The Strain - S4E6 - Tainted Love

Previously on The Strain, “Belly of the Beast”

The Strain has pretty much given us permission to hate New Zach. This kid is the absolute worst and I blame his parents. Abe is going to be so disappointed in what a little shit this kid turned out to be. Of course, the Master is manipulating him in the most cruel way, so Zach’s not completely at fault. Still, I hate him.

Tainted Love

We finally get to the root of Quinlan’s issues with Fet and Charlotte’s relationship; he views it as a liability that will only get someone — most likely Charlotte — hurt. We see this very thing happen back in 1888 when Quinlan continues his unorthodox romantic (?) relationship with Louisa. Their honeymoon is cut short with the arrival of the Master in London. Quinlan realizes being with Louisa allowed him to forget his true purpose: to destroy his “father.” He tries to explain this to Louisa as he prepares to leave her for good, but she’s devastated.

Perhaps because his time spent with Louisa made Quinlan soften, he hesitates to kill the Master when he next has the chance. It is a costly mistake. The Master beats Quinlan to Louisa’s house where Quinlan later finds her and her daughter in the process of turning. He wipes off the makeup, tosses the wig, and goes back to being the The Born. With little emotion, he beheads the two and returns to his mission.

In present day, he demands that Charlotte not return with them to New York. Though Fet insists it’s not Quinlan’s call, he does use it as an opportunity to suss out what Charlotte’s intentions are. Turns out, she has no interest in embarking on their suicide mission in New York. Still, before they part ways, she pleads with Fet to stay with her instead. Of course, Fet can’t do this.

After procuring a plane from a friend of Roman’s, the trio load their nuke and prepare to take off, but Eichorst is close behind after forcing one of the scavengers from last week to lead him there. With an assist from Charlotte on a sniper rifle, the plane takes off successfully. Quinlan assures Fet that he saved Charlotte’s life and theirs by leaving her behind.

Ain’t It Love?

No. No, it’s not.

Zach is smitten with Abby. Zach listens as Abby talks about the last moment she saw her parents before they died in the nuclear explosion he caused. Zach walks Abby home and gives her fresh plums. Zach even opens up (sorta) about his mother’s death and his relationship with Eph. These two could probably be good for each other if Zach wasn’t such a creep. Abby appears to be aware of Zach’s crush and treads lightly. She hugs him out of gratitude, and when it seems like he’s about to go in for a romantic kiss, she gives him a friendly peck on the cheek instead.

Zach gets advice from the Master, as you do, who tells him to tell Abby how he feels. Zach puts on some AXE Body Spray and heads over to Abby’s apartment where he finds her feeding pieces of plum to her boyfriend.

When Abby next come to work, Zach treats her coldly and behaves as if she cheated him for having a boyfriend. Then he pulls the “I’m such a nice guy for being decent to you, why don’t you love me for doing the bare-ass minimum and treating you how a good person should treat people without expecting anything in return” card. Abby admits she likes Zach, but as a friend. He’s too young for her and she loves her boyfriend.

Zach then shows his entire ass by throwing dishes, demanding Abby clean it up, and grabbing her arm when she tries to leave. This riles up his pet, who has been itching to drain Abby since day one so you know it don’t take much. Despite Abby pleading for her life, Zach allows his pet to drain and turn Abby. Of course, this is what the Master wanted — to completely isolate Zach from all forms of humanity. He’s smart enough not to approach Zach as himself, but as Kelly and assures Zach that he did Abby a favor by allowing her to be murdered. Zach buys it because he’s the absolute worst.