"The Strain" Recap: "The Assassin"

Written by Scotty

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

Doing the right thing in one person’s eyes can be the complete opposite in another’s.  It is difficult to know what might be right by someone else’s standards, but if you feel it is the right thing to do in your heart, who are they to say it is not?  As long as you stand by your convictions, you should be all right in following your heart, but if you have any doubts, just know that you are not the only one.  When everything is said and done and you have completed what you heart has told you to, you will end your days with no regrets.

Against her better judgement, council woman Justine has taken her crusade to the Upper East Side at the mayor’s request.  Knowing that she will have to run the show once again like she has done in Red Hook, she has a plan that might make the mayor think twice.  Demanding one percent of the value of the neighborhood for her protection, the room erupts into madness, but Justine knows what she is doing.  Knowing that the richest people in the city will not lay down their lives to protect their homes, the money will be used for those who will. Laying down the law in her own way, the mayor has a heart to heart with Eldritch Palmer to have a talk with the woman and persuade her to change her ways.

Eldritch Palmer is feeling something that he has never felt before.  His heart is broken without Coco and he knows that he will not be able to go on without her.  Convincing her to come back to him, Coco is having second thoughts about her decision, but has the same feeling of love towards the older man.  Accepting her position, Coco sets up a time for Palmer to meet with the council woman, but she has no idea that Palmer has a target on his chest.  Arriving late at the town hall, the two slowly make their way into the building, but a single bullet will change both of their outlooks on what is happening in the city.

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Fet, Nora and Abraham are on their way to find the Occido Lumen which is in the possession of Rudyard Fonescu.  With four listings in the phone book of this name, they have to enter each location carefully, not knowing who will be waiting inside.  When finding a listing that takes them to a book store, Abraham believes they have found the book's resting place, but when news comes across the wire that someone has taken a shot at Eldritch Palmer, Fet has to come clean about knowing what Eph was planning. Knowing the precinct that Eph would be taken as well, Fet and Nora leave Abraham on his own to find the book since their group is more important than a silly old text that may or may not help them defeat the Master.  Abraham continues to the final address of R. Fonescu in the city and when he enters the apartment, his interest is sparked, but killed at the same time.  Giving up on his hunt, Abraham finds a secret compartment in the floor boards that is housing something valuable.  Locating the Occido Lumen, Abraham’s victory is short lived as he is knocked unconscious by someone that has the same idea.

Eph has not backed off of his stance about killing Palmer and now with Dutch’s help, he may be able to follow through.  With state of the art surveillance equipment, Eph is now able to hear everything thing that is going on inside of the Stoneheart building, along with Palmer and Coco’s lovers squall.  When hearing a time a place that Palmer will be in the building, the two have to leave and find a perch for Eph to take his final shot at the lying old man. Although Palmer’s security seems to always be in the way, Eph is patient and has to wait to pull the trigger.  Before he loses sight of Palmer, Eph gives it a yank and sees the old man hit the ground with blood splatter from his kill on the window.  Needing to escape, the area is locked down quickly and Dutch and Eph have no way of escaping.  Being caught and jailed, Eph and Dutch know that the job is done and even though they are incarcerated, they have done the right thing.  But when Dutch is taken from the cell, Eph is faced by someone he never expected to see again.

Last week could have been the season finale and I would have been ok with it, but as the season continues to move on, there has to be more to keep you interested and that is what this episode did.  With Eph and Dutch being thrown into a jail cell, along with Eph finding out that he did not kill Palmer but hit Coco instead, there is a bunch of vamps that are looking to take out the good doctor in the police station as well.  Nuts right?  Abraham has found the book he has been longing for, but someone seems to want it more when it is taken from the old man’s hands.  And what can I say about Dutch, she is in a new cell that appears to be a feeding station, but for who, I guess we will have to wait to see.  Palmer continues to get stronger, especially when he has his love at his side, but when she is about to be taken from him, he will stop at nothing to have her revived.  With so much still going on and now a battle over who should save the city, it will be amazing to see what happens next.  Oh yeah, the Master looks stronger than ever as well, cannot forget that he has a new body and is almost ready to take it out for a feeding.  I think I like this series too much these days, and it may be able to withstand the tests of time when all is said and done.  Stay Scared!

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