Apocalypse, now... please?
After the previous episode ramped up the urgency, one would think that this episode would keep building on that moment... well it doesn't.
In this episode we find Eph trying to save his family only to be arrested by the FBI because his ex-wife's dick boyfriend calls them to do so. Nora has accepted that she can't hide from the danger. Gus and his cousin encounter the monsters Gus has been working for in their true form. Setrakian has come to terms with the fact that he can't act alone. And Vesily Fet discovers one of the weaknesses in dispatching the blood sucking menace. That my sound interesting, but in fact it really is slow.
This episode starts off creepy with our villainous German Nazi Business Vampire bringing a victim closer to him with a chain mechanism. It was a great way to start off after the opening title sequence and definitely makes us wish that the whole episode possesses this level of creepiness. Unfortunately it doesn't. And the main problem for that? Eph going back to his family.
You see, I think all viewers of this show would agree that we don't care about Eph's family. We really don't. We honestly just want them to die at this point. Or we pretty much want everyone to die at this point due to last episode being intense and this one being very slow. Hell, the last episode makes one believe that this show will finally kick into high gear, but with Eph going back to his family in order to warn them of the coming vampire apocalypse it just puts the break on a powerful momentum. The abrupt stop of this moment can be felt the minute he sneaks into his old house to tell his ex-wife and son to leave only to get arrested by the FBI because the show needs to tell you that the ex-wife's boyfriend is a dick. He's never been a dick before, but in this episode he does a very dick move. In fact in this episode, it kind of really shows the stupidity of the main characters in the show. Eph doesn't spell out the danger that is going on and his ex-wife doesn't listen to his warning about leaving the city before the "contagion" spreads.
And then of course there is the Dick FBI Agents. I'm saying Dick FBI Agents, because they're dick FBI Agents. I really did not like the Dick FBI Agents. They're just dicks. They were written to be Dicks. Just like the people they're working for are suppose to be dicks. It pretty much just shows that anyone in a position of authority in this show is a Dick. It was evident from the beginning that the government are a bunch of dicks, but this episode just solidifies the cliche. And I don't like that it does that. This scene involving the Dick FBI Agents just made the cliche glaringly obvious. Whatever suspension of disbelief I had on the incompetence of everyone professional in this show just went away the minute this scene came one. It was just bad writing and horrible direction for acting. I was not glad that they died, because it was obvious that Dick FBI agents were going to die.
Probably the only true touching moment in this episode involved Vesily played by Kevin Durand. He was shaken by seeing the vampires in the sewer for the first time in the previous episode. When he returns to work, he is shaken that he discovers his co-workers have all been turned into monsters. There is even a touching moment when he discovers the secretary he's been flirting with has just turned into a monster, but knows he has to put her out of her misery. Then comes the part when he goes to his family he hasn't seen in years and straight up tells them to leave because evil is coming. Vesily is literally the only smart person in this show. He does everything we keep hoping the other characters would do. In fact, this episode has given him character development that too several episodes for the main cast to go through. But for him, when it was his time to shine, he definitely shows that his development is one of sadness and survival. His road to becoming a vampire hunter is solidified, and I can't wait to see it happen.
Now of course I mentioned that Setrakian has accepted that he needs help after almost suffering a heart attack in the middle of a vampire nest. That's his only development in the episode. Nora accepts that she has to be a hunter. That's her development. Gus finally encounters the monsters in the city. That's his only development. It is a real shame because I've been a fan of Nora's earnest nature in the first four episodes, but this episode and last episode didn't really convince me that she's ready to accept what she has to become. And Gus has grown for me as a character to watch out for as the series progressed, but in here he just encounters the monsters from below. And that's a good thing considering how much waiting it took for him to finally see a vampire.
Still, I have hope that this series will ramp up the speed again. This was just an awkward stop to what was otherwise a magnificent previous episode. Only time will tell if I'll be tuning in for next season. With only four more episodes left, Del Toro and Cuse have to convince me soon that this show deserves that Second Season renewal.
SCORE: 7/10 - An abrupt stop to the momentum from the last episode
STATUS: Continue to watch till the finale, in hopes that something will happen
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