The Strain - S2E1 - BK, NY

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Previously on The Strain 

Romania 1932

Young Abraham asks his grandmother for a story and she tells him the tale of How the Master Got His Groove Back: There was a man named Jusef Sardu in the village burdened with an affliction (giantism?) which caused him to use a cane. He was a really nice guy - great with the kids. His brother, though, was a dick and was embarrassed by his tall, limping brother with really bad hair plugs. The brother arranged a hunting party to take his brother in search of a mystical wolf whose blood could cure his ailment. In the woods, the men became the hunted. The Master kill them and drags their bodies to a cave where Jusef finds him chilling in his long johns. The Master killed Jusef and gave him all the nasty gummy worms, turning him into The Master.

The One Who Got Away

In present day, Abraham goes back to the scene of the crime - the crying shame of an attempt to kill The Master. Abraham has regrets. Abraham wants a do-over. He hobbles underground, following the path The Master took when he failed to kill him. He’s quickly gripped up by the Vampire Hit Squad led by Vaughn. Note: Book readers revealed this character’s name to be Quinlan last season, but there’s a possibility that Quinlan has not yet been introduced, if he’s introduced at all.

Gus is there as well, and recognizes Abraham as the pawn shop owner from his neighborhood. Abraham recognizes Gus as the idiot brother of the man-child who stole his clock. Once introductions are out of the way, Abraham is taken to meet The Ancient Ones, who he’d believed to be legend until now. Speaking through Vaughn, they tell Abraham he did injure the Master and they want to work with him to bring him down. They won’t tell him how to kill The Master (of course), but they want Abraham to tell them the moment he’s found. They also want to know how much Abraham knows about an ancient book. Their question just confirms to Abraham that the book exists.

Then it’s feeding time and Vaughn warns they should leave, but no one does! Abraham and Gus watch as a poor man is devoured by The Ancients. Abraham advises Gus not to forget what they are.

Brooklyn

Eph finds Fet on the roof, fortifying their Honeycomb Hideout. He inquires about Abraham, but Fet reminds him Abraham isn’t big on leaving breadcrumbs. Fet is still Team Abraham, but he makes it clear his plan is to vampire-proof his place, then the place next door, and then the whole damn block.

Eph and Nora are headed out and he asks Ke$ha (Dutch) to make Zach some breakfast when he wakes up. She will get right on that in between her own fortifying duties.

The two head to a pathology lab in Brooklyn, hoping to find medical supplies they can use in either stopping or curing the vampire virus. They consider setting up shop in the lab instead of hauling all of the equipment back to Fet’s, but their old co-workers are now strigoi and have declared the lab theirs. After putting them down, Eph and Nora take what they came for and leave.

Butthurt Master

The Master is seriously injured after his run-in with Eph ‘n’ ’em. He instructs Eichorst to tell Bolivar to reclaim the loam and then Eichorst is to bring him “the children.”

Later, Eichorst meets with Palmer in an old detergent factory in the Bronx. Palmer is still feeling himself and bristles at not meeting with the Master directly. He considers them partners, equals. Eichorst clearly wants to kill his ass, but settles for telling him to back the fuck up out of his face. Palmer notices a silver burn on Eichorst’s cheek, and indulges in a bit of “nanny-nanny-boo-boo, Abraham hurt you.”

A real estate agent named CoCo arrives to explain the details around the purchase of the building. The fact that the pipes are able to handle large amounts of fluids is of particular interest to them. There’s some weird flirtatious banter between Palmer and CoCo, and I thought Eichorst was going to vomit up worms at any moment. Palmer puts in his offer for the factory and urges CoCo not to disappoint him.

Eph Been Drankin’, Eph Been Drankin’

Back at Fet’s, Eph and Nora decide they need to figure out a way to stop the strigoi’s organs from regenerating when injured. They don’t have time to dig into this little breakthrough because Nora gets pissed that Eph is drinking.. a lot. He claims he only got sober to help with the custody hearings and he kinda already won that by default so…

Then Ke$ha and Fet are arguing because it’s nighttime and he’s heading out to look for Abraham. She reminds him Abraham is a badass. It’s not like he’s out there getting gripped up by a vampire hit squad.

Abraham’s arrival ends that argument. He won’t say anything beyond “I’m not dead. I’m not a vampire.” He definitely doesn’t mention his new alliance. Fet questions Abraham alone, inquiring as to whether or not he’s eaten. Abraham asks Fet to go with him to his storage unit to retrieve something he needs. They’ll leave in the morning. Before walking away, Fet reminds Abraham that he may not have killed the Master, but he did hurt him and that’s something.

Won’t Someone Think of the Children?

At a school for blind children, a teacher tells a class that they’ll be taking a bus to their new school in New Jersey, thanks to their friends at The Stonehart Foundation. Yeah, that ain’t ending well.

At Fet’s, New Zach is throwing knives because he’s mad. He blames Eph for not being able to save his mother. Eph says there’s nothing he can do. New Zach calls bullshit and demands his father find a cure. This is why they recast him. I don’t think Old Zach could have pulled off such a righteous go fuck yourself.

Eph goes right for the bottle and toasts vodka with Ke$ha, who’s building something that even she doesn’t know what it is. But she does say something that sparks a bit of inspiration in Eph and he downs his drink before rushing off.

The bus of blind kids stops before Eichorst, who welcomes them and their teacher to the end of their journey. Gulp.

Later, New Zach bonds with Ke$ha.

More Science Stuff and Blustering

The next day, Eph and Nora realize they need to infect the infected to break the chain of… infection. They need to do so in a way that involves something harmful to vampire, but not harmful to humans. Abraham interrupts to ask a favor.

Palmer holds a press conference with the mayor and Eph and Nora’s old boss behind him. He announces he’s giving the city a line of credit to supplement what the federal government can’t do during the quarantine. Then, he offers CoCo triple her current salary to quit her job and come work for him personally. CoCo, you in danger, girl. 

The Chosen One

Eichorst summons Kelly to rise from the mosh pit of sleeping strigoi. She has been chosen. The Master will give her back the power of her own voice and thought. She immediately uses that voice to say, “Zach.” Ah, that is exactly why she was chosen. Her eyes glow red.

Eph, Nora, Fet, and Abraham hit up the storage facility, but Abraham doesn’t remember which unit is his. He says he’ll know it when he sees it so they start searching. In the process, they find a couple living in a unit, riding out the vampire apocalypse. Once Abraham finds what he came for, the couple decides to stay in the building… until vampires show up. The team gets to wrecking shit, but the couple is infected. Before Fet can put them down, Eph stops him. He thinks they may be able to use them.

Meanwhile, Eichorst introduces Kelly to her new children - the blind children as they rise from a plot of soil.

Overall Thoughts:

• I’m curious to see how they pace the growing crisis in the city as the season progresses. One thing they did really well in season one was to give us visual clues to the city’s unrest. One episode people are complaining about poor phone service, and then a few episodes later, people are looting. In this episode, it felt like they couldn’t decide just how bad things have gotten. There’s a quarantine, Palmer showboats for the cameras, but people are still going to work and school. Would that really be the case if a city is plagued with a mysterious, infectious disease?
• I love the relationship between Fet and Abraham. We know Fet’s bio dad ain’t shit, so it’s nice that he’s connected with Abraham.