The dark times are only going to get darker.
What They Say:
BK, NY – Eph and Nora work on a biological weapon to kill the strigoi; Setrakian risks the lives of the entire group to find information about a closely guarded secret text; the Master begins the next phase of his own plan.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The first season of The Strain gave me a whole lot of what I wanted from a show like this where it has its campy moments but blends it with the horror side well while also including some of the grotesque. The mixture of past and present was a big selling point to expand the scale of the story and I really did like the whole aspect of The Master and his design as it had a wonderful old school quality to it. Even if it didn’t work for a vocal segment of the fans, it was something that I quite liked. The show worked through its cast well, expanding on it, whittling at the supporting cast, and putting them all in a position where things are going badly very quickly as the world falls apart. When these kinds of characters are in this kind of position, seeing the reactions is what makes it exciting and fun to watch.
With Setrakian being one of the breakout characters of the first season, it works well to focus on him with the cold open here, going back to when he was a child in Romania back in 1932. Listening to his grandmother talking about the Sardu while he eats his meal has a great kind of easing one into the mood kind of feeling about it. Working the story of the nobleman Sardu into it as we see him adds to it, even if it’s sort of a flashback within a flashback. It’s a familiar tale where Sardu has an illness that makes him more engaging with the world because he understands frailty and that’s balanced by his brother, the baron, that is ashamed of him and the weakness he represents. The baron and his men are the ones out in the woods tracking a great wolf that will bring them much in the world, but they’re unaware that what’s out there is hunting them. That, in turn, leaves Sardu all by himself as he can’t quite hunt in the same way.
It’s a brutal piece as we see him slowly discovering his brethren there as he moves forward, slowly but surely, in his efforts to hunt the creature as he can. Having the hunt take this large, hulking man into the caves has some great tension, and even more so when it reveals the true creature lurking in there sucking out the brains of one of his fellows. The taunting is beautiful as is the uncertain and nervous attempt Sardu makes in trying to defend and attack, but unable to hold his ground in the end against such overpowering physicality. But the creature instead uses him, taking advantage of his weakness and his illness, to turn him in an utterly gruesome way into something more as the worms invade his body. Having seen what just one or two of those do in the present, having hundreds enter his system is utterly frightening. The change in Sardu is relatively quick as the creature has transferred himself into Sardu now and begins a new journey within the village. It’s old school creepy and haunting as Sardu begins acquiring new victims for his grand plans.
With the hunt for the Master in the present, things are going about as well as usual there as Setrakian and Eph get close at the start of it, but even with the sun whittling away at him, he’s still able to escape into the tunnels. The hunt itself is always a fun part of the tension that the show brings to the table, especially with all these close quarters areas of the underground side of New York City. It has a certain color and sense of rot and decay about it that’s engaging to watch, especially as we follow an old man like Setrakian through it with his sword. Having him encounter Vaun from the militarized side of the apparent other master that’s out there looking to alter the dynamic of things is interesting in itself. We got a few looks at them the last time around, but it’s still pretty much minimal on the information side of things. But with them capturing Setrakian for the moment, more teases are in the wings.
As we saw Cus being drawn in with Vaun and his group of strigoi before, it’s amusing to see the reunion of sorts with Setrakian there. They’re drawn down to the deeper layers of the place though where Setrakian is shown that the six Ancients are there. This is where we learn that the Master is the seventh of them, but whereas the six are all connected mentally, the Master is a thought disruptor and exists outside of the group. What they want though is to eliminate the Master and align with Setrakian in order to do it, as Vaun speaks for them while they’re in a certain state. It’s a fascinating interaction between the two sides as they offer up support and methods to go after the Master, but as Setrakian has his own knowledge that has the six wary of him and what he represents. Setrakian’s intent on taking out the Master and is willing, for the time being, to align with these similar evil creatures.
Because of the damage that’s been done, The Master is now realizing that the body that he has is dying and it’s time to prepare his successor. It’s an interesting and creepy moment as we see the dialogue about it and the movements about it as there’re some dark plans ahead for it. Part of what’s going on is some of the more mundane movements though, which includes Eldritch continuing to believe that he’s the Master’s partner in all of this as he works to take over a facility in the Bronx for their larger plans, all with Eichhorst at his side. There’s some amusing banter between Eldritch and the young female lawyer that comes to work on the deal a bit as it reinforces just how youthful that Eldritch is feeling after the boost he’s gotten from the Master. It’s all setup for the new base of operations that Eichhorst is putting together and it certainly comes across as important.
While Fet is kept to the sideline for much of the first half of the episode, he’s been productive in working with Dutch to fortify their place against the vampires. He’s definitely taken to being a disciple of sorts for Setrakian, though he gives him a bit of grief as he does look out for him. Setrakian’s definitely keeping what he’s learned from Vaun close to the chest by not talking about it at all to anyone. It’s understandable considering how long Setrakian has been doing all of this on his own, but it’s the kind of moment that you know will backfire on him eventually. We also get a little bit of progress around this point with Eph and Nora doing what they can to try and approach the situation from a medical point of view since he admits he’s a terrible vampire hunter. At least they do come up with an idea to try and deal with the vampire threat by coming up with a way to go viral against them instead of just being the subject of attacks. There’s not a lot to it, but it shows the path they’re on and it also lets Eph deal with Zack a bit, who is still struggling with what happened to his mother and how she’s a thrall of the Master now.
With a lot of the episode focusing on setup, there are some good moments to be had as it goes into the final minutes. Having Eichhorst “raise” Kelly back to sentience, giving her back her voice and free thought again so they can use her, will make for some terrifying actions ahead. We also get time with the core hunter group as Setrakian takes them to the storage facility where he has some emergency supplies kept separate from his pawn shop. There’s plenty of good supplies in there, unstable as they may be such as the silver grenades, but it’s the book that Setrakian is after. Of course, there are strigoi in there as well and that turns into a pretty good corridor fight that has some good tension to it as it unfolds, letting the good guys get in some kills and reminding what they’re capable of.
In Summary:
Returning to the world of The Strain is definitely welcome as I really enjoyed the first season. This one is certainly a slow start as it reconnects us with the cast and shows the minor changes at play since we last saw them as there hasn’t been much difference in time. The flashback material definitely was pretty appealing in seeing some of the earlier aspects of this world and I also really like the way we’re getting several things in motion with the Master through Eldritch and Eichhorst that’s bringing something new to the game. The show is one that works a particular pace and it mostly works for me, so this episode hits all the right notes for me in terms of setup and moving us into the right frame of mind for it.
Grade: B+
