"The Strain" Recap: "Identity"

Written by Scotty

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

Sometimes doing the right thing can land you in more trouble than it is worth.  Not knowing how far others will go to do what needs to be done can leave you wondering who you can really trust.  As there are always drawbacks to doing what needs to be done since there are always people out there that are looking to benefit from your mistakes.  You should never give up on your mission, no matter how difficult it can be, if you are doing the right thing, then you will never have any regrets. 

Eph has made it safely to Washington D.C. and has found his friend Rob Bradley right where he left him.  As Eph comes clean about what has happened in New York to his friend, Rob has plenty of contacts to make something happen.  Calling Leigh Thomas, an old friend, Rob is able to match her up with Eph so something can be put in the works.  Leigh is able to make an appointment with one of the bigger drug firms to get Eph’s new bioweapon looked at, but she knows that it will take more time.  While Leigh is working her magic, Eph and Rob talk to the head of the National Guard and are able to get him to agree to a small scale test in New York before the weapon gets mass produced.  Eph is flying high with everything that has gone his way, but nothing is ever as it seems.

Nora is left in the apartment to take care of Zach as his father is away on business again.  As Nora talks to the young boy, she sees much more of his father in him than Zach would like to admit.  Heading down to the police station to see what is happening with the Red Hook cleanup efforts, Nora is happy to see that everything is going off without a hitch.  But when heading home for the night, a ‘feeler’ sacrifices itself in front of the car causing Nora and Zach to take refuge in the nearby church.  Kelly rises from the shadows since she has found her son, but Nora will not allow the vampire mother to claim the boy.  Calling for help, Nora and Zach have to find a way to stay safe until reinforcements arrive and take care of the threat that is hunting them.

---

Gus is grilling Angel about his past, knowing that the old dishwasher is actually the legendary wrestler, Gus will not allow him to back off.  Gus is holding up in the restaurant since he does not have a home to go back to and wants to make himself useful while there.  When Aanya gets a delivery request from her father, Gus and Angel decide to accompany her since the city is far from safe.  After making it to the apartment, Gus gives up his story to gain the trust of the two, but before the group is able to leave they are attacked by a couple of roaming vampires.  Gus jumps into action with all that he has learned over the past couple of days and makes sure that Aanya and Angel understand what is happening to the city and why they should be afraid.

Eldritch Palmer is getting fed up with being put on the back burner.  Eichorst keeps leading him on, but now with the next phase of the plan about to take place, Palmer wants his assurances that the Master will do his part as well.  Eichorst is not willing to divulge any information about what is happening with the Master to Palmer, but knows that time is growing thin and the Master’s transformation needs to take place quickly.  Heading down to the Master’s crypt with Bolivar, Eichorst is ready to receive the power that he has been promised by the Master.  Kneeling to his god, Eichorst is shocked to see that Bolivar has become the chosen vessel for the Master.  Not understanding completely why he was not chosen, the newly bodied Master wants to make sure that Eichorst will always be by his side.

With so much that happened in this episode, you only get a couple of moments of the core characters Abraham, Fet and the new member of the team, Reggie. Since the storyline is mostly focused on Eph getting his virus into production, you don’t get a ton of New York time, but you do have a new Ancient hunter that is ready to take to the streets and defeat the Master.  Needing more human hunters to take to the streets by day, he is not too happy in being called in to kill the thorn in the Ancient’s side when they could have taken care of the problem many years ago.  I can see Gus getting called back into service for this, along with Angel since the old wrestler has a ton of fight left in his heart, even though he has a broken body.  It is also apparent that Eph has a bullseye on his back when his two new friends in Washington have been gunned down because of his bioweapon.  Now Eph will have to find out where the information got leaked from that alerted Palmer’s men to his whereabouts, along with his plan.  The season is almost halfway over and the story just keeps getting better and better every week.  I cannot wait to see what happens with Angel and the little relationship between Nora and Zach that seems to becoming more of a mother and son story, even after seeing Kelly and her new children.  Stay Scared.

---