Monday, September 22, 2014

The Strain - 1x11 The Third Rail - Review

The Hunt is On

Finally. Eph, Nora, Setrakian and Fet gather the tools they need and head to the bottom of The World Trade Center. Their mission: kill The Master, kill the strain. Meanwhile Gus discovers that his family is gone and goes full vampire hunter. Also there's a plot about getting cigarettes involving Zach and Nora's Mom but that's not really important.

I'll just get this out of the way because I don't really want to linger on it. Eph's son Zach is charged with looking after Nora's mother while they are on the hunt for the big bad. Unfortunately because of Mrs. Martinez's condition, Zach really has to step up as the adult in the situation. So in order to keep her in check and not a nuisance in the fortress, Zach promises to get her cigarettes. And that's when he briefly encounters Gus.

Gus is not having a good day. Just the other night he had to kill his best friend after he turned into a vampire. Then he comes home to discover that his dick brother has been turned into a vampire. The way he kills him is filled with a lot of pent up rage that he had against his brother immediately followed by extreme remorse when he finally silences his brother. It was a strong performance from Miguel Gomez as we see the rage and the anxiety he's feeling right now. That anxiety grows as he tries to hold out hope that his mother might still be alive. That hope is quickly dashed away when he finds her hibernating in their closet, already turned into a vampire. The emotions that flood through him can be felt. It was probably the most emotional scene we've seen from someone reacting to a loved one becoming a vampire. Gomez has really stepped up his acting game, and it is probably because his character didn't really have much to do. But now he gets to show that he's an actor, and Gus is a character we definitely need to be looking out for. Especially after he picks up an axe and really lets his rage go.

The primary focus of the story, however, is on the hunt for the Master by Team Vampire Hunter. These guys journey to tunnels beneath The World Trade Center in order to find the hulking Nosferatu. It is played with a little tension, but not as enough tension as the episode Creatures of the Night. It would've better served them had this entire episode just have been dedicated to this part of the story, but with the cutting back and forth between Gus and Zach's story to this one, the tension disappears. However it leads to Eph making a near fatal mistake in hearing his wife's voice in the catacombs. That mistake leads him face to face with The Master himself, resulting into their elaborate plan falling apart in order to save Eph's life. That plan kills a lot of vampires, but The Master is able to flee, leaving Setrakian enraged at their failure as he goes nearly mad in pursuit of his nemesis. It takes Eph, Nora, and even Fet to hold back Setrakian's mad death wish. 

And that is where the episode ends. I wouldn't necessarily call it a cliff hanger, as there were better places during Setrakian's nervous breakdown to end the episode. However this was a decent episode as we see the characters doing things instead of reacting to things. But like I said, this episode would've been stronger had the focus been on the hunt for The Master. But the development of Gus was welcomed while Zach's was not really necessary.

SCORE: 8/10 - A good hunt distracted by other sub plots
STATUS: See through to the end - Two more episodes, better be worth it

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