Testing an anti-vampire virus is not as easy as you’d think.
What They Say:
The Silver Angel – Eph and Nora finally see their lethal virus in action; Fet takes the security of Red Hook into his own hands; Dutch and Setrakian set off for Staten Island to question Fitzwilliam.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While no progress was made in eliminating Zack the last time around, nor will any be made this time, the show itself did do some fun things in the bigger picture. Eph and Nora have finally started making progress on their cure and that’s a huge thing though getting a real test is going to be a hard thing in the end. A lot of the show focused on different things with the decent sized cast that we have and while some of it was really awkward, such as with Dutch and her ex’s mother, there were some good things in general. A lot of what it was doing was place setting the last time around to put more things into position going forward, taking the slow but steady approach. What was missing was more fun in the flashbacks to different time periods, giving Setrakian’s character quite the life.
Thankfully, we do get something out of place and time here at the start as it kicks off with a wrestling match done as a Spanish production on VHS from what looks like the 50’s at best – complete with tracking line noise throughout it that makes you think you’re on the wrong show. With one of the wrestlers being known as the Vampire, fighting against the Angel, it’s a pretty good bit of old school cinema fun that plays out with the kind of utterly cheesy and adorable practical effects of the time, something that Del Toro always loves to include where he can. It’s a wonderful homage to some of the things I grew up watching, not necessarily liking, but watching nonetheless. So when it shifts to the present, where we see the “angel” wrestler living in New York City and watching it in a dingy basement, you have to love that aspect of it to tie it all together.
When the show shifts to our familiar group, they’re looking to try and get their test subject to do the deed of taking the virus within him into a nest in order to start killing more. Unfortunately, said vampire, once freed, doesn’t start hunting for a nest ahead of the sun coming up but rather is looking for something with purpose. That takes them to a hospital as they follow him to ensure he gets closer to where he needs to be, providing for a little strigoi action along the way. As it turns out, this strigoi was a patient here dealing with schizophrenia and this is a familiar place for him. With him down in a nest now, that’s giving them the hope that the virus will be properly contagious and begin the process of reducing the numbers that are out there. Those nests are always creepy, no matter the size and scale of them, and this one is no different.
With us getting a look at Reggie Fitzwilliam the last time around as he reconnected with his brother, a lot of people were just left wondering the why of it all. After he let Dutch and the others live during their Stoneheart incursion, he now provides an opportunity for potential help or at least information. And that has Dutch revealing what she knows to Setrakian, which gets him interested enough to go on a road trip with her to Reggie’s brother Curtis, where Reggie is likely laying low since Reggie pretty much lived at Stoneheart with his job protecting Eldritch. This brings them into Feraldo’s territory as well, giving the two of them a really disturbing feeling about things when they see the bodies hanging along without their heads in order to make clear that Staten Island is plague free.
This also provides us some flashback material for Setrakian as we go back to another of his encounters with Eldritch years ago in his quest. Amusingly, we get Reggie’s father there providing bodyguard services to Eldritch in the 60’s, showing just what kind of connection they really do have and the length of knowledge Reggie should have in the present. While we know Setrakian and Eldritch crossed paths, there’s almost a little bit of adventuring going on here as they go to gather more information, which is fun to watch since you usually don’t see that with someone bound to a wheelchair. This does get them closer to the book, but not without its problems. Amusingly, this is where Eichhorst comes into the picture with his first meeting with Eldritch, which changes the course of Eldritch’s life from there on out. Providing that while Setrakian makes his way into the depths of the monastery is a good balance as each has their own kind of tension and danger to it, even if you know that they all survive into the present. It’s a lot of good fun in seeing Setrakian doling out death to the vampires here in all sorts of ways.
The show works through a lot of little movements as it goes into the second half, with some time seeing Eph and Zack trying to reconnect a bit but only serving to remind him of his mother instead, which makes him hate his father event more. We get the nod that Feraldo is going to bring her plan to Red Hook next, which is where our team is based out of, and Fet certainly makes it clear that it’s a smart thing to do. But the creepy moment is when Eldritch draws together a lot of powerful financial leaders at the Federal Reserve in order to get things moving again in the city only to let Bolivar and the strigoi kill them all after the fact of the agreement being put together. It furthers what Eldritch can do to be sure, but it also shows the kind of animosity that really exists between him and Bolivar.
When things circle back to Dutch and Setrakian, they worked things with Curtis to draw in Reggie, a twist that just feels weird and like it missed a beat or two. But Setrakian and Dutch make it clear that they really need Reggie to join up with them as he’s responsible in some ways here too for what’s going on. It’s a short sequence overall, but one that paints a picture of how things are unfolding with what happened at the Federal Reserve as well. We also see how things are playing out with Eph’s vampire test subject, as the nest that he bedded down with has disappeared. That gets Fet to opt for his own plan of blowing up the subway station in order to cut off this part of the island. While he goes off and does that, Eph and Nora end up finding their subject though it’s hard to tell if the virus really worked at first since their subject ended up dying himself from it. But as they start to come across more of their bodies in the night, it’s understandable to start having hope. But that’s dashed pretty quickly with the realization that the Master is forcing his contaminated strigoi to commit suicide rather than infect any further.
In Summary:
While there is still a kind of slow burn to everything here with what’s going on, there’s a lot of good moments to be had. Setrakian has a good flashback sequence that further shows some interesting ties between him and Eldritch as well as seeing Eldrtich’s first encounter with Eichhorst. Setrakian and Dutch together in the present should be more fun than it is, but I’m willing to overlook it for their attempt to draw Reggie into the group. I really liked what we got from Eph and Nora here overall in what they discover about their virus and its potential and seeing how the Master is going to try and deal with containing it. Fet continues to steal the show in just about every scene that he’s in, from his meep meep moment to needing food and his commentary on movies towards the end that’s going to land him in even more trouble. It’s a solid episode overall for me that pushes things forward, adds a few new changes to the mix and tightens the noose in some ways as well.
Grade: B+
