Springtime for young Eichhorst.
What They Say:
Dead End – Dutch fights for her life against Eichhorst; Setrakian confronts an old acquaintance on his search for the Lumen; Gus helps the Guptas escape across the border to safety.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The Strain managed to lose me for a good chunk of the last episode simply because it felt like a lot of stupid choices were made in a more stupid way than normal. While there are things I overlook easily because I’m getting (and wanting) a kind of schlocky B-movie TV series here in many ways, there just wasn’t enough to make it work and the bad moments stood out in too big of a way. It didn’t help that some of the better elements of the show were sidelined with Kelly and the Spider-Kids not in it, Quinlan was nowhere to be found and Setrakian was kept to rummaging around a house. It needed to step things up and carry the momentum from the previous battle at Red Hook episode but instead just stumbled. And with an episode titled Dead End, well, that doesn’t exactly excite.
With a lot of loose subplots at this point to deal with, the focus here turns in an area that does mostly delight since it lets Eichhorst take center stage. With him in possession of Dutch in his little chamber of horrors, he’s enjoying toying with her and trying to unnerve her in several ways. She does manage to nudge back slightly and that leads us to a really engaging flashback story. I’m terribly fond of the flashbacks in this series since it has a great kind of charm about it and this one takes us back to Eichhorst in 1931 before he joined the Nazi party and all that he ended up moving towards because of it. Seeing him as a salesman of radios at a time when the economy is sputtering and there are a lot of issues among the average citizen works really well. They do the best they can to make him look a bit younger, of course, but just seeing him in this form, this kind of persona, really comes across as very fun to see from him.
Watching him going on a date with a woman that he’s really into, Helga, has some really great moments to it just in seeing him so eager and naive in so many ways. What we do get when they’re out on that date though is to see just how persuasive some people can be as a Nazi proves to be inspiring in his speech and how it can motivate those that want to believe, that are looking for a villain or just to push the buttons of those with fear. While he’s very into it, we see how it’s the downfall of his interest in Helga since she’s Jewish herself. It almost feels dangerous for her to reveal that, but it’s 1931 and the level of fear is not quite clear and present just yet for most with what Hitler has in store. The shift back and forth between these two different Eichhorst’s are really well done and just reinforces the power that he commands now and how it’s changed him so much.
Of course, things go poorly in the present for both sides of this story as Dutch figures out a way to escape his bonds but not before he goes all tentacle porn on her. His doing her makeup briefly is reminiscent of events with Kelly and there’s a real creepiness to it that certainly works well. Her acquisition of some pepper spray comes a bit easily – but at least it wasn’t a gun that Eichhorst so casually left in her presence. Yet when she escapes she ends up missing key things to do in a panic, such as locking him in the padded torture chamber. Sure, he may be strong enough to break out, but it could buy her some time. Or she could, you know, bash in his head and vampiric side while he’s writhing on the ground. Or choke him with the chain. There’re options to be sure, but in the end she just harms herself in her quick escape while running into more and more roadblocks while looking for the final exit.
That her escape connects with Eph, Nora and Fet’s figuring out where she is and how to get there is no surprise, though it has its nice bit of tension along the way as you imagine that they’re going to literally run into each other with the way it’s set up. So it’s nice that it ends up being a bit more complicated than that. It lets Fet get to be pretty manly here in how far he’ll go to break on through to the other side in order to get to her and that works to reinforce their relationship well – and impress the heck out of both Eph and Nora. You know Eph wouldn’t go the distance. It makes for a great little action sequence and some very strong material for Dutch and Fet with how they reunite.
Setrakian’s story has us catching up with him as he wakes up after being knocked out, only to discover that the Lumen is just feet from him. What we do get from this is a nice connection to the past as the man that took him out is actually the boy from the 1960’s that had his ear burned on the stove. That provides a connection that Setrakian can exploit, but it’s not one that will happen easily. With Rudyard intent on selling the book to Eldritch and thinking that the book brings him a whole lot of luck, it’s a minor subplot for most of the episode, though we do see that Setrakian uses his surroundings well to free himself and to try and head off Rudyard. That comes in the form of the play he made Creem previously, who now realizes what it is that’s pretty much fallen into his lap.
Some time is spent with Gus this time around as he comes to the realization after his encounter with Quinlan that he can’t leave with them. But he will help them escape – after getting lucky with Anya. That’s not exactly a surprise considering how events have played out, but it’s nice to see at least someone besides Dutch and Fet are getting to have some fun amid the end times. Gus does get to ensure that Angel will do the right thing in protecting the group that’s come together here, even if it feels like they’re just starting to go on a difficult vacation. While Gus intended for Angel to protect them long term, he uses a little creativity to get back and work with Gus afterward, who is now tied to Quinlan and his associates, which has a certain sense of power about them to be sure.
In Summary:
The Strain has a mix of material here that largely works for me but is dragged down by the subplots. The time spent with Setrakian nudges the story forward there, but it doesn’t really give us too much beyond some nice connections overall. Gus’ storyline is similar in that it’s small but it feels even more drawn out than it really is as it just serves to put him and Angel together without the Gupta’s to worry about. Where the show wins out though is in giving Eichhorst some great background material. We got to understand him before through Setrakian’s eyes in the past at the camp while this time lets us go back over ten years prior to show his easy descent into becoming a Nazi, which in turn led him to be one of the Master’s best adherents. It’s really well done and everyone involved in the flashback side sells it well, complementing the material in the present with Dutch rather well. A good episode overall, even if it’s drawn out with the way FX pads and extends premieres with commercials.
Grade: B
