trailer, cast and what else to know
• Dark Winds season 3 release updates, cast, and more to know

A year later, living on the streets, Yuko is forced to give up her son to an orphanage. All she wants is to be able to take care of a child, so what does she do when she realizes she can’t do that? She kills herself—I reckon there was some post-partum depression playing in this decision but the show refuses to go down that route of explanation. There’s just no need for it.

Watch your favorite shows on fuboTV: Watch over 67 live sports and entertainment channels with a 7-day FREE trial!

It doesn’t take too long for all the pieces of the supernatural puzzle to fit together. Chester isn’t the biological son of his parents. He’s Yuko’s son, and Yuko is Asako’s sister. Asako couldn’t see her sister’s offspring be raised in an orphanage so traveled from Japan to raise him.

Naturally, the main focus for Chester is that his parents have lied to him all his life. However, there’s something more important to focus on. Yuko wants her son back, and it seems she’ll stop at nothing to get that—to be a mother again. This puts Chester in direct danger, especially now that she’s accepted that only her own blood can join her in the afterlife.

While the show could have certainly gone down a twisty path to give Yuko a backstory, that backstory has been kept as simple as possible. And there’s something haunting about it. It’s hard not to feel for this spirit, who has this human need to be with her child. That makes her far more dangerous but also explains so many of her recent actions.

A simplistic storyline helps to bring more emotion to it. We get more character development for both Chester and Yuko. There’s clearly far more to come, even with just four episodes left. With the finale titled “Into the Afterlife,” I have to question whether Yuko is going to get exactly what she’s been after all this time.

What did you think of Yuko’s backstory? What would you like to see in the next four episodes of The Terror: Infamy? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Terror: Infamy airs Mondays at 9/8c on AMC.