Last week’s episode of The Strain ended with a shocking moment when the pilot survivor – the only one who was willing to help the CDC figure out what was going on, went all-out vampire and Eph had to smash his brains in to stop him. This week’s episode picks up from that point.
What is a Vampire Made of?
Eph and Nora give the pilot an autopsy in the basement of the hospital before someone figures out that they killed the guy and arrest them (don’t worry, no one arrests them – or even mentions that the pilot disappeared – or anything for that matter). The open him up and see that his lungs are shriveled and dried up, his heart is worthless, there is no blood and those worm things are gone.
Replacing them is a brand new organ that produces that long, wicked, murderous tongue that these vampires all possess. And, it is long. They pull it all the way out and it is long and disgusting and might be what these worms turn into. It also emits some noxious gas when it pops out (similar to the gas found on the airplane). According to Eph, he deduces that the worms set up this new organ to reproduce and devour its host.
Anyway, this all leads to Jim spilling his guts (not literally, although he probably wanted to), admitting to letting the casket through because he needed the money to pay for his wife’s cancer treatment and apologizing for it. For his act of honesty, Eph punches him and says he is dead to him. Then Nora takes his company phone and leaves him lying on the floor. Either Jim will find his redemption or go all out bad guy to help the Nazi vampire.
CR: Michael Gibson/FX
Speaking of the Vampires
It looks like the bad guys have a bigger plan in mind than just sucking blood. In this episode, the Nazi vampire Thomas Eichorst and the desperate rich guy Eldritch Palmer meet up with a young computer hacker that promises that she can pretty much shut off the island from the rest of the world, Internet-wise at least. And she succeeds. That is good for the vampires, who can now start killing without alerting outside forces. It isn’t so good for Eldritch because his liver is failing and The Master hasn’t given him eternal life yet. Despite this, he still goes to work and makes sure that a new plan of action is taken thanks to his connections in the government.
CR: Michael Gibson/FX
What about the Supporting Cast?
The Strain continues to be a here again-gone again cast rotation. This week, the goth rocker is nowhere to be found and the afflicted lawyer is still missing for the second straight week. Even more disappointing is that Vasiliy Fet is nowhere to be found in this episode, and his omission makes any episode weaker.
Gus is back though. The problem here is that Gus is going to be a major player and fighter for the forces of good when the series gets rolling. That makes his promise to go good after the casket heist a speed bump here, because Gus takes care of his mama and then heads out and steals another truck for a quick $800. Sure, he returns the clock his brother stole from Abraham Setrakian, but it seems silly for him to return a clock to a pawn shop after stealing a truck with a baby seat in the back. This is one character that is not progressing well.
The second return was Ansel. He hasn’t been around hardly at all since the pilot episode of The Strain, but the fourth survivor is getting in bad shape. He sends his kids away because he knows he is becoming dangerous. When his wife returns, he has killed the family dog and chained himself up in their shed. He is still alive enough to warn his wife to get away, but when a neighbor admits to beating her dog in the past, she sends him into the shed where her husband kills him. It’s clear that this family wasn’t normal from the get-go.
CR: Michael Gibson/FX
Cut off the Heads and Burn the Bodies
The Strain once again ended on the daughter who returned from the dead and her daddy. This will also be the last time it ends on them because Eph and Nora pay them a visit, only to find the daughter alive. When they speak to her, she attacks them with her wicked tongue. Luckily for them, Abraham is here and it is OFF WITH HER HEAD. Then, the daddy attacks from behind and Abraham slashes his tongue and lops off his head as well.
Things get awkward here as Nora suddenly freaks out because she would rather die than kill all these people – even though she has seen that they were already dead and at least three of them have now tried to kill her. Abraham reasons that not all people’s minds are wired to think this way, and amazingly enough Eph agrees to help him burn the bodies and start hunting down the vampire threat.