Fet and Setrakian make for some of the most amusing thieves to watch.
What They Say:
Intruders – Eph must protect Zack against a surprise intruder in Red Hook; Gus convinces the Guptas to make a difficult choice; Fet and Setrakian set out to acquire the Lumen but discover they are not the only potential buyer.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The stronger presence of Quinlan in the show the last time around was a welcome element in the storyline, though part of me feels like it’s a minor retread at first since we had some of this with Vaun. Quinlan comes across differently though and his time with Setrakian, with Fet watching along dumbfounded, added a little more context to things and also raised Setrakian’s status as he’s making it clear he knows a whole lot. But in the end it was all about Quinlan that made it an engaging episode, from his backstory as a gladiator that isn’t the start of his story to the path he’s been on for centuries in trying to take down this Master. Something that the elders should have done some time ago, going by the conversations that have been had.
Now that the show has given Eph a new purpose with the desire to kill Eldritch, he has to start figuring out the best way to do it. He’s actually thinking a bit smart with it by opting to go for sniping him since things didn’t go well with Fet’s attempt to go through the front door. And, luckily for Eph, Fet knows a guy. And knowing a guy is important to get sniper rifles in New York City. Knowing what’s coming, though, he opts to spend some time with Zack for awhile as they get some supplies. Unfortunately, Eph continues to be the worst parent ever as he deals with his kid in regards to his mother and what happened to her. And he basically keeps taking him into worse situations than anything good. I mean, taking Zack to go and pick up the sniper rifle? Father of the year right here.
It takes an even weirder turn when the guy he was going to buy the rifle from is actually hurt himself after the place was attacked by a burglar. That has Eph being forced into a bit of an emergency surgery, but it turns bad with him going through the procedure with Zack helping. Admittedly, some of it makes sense as we get the context that Eph did his first surgery at 14 in biology class so it’s not completely out of the realm, though Zack is a good bit younger. It at least gets him the rifle, not that it looks like a high-end unit, and he’s going to need it. Particularly since Kelly has now been given more control over herself, some new clothes and a makeup job that has let her get into Red Hook with a pair of her spider-kids to hunt down Eph for the Master. It’s all accomplished with a hell of a lot of luck and little believability, but it has some nice, creepy, moments to it.
Eldritch’s storyline is one that continues to have him figuring out his place in things, especially as he’s trying to secure the Lumen. But he’s doing it while trying to keep it from Eichhorst, not that he does it well. And doing all of this in front of Marchand just adds to the complications, especially since the two of them just spent the night together. His tensions are pretty high and his outbursts certainly don’t earn him any warmth from her as he sends her away. It’s fun to see him lashing out like this because it shows how frustrated he’s getting. But he also gets a few digs in himself towards Eichhorst as he knows what’s going on with Bolivar and twists the knife well. There’s no love lost between these two in the slightest, but it’s really fun to watch the way they go through this particular dance, each of them with their own positions of power within the dynamic.
Amusingly, as Eldritch tries to get the Lumen, Setrakian and Fet also pursue it and meet with the Cardinal that has it. There’s a dismissive aspect from the Cardinal, believing that Eldritch will get him the most money for it, but Setrakian knows that events will not play out to the Cardinal’s favor. And that means stealing the Lumen themselves, which he says quite plainly and much to Fet’s delight. Robbing a Cardinal is not something he gets to do every day. Of course, going after it doesn’t go well since Eichhorst gets there first and makes his threats in such a wonderful way. There’s so much enjoyment in how Eichhorst plays this out that you have to really engage in a love/hate relationship with him. Eichhorst is not one to be denied much, though he’s denied what he really wants, but something like this he’s able to manage a lot more. It plays out in a messy way overall with Setrakian and Fet walking in on it all – silver grenade and all – but it puts them on the right path for the book, one step ahead of the Master.
In Summary:
The Strain does some fun things here with what’s going on with Kelly and her attempt at getting Zack in order to take out Eph, especially since you hope it takes out the kid. Even though you know it won’t. It makes for some tense moments at the end because you can’t be certain how it will unfold. That it basically ends with nothing changed isn’t a surprise, though you hope that Zack doesn’t want too much to do with his mother anymore. The better scenes here involved Eldritch and Setrakian’s material with the book in how close they are and how out of balance it all gets, bringing us back to some of their lengthy history in a way. And we also get some fun sexytimes with Coco and Eldritch that really leaves uncertain at what game Coco is playing. Eph’s whole gun purchase is bad, though. Just bad material. I really liked the brief time we get with Quinlan and Gus though since you can see them as kindred spirits of a sort that could have a much more fruitful relationship if given the chance.
Grade: B-
