There is only two episodes left this season of The Strain, and this is the first – Last Rites. Here is where the heroes are sent on the run and the vampire militia makes their big return.
Dutch is Back and She Has a Plan
So, after Abraham and company return from their stupid plan last week to take on The Master head on, they are recuperating when Dutch shows back up. As you remember, Eph lashed out at her (like he does to everyone) and she left, heading out onto the vampire infested streets. Luckily, she didn’t really let the fact that Eph is a jerk crush her and she returned to the pawn shop with a plan.
The brilliant hacker knows how to hack into the President’s Emergency Broadcast System, the one that is there for national emergencies but has never really been used. This system will allow the President to break into every television network and radio station in the world and broadcast a national emergency. In this case, Dutch can get Eph on every television and radio to tell the nation what is happening in NYC – or at least until the signal is shut down.
And, amazingly, it works. Not only does Eph tell everyone what happened, but he shows his video evidence of it before the signal is lost. Sadly, this win comes with great loss as well.
Gabriel Boliver is Back!
One of the biggest downfalls about the first season of The Strain is that there were so many characters, that many were just lost or forgotten about. One of these is shock rock star Gabrielle Boliver. The last time we saw him, he killed the “cleaner” his manager sent to clean up his mess when he killed the doctor. That was a very long time ago.
Well, immediately after Eph broadcast his message to the nation, the vampires attacked the pawn shop. Yeah, the timing was too quick to make sense, but suspend belief here. The first attack was when Boliver broke into through a window and killed Nora’s mom. Now. it might be crappy to say because she has dementia and couldn’t help it, but I am glad to see Ms. Martinez gone because she was a huge liability. It was sad to see Nora be the one to chop off her mom’s head, but that will make her closer to Abraham over time (more on that later).
However, the attack was led by Eichorst, who wants to finally kill Abraham. Luckily for our heroes, Abraham had an escape plan and they get away. The problem is that they have no home base to return to and are simply on the run for their lives.
Another Flashback
If you thought the flashback scenes were over with when Abraham escaped the Concentration Camp and Eichorst was turned, you were mistaken. These flashbacks take place years later where Abraham and his wife have become vampire hunters. No one believes them, and those who do won’t help them, but they have a mission. Abraham tells his wife that, once he kills The Master and ends this, the two will adopt a boy and girl and live the family life that she always wanted.
However, first he has to kill The Master and has heard rumblings about a castle that might be the home for the creature. Its not hard to see where things are headed, as he walks right into a trap. He descends into a well where he figures The Master and his turned are staying. He is right, but Eichorst traps him in the well and taunts him. By the time that Abraham climbs out and returns home, his wife has been turned.
She returns with a turned young boy and girl (that family she always wanted) and Abraham has to take off her head. He then cuts out her still beating heart and keeps it as a reminder of who he is fighting for. That made the end of this episode, where Abraham has to leave the heart behind as he runs, so heartbreaking.
Gus Meets His Destiny
I said last week that Gus was not going to end up with Abraham and company and that proved to be true. Gus returned to Alonso, the gangster that he sold the stolen car to a few weeks back. He takes Alonso at gunpoint and demands guns for his upcoming battle. He gets the guns, but overhears a new deal that Alonso makes with someone to move some large cargo crates.
Gus decides he wants to see what is in the crates, since it might be serious weapons. It is weapons, as the deal was for the crates full of vampires to be shipped off Manhattan to start infecting the rest of the world. Just as Gus is finding himself overmatched in the fight with the vampire hoard, vehicles pull up and the vampire militia makes their big return, gunning down all the vampires, putting a hood over Gus’ head and taking him with them.
Gus is about to become a badass vampire hunter alongside the militia vampires.
Next week is the Strain season 1 finale.
