The Strain wrapped up its first season tonight, returning in 2015 to continue the battle against The Master and his vampire minion. In this episode Eph and Fet recon for an all-out assault that Setrakian assures them will finally kill the Master. Gus aligns himself with a strange new force, one that may swing the fight in an unforeseen direction.

This season has been interesting, with a nice roll into the vampire spreading, as opposed to having it happen like a hammer, and the vampires attacking quickly. At the same time there’s been some great build up as to what’s really going on when it comes to the Master and his plan. Tonight, a lot of that build up pays off.

There’s an outright assault on The Master by Eph and his team, winding up with some interesting results that makes next season very interesting. Then there’s Eldritch, whose renewed health, leads him to make a move. Then there’s that mystery group of vampires. We learn what that’s all about.

The finale is a good one with lots of action, lots of answers, and a some great set-up for the next season. This first season has been good, and as a whole is much better than each individual episode. With a second season, I can’t wait to see how the show will change with a bit more safety as far as its fate. If you’re a fan of the comic, or vampire stories, this is definitely worth checking out.

Overall Score: 8

Dutch returns with a plan to broadcast Eph’s warning about the vampiric plague. However, they face a new threat when Eichhorst launches his own attack against the pawn shop. Palmer receives a special visitor, and Gus gears up for the on-coming fight but discovers there’s another mysterious factor involved.

The Strain continues to bounce around multiple plot lines giving more than enough of each so as to not feel shorted on any of them. What’s impressive though, with it bouncing around, we learn so much that adds to the impetuous behind the oncoming battle. While the series is focused on The Master’s plan on taking over the world, it’s as much about Eichhorst and Abraham’s history dating back to World War II and the Holocaust.

A lot of the episode, even for as much as it bounces around, gives us more insight in what Abraham has gone through as far as his battles. Both he, and another team member are forced to say good-bye to something they love. It really brings a nice touch of humanity to all that’s going on.

Overall, the episode on its own was so-so, with some solid moments. But, as part of the larger narrative, it adds a lot.

 

Overall Score: 7.75

11 episodes in and The Strain decides to channel Blade 2!? How do you deal with vampires in sewer tunnels? For anyone that’s seen Blade 2, you know where I’m going with this. But while some are building weapons and planning on killing, others are having issues with the mission, especially due to the fact that Eph and Nora are doctors and supposed to help.

But, even with those apprehensions Vasiliy, Abraham, Eph, and Nora head into the tunnels in hopes of killing the Master, and ending the scourge. But, it’s pretty clear the “focus” of the episode is the slow crumbling of civilization. All around them, people are looting, and as they go into the tunnels, they are greeted by trinkets the vampires are dropping as they retreat into them. It’s some solid symbolism, and mixed with what’s going on in the streets, solid detail.

While they’re on their mission, the story of Gus continues, as he attempts to deal with how the vampire outbreak is affecting his family, friends, and everyone he knows. And Gus finally crosses our main cast, in the form of Zach who has decided to venture out from safety to do a task for Nora’s mom. In other word, Zach is quickly turning into the Carl Grimes of this show.

The episode also brings Eph face to face with the Master, something I didn’t expect for quite a while. What the meeting does really well is set up the Master’s obsession with Eph and why he decides to take a focus on him.

The episode isn’t the strongest, but there’s more than enough to keep the story moving and small details to keep us focused and debating. The series continues its solid narrative, keeping us on our toes. After the ending, it’s kind of hard not to be.

Overall Score: 7.75

10 episodes in and The Strain continues to surprise with twist and turns. The beginning of the episode flashes back and forth a bit, finally giving us an idea of what has happened to Eph’s ex-wife Kelly. For those who have read the comic, we know what to expect, but here we get some solid detail and creepy scenes. I found myself squirming. The episode bounces back and forth following Kelly’s story, mixed with Eph’s search for her.

A lot of the episode focuses on Kelly, but some is focused on Dutch and Vasiliy who are attempting to fix the mistakes that Dutch made by helping Eldritch Palmer. That whole segment is interesting, in that we learn what Palmer was planning on getting out of the deal with the Master, and some loyalty isn’t quite what we thought it was.

But really, the episode is about Eph and his search, and in that, he’s forced to do some pretty brutal stuff. He also shows his human side, something nice to see since Eph has been such a dick throughout the series so far.

Through the scares, and the chills, the series does a good job at showing the human side of things, and that’s the focus of the episode. It pulls us back in to remind us about the people involved in the story. In a show about vampires, this episode was about the human side of it all.

Overall Score: 8

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

The Strain‘s eighth episode kicks off right where the last one left off, the team in the subway figuring out they can’t easily defeat their enemy with bullets. They’ll need to take them on by simulating sun light some how. To get what they need though they need to break into a building where they meet the exterminator, Visily, who also has been having some vampire issues in his work.

Again, the series ramps up the scares, as the supply mission leads to a gas station where they’re quickly surrounded by vampires, forcing the team to do some battle. It’s a solid sequence, and I’ve noticed the series has been slowly increasing the threats as the vampire disease spreads. It feels natural and there’s not suddenly 100s of vampires attacking.

Not only has all of this brought our key players together, we also get to see the female hacker from the earlier episodes, and I totally forgot about her. But, as far as new connections, the most interesting is Visily and Abraham who quickly bond. Visily believing what’s going on, a believer, to Eph’s disbeliever. Visily brings an interesting perspective, as he is not only a believer, but he also looks at them like vermin.

There is some toe-curling moments, such as when a member is infected, and some impromptu surgery has to take place.

The episode is really the one that ramps everything up. There’s a choice of life and death with everyone forced to make some hard decisions about who and what they kill. There’s even a major death. Overall, the series is getting better with each episode.

Overall Score: 8.5

The Strain‘s seventh episode starts off with a solid scare as the vampire plague continues to spread, but what’s going on, and the extent of the issue is still not quite apparent to folks, especially due to cell towers being down.

From there the episode switches to Eph and Abraham discussing what is happening and how to stop it. Eph still isn’t quite sure how Abraham knows everything he does. What’s solid is that among all of the modern craziness we get flashbacks to just that, how Abraham has learned what he has. The scenes in the concentration camp is an interesting comparison to the craziness that’s occurring in modern times.

Not knowing where to go, Eph and his team seek out Jim to get a lead as to where they might find the Master, and through discussion Eph finally figures out Abraham has history with their adversaries.

What’s fascinating about this episode is that history. We get a pretty blatant comparison to Hitler’s Germany, and what the Master is doing as well. Reading the comics, the Nazi connection was present, but never so in my face. With the accents, and the flashbacks, the imagery use is much clearer. Often times we see vampire tales as a parable about disease, but here it’s clearly more than that.

Out of all of the episodes so far, this one is the strongest. It started off with scares, but by the end we’re shown something that’s so much more.

Overall Score: 8.5

The Strain‘s fifth episode quickly gets us caught up on Abraham’s history, and how he knows so much about what’s going on. We’re also shown some of the survivors, and how they’re handling their transformation, which is to say… not well.

The episode dances around the various forces gathering, both good and evil, but it’s success and strength lays with the interactions and learning more about everyone. This is the first episode where Eph and Abraham team up, learning from each other about what’s going on. It’s interesting mixing a man of science and the other who has seen horrors first hand. There’s also Dr. Martinez who we learn a bit more about her mother.

As a whole, the episode has a nice mix of action and scares. What it has a ton of also is heart. The center and strength of the story is the individuals and their lives. That what keeps the show going, and sets it apart from just being another show with vampires.

Five episodes in, and this is the strongest episode so far of a series that’s getting better as it goes along.

Overall Score: 8

The Strain‘s fourth episode ups the creepy factor after the events that ended the last one. Eph and his team have killed a person infected, and that means they now have someone to dissect and try to figure out what exactly is going on. That gives us some of the grossest moments in television that I’ve seen in quite some time, and we’re not even on pay cable.

Then there’s the issue with some of the infected who are out in society now. Some of that is pretty predictable, especially Ansel, whose actions are pretty set up. This isn’t all that bad, in that the show is still able to ramp up tension leading up to his “debut.” That actual debut isn’t what I expected, and there’s a nice spin to it. I particularly liked the inclusion of his wife’s religious beliefs and actions due to that. Both are nice spins on the expected. Ann-Marie’s religion also has a tinge of anti-vaccer for a bit of it.

The moment we’ve also been waiting for, Jim’s confession, happens, with some solid emotional responses from him and Eph. Where that partnership goes will be interesting. Overall, it shows that Eph is more alone than he expects in what’s to come.

Even with all of that, we still have progression on Eldritch’s story about his health and Gus’ decision as to whether to return to a life of crime.

But really, the episode ends on a high note, with some things we’ve been waiting for quite some time, the beginning of the battle and kicking of ass we’ve been expecting. The reaction from Eph and especially Nora is interesting. The first three episodes have been setting up what’s to come after this one.

Overall Score: 7.75

The Strain‘s third episode really ups the creepy factor with the transformations of the individuals picking up, and their lust to feed growing stronger.

Much like the first two episodes the third has been slow, but but the time we’ve gotten to the end, the payoff has really begun as Eph and his team begin to truly figure out what’s going on, and those infected feeling the need to feed.

The episode mixes up all of those changes with the personal stories of Eph, Jim and others. This episode really focuses on Jim, while we’ve learned why he allowed the coffin to go through. There’s also some movement on Eph and his custody battle, which seems to be going quicker than it would in reality.

The episode is one that almost gets us there for the payoff we’re waiting for. The vampires are about to start tearing things up, and seeing some of that begin to pay off is nice.

The episode gets us to the edge, and things hopefully will really kick off next episode, after the nice slow bid so far. Overall, the series has been a nice translation of the source material with the overall story rating better than the single episodes.

Overall Score: 7.75