"The Strain" Recap: "Fort Defiance"

Written by Scotty

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

It is hard to imagine what would happen if an entire city is brought to its knees by a virus that cannot be stopped.  Quarantines are great ways to keep it confined to an area, but what about the family members that need to come and take care of their loved ones? You always need to put family first, but if you are entering an area that you know you may never leave, would you be willing to sacrifice your life for them?  I would hope so, but if they tell you to not come and help, you are left with a dilemma since you might be the only person that is left in their lives.

Eph and Nora have created their vampire plague, but there is a problem with it since it kills the host.  Needing to tone it down, Nora takes the reigns while Eph tries to show his son what they are doing.  Zach is still broken up over his mother and is taking more steps to make his father’s life a living hell since he will not allow his boy to see the woman.  After trying to escape the safety of the apartment building, Eph brings his son into the lab and shows him exactly what has become of Kelly, but still Zach only hears that his father is going to kill his mother, rather than making her better.  Zack tears apart the lab while his father is not looking out of spite and Eph is having a hard time reaching him.  While performing the next test on his surviving vampire subject, Eph looks into the cold dead eyes and speaks to the Master and tells him that he will not give up and he will die before becoming one of these creatures that roams the streets at night.

Dutch has found a missing person poster when trying to find Zack and needs to know who put it up.  With Fet’s help, Dutch returns to her former lover’s mother’s home and sees that she is still not welcome there.  Even though she is alive, her girlfriend’s mother will not take any excuses for what Dutch had done to her mental state and will put all of the blame on her if she is found dead.  Dutch does not know how to handle the resentment, but Fet has a plan and work will keep their minds occupied so no further pain will be felt.  Fet wants to take out the subway line, so no more people can enter the city and become the walking plague that has taken over the streets and with Dutch’s help, he will be able to make it happen quickly.


Eldritch Palmer is remaining safe on the top level of his building, but when Eichorst comes to pay him a visit, he knows that something is wrong.  With the blow up at the food bank, the Master requires an extra set of eyes on Palmer and his faithful rock star Bolivar will serve him well.  But Palmer will not be baby-sat by anyone while he is moving forward with the plan and even though the Master can watch him through the eyes of the infected, Bolivar is sent into another room while he works.  Palmer has to apologize to his new assistant while these changes are being made to his arrangement, but will continue to be himself until the plan comes to an end, but what he does not know is that he is being hunted by someone new.

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Abraham Setrakian takes a late night stroll and finds a vampire to execute, but for a different reason than before.  Collecting the blood and worms, Abraham returns to the apartment and starts cooking the "ingredients" until they are fully dissolved into a liquid form.  Injecting the new solution into his eyes, the reaction is fierce and almost kills him.  When Nora is able to revive him from his short slumber, Abraham has to come clean about what he has been doing to keep himself young and being ninety-four years old, he will not be able to fulfill his duty of killing the Master without this pick-me-up. Regaining his strength and snarky attitude, the professor is back up to full speed and ready to take on the world once again.

Gus has agreed to become the hunters’ eyes and ears during the daytime, but now it is time for him to start training.  Being given only two bullets to drop two vampires is not enough and he is forced to use hand to hand combat tactics against his second kill.  Pulling out the vampire’s stinger, Gus now knows how to kill the creatures without silver or sunlight and is ready for his first assignment.  Running as a diversion to Palmer’s building, Gus is able to gain access to the main elevator and takes his new friends up to the penthouse to kidnap the millionaire and figure out his part in all of the madness.  But Palmer is prepared and when the undead hunters arrive on the scene, they are shot with ultra violet light and although he is immune to it, Gus is forced to flee the building while his trainers have been killed in front of his very eyes.

I liked this episode since more is being discovered about Abraham and his methods of staying young and spry, and even having him open up to someone else about what he has to do.  But not wanting Eph to know about this will be a big issue in the long run, I can see it now, but that will be a bridge to cross when they get there.  I will come right out and say it, I am tired of the Zach breakdowns since he refused to see what is going on around him and someone will lose their life trying to protect him when the time comes and it will be a stronger character and I will be calling for his head.  Between Eph and Nora, the vampire plague is ready and they will have their first medical trial very soon, but they are being watched by the Master through the infected eyes of their latest patient and there might be a problem when they try to release it back into the wild.  Twists and turns are abound in this and I have not even touched on the councilwoman that has made Staten Island clean from the vampire threat and what she has been asked to do about the main island. There will be another power struggle coming shortly as secrets are being kept from the wrong people and someone will not be able to do what they want to do, when they need to do it.  Stay Scared.

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