Vampire Hunters Assemble!
After wounding the second in command vampire, Eichorst, the CDC turned vampire hunting group led by Abraham Setrakian decides to get more tools for the upcoming battle. One of those being UV lights, a tool that is currently in the possession of our lovable rat exterminator, Vasily Fet. The exterminator proves himself to be an effective hunter, to the benefit of the group and Setrakian's relief that somebody is just as competent as him. The group decides to get supplies at a gas station, where conveniently the hacker lady hired to shut down the internet and cell phone toward is there too. However their gathering of supplies turns into a typical horror movie, as the hunters find themselves trapped in the gas station as hundred of newlyborn vampires gather around them.
It is quite a relief when Fet finally encounters Eph, Nora, Jim and Setrakian. Two separate threads are finally coming together, in what will probably be the core vampire hunting group of the story for next season. But it is good that at this point in the series they finally meet, and already they seem to be at odds with each other. Mainly Eph and Fet, with Eph's nature as a healer clashing with Fet's nature as a hunter. It is also obvious that these two would probably be fighting for the right to be the ones who would lead the group, but as far as Setrakian is concerned Fet is the obvious candidate. The hunter and the exterminator immediately show themselves to be an effective pairing. What took Setrakian several episodes to explain to Eph and Nora, took only a few minutes in this episode to explain to Fet and he completely gets it. I know from the start that these two would most likely be the badasses of the story, that would only be amplified by their pairing. And the timing couldn't be more perfect enough.
As I stated earlier, this episode plays out like a standard horror movie that takes place in a singular location with the odds of survival stacked against the survivors. Seeing as how this show likes to follow multiple narratives, it was nice for a change to have the focus be entirely on one singular storyline that plays out the entire episode. Every single trope of these types of horror movies are there: the survivors, the moralists, and the idiots. The idiots being the store owner, Hassan, who despite seeing vampires attack people, he still wants to accuse his customers of stealing. Then of course there is Hack Girl's friend who runs away from the horde of vampires at the first chance she gets. However in a small twist, she actually escapes. As it becomes clear that the vampires are not there to kill her, they're there to kill team vampire hunter. In other words, Eichorst and the Masters's form of payback.
It could also be possible that they want to kill Hacker Girl too, as when she and the bread driver tried to escape, it failed miserably for them. Luckily for her, Eph brings her back to the store before she turns into a vampire buffet, not so lucky for the bread truck driver. I'm pretty sure the main intention was just to kill the vampire hunting team, but seeing as how they want Hacker Girl dead too would've just been a bonus for Eichorst. She of course is feeling a lot of guilt, because luckily for us the viewers, she was smart enough to put two and two together that she may have been an accomplice to this getting out of hand. It must also be a rule that there can only be one person on team vampire hunter who is connected to the Stoneheart company, as Sean Astin's Jim becomes infected in this episode and has to be put down. It makes Hacker Girl's presence and joining their team a little bit even more convenient after losing Jim. What kept him around was being the man connected to evil and feeling guilty about it. Now we have a woman connected to evil and feeling guilty about it. When she will reveal this information to the team, as she almost does in this episode, will probably be at an important plot point later on.
Of course, Jim's death by Fet's hands shouldn't be taken lightly as it is the turning point of Eph and Nora's character as well as makes Fet a star pupil in Setrakian's eyes. It presents them with the idea that no matter how good their medical training is, they cannot save anyone from this disease. This puts Eph and Fet at odds even more, but even when the escape plan goes into effect, Eph accepts that no one can be saved and kills the newly turned bread truck driver. This episode was not just about finally giving fans a full blown horror action hour, but as a way of building the team into what they need to be to fight this. With Fet as a welcoming addition to the team, especially in the mind of Setrakian, and the addition of Hacker Girl, it is becoming apparent that the force of good in this series is finally coming together. The only missing piece of this team appears to be Gus, who will most likely be the middle ground between Fet and Eph in terms of what kind of hunter he'll be. Only time will tell, and we only have TWO EPISODES LEFT this season.
SCORE: 9/10 - The horror is starting to take over the show, and that's a good thing
STATUS: Continue to Watch to see Gus's assimilation into the team
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