The expected truths revealed.
What They Say:
An unexpected guest brings old conflicts to the surface, dividing the heroes and threatening the group’s trust; with questionable new intelligence in hand, the group launches a make-or-break final assault on the Master.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The Strain delivered fairly well on some character closure the last time around, better than with some others over the course of its run, and it felt like a good send off in some ways. A lot of the episode was focused on the attack on the main facility where things have been taking place with the Partnership and that worked well just to see some payoff with a few areas within it in how the characters were handled or dealt with things. We may not have gotten complete closure on some characters you want dealt with, such as Desai, but the operation is being worked over and you’re holding onto some hope that it’ll actually be able to accomplish in giving the series as a whole some good closure as we move into this penultimate episode.
Distrust is at the heart of things in the cold open with Eph dealing with Zack as he’s brought him back, blindfolded, and put him in a secure room so he wouldn’t be able to reveal anything to the Master. Eph wants to trust him but he’s wary, whereas the others distrust him outright. And Quinlan plays it smart and realistic in that he distrusts Eph in all of this because of his poor judgment in the past that lead to some obviously bad things happening. Eph does try to have the best of both worlds here and it’s understandable but it’s the kind of forced tension at the end of a series that just rings a bit hollow. Eph does at least try to make it sound like Zack could be useful in revealing where the Master is but there’s that level of trust toward him that has to be taken into account.
The early part of the episode has Desai making his case as to why collaboration worked and you can see how his twisted mindset worked here combined with his desire to stay alive and protect those that are important to him, but the more he reveals the darker it gets and the more you enjoy it when Dutch slugs him multiple times. It was also a good piece for Fet to be able to talk about what’s going on and what was done, but there’s so much grey area here in a way that nobody is on good footing. It’s a good sequence but also one that feels like it should have hit a few episodes earlier in a much tighter and more tense season, one not drained of its tension like so much of it has been.
Desai’s finally forced into revealing what the group wants to know thanks to a well timed threat with Selah, his wife, and there are some decent things that unfold with it in how Dutch lays it out and the method that Quinlan uses to get to these truths. It’s also an area where, after some time with Zack and Eph talking, Zack is used to corroborate things that Desai reveals. It’s used to check on Zack as well in a way by confirming that he’s telling the same as Desai. It’s a solid sequence overall and it’s fun to see how Quinlan deals with him and how Zack basically just rolls with it. Quinlan’s coming around to the kid in his own way and realizing that he may not really be under the Master’s sway. The redemption arc for Zack was expected and it’s not a favorite of mine in the slightest but it’s at least playing out in a good and somewhat realistic way, including the group being wary but realistic in that Zack may not even realize he’s been turned.
So when we do get Zack revealing his true nature there’s that moment where you’re glad to know that you were right about him all along, and sad but not surprised that Eph can’t follow through and do what needs doing with him. On the plus side, Eph deals with this as best as he can and abandons Zack and the place and heads off with the rest to figure out their final attack plan. The general idea that the Master has set a trap is no surprise to the rest of them but it’s a matter of figuring out how to set off the trap to their advantage. It’s not a bad one overall, though you wonder as to the realism of aspects of it, but Quinlan taking the fight to the Master with a remote to destroy the Empire State Building with the nuke makes the most sense. Quinlan’s not expecting to live once the Master is dead and you know part of him just wants to be done with this world at this point and to finish things with the Master. It’s the smart plan overall, but one with a lot of uncertainty as to what the Master is really doing.
In Summary:
Everything is setup for the final showdown in the series finale next time around but once again it just lacks so much tension and energy. And that’s something that it actually had the last time around so it’s frustrating that it’s lost here. The character material is at least decent this time around as we get some more character closure when it comes to Desai and a confirmation as to the truth of what Zack is all about, though it’s not a surprise to anyone that’s been watching the show. The main problem is what the show has struggled with for so long now in that it’s just predictable. It can work more when it dealt with the flashbacks with Setrakian or allowed Eichhorst to run wild, but when it deals with the sweeping elements it’s just too by the numbers.
Grade: B-
