The Strain‘s ninth episode kicks off with a moment that fans of the book or comic have been waiting for, Eph’s return home. I really don’t want to ruin what happens, but it’s a great way to kick off the show and leads to some great conflict to come.

From there though, the series splits off a few ways. Eph entrusts his son with Abraham and Visiliy, who head out with the hacker Dutch. They deal with various issues on their end, but mostly bond.

But overall, the episode bounces around a lot, packing in tons into an hour. There’s Abraham’s crew. Eph dealing with events at his home. There’s Abraham’s past experience with The Master, and the continuing drama of Gus in jail. Gus’s story especially gets tragic, leading to a moment where you feel a lot of sympathy about his plight.

Overall, the episode’s (and series’) strengths are also their weakness. Though individual moments are amazing, some get short shrift. For example, Regina King’s PR character has been MIA, along with her rock star client. That’s a big names actress to not appear in more episodes. Where some might complain The Walking Dead is too slow in its stories, The Strain at times is ADD all over.

But, the series does a lot with it’s short focus. Eph and Nora have a big moment in this episode, and Abraham’s time in a concentration camp is especially heart breaking. Any of this could be an entire episode unto itself.

The episode is a good one, with important moments. Overall though, the series is much stronger than any individual episode.

Overall Score: 8