In ‘The Strain’ recap, Setrakian and Fet get closer to the Master’s secret weapon, Dutch and Eph make a connection and the Ancients face Armageddon…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
As ‘The Strain’ season 3 begins to wind down with the final trio of episodes and only one more season to go, it seems like things are going to turn apocalyptic sooner rather than later.
The latest episode introduced the human blood banks that were teased a season ago before Vasiliy Fet brought the building down to rubble thanks to some dynamite. The vampires weren’t about to be deterred, however, and the production is almost ready to begin again.
Add to that, the mysterious package that was delivered from Egypt to New York last week still looms large over the finale coming soon. What’s in the box? Is it the Ancient that was defeated and locked away in a silver sarcophagus thousands of years ago? Or is it something a little more modern perhaps?
Like a weapon that would help the Master succeed in wiping out humanity and leaving the worldwide open for him to conquer?
Let the speculation begin.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of ‘The Strain’ titled ‘White Light’…
Blood Banks
The search for whatever was delivered on the Aurora Cutlass a week ago continues as Fet and Setrakian have another meeting with Palmer this week. Palmer is in much better condition thanks to ‘the white’ dose that he got from Setrakian and to ensure that he gets more, the billionaire needs to keep feeding information to help bring down the Master.
Palmer passes along the name of the man who was guarding his boat a week ago and wouldn’t allow him on board. The man — Cyrus — should have some answers about what was brought over from Egypt that was so valuable to the Master.
After tracking down Cyrus at his plush apartment inside one of Palmer’s exclusive buildings, they give him a choice — lead them to the package or die. Cyrus chooses the former and the group heads off to a building owned and operated by the strigoi.
In fact, it’s the same building Fet demolished a season ago and inside is the start of a blood bank operation that will hold humans captive before draining them of every drop before death. Eichorst is overseeing this operation personally to make sure that humans are harvested for their blood that will feed the thousands upon thousands of strigoi that will be roaming the Earth.
Cyrus tells Setrakian and Fet that there are about 100 of these operations going up all over the country as the strigoi look to expand their footprint all over the world. As upsetting as this news might be, Setrakian and Fet have bigger business to tend to and they nearly get to the giant wooden box that contains whatever the Master had brought over from Egypt.
Sadly, Eichorst and his henchman get away before Setrakian and Fet can stop them and the package remains a mystery.
Still despite the defeat, Eichorst and Fet are convinced that this package could contain one of the Ancients from the old world that’s been brought over to team up with the Master in his plan for world domination. To find out for certain, Setrakian shares this information with Quinlan and sends him off to speak to the Ancients from the new world, who are currently residing in New York.
Setrakian also confronts Palmer about the blood banks, which he had no knowledge about whatsoever just proving once again how low on the totem pole he must be for the Master, but he also makes a demand of his new “friend”. Setrakian tells Palmer if he wants more of ‘the white’ to keep him alive, he needs to find out what’s inside that precious package that Eichorst is protecting.
Man of the House
After a battle in the tunnels under New York a couple of weeks back, Gus has to take Angel to one of Palmer’s centers for medical attention. It’s a little uneasy that Angel has to give them his fingerprints, a photo and all personal information before they will help him but with an ailing arm, he doesn’t have another choice.
Gus is a little uncomfortable with this place so he tells Angel to meet him after he gets patched up. Despite pleas from Angel to meet somewhere else, Gus insists that they meet back at his mother’s place.
This week’s flashbacks involve Gus as he grew up with an abusive father and apparently some family members who decided to get rid of him rather than allow him to continue to hurt his wife and young son.
Years later that explains why Gus was so attached to his mother and as he returns home, he’s still searching for her even after she’s been turned.
Once Angel receives medical attention, he heads back to Gus’ apartment and doesn’t find his friend inside, but instead sees that he’s fixed up the place and put everything back to the way it once was. Angel lays down for a nap but when he wakes up, he finds out that Gus’ mother has made it home after all.
Gus arrives from the store and sees his mother about to launch her stinger at Angel but rather than let his friend die, he finally pulls out his gun and mercifully puts an end to her. It’s a heart wrenching moment for Gus as he was forced to make a choice between his mother and his friend, but he knew that she was gone and there was no other alternative.
It’s still so unclear what ‘The Strain’ is doing with Gus but it certainly seems to me like he’s been wasted on the outskirts of the story rather than being right in the thick of things with Setrakian, Fet and Quinlan.
The Naughty Nurse
Eph and Dutch have opened up the black box from the flight that originally landed in New York that brought the Master to America. Through the recordings, they finally find the voice of the Master ringing out over the audio system but the signal is so loud that it literally shakes the walls and sends Dutch into convulsions while Eph is left with a splitting headache.
Eph finally gets the sound to stop and when he wakes Dutch up, she’s still reeling from the audible attack. Eph realizes that if the recording of the Master can do this to them, imagine the true power behind his signal when it’s combined with the microwaves he unleashes while communicating with his strigoi army.
Eph knows if he can isolate this signal, there’s a chance he could track down the Master and save his son once and for all.
First things first, Eph has to take care of Dutch after she’s wrecked from listening to the sound of the Master’s voice. After making her some soup and having a close moment while Dutch lays in bed, Eph leaves the room before things get too close for comfort.
Later that night, Dutch joins Eph for a drink when she jokes with him about being a much different nurse than what she would normally fantasize about. Eph laughs because he’s had no such fantasies after working with nurses for so many years as a doctor. So Dutch decides to help him out by describing in graphic detail a naughty nurse scenario with him as the recipient of their care.
In the end, Eph and Dutch start passionately kissing before living out a fantasy of their own.
Armageddon
Quinlan tells the Ancients about the package that the Master retrieved from Egypt and how Setrakian believes it might be the strigoi that was trapped in a sarcophagus thousands of years ago. Quinlan believes the Master means to destroy the Ancients and perhaps he hopes to team up with this other Ancient that’s been trapped in the coffin all this time.
While the Ancients don’t trust Setrakian, they believe this is worth investigating to find out what the Master has been plotting.
What they don’t see coming, however, is that Eichorst and Kelly have been tracking their hunters — the group that protect the Ancients — as they go out and retrieve food for the vampires at night. Kelly sends out her “feelers” to follow the hunters after capturing a human to take it back to the Ancients to feed on.
Quinlan arrives in the hideout first to tell the Ancients what Setrakian discovered but moments later Eichorst and an army of strigoi arrive. With the Master’s voice, Eichorst tells them that this will be their final resting place and they would have done well to join him rather than turn against him.
Finally, the strigoi are unleashed and Quinlan along with the Ancients and the hunters start fighting them back. With the group distracted, Eichorst drops off a briefcase in the chamber before making his exit.
Quinlan is laying waste to as many strigoi as he can slice through but the briefcase is still in play until Eichorst triggers the bomb inside. A huge flash of light emanates from the darkened chamber as a devilish grin creeps across Eichorst’s face. It looks like the Master has succeeded in wiping out the Ancients and he may have taken down his bastard son Quinlan as well.
‘The Strain’ returns with the penultimate episode for season 3 next Sunday night at 10pm ET on FX.
