The Strain - S2E2 - By Any Means
Previously on The Strain, ‘BK, NY’
Try This Coffin on For Size
The Master has a new box, which Bolivar (who has been spending his undead time working out, apparently) cannot touch. Instead, he just has to stand there and listen as Eichorst explains how their leader will soon choose a new body and rise again. When Bolivar asks who has been chosen, Eichorst admits he does not know, but wonders if Bolivar will be able to support whatever decision The Master makes. “Of course,” Bolivar replies. Then Eichorst lies in the new coffin, clearly thinking he could be the chosen one. Bolivar sneers.
Eenie Meennie Miney Moe, Guinea Strigoi, Fretting Fet
The Feelers crawl-hop to Kelly, clicking as they go. She sniffs a few, cradles their faces, and snaps one’s neck before continuing on to the next.
The couple infected from the storage facility - The McGeevers - are now being cared for by Eph and Nora at the Brooklyn lab. They’re feverish and getting worse. Eph wants to wait a few hours before telling them the truth about their condition, and when he eventually does, he and Nora coax them to let them help ease their pain and help find a cure.
At Fet’s, Abe is studying the books he took from storage when Fet interrupts. He and Ke$ha are headed out to kill some “munchers.” He reminds Abe to eat while they’re gone. Ornery as ever, Abe wonders if Fet thinks he needs reminding on how and when to use the bathroom. Abe then admits to not being able to retain as much information as he had when he was younger.
It’s okay, Abe. It happens to the best of us.
Vienna, 1965
Abe is teaching a class and interrupted again, this time by Palmer. He also believes in vampires and offers Abe his assistance. He alerts Abe to the fact that Josef’s cane is also in Vienna and he knows where it is.
City Hall
Mayor Lyle meets with the new Secretary of Health (Eph and Nora’s former boss) Barnes and Councilwoman Feraldo, reppin’ Staten Island. Barnes reveals there are quarantine points in each borough, where people are tested and then housed if they’re positive. Feraldo says it’s not enough and suggests putting bullets in heads. Lyle is more concerned with his canker sores. Feraldo wants no part of their bureaucratic pussy-footing. In Staten Island, they’re going block-by-block and killing any creatures they find. I like her!
CoCo accepts Palmer’s job offer because she wants to be a part of what he’s doing to save the city. Her first assignment is to write his speech for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the first food center he’s establishing in the city. He leaves her looking confused and overwhelmed.
Verona Street, Brooklyn
Fet and Ke$ha start their demon hunting at a community center. They find nesting vamps in the showers and sauna room. In a mind-boggling bad plan, they first lure and then blast the vamps with grenades before chopping off heads. Then, they’re still at the center come nightfall. I suppose it was better suited for the awkward flirting which follows. She gets naked and into the pool, teasing Fet to follow. He’s hesitant. Not because he’s a prude, but because he can’t swim. She’ll teach him. Teaching him looks a lot like kissing.
I thought she was a lesbian.
Nora Claps Back
Nora asks for Abe’s advice in dealing with the test subjects, who are about to turn. She worries the Master will be able to see through them, locating them in the process. He assures her as long as the subjects don’t know where they are, they can’t tell the Master. When she asks if he’s sure, he gets defensive and snaps at her. She claps back on that ass. He doesn’t apologize, but assures her she’s doing a bad thing for the right reasons.
He then flashes back to visiting an antique shop where the owner has several WWII relics. He also has Josef’s cane. He seems eager to sell it to Abraham until he realizes Abe knows the cane’s origins. Then Abe confronts the man about being a doctor who experimented on Jews in the camp where Abe was held. The man tries to deny it at first, but eventually takes off running with the cane. After a chase, he escapes, but Abe has the cane.
New Zach Acting Brand New
Fet and Ke$ha return home just as New Zach is demanding to know what Eph and Nora are working on. Eph resists telling him, and New Zach shows his entire ass. Eph finally says he’ll fill his son in when he knows more. New Zach scowls and walks out of the room. I was half hoping Eph threw a shoe at his ass.
At the lab, while Eph and Nora examine the virus under a microscope, their male subject calls for help. His wife is in pain. Before Eph goes into the quarantined room to help, he takes a healthy swig of vodka… as you do. The husband begs for Eph to put them both out of their misery, but Eph reminds him that they agreed to help. Once the wife is sedated, Eph restrains the husband to a gurney, despite his cries.
Senior Moment
Abraham freaks out while reading his books, particularly the part about sunlight being harmful to the strigoi. He starts throwing shit around the room, flexing his old man strength. A fallen piece of paper catches his eye.
He remembers Palmer offering him a generous salary to dedicate his time to finding the Occido Lumen. He provides Abe with a page from a book, which supposedly proves the book’s existence. Miriam, Abraham’s wife, doesn’t think it’s a good idea, but Abe is obsessed.
While Abe has his senior moment, Eph is having a drunk one. After Nora allows Mr. McGeever to lie beside his dying wife, she finds Eph in the lab tossing glass. None of the strains grew; the strigoi virus seems to be bulletproof. Nora figures out that the bugs they created starved as they were unable to find any amino-acids within the strigoi. They move to synthesize the acid, and it works!
Freedom Center
Palmer delivers his speech to the people who came to get food, then he shakes a few hands. One of which is Abraham’s, and he’s shocked to see him. Abraham says he’ll have the Lumen in his possession soon, and even though this surprises Palmer, he answers by taunting Abraham.
Fet watches from nearby and when Abraham turns to leave, he sets off an explosive that sends people running. Palmer is whisked away in the confusion, and Fet knocks down one of the security guards who tries to follow Abraham. He and Abe get away.
On the ride home, Abraham notes that Palmer must not have the Lumen, which means they still have a chance at finding it. Odds may be low, but they’ve always been stacked against him and he’s still here.
Blast From the Past
Eichorst visits the former Nazi doctor, who has returned to his shop in the night. He wants money to get out of town and admits that he lost the cane. Eichorst realizes it’s Abraham who’s causing the trouble and is about to kill the doctor when the man begs for his life. Eichorst offers him the opportunity to work for a new Fuhrer, which the doctor accepts. Then Eichorst drains him with his stinger.
Meanwhile, the McGeevers are completely transformed and restrained. Eph and Nora test their cure and hope for the best when they see small results. New Zach erases the word ‘infects’ from their notes on the board.
Kelly retrieves some of Zach clothes from her old house and presents them to The Feelers. “Find my son,” she tells them.
Yes, please. Find New Zach and eat his petulant ass.
Overall Thoughts:
- Good to know Palmer was always a smarmy bastard, and interesting to see Fitzwilliams’ father, Palmer’s first servant.
- So, did Fet and Ke$ha fuck or nah?
- I did not see them introducing the idea of God as a possible savior in all of this. Is this was the Occido Lumen hints at?
- I laughed out loud at the one guy at the Freedom Center. “Why do you need to know my blood type? I just came to get groceries.”
